Zashchuk, I.I.: German Colonies. Their Significance in Economic, Political, and Military Relations

Title

Germanskie kolonii. Znachenie ikh v ekonomicheskom, politicheskom i voennom otnosheniiakh, Sankt-Peterburg 1908

German Colonies. Their Significance in Economic, Political, and Military Relations

Keywords

Summary

In a forward note the author claims that the Russian academic community lacks a monographic study devoted to the German colonies and his goal is to fill this gap. The book includes five chapters. Chapter 1 offers an introduction; Chapter 2 provides a historical overview of the development of Germany’s colonial power, tracing its evolution from the initial steps towards colonial policy (such as the rise of the German Colonial Union) to the present day; Chapter 3 discusses the current state of German colonies (geographical and statistical descriptions of the colonies are also provided). This chapter is divided into two parts: the first part focuses on contemporary African colonies (particularly Togo, Cameroon, German East Africa), while the second part explores colonies in the Pacific Ocean and Asia. Chapter 4 examines the significance of the German colonies, from an economic, political, and military point of view. In conclusion, the author acknowledges that colonisation may lead to significant conflicts between Germany and other European powers, primarily England. These conflicts, in the author’s view, will determine the fate of the European countries. The text is accompanied by tables detailing import-export trades, as well as by several maps. A list of bibliographical sources is also included.

Bio

Iosif Zashchuk was a lieutenant general, military writer, and journalist. He received his training at the Novgorod and Pavlovsk Cadet Corps, as well as at the Pavlovsk Military School. In 1864, he was promoted lieutenant in the St. Petersburg Life Guards Regiment. Following six years of service in the regiment, Zashchuk began teaching at the Pavlovsk Military School. Subsequently, he held a variety of different positions in the military. As an author, Zashchuk collaborated with several periodicals, including “Poriad”, “Novoe Vremia”, “Golos Pravdy”, and “Razvedchik”, publishing articles mainly devoted to military life.

Sources

“Zashchuki”, in Voennaia entsiklopediia, ed. by V. Novitskii, Sankt-Peterburg 1911-1915, p. 499;

Generalitet Rossiiskoi imperii: entsiklopedicheskii slovar’ generalov i admiralov ot Petra I do Nikolaia II, ed. by S. Volkov, t. 1, Moskva 2009, p. 544.

M.E.