Yvonne Jüttner, M.A.
Topic
A comparative and contrasting study on the commemorative culture of the former German colony “Kiautschou” in Germany and China
Abstract
In 1897 the German Empire signed a contract with the Chinese Empire about the occupation of the Kiautschou bay, which allowed for these political and military circumstances, that effectively meant to build a colony, to remain for the duration of 99 years. The new German property in China was called a “Pachtgebiet”, because of the signed contract. But it was seen as a German colony by the German public. In the end, the “Pachtgebiet” was only occupied by Germans until 1914 when the Japanese army invaded the country in the course of World War I., in the beginning, the German soldiers fought against the Japanese invaders. But they had to surrender eventually and the survivors were taken to Japan as war prisoners. With the official signing of the contacts of Versailles 1919 the German Empire had to give up on every former colonial territory and had to sign it over to the Allied forces. The “Pachtgebiet” Kiautschou was henceforth given to the Japanese Empire to govern.
With this dissertation project, the author wants to compose a comparing and contrasting study about the commemorative culture of the former colony Kiautschou in Germany and China. Concerning this matter, the researcher wants to compare and contrast two different political regimes in both countries in terms of how they handled the matter of commemorative culture on this shared colonial history. Contrary to formerly conducted studies in this field this researcher will not only study the topic from a German-centered perspective but also try to use the Chinese perspective. In the German research field on commemorative culture, the focus has long since been in World War I and II and the Holocaust. German (post)colonial commemorative culture is mostly focused on the African colonies like Togo, Cameroon or Namibia. I want to fill this gap in German scientific historical research with my dissertation.
Research interests
- Postcolonial studies
- commemorative culture
- Chinese history
- Chinese culture and language
- economic and social history
Biography
Yvonne Jüttner graduated in 2009 from a German Gymnasium in Hohenstein- Ernstthal. She began her studies for the Bachelor´s degree in European History at the University of Chemnitz in the same year. Mrs Jüttner completed her Bachelor´s degree successfully in 2013. She began her studies for her Master´s degree in the same subject with the specialization in Social and Economic History in the same year. In 2016 she completed her Master`s degree in European History. Since April 2017 she writes her dissertation as a fellow of the graduate school “Europe in China. China in Europe.” at the University of Hamburg.