Jews as Cultural Mediators in “Greater Palestine”: Davis Trietsch and the Colonial Ambitions of Early German Zionists

 

The territorial concepts of German Zionists and the methods of settlement they proposed in order to realize their colonial ambitions offer a promising access to the history of early Zionism. At the height of their influence this group of self-proclaimed experts developed a rich discourse on space and the different ways it could be put to use. The aim of the study is to explore the facets of these discussions over Palestine and its projected colonization as it emerged at the turn of the century, analyzing the motivations of its proponents, the rhetorical moves they made, and the cultural conventions that shaped their thought.

The focus will be on the activities of the prolific writer Davis Trietsch (1870–1935) and his concept of a “Greater Palestine”. Once a remarkable figure on the Jewish nationalist scene, after his death he largely disappeared from historical memory. Coherent biographical information about Trietsch, who was one of the most insistent advocates of practical colonization in Palestine, will be therefore compiled for the very first time. He shall be investigated as a dynamic social actor whose thought was highly influenced by contemporary ideas.

Whereas most Zionists supported the foundation of Jewish colonies in the actual Ottoman Palestine, Trietsch developed his concept of a “Greater Palestine” in which neighboring regions would also have been settled. As early as 1899, he considered Cyprus to be the ideal supplement and became the outstanding advocate of Jewish settlement on the island. The Zionist’s grandiose plans toward the future of Palestine shall be investigated by tracing their intellectual origins, since they provided the fertile soil in which ideas about “Greater Palestine” blossomed. For interpreting the latter, which so far seems to have been the most elaborated concept at the time, the high impact of early twentieth-century imperial thought will be considered. In this sense, other concepts such as “Greater Britain” and “Größeres Deutschland” that were popular at the turn of the century and from which Trietsch apparently drew his terminological inspiration will be examined.

 

Aside from “Greater Palestine” and its intellectual origins, another focus will be on the methods and techniques which Trietsch wished to implement. Both are closely related to each other because new technologies engendered a profound transformation in the manner in which the world itself was perceived and therefore advanced imperial imaginaries such as “Greater Palestine”. The settlement schemes proposed by Trietsch reflect how deeply they were influenced by social and economic theories current at the time. Thus, the impact of contemporary ideas by which early German Zionists developed not only their concepts of territory but also their settlement schemes shall be analyzed.

Trietsch and other German Zionists observed attentively the colonial practices of the Great Powers in order to learn from their experiences. This circulation of colonial knowledge has been discussed by historians almost exclusively within the German context. For this reason, the question to what extent his plans were linked to developments outside of Germany is of particular interest. Given the fact that Trietsch had a special interest in the colonial techniques used in the British Empire and the United States, notably in Cyprus and California, he can be described as more “cosmopolitan” than other German Zionists. In this regard, he shall be portrayed as a multifaceted “entrepreneur of knowledge”, who initiated several forward looking projects, whose British and American influence will be traced.

 

 

Scholarships

Since October 2016: Leo Baeck Fellowship Programme

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lisa.gebhard[at]fu-berlin.de