Dr Mads Bomholt Nielsen

My research centers on the political history of Anglo-German colonialism around the First World War, especially the links between colonial affairs and diplomatic relations. I am currently preparing a monograph (contracted for Palgrave Macmillan) concerning British views and involvement in the Herero-Nama genocide in German South-West Africa, 1904-8.

During my stay at Oxford, I will continue a research project begun in 2018 on the British imperial system and the end of German colonialism after the First World War. Departing from a global history perspective, the project uses the case of the German colonies as microcosm to show two things in particular: first, the increasing influence of sub-imperial interest became a central force in British foreign policy during the war and second, how, by justifying the takeover on humanitarian grounds, the end of German colonialism in 1919 had far-reaching consequences for the maintenance of colonial empire in the interwar years.

Research Interests:

• Colonial History
• Anglo-German Relations and International Political History
• Genocide and Colonial Violence
• The First World War