Dr Matthew Seligmann

Telephone: 01604 892095
Email: matthew.seligmann@northampton.ac.uk

I am a graduate of the Universities of Edinburgh and Sussex. My early research was on Anglo-German colonial relations, but I have since moved on to work on the origins of wars, the First World War in particular. I am Reader in History here at Northampton, having joined the department in 1993. I serve on the Council of the Navy Records Society and on the editorial board of the journal Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions. I am a member of the Beirat (Council) of the Prinz-Albert-Gesellschaft, an organization that promotes Anglo-German academic links through conferences and publications. I am a fellow of the Royal Historical Society.

Research interests

My main area of interest is international relations (especially Anglo-German relations) before the First World War. Within that, my core concern is the development of threat perception in Britain and Germany (especially through intelligence operations) and the impact perceived threats have on policy. I am currently working on aspects of the Anglo-German naval race before 1914, especially the origins of the Dreadnought and Invincible.

Recent publications

Books

  • Rivalry in Southern Africa 1893-1899: The Transformation of German Colonial Policy (Macmillan, 1998)
  • Germany''from Reich to Republic, 1871-1918: Politics, Hierarchy and Elites (Macmillan, 2000), with R. McLean
  • Leadership in Conflict 1914-1918 (Pen and Sword, 2000), with M. Hughes
  • Does Peace Lead to War? Peace Settlements and Conflict in the Modern Age (Sutton, 2002), with M. Hughes
  • In the Shadow of the Swastika: Life in Germany under the Nazis, 1933-1945 (Spellmount, 2003), with J. McDonald and J. Davison
  • Spies in Uniform: British Military and Naval Intelligence on the Eve of the First World War(Oxford University Press, 2006)
  • Naval Intelligence from Germany: The Correspondence of the British Naval Attachés in Berlin, 1906-1914 (Navy Records Society, 2007)

Articles and Book Chapters

  • ‘The Pfeil Family and the Development of German Colonial Ambitions in Southern Africa: A Study of Diplomacy and Colonial Trends’, German History, 12, 1 (1994)
  • ‘Maps as the Progenitors of Territorial Disputes: Two Examples from Nineteenth Century Southern Africa’, Imago Mundi, 47 (1995)
  • ‘Germany and the Origins of the First World War in the Eyes of the American Diplomatic Establishment’, German History, 15, 3 (1997)
  • ‘World War One and the Undermining of the German-Jewish Identity as seen through American Diplomatic Documents’, in B. Thaithe and T. Thornton (eds), War: Identities in Conflict 1300-2000 (Sutton, 1998)
  • ‘The Battle for the Dodecanese, 1943: A Reassessment’, Imperial War Museum Review, 12 (1999), with M. Hughes
  • ‘Imperium/Empire/Reich: An Anglo-German Comparison of a Concept of Rule’, German History, 17, 2 (1999)
  • ‘Maps as the Expression of German Colonial Ambitions: South African Examples and British Reactions’, The British Cartographic Society Proceedings, 36 (1999)
  • ‘James Watson Gerard: American Diplomat as Domestic Propagandist’, in M. Hughes and M. Seligmann (eds), Leadership in Conflict 1914-1918 (Pen and Sword, 2000)
  • ‘A View from Berlin: Colonel Frederick Trench and the Development of British Perceptions of German Aggressive intent, 1906-1910’, Journal of Strategic Studies', 23, 2 (2000)
  • ‘The Allied Invasion of Madagascar’, in S. Sandler (ed.), World War II in the Pacific (Garland, 2000)
  • ‘“A Barometer of National Confidence”: A British Assessment of the Role of Insecurity in the Formulation of German Military Policy before the First World War’, English Historical Review, CXVII (April 2002)
  • ‘German and British Imperialism in Comparative Perspective’, German History, 20/2 (2002)
  • ‘Military Diplomacy in a Military Monarchy? Kaiser Wilhelm II and the British Service Attachés in Berlin 1903-1914’, in W. Deist and A. Mombauer (eds), The Kaiser: New Research on Wilhelm II’s Role in Imperial Germany (Cambridge University Press, 2003)
  • ‘'Hors de Combat'? The Management, Mismanagement and Mutilation of the War Office Archive’, Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, 337 (Spring 2006)
  • ‘Germany, the Russo-Japanese War and the Road to the Great War’ in R. Kowner (ed.), The Impact of the Russo-Japanese War (Routledge, 2007)
  • ‘Switching Horses: The Admiralty's Recognition of the Threat from Germany, 1900 -1905’, International History Review, XXX (Forthcoming, June 2008)
  • 'New Weapons for New Targets: Sir John Fisher, the Threat from Germany, and the Building of H. M. S. Dreadnought and H. M. S. Invincible, 1902-1907', International History Review, XXX (Forthcoming, June 2008)
  • "While I am in it I am not of it": A Naval Attaché’s Reflections on the Conduct of British Diplomacy and Foreign Policy, 1906-1908’ in M. Mößlang and T. Riotte (eds), The Diplomats' World: A Cultural History of Diplomacy 1815-1914 (Oxford University Press, 2008).
  • ‘Prince Louis of Battenberg: The Advantages and Disadvantages of being a Serene Highness in the Royal Navy’, in Karina Urbach (ed.) Royal Kinship: Anglo-German Family Networks (Saur Verlag, Forthcoming)
  • 'A Prelude to the Reforms of Admiral Sir John Fisher:The Creation of the Homefleet, 1902-1903', Historical Research (forthcoming)

Teaching

My main teaching areas are: twentieth century international, military and naval history, Germany during the reign of Kaiser Wilhelm II and the Origins of the First World War.

PhD supervision

I would be happy to supervise dissertations on issues of great power politics in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Particular areas of interest include Anglo-German relations, the origins of wars and the development of the Royal Navy's plans for war before 1914.

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