{"product_id":"9780817384890","title":"Germany in Central America: Competitive Imperialism, 1821-1929","description":"\u003cp\u003eUsing previously untapped resources including private collections,\u003cbr\u003e the records of cultural institutions, and federal and state government\u003cbr\u003e archives, Schoonover analyzes the German role in Central American domestic\u003cbr\u003e and international relations.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cp\u003eOf the four countries most active in independent Central America-Britain,\u003cbr\u003e the United States, France, and Germany- historians know the least about\u003cbr\u003e the full extent of the involvement of the Germans.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cp\u003eGerman colonial expansion was based on its position as an industrialized\u003cbr\u003e state seeking economic well-being and security in a growing world market.\u003cbr\u003e German leaders were quick to recognize that ties to the cheap labor of\u003cbr\u003e overseas countries could compensate for some of the costs and burdens of\u003cbr\u003e conceding material and social privileges to their domestic labor force.\u003cbr\u003e The Central American societies possessed limited resource bases; smaller\u003cbr\u003e and poorly educated populations; and less capital, communications, and\u003cbr\u003e technological development than Germany. They saw the borrowing of development\u003cbr\u003e as a key to their social, economic, and political progress. Wary Central\u003cbr\u003e American leaders also saw the influx of German industrialists as assurance\u003cbr\u003e against excessive U.S. presence in their political economies and cultures.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cp\u003eAlthough the simplistic bargain to trade economic development for cheap\u003cbr\u003e labor appeared to succeed in the short term, complex issues of German domestic\u003cbr\u003e unemployment and social disorder filtered to Central American countries\u003cbr\u003e and added to their own burdens. By 1929, Germany had recovered most of\u003cbr\u003e its pre-World War I economic position.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"University of Alabama Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47119334146288,"sku":"9780817384890","price":34.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780817384890_p0.jpg?v=1763745922","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780817384890","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}