Rasul A. Mowatt
As a form of domination, colonialism lasted (or lasts) based on a range of formal structures within the colony and in the empire. But in the seat of empire, to justify the redirection of resources, extract labour for colonial service and build a public consciousness in support of empire, forms of entertainment and education were key. Children’s books, novels and, for this proposed manuscript, board games. Through archival research, the first edition of Deutschland’s Kolonien-Spiel (1890), one can peer into the cultivation of a colonial mindset (young gamers) by colonial architects (senior architects), as by the latter half of the 1800s, Germany had “acquired” territory in Africa, Asia and the Pacific Islands. The Berlin Conference of 1884–1885 did not result in the broader aims (and needs) of Germany; there was a financial crisis that the colonies were to play a crucial part in solving. Dice rolls led to figurines moving across borders and through territories. Dice rolling led to historical and geopolitical awareness while understanding the inferiority of the depicted colonized. The first player to reach China wins and accumulates all of the marks. This is the pedagogy of colonialism.