Table Of ContentOXFORD STUDIES IN
MODERN EUROPEAN HISTORY
GeneralEditors:SIMON DIXON, MARK MAZOWER,
and
JAMES RETALLACK
Mapping the
Germans
Statistical Science, Cartography,
and the Visualization of the
–
German Nation, 1848 1914
JASON D. HANSEN
1
3
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—
For my mother how I wish you were here to share in this moment
Preface and Acknowledgments
Like many historical events, this book began with a chance encounter. One day
whiledoingresearchinalibraryinBerlin,Icameacrossacuriousmap.Commis-
sioned in 1903 by a notorious radical nationalist group called the Pan-German
League,itpurportedtoshowthelocationofalltheethnicGermancommunitiesin
Europe.Whatstruckmeaboutthemapwasnotsomuchitsimperialvision(which
inmanywaysanticipatedAdolfHitler’sThirdReich)butthedepthandspecificity
of its claims. Stretching over the entire continent of Europe, the map carefully
delineated between “German” and “non-German” territory in the most exact and
spatially specific terms possible. Traditional political and geographic boundaries
werelargelyignored,replacedinsteadbytheintentional yetwanderingline ofthe
“languagefrontier.”Thisthenwascomplementedbyhundredsofsmallgroupings
(or“islands”)whoseplacementagainlookedhighlyintentional.How,Iwondered,
couldthemap’sauthorbesocertainoftheplacementoftheselines?Howdidone
know exactly where the boundary lines between the various ethnic and national
communitiesinCentralandEasternEuropeactuallywere?Thevariousmembersof
nationalgroups,afterall,usuallydonotlivetogetherinageographicallycontiguous
body, but have historically tended to intermix with one another. Moreover,
national consciousness (or membership in a given nation) is not a permanent,
objectivelydeterminablequalitythatcaneasilybesurveyedandmapped.Ratherit
isafeeling,asentiment—atypeofloyalty—whichcanchangeovertimedepending
oncircumstances.Intimesofcrisisorwaritsimportancecanbequitestrong,while
atothertimesitalmostseemssecondaryorunimportant.Weplaywiththeideaof
nationality on a daily basis, emphasizing our commitment to its existence at one
moment while completely disregarding it at others. And as I learned while con-
ductingresearchforthisbookinGermanyin2006,nowheredoesthistrendoccur
more often than in football/soccer, where players and fans now regularly change
their national allegiances. Young players choose what teams to play for based as
muchonopportunityaspersonalconviction,whilefansoftenseenocontradiction
inwearingaFrenchmaillotoneday,aGermanTrikotthenext,onlytobefollowed
by an English jersey later the same night. Nor is this national amphibianism
necessarily new. As historians such as Tara Zahra have recently argued, nation
switching is an historical phenomenon with a deep history of its own.1 My own
experiencesandconceptionsofwhatnationalityisandhowitaffectsus,therefore,
seemedquitedifferentfromthesuretyandconfidenceofthemapinquestion.
From this initial curiosity the present work has grown, first as a dissertation
completedattheUniversityofIllinois,Urbana-Champaignin2010andnowasa
bookwithOxfordUniversityPress.Alongthewaynumerousindividuals,groups,
1 TaraZahra,KidnappedSouls:NationalIndifferenceandtheBattleforChildrenintheBohemian
Lands,1900–1948(Ithaca:CornellUniversityPress,2011).
viii PrefaceandAcknowledgments
and organizations have greatly assisted in its production. It obviously could never
havebeenwrittenhadInothadtheopportunitytostudythehistorian’scraftasa
graduate student in Champaign, and I owe my colleagues and mentors there an
enormousdebt.Icouldalsoneverhavewrittenitwithoutthegeneroussupportof
such organizations as the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the
GermanHistoricalInstitute(GHI)inWashington,DC,theCouncilofEuropean
Studies (CES) and the German Marshall Fund, the Doris G. Quinn Foundation,
and the Research and Professional Growth Committee at Furman University,
who provided funding at various points along the way for scholarly research. As
I show in the book, material conditions also play a role in the formation of
knowledge, and it is worth noting that had I not found permanent employment
at a university this book would never have come to fruition. I must therefore
kindly thank the staff and history departments of Western Washington Univer-
sity and Furman University.
Thereareobviouslyamyriadofindividualswhohavehelpedtheconstructionof
this work in ways both large and small. I would especially like to thank Tom
Bedwell, Amanda Brian, Heinz-Peter Brogiato, Roger Chickering, Erik Ching,
AlonConfino,AndrewDemshuk,TimFehler,myadvisorPeterFritzsche,Moritz
Föllmer, Wolfgang Hartwig, Jürgen Kocka, Fred Marquardt, Mark Micale, Will
Morris, Anke Pinkert, Uwe Puschner, James Retallack, Helmut Walser Smith,
Marian Strobel, Mary Stuart, Carol Symes, Jason Tebbe, Maria Todorova, Cor-
inna Treitel, Petra Weigel, and Richard Wetzell for the roles they have played in
shaping the present work. Your friendship and guidance has been invaluable over
the years!
Iwouldalsoliketothankthemanymembersofmylargeandextendedfamily,
whohavebeenanincrediblesourceofemotionalsupportovertheyears.Icouldnot
havewrittenthiswithoutthelove,understandingandaboveallthepatienceofmy
fatherJeff,mystep-motherPage,andmywonderfulwifeDanielle.AsIwritethese
words,Iespeciallythinkaboutmymother,Sherry,whounfortunatelydidnotlive
toseethecompletionofthiswork.Thecourageandneverendingwilltolivethat
youdisplayedduringyourtwoyearfightwithcancerinspiredmeandcontinuesto
inspiremeeveryday!
* * *
Finally, as I think about the history of this book, I keep coming back to the role
played by chance; the randomness of discovering a key document in a distant
library far from home. We live in an era in which major institutions are cutting
back support for humanities research and for graduate study in general. Libraries
areconvertingthemselvesintosocialspaces,withtheircollectionseitherbeingfully
digitizedorremovedtoremotestoragespaces.Resourcesarebecomingincreasingly
scarce, resulting in the development of an academic culture that prizes economic
efficiencyandproductivityatthecostofscholarlyexplorationandexperimentation.
Too many of my colleagues get asked how much they have published recently,
ratherthanwhatthequalityoftheirpublications/contributionshasbeen.
PrefaceandAcknowledgments ix
Efficiencyandproductivityareimportant;buttheyshouldnotcauseustoforget
the important role played by chance and by patience in good scholarship. Some
booksneedtimetobewritten,andsomeprojects(suchasthisone)evolveincritical
waysonlyaftertheystartbeingproduced.Withoutcommentingonthevirtuesand
limitationsofthepresentvolume,Ihopethatweasmembersofthelargeracademic
communitydonotforgetthisintheyearstocome.
