The Best Laid Plans...
So what seemed like such an exciting opportunity to combine a number of different themes into a seamless chapter a couple of blogposts ago turned into a monster that I have had to divide up into separate chapters, one of which I probably won't use for the book. So much for an inspired idea. This 'chapter' (which looks like 3 now) has given me a lot of grief over the last couple of months. I've tried a few different things to brong them together, but to no avail.
The Witu and Zanzibar chapters are looking quite good so far. The stuff on Abuschiri , Said Khalifa (pictured) and Fumo Bakari is all good stuff. They're a bit short, but I need to incorporate more archival material in them when I go back to Berlin in October. But they make sense and serve the overarching argument of the book as it has evolved. A few more concrete links between Said Khalifa and Wilhelm II wouldn't hurt, but that won't make or break the more important argument about German interactions with indigenous monarchs.
But it is still disappointing that I couldn't pull of the spectacular intertwining of events in East Africa with German naval policy that I thought I could.
Put simply, the linkages I thought I could make between the events in the Sultanate of Wituland and changes to German naval policy were not quite as clear as I thought. There are some linkages and the trajectory of the argument still makes sense, but the two aren't as firmly linked as I thought. If a naval chapter eventuates, it will have to be more closely focused on the Kolonialverein and the rise of Tirpitz, rather than external events.
There is still stuff to say there about Caprivi's irritation with the flying squadron, and how he wants to move to coastal defence. There is also a lot to say about the interplay between those who want a globally active fleet on the model of Britain and those who want a strong Northern European fleet that will secure Germany's hegemony at home and as a consequence elsewhere. But it's looking most likely that it can't be linked in an organic way to Witu and Fumo Bakari. Rather than overstretch a thin connection. I'll discuss them separately, and with closer reference to the scope for agency for the Kaiser.
It's a disappointment - it looked so elegant to begin with! But I think it will work better this way.
So separate chapters on Wituland, on Zanzibar and on the German navy. Unless the archives throw up something unexpected.
The Witu and Zanzibar chapters are looking quite good so far. The stuff on Abuschiri , Said Khalifa (pictured) and Fumo Bakari is all good stuff. They're a bit short, but I need to incorporate more archival material in them when I go back to Berlin in October. But they make sense and serve the overarching argument of the book as it has evolved. A few more concrete links between Said Khalifa and Wilhelm II wouldn't hurt, but that won't make or break the more important argument about German interactions with indigenous monarchs.
But it is still disappointing that I couldn't pull of the spectacular intertwining of events in East Africa with German naval policy that I thought I could.
Put simply, the linkages I thought I could make between the events in the Sultanate of Wituland and changes to German naval policy were not quite as clear as I thought. There are some linkages and the trajectory of the argument still makes sense, but the two aren't as firmly linked as I thought. If a naval chapter eventuates, it will have to be more closely focused on the Kolonialverein and the rise of Tirpitz, rather than external events.
There is still stuff to say there about Caprivi's irritation with the flying squadron, and how he wants to move to coastal defence. There is also a lot to say about the interplay between those who want a globally active fleet on the model of Britain and those who want a strong Northern European fleet that will secure Germany's hegemony at home and as a consequence elsewhere. But it's looking most likely that it can't be linked in an organic way to Witu and Fumo Bakari. Rather than overstretch a thin connection. I'll discuss them separately, and with closer reference to the scope for agency for the Kaiser.
It's a disappointment - it looked so elegant to begin with! But I think it will work better this way.
So separate chapters on Wituland, on Zanzibar and on the German navy. Unless the archives throw up something unexpected.
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