Germany and the Middle East: 1871-1945

by Wolfgang G Schwanitz (Editor)

Overview

Before World War II, Germany intended to set up a greater Arabia under the influence of the Axis powers of Germany, Italy, and Japan. But the war changed everything. Now the Middle East became a potential battlefield at the crossroads between Asia, Africa, and Europe. For instance, Ankara sent Berlin essential raw materials like chrome ore for its war industry, and it was where the Nazis sold looted gold (mainly confiscated from Jews) for foreign currency. As in World War I, the Germans tried to incite Arab populations to jihad against the allied nations. As the war against the USSR dragged on and the tactics of blitzkrieg failed, the Middle East became more and more important for the Nazis. After the fall of Moscow they regarded this region as the next main battleground for crushing the British Empire, as Adolf Hitler revealed to the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem in late 1941, adding that after his victory against the Russians he would pursue the Jews in the Middle East as he was doing already in occupied Europe.

This book includes new historical studies about Germany and Afghanistan, the relations between Berlin and Riyadh, German archaeological research, Arab inmates in Nazi concentration camps, and prominent Germans like Dr. Fritz Grobba, Franz von Papen, and Oskar Ritter von Niedermayer, which combine to shed new light on a crucial period and region of world history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781558762985
Publisher:	Wiener, Markus Publishers, Incorporated
Publication date:	11/27/2019
Pages:	254
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.58(d)

About the Author

Wolfgang G. Schwanitz, author, has also written Germans in the Near East, 1946-1965 and Gold, Bankers, and Diplomats: A History of the German Orient Bank, 1906-1946. He is the editor of seven books on the Near and Middle East.

Table of Contents

Maps, Illustrations, and Documents

Preface and Acknowledgments

The German Middle Eastern Policy, 1871–1945

Wolfgang G. Schwanitz

The German Mission to Afghanistan, 1915–1916

Thomas L. Hughes

“When Continents Awake, Island Empires Fall!”: Germany and the Destabilization of the East, 1919–1922

Hans-Ulrich Seidt

“The Jinnee and the Magic Bottle”: Fritz Grobba and German Middle East Policy, 1900–1945

Wolfgang G. Schwanitz

German-Saudi Relations and Their Actors on the Arabian Peninsula, 1924–1939

Uwe Pfullmann

German Research on the Ancient Near East and its Relation to Political and Economic Interests from Kaiserreich to World War II

Stefan R. Hauser

Berlin—Ankara—Baghdad: Franz von Papen and German Near East Policy during the Second World War

Karl Heinz Roth

In the Shadow of the Moon: Arab Inmates in Nazi Concentration Camps

Gerhard Höpp

Selected Bibliography

Index

About the Authors

Editorial Reviews

“A success.” — Journal of Palestine Studies

“Detailed insights into German interest toward the Middle East, German traditions, Afghanistan, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” — Middle East Policy

“Excellent overview… This anthology presents highly valuable information as well as paradigms that shed new light on contemporary events.” — German Studies Review

From the Publisher