Research Project Synopsis

Research Project Synopsis

In the field of international academic study the most active and multi-faceted subjects are naturally those which sweep across national boundaries and left a tremendous impact on entire continents, and in some very momentous examples on the entire world and the lasting relationships between the entire societies of the people involved. For this very reason the interwar period between World War I and World War II has been perhaps one of the most deeply and passionately investigated moments in all of history. Historians have struggled and searched for concrete valid explanations to explain how the people and nations of Europe could go though such a dramatically horrendous ordeal as The Great War, yet less than two decades later many of the same countries involved in that devastating event would be pulled in to another catastrophic military explosion of even greater international suffering and turmoil. The political actions and cultural happenings which contributed to this development have seemingly been sorted thru and dissected from every possible angle, but in my research of primary data from the period and the social tempest leading into and carrying on after The First World War I have found the lack of a unifying analysis over the issue of African involvement in the growth of cross-cultural hatred and resentment which would lead to a second crippling World War.

The first difficulty to be faced when investigating the period directly after the end of the First World War is the intensely personal and focused motivation which stood as the driving force behind nearly every writer, chronicler, and journalist of the time. An unending list of questions and uncertainties tormented these intellectuals and cultural narrators who would serve as the major force of social influence at a time when millions upon millions of citizens all over Europe were reaching out for answers to explain the horrors they had just experienced in war. In response to this clamoring for explanations, much of the material created and distributed in the post-WWI era was strikingly subjective and editorial. This is perhaps the most dominant reason for the specialized direction of study when later historians have gone back to try and achieve a better overall view of the period. The overarching characteristic I have found in my research of secondary sources on the period is that academic limitations and powerful individual passion towards the subject very nearly demand that historians focus directly on specific issues and arguments with a very restricted inclusion of varying factors and alternative explanations. As I continued to dig in and hunt for these same answers myself I found many brilliant and inspirational fountains of avid intellectual offerings which seemed to be begging for a universal connection; a fluid link which would not only erase the holes and nagging questions, but highlight these gray spaces in otherwise logical conclusions as indispensable and significant factors lending to the emergence of a final complete historical narrative.

One of the most moving and stimulating articles I have come across in my research is entitled “’Black Shame’ -- The Campaign Against ‘Racial Degeneration’ and Female Degradation in Interwar Europe” written by Iris Wigger, a lecturer in sociology at Loughborough University. Ms. Wigger has put together a fantastic collection of ideas which ratified and encouraged my choice to delve deeper into this specific subject and the whirlwind if issues that came out of the interwar period. The main idea which bursts thru as I read this article was the extreme fear that existed in German society, as well as among many other pockets of European and American groups of people, directed toward the Africans and black immigrants whose presence increased so dramatically during the time of the First World War. After first reading thru my collection of primary sources I certainly had a strong notion of the sense of trepidation and anxiety which permeated European culture at this time in regards to blacks and their influence on white hegemony, but Ms. Wigger forced me to reassess my interpretation of these forces. Her approach shined a tragic light on the depth and reach to which these feelings of racial fear and apprehension had spread inside European social structures, being found within otherwise differing political parties, working-class associations, religious groups, and even women’s groups who perpetuated these feelings. I was compelled to go back to my primary documents and analyze them anew with this fresh sense of racial frenzy and fanaticism guiding my absorption of the material.

The strength of her arguments and observations comes from the fact that colonial history played very heavily upon the minds of Europeans who saw the post-war period as a time when Africans would seek to gain a sense of retribution and revenge against weakened and vulnerable nations in retaliation for the abuses committed during the period of intense slave activity and colonial oppression. This message comes through quite strongly in her description of forced French occupation of the defeated Germans as purposefully humiliating a long-time enemy and taking advantage of the relative positions of both countries after the war. However, I believe there exists an essential flaw in her assessment of the contributing factors behind German racial aggression, namely the implied self-image of weakness and helplessness within and among the German people which they supposedly had of themselves. The long-standing nationalistic view of white supremacy and domination of lesser races is not an idea that could have been so easily defeated and overturned by means of military defeat, and certainly not a defeat at the hands of combined European and predominantly white forces. The use of African troops during the war was most definitely a well-known and highly commented on aspect of battlefield tactics both among the defeated Germans and in racist groups in areas outside of Germany. It would be an extreme stance to take if one were to argue that the German fear of blacks and African culture was based on any overwhelming physical threat of the German nation being overtaken by a military advance made up primarily of black soldiers as a response to slave-related oppression.

I intend to argue that the race-based fear which swept through Germany and other parts of the world was a reaction inspired by the encroaching tide of African culture which had, in the eyes of bigoted white observes, invaded France in the wake of The Great War and taken over with a zealous drive that threatened to spread out to all areas of the continent. This cultural takeover was seen as a spotlight on the weakness of the French people, and as a marker of their inability to or lack of concern in keeping their branch of the undeniably dominant white race pure and undiluted. It was the possibility of inferior cultural seepage from a neighboring nation which threatened the pristine wholesome centers of white glory with being overrun by a savage and uncontrollable people who would muddy and poison their bloodlines beyond any state of conservation. The ever-increasing rise in black individuality and African independence which France offered to soldiers who had fought against Germany in the war stood as an example of the greatest threat to white hegemony, and would lead to the development of the harshest and most racially intolerant political dogma to emerge after the cataclysmic events of the war.

To expand upon this argument and the various other ideas which I feel contributed to the atmosphere of racial hate and bigotry I turn to an article written by Jennifer Anne Boittin entitled “In Black and White: Gender, Race Relations, and the Nardal Sisters in Interwar Paris”. Although this piece was written to relay the tremendous steps which blacks could now take in the realms of politics, popular culture, and overall social participation in interwar France as being a very positive sign for Africans in Europe and setting a foundation for the eventual racial enlightenment which would come decades later, I have chosen to approach the material from the point of view that would have been taken by anti-black groups and influential supporters of continued white dominance. The fact that this piece was written from a liberated and exceedingly supportive vision of the leaps and bounds being made by Africans who had finally managed to breach European society en masse serves as a superlative example of how anti-black groups would have taken a very similar stance when attempting to arouse fear, suspicion, and dread at the onslaught of African presence so very close to home.

The key words mentioned repeatedly by Ms. Boittin which stood out so starkly as I read them were challenged and demanded. The notion of members of the black race reached a point where they could challenge traditionally held beliefs of white superiority and demand changes in favor of their unhindered inclusion in the global environment would certainly have led the most powerful leaders of opposing nations to search for any means by which they could use these developments to their advantage and retain an even stronger grasp on control. Negritude was established not only as a key factor in helping Africans achieve a greater sense of equality and acceptance than they had ever known before, but it was also a dangerous and sinister tool used by people filled not so much with hate as with a craving and unending desire to secure their place in the upper echelons of European society and to garner fervent popular support for their racist and prejudiced ideologies and propaganda. Another important aspect of this subject which seems to be raised solely on one aside of the issue or the other is women’s involvement in the ever-increasing relations between the white and non-white races. Ms. Boittin describes the strong and independent minded African woman who fought for change and far-reaching freedoms, but she fails to approach the outside view of these women as it relates to the consequences of their struggle and rise in influence when used as a ploy in propagandist measures to incite racial hate, intolerance, and fear.

Likewise, Tina Campt approaches the aspect of the female role in interwar race relations quite engagingly in her insightful book Other Germans: Black Germans and the Politics of Race, Gender, and Memory in the Third Reich. Ms. Campt uses startling examples of how women were used by hateful whites to set up African men as the ultimate evil which threatens the continued prosperity of the white races. Her main point of focus is on the occupation of the Rhine directly after the settlements of World War II and the intensely resentful backlash which was caused by this terrible and costly misstep in international policy by the victors of The Great War. Although offering a fantastic glimpse of the German mindset during the time and the ways in which anti-black hatred found its various outlets, Ms. Campt fails to stretch these gender-focused ideals onto other nations and to come to a deeper conclusion regarding the emotional impact of the female spirit on the white male European mind. She goes into great detail on the tendency toward ostracism and loathing created by German women mixing with African men, but denies us a glimpse thru German eyes of the African woman or the supportive French matron. Feelings of disgust toward interracial sexual relations are undoubtedly the primary result in any popularized opinion of the time, however this viewpoint shies too far from the important aspect of black women in France and their role in assuming a powerful partnership with white men and the significance of sexual lust on both men and women. This stance of white male purity may have been the dominating ideal at the time, but a deeper discussion of the impact of liberated females outside of Germany is certainly called for.

Ms. Campt has directed her writing toward the internal workings of the German people and the effect that the defeat in WWI had on German consciousness. This narration is highly passionate and without a doubt offers a tremendous vision of how racial intolerance came to be one of the most dominant aspects of German politics and how the forced presence of black troops along the German borders created an explosive atmosphere wherein the Nazi party was allowed to rise and flourish. The main weakness of this account however is the inability to make the strong connection between the developments going on outside of the German nation and the political workings being manipulated in the German government. I plan to argue that as the National Socialists came into power they developed a policy repressed hate toward local black citizens and increased fear and trepidation towards outside forces. It would have been quite easy for those in power to eradicate ‘diluting’ influences within the national borders, but I argue that they took the stance of allowing these portions of society to fester and grow in the public mind as a constant unaddressed menace which would eventually give them a greater sway over the will of the people. By focusing on the rise of black pressures and movements outside of the nations borders, Hitler’s party could claim total control and assume the position of righteous saviors of the nation against an invading horde of savage and power-hungry blacks. The political strategy of the Nazis was founded on the outside forces which must be faced, and not on the internal threats which had to be eliminated. The purity of the race could not simply be maintained by looking inward and sterilizing mixed-raced German citizens, but the outside peril must be attacked and pushed back. The key to Nazi control lay not in preservation or defensive posturing, but in an all-out offensive blitzkrieg on any and every outside force threatening the realm.

These ideas and arguments are of course in need of strong and powerful first-hand accounts of the interwar period to give them any sense of lasting historical weight. To achieve this I have used two main primary sources from the time to create a vision of the European mindset after the war, and to highlight the dangerously fertile ground that existed for anti-black influences to attain massive amounts of power and public sway as a result of growing African mobility on the continent. The first of these is entitled “The African Roots of War”, written by W. E. Burghardt Du Bois for the Atlantic Monthly. This tremendous piece of primary documentation presents the opinions which reigned throughout European society after the war in which Africans were seen as bringing the white races down to a horrific level of brutality by their involvement in the battles on European soil. Added to these visions of negative influence of European sensibilities was the incredible and darkly imagined specter of possibilities for revenge seen in the increased African presence. These threatening possibilities were expounded upon and spread by hateful groups who wishes to promote anti-black hysteria and forceful expulsion of all Africans from the European continent. This powerful wellspring of racist propaganda stayed imbedded in the European mindset all through the interwar period and would be played upon and brought back to life by hate-mongering forces which would lead Europe right into a second World War.

Another article which provides remarkable support for the arguments I intend to present, as well as serving as a source for a second strong pillar of my presented connections across international boundaries, is entitled “The Colour Problem” by Lord F. D. Lugard. this article not only shows the preponderance of racist ideology and widespread blame in the years following WWI, but expands on these ideals to show the incredible impact which the United States had on the formation of anti-black political parties and their inferred sense of international support. This article very clearly draws a line between anti-black and negritude-like feelings across the European continent. Another important aspect which I lean heavily upon in this article is the notion that no matter what type of relationship was formed between blacks and whites in the post-war period, those in power who sought to use racist ideology as a means of attaining control and popular influence could twist and contort these interactions so serve their purposes. If blacks were embraced by a society such as was the case most notably in France, it could be said that Africans were taking over and replacing white culture with their own. If blacks were shunned and spoken out against as took place in England, these feelings could certainly be played upon to instigate race riots and color-directed violence, and then the ever-increasing problems could be blamed squarely on the presence of blacks in the community. This ability to warp and misrepresent any kind of situation where blacks were involved would serve as the origins to the progression of racial political policy in Nazi Germany and the freedom which those political devils eventually came to possess.

Another aspect which I believe will strengthen my arguments is the burgeoning inclination for former colonial powers to now support libertarian movements in Africa on a level which had never been seen before. I intend to argue that this interesting and quizzical development came as a direct result of increased African presence in Europe and that the secret desire of the forces behind these movements was to create an atmosphere far from European centers of society where blacks would feel welcomed and in control so that they would cease to strive for increased participation and inclusion in European affairs. Of particular insight into this issue in an document entitles “Native Races and Peace Terms” produced by Anti-Slavery International.

Among these larger and more focused primary sources I will also be using newspaper articles and brief editorials from the interwar period to support my stances on how public opinion directed policy during this time, and how the preponderance of anti-black sentiment and hateful movements from Britain to America to Germany and other European nations found support and revitalization in each other and would eventually lead to the formation of an atmosphere in which political leaders felt that they could base their doctrines on anti-black ideals and gain massive undeniable support from the majority of their citizens. By linking the political, cultural, and international changes and developments of the turbulent post-war period in European society I will show how the increased presence of African citizens in Europe led to counter-cultures based on hate, ignorance, and manipulation; forces which would combine to lead the world into another devastating conflict which would have crippling consequences on the Europe and the world that we still feel the reverberations of today.

Wesley Randall

Essay #3

Impact of The Great War on European Attitudes Toward Africans

During the first decade of the 20th Century the rising tide of civilizing forces throughout Europe would bring about phenomenal changes in all areas of life, from science and education, to politics and the formation of distinct national cultures. Each of these so called progressive spheres of burgeoning modernity would soon converge in a tremendous continental collision that would come to be known as The Great War by the nations ravaged and decimated by the pointedly unenlightened and brutish character of its participants. It was in the last straggling months of this horrendous irrational conflict, and most remarkably throughout the decade following this time of international heartache, that the multitude of European attitudes toward Africans would undergo extraordinary changes. Although these changes would differ dramatically from region to region and culture to culture, the one constant drive behind them would be the same; Africans were becoming much more prevalent within European society as a direct result of their involvement in The Great War.

The blossoming nationalistic tendencies developed during the period of widespread European involvement in colonizing ventures led to the establishment of marked differences in the views formed toward Africans in each country. British involvement in colonialist missions in areas all around the African continent would be responsible for the formation of a cultural need within England to see any African person as naturally inferior to the white race as a means of dismissing the otherwise immoral practices of exploiting an entire society for economic and political gains. When stories of rebellious groups of Africans fighting back against British dominance, most notably the Zulu peoples, made their way back to England, these political and cultural devices of promoted inferiority became strengthened with real feelings of hatred and resentment toward all Africans as a natural reaction to the challenged and embarrassed sense of British national pride.¹ These attitudes of superiority so prevalent throughout English society were also furthered by scientists, racial anthropologists, and elitists looking to stir up fanaticism against African peoples as an entire race, aiming to further their own social standing and popular acclaim by playing upon the rising feelings of frustration and bigotry caused by stalled attempts at English dominance in the African colonies.²

It was this atmosphere of fermenting hostility into which a great number of black men were quite unknowingly thrust during The Great War, and continuing on for many years after the resolution of the war. Many of these African men had come to Europe as soldiers in the American armed forces to join in the battle against the Germans; and through limited experience and second-hand reports they had developed an image of England as a welcoming country much more invited to black citizens than the racially charged and intensely discriminatory environment that had just left behind in America. This mistaken assumption highlights one of the most prevailing societal characteristics sweeping through Europe in this time of great change and upheaval; namely the propensity for an emerging chasm between the budding attitude of the general populace and the ideals which remained dominant within the upper echelons of society. A widespread sense of guilt among those who had profited so tremendously from the slave trade swept through intellectual circles and prompted a desire to seek some sense of cultural retribution and greater acceptance.³ However, these views did not filter down to the greater mass of the population, and would only serve to create hostility and resentment between English workers and black immigrants. Popular African figures like Paul Robeson would make haughty claims that England was an “infinitely better” place for blacks than the United States; but as Bush sheds light on this notion it becomes apparent that this was only applicable to black men found to be exceeding “intelligence and ability”.⁴

The reaction to this influx of non-white immigrants after the war was most severe among working-class laborers. Blacks choosing to stay in England and seek residence as opposed to returning to their home countries had to have jobs to support themselves, and this created massive problems with the already struggling populace. Work was scarce and intensely competitive in the large urban areas where most former soldiers looked to make their living, and this cutthroat necessity combined with previously held beliefs of racial superiority and deep-rooted resentment toward Africans in general to create an explosive atmosphere of discrimination, street skirmishes, and municipal riots. Violence quickly led to mutual hatred supported and fostered by innate racial differences. These terrible and painful responses to conflicting cultures failing to merge together would lead to very beneficial and groundbreaking consequences as the decade of the 1920s came to a close. Students from the African continent mixed socially with educated blacks from America in this highly charged post-war era and a greater sense of shared identity based on African heritage began to be formed, which led to a phenomenal increase in political awareness among non-whites living in British society.⁵ This escalation in political activity would lead to the formation of the League of Colored Peoples in 1931, and the landmark international conferences organized by Africans to unite under common purposes which would take place in the 1930s and 1940s.

The impact of the increased number of Africans living in Europe after the war would take a much different course in France. Similar to England, the French administration had several strong colonial ties to the African continent in the early years of the 20th Century before the outbreak of the war. However, with a greater concentration of their attention being focused on Northern African regions, any conflicts which came about took on a more anti-Islamic tint than a distinctly anti-African attitude; therefore the general populace viewed racial differences based much more upon personal experiences and less as a result of forced social ideals permeating through the culture. France had a historical characteristic of being a place where slaves could come and be free, through national laws rejecting slavery and on more individual cases through private court cases. Although the legislature had been trying repeatedly to enact laws to keep more blacks from entering France on a permanent basis and to deport many who already lived there, the feelings of the general public were much more accepting and offered a more welcoming atmosphere to non-whites from any place of origin.

The emergence of this inviting atmosphere came as a result of the carnage and psychological humiliation suffered by all Europeans during The Great War. As Adas so succinctly highlights, any sense of moral superiority or European machismo was wiped out through horrendous experiences on the battlefield.⁶ As a direct result, there developed a tremendous desire for change and a new injection of exotic and lively forces into French society. This willful breaking with past bonds of traditional stagnation can be seen quite prominently in the popular reaction to Serge Voronoff's experimentation with rejuvenation in the 1920s. In previous decades, making such outlandish claims as splicing monkey parts into white human anatomy would have created a terrific uproar among a more repressed citizenry. However, as Berliner points out, the public reaction to these wild scientific declarations was one of satirical playfulness and humor.⁷

This environment of cultural freedom and prevailing encouragement of experimentation, combined with the fact that racial segregation was made illegal in France after The Great War, made French society a burgeoning center for interracial relations. It was these first experiences, lived and shared by American soldiers in Europe, which filtered though to the other branches of society back home and created a longing among all people of African descent to be a part of this incredible new diverse culture. This merging of two cultures to create a greater overall social consciousness can be seen in the national reaction in France to the arrival of Josephine Baker. A passion for African dance, music, and entertainment swept through every facet of French society; as is illustrated in the amazing art of Paul Colin, showing celebrities and well-known members of French popular culture being carried away by this riveting new craze.⁸ This attitude of acceptance was not simply a popular culture phenomenon by any means. Owen White places a wonderful focus on the deep and lasting romantic relationships that were formed between Africans and French citizens during this time, which is perhaps the greatest example of all that the war had shifted so dramatically the very nature of interracial associations.⁹

To say that The Great War brought unprecedented disruption, mayhem, and despair to the nations of Europe would be an understatement of historical proportions. Each country involved suffered culturally and socially debilitating damages, whether they claimed the winning side or the losing side. The influx of black soldiers into the European continent would put Europeans into greater contact with intelligent and independent minded Africans than they had ever been before. The consequences of this mingling of cultures ranged from racially charged urban riots to the complete transformation of popular culture. In defeated Germany, the close stationing of African troops to the German borders can even be seen as a catalyst to the development of racist fervor which would ultimately lead to a second great war. The one constant in each instance was the backlash of young energetic members of European society against established traditional forces which had brought the devastating war upon them all, and the prevalence of young black soldiers in European urban centers added greatly to the momentum of this extraordinary transformation in cultural attitudes.

Bibliography

Adas, Michael. “Contested Hegemony: The Great War and the Afro-Asian Assault on the

Civilizing Mission Ideology.” Journal of World History 15, no. 1 (2004): 31-63.

Adi, Hakim. “Pan-Africanism and West African Nationalism in Britain.” African Studies

Review 43, no. 1 (2000): 69-82.

Berliner, Brett A. “Mephistopheles and Monkeys: Rejuvenation, Race, and Sexuality in

Popular Culture in Interwar France.” Journal of the History of Sexuality 13, no. 3

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Bush, Barbara. Imperialism, Race, and Resistance: Britain, 1919-1945. Florence, KY:

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Dalton, Karen C. C. and Henry Louis Gates, Jr. “Josephine Baker and Paul Colin: African

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1 J.M. McKenzie, Partition of Africa, 1880-1900: And European Imperialism in the Nineteenth Century (Florence, KY: Routledge, 1983), 24.

2 Douglas Lorimer, “Theoretical Racism in Late-Victorian Anthropology, 1870-1900,” Victorian Studies 31, no. 3 (Spring 1988): 408-409.

3 Halett, Changing European Attitudes to Africa (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008), 490.

4 Barbara Bush, Imperialism, Race, and Resistance: Africa and Britain, 1919-1945 (Florence, KY: Routledge, 1999), 214.

5 Hakim Adi, “Pan-Africanism and West African Nationalism in Britain,” African Studies Review 43, no. 1 (2000): 70-71.

6 Michael Adas, "Contested Hegemony: The Great War and the Afro-Asian Assault in the Civilizing Mission Ideology," Journal of World History 15, no. 1 (2004), 45-46.

7 Brett A. Berliner, "Mephistopheles and Monkeys: Rejuvenation, Race, and Sexuality in Popular Culture in Interwar France," Journal of the History of Sexuality 13, no. 3 (2004), 9-10.

8 Karen C. C. Dalton and Henry Louis Gates Jr., “Josephine Baker and Paul Colin: African American Dance Seen through Parisian Eyes,” Critical Inquiry 24, no. 4 (1998), 928-930.

9 Owen White, “Miscegenation and the Popular Imagination,” in Promoting the Colonial Idea: Propaganda and Visions of Empire in France, ed. Tony Chafer and Amanda Sackur (Gordonsville, VA: Palgrave Macmillan, 2001), 138.