QUEENSLAND'S GERMAN CONNECTIONS - PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

In first part of his essay, Robin Kleinschmidt draws a broad brush across some of the key themes of the late 19th century. Migration from the German states to the colony of Moreton Bay in New South Wales began in earnest from the 1850s – but it started with a slow trickle. Because of the rush of manpower to the Victorian goldfields in the south, station owners were unable to hire adequate numbers of workers. Knowing the reputation of Germans as reliable and honest workers, the pastoralists contracted with Kircher & Co in Sydney to bring two shiploads of German workers, who were indentured to their employers for two years, during which time they were to repay the cost of their fares. The Aurora and the Marbs arrived in 1855, each with about 300 passengers. They indeed proved to be loyal, diligent and reliable employees, and further cemented the high reputation of German workers. This was part of a small stream of German migrants in the 1850s which swelled to a virtual flood in the decade after the proclamation of Queensland in 1859. In 1861 there were 2,124 Germans in the new state. A few were tradesmen, professionals and business people in the towns, but most became agricultural workers, irrespective of their original occupations in Germany. By 1879 their numbers had risen to more than 19,000. There were compelling reasons for thousands of Germans to leave their homeland and interesting reasons why they chose Queensland as their destination. Social and economic factors were the most significant – not least among these the poor harvests of 1844 and 1846. Many of the migrants came from rural backgrounds – farmers, farm workers or tradesmen. Land ownership in Germany was an impossible dream for most and, for those who owned farms, the future prospects were bleak. In the north and north east of Prussia most of the land was in the hands of the Junkers, the Prussian nobility. Their large estates had required many farm labourers and tradesmen, often the same families for many generations. Why did they come?

But times were changing: mechanisation and industrialisation were coming to the land, and some progressive Junkers were adopting new farming practices, so that fewer workers were required. Among small landholders the practice of dividing the family farm among the sons led to the creation of ever smaller properties, which finally became unviable. Some who had been land owners were reduced to the rank of farm labourers ( Knechte , Tageslohner or Arbeitsleut e), suffering not only financial but also social decline. Paradoxically, these social and economic difficulties were paralleled by reduced infant mortality and an increase in family size. As a result there was swift population growth, leading to over-population, unemployment, and even greater economic hardship. From 1871 the rapid transformation of the newly-unified nation of Germany resulted in a shift of investment from agriculture to the nascent industrial sector, and many former rural workers were faced with the prospect of unemployment or of crowded urban living similar to the situation prevailing the previous century in England. Those who had engaged in cottage industries could not compete with mass-production of goods, especially textiles. Unemployment and poverty became serious problems, and with them came social disruption and unrest. For many years in the first half of the nineteenth century wages had been static while living costs increased. Basic living costs were high and income low. The political situation also gave some impetus to the move towards migration. In the mid-19th century the 39 independent German principalities and states were linked in a loose federation, led by Prussia, Bavaria and Austria. Count Otto von Bismarck was determined that Prussia should become and remain its dominant force. The two years of compulsory military service for young Prussian men was increased to three in 1862, as Prussia built up its military capacity in preparation for a test of strength. In 1864 it defeated Denmark in a war to establish its sovereignty over the territory of Schleswig- Holstein in the north. The defeat of Austria in the war of 1866 enabled Prussia to exclude Austria, its strongest rival, and to initiate a new North German Federation, with Prussia clearly in control. Finally, victory in the Franco-Prussian War of 1871 established Prussia as undisputed leader in Europe and enabled the creation of the new nation of Germany, with the Prussian king as Emperor and with Bismarck as its first Chancellor.

40