“A Good‐Will Ship”: The Light Cruiser Köln Visits Rabaul (1933) |
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| Authors: | Christine Winter |
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| Institution: | 1. Australian National University;2. I would like to thank Geoffrey Gray and Hank Nelson for all their support and encouragement. Too many archivists provided me with help and advise to name them all;3. their assistance was invaluable. Colleagues and friends have commented on earlier versions of this paper, especially Peter Hempenstall, Robin Hide, Margaret Jolly, Tessa Morris‐Suzuki, John Moses, and Barry Smith. This paper is dedicated to Leafa Janice Wilson aka Olga Krause and her family past and present. |
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| Abstract: | The concept of loyalty still holds a central space in many histories about New Guinean‐Australian relations, especially during the Second World War, and translates into demands by Australians that New Guineans recognize Australia's political system as “the best”. In this article about the visit of the first German navy cruiser to New Guinea after the First World War, I tell a story not about loyalties, but about contesting colonial claims, namely Australia's insistence on “loyalty”, and Germany's demand for a “return” of her colony. The visit of Köln in 1933 raises questions such as: How did Germans and Australians negotiate living together in the Mandated Territory of New Guinea? How were divisions, grief, tensions, and hostilities after the First World War dealt with? What separated them, what united them, and what role did New Guineans play in this complex relationship? |
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