ABSTRACT
In 1937, at the height of National Socialism’s political popularity in Germany, Paul Leutwein published a monograph, Das deutsche Afrika und seine Zukunft , legitimizing German plans for the reinstatement of their colonies in Africa. He wrote that these should no longer be referred to as “former” colonies (‘als “ehemalige” Kolonien’), but as German colonies (‘deutsche Kolonien’), a new colonial Empire (‘Kolonialreich’) which would be the equal of the old one (Leutwein 1937, Einführung) . The key concepts for Leutwein are “Lebensraum” 1 and “Existenzfrage” [struggle for survival, also referred to as “Existenzkampf”], which have often recurred in our study of German colonialist discourse since 1848. Paul Ritter used the term “Erdraum” to convey a similar message (Ritter c.1936).
