German expansionism imperial liberalism and the United States 1776 1945 Machine generated contents note: Introduction 1. Soil liberty and blood : Germans and American westward expansion before 1871 2. From theory to practice : German colonialism and American westward expansion before the Great War I 3. The American South and racial segregation in the German colonies 4. America race and German expansionism from the Great War to 1945 Conclusion: Imperial liberalism Nazi expansionism and the continuities of German history This book traces the importance of the United States for German colonialism from the late eighteenth century to 1945 focusing on American westward expansion and racial politics. Jens Uwe Guettel argues that from the late eighteenth century onward ideas of colonial expansion played a very important role in liberal enlightened and progressive circles in Germany which in turn looked across the Atlantic to the liberal democratic United States for inspiration and concrete examples. In the early years of the twentieth century this America inspired and influenced imperial liberalism dominated German colonial discourse and practice. Yet following this pre 1914 peak of liberal political influence on the administration and governance of Germanys colonies the expansionist ideas embraced by Germanys far right after the countrys defeat in the First World War had little or no connection with the German Empires liberal imperialist tradition. German Expansionism Imperial Liberalism and the United States 1776 1945 therefore shows that for example Nazi plans for the settlement of conquered Eastern European territories were not directly linked to pre 1914 transatlantic exchanges concerning race and expansionism —