Steamship Nationalism

<p><em>Steamship Nationalism</em> is a cultural social and political history of the S.S. <i>Imperator</i> <i>Vaterland</i> and <i>Bismarck</i>. Transatlantic passenger steamships launched by the <i>Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Aktien-Gesellschaft</i> (HAPAG) between 1912 and 1914 they do not enjoy the international fame of their British counterparts most notably the <i>Titanic</i>.<i> </i>Yet the <i>Imperator</i>-class liners<em> </em>were the largest most luxurious passenger vessels built before the First World War. In keeping with the often-overlooked history of its merchant marine as a whole they reveal much about Imperial Germany in its national and international dimensions. As products of business decisions shaped by global dynamics and the imperatives of international travel immigration and trade HAPAG’s giant liners bear witness to Germany’s involvement in the processes of globalization prior to 1914. Yet this book focuses not on their physical but on their cultural construction in a variety of contemporaneous media including the press and advertising on both sides of the Atlantic. At home they were presented to the public as symbolic of the nation’s achievements and ambitions in ways that emphasize the complex nature of German national identity at the time. Abroad they were often construed as floating national monuments and as such facilitated<em> </em>important encounters with Germany both virtual and real for the populations of Britain and America. Their overseas reception highlights the multi-faceted image of the European superpower that was constructed in the Anglo-American world in these years. More generally it is a pointed indicator of the complex relationship between Britain the United States and Imperial Germany.</p>