Export empire : German soft power in Southeastern Europe, 1890-1945 / Stephen G. Gross.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gross, Stephen G., 1980- author.

Series:

New studies in European history.

New studies in European history

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Germany--Commerce--Balkan Peninsula--History.

Germany.

Balkan Peninsula--Commerce--Germany--History.

Balkan Peninsula.

Germany--Foreign economic relations.

Germany--Foreign relations--1888-1918.

Germany--Foreign relations--1918-.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiv, 384 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2015.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

German imperialism in Europe evokes images of military aggression and ethnic cleansing. Yet, even under the Third Reich, Germans deployed more subtle forms of influence that can be called soft power or informal imperialism. Stephen G. Gross examines how, between 1918 and 1941, German businessmen and academics turned their nation - an economic wreck after World War I - into the single largest trading partner with the Balkan states, their primary source for development aid and their diplomatic patron. Building on traditions from the 1890s and working through transnational trade fairs, chambers of commerce, educational exchange programmes and development projects, Germans collaborated with Croatians, Serbians and Romanians to create a continental bloc, and to exclude Jews from commerce. By gaining access to critical resources during a global depression, the proponents of soft power enabled Hitler to militarise the German economy and helped make the Third Reich's territorial conquests after 1939 economically possible.

Contents:

Cover; Half title; Series; Title; Copyright; Dedication; Contents; List of figures and tables; Acknowledgements; List of abbreviations; Map: Europe during the interwar period, 1919-1939; Introduction: the foundations of soft power and informal empire; Part I German power in the Wilhelmine Empire and the Weimar Republic; Part II Nazi imperialism; Conclusion: Imperialism realized?; Bibliography; Index; 1 The legacy of Wilhelmine imperialism and the First World War, 1890-1920; 2 The economics of trade: building commercial networks in Southeastern Europe, 1925-1930

3 The culture of trade: cultural diplomacy and area studies in Southeastern Europe, 1925-19304 The politics of trade: Paneuropa, Mitteleuropa, and the Great Depression, 1929-1933; 5 Stabilizing the Reichsmark bloc: commercial networks in the Third Reich, 1933-1939; 6 Economic pioneers or missionaries of the Third Reich? Cultural diplomacy in Southeastern Europe, 1933-1939; 7 Forging a hinterland: German development aid in the Balkans, 1934-1940; 8 The Second World War: informal empire transformed, 1939-1945

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 10 Dec 2015).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-316-43031-6

1-316-43457-5

1-316-43528-8

1-316-43812-0

1-316-43599-7

1-316-43954-2

1-316-28265-1