Guerilla diplomacy: Germany and unconventional warfare, 1884--1945

This dissertation examines the methods, motivations and intentions of German institutions which attempted to use unconventional warfare. The introduction includes a revision, redefinition and clarification of the concept of unconventional warfare, linking the concept to the creation of the modern state, forms of political legitimacy, and methods of colonialism and imperialism developed in the 18th and 19th centuries. A history of the German implementation of these methods serves as a vehicle for elaborating on this concept.;I examine the evolution of small war (Kleinkrieg) and the use of identity construction and deconstruction as methods used to gain control of territories in Africa. The two methods were combined in the First World War in German efforts to harness national liberation and revolutionary movements within the British, French and Russian empires. Interestingly, this was championed not by the military, but by the Foreign Office.;During the interwar era the creation of the Abwehr and the necessity of developing alternative methods of warfare resulted in a renewed interest in unconventional warfare. During the Second World War, the Foreign Ministry and the Abwehr would be the primary instruments of German unconventional warfare until 1944, although several other Nazi institutions would also be involved. Unconventional warfare changed in the Nazi era, as moral limitations were removed and concepts of identity construction and deconstruction were expanded through control of cultural production.;Of great interest is the continuing role of pre-Nazi institutions, methods and personnel. Many members of the Foreign Ministry who were involved with unconventional warfare during the First World War also played roles in this area during the Second World War. Similar schemes were repeated, such as efforts to harness Indian nationalism, Irish nationalism, and Pan-Islamic movements. The Nazi era was marked by far more intense competition between institutions and a tendency for ideological influences to undercut practical considerations, a key difference from the First World War.;By tracing the development of unconventional warfare, this dissertation provides insights on the breaks and continuities between Imperial Germany and the Third Reich, as well as contributing to the understanding of the nature and history of unconventional warfare.