Otis Illert

I am interested in German colonialism in Africa, both during its official period (c1885-1919) and in the post-Versailles era. My PhD project currently examines in which ways the German colonial period should be situated in a trans-imperial context. Here, I am particularly interested in settler perspectives, but my work also touches on the offical state and colonial administration's positions within the wider world of European imperialism. I am keen to explore the relations between coloniser and colonised on a civilian level, and hope to include the voices and perspectives of the local populations.

Paper 23 (Part I).
Paper 29 (Part II).

31/10/2019 Modern European History Workshop, University of Cambridge "From Trans-Imperial Cooperation to Nationalist Demands: German Colonialism in East Africa, 1885-1945"

07/10/2019 Doktorandenkolloquium Neuere Geschichte, University of Cologne "Eine europäische Kolonie? Deutsch-Ostafrika in einem trans-imperialen Kontext, 1885-1918."

26/09/2019 – 27/09/2019 The Frustrated Peace? The Versailles Treaty and its Political, Social and Economic Impact on Europe “Reclaiming Germany’s Overseas Empire: Colonial Revisionism in the Weimar and Nazi Eras”

03/05/2019 – 05/09/2019 German History Society Annual Conference “Practices of German Colonial Rule in East Africa in a Trans-Imperial Context, 1885-1914”