Ein Beitrag Martin Hartmanns: ,,Japan and der Islam"

In this article, the authors give an edition of an article by the famous Orientalist Martin Hartmann (1851-1918), one of the founding fathers of the journal Die Welt des Islams, accompanied by an introduction and commentaries. In Hartmann's text, which has remained unpublished, he comments on the possible consequences of the RussoJapanese War (1904/05) and its outcome for Japan's relationship with the Islamic world in general and the Muslims of China in particular. Hartmann takes a clear stance here against the Russian Empire on the one hand, but also against the policies of the European powers towards Japan on the other, and urges a prudent approach to the victor of the aforementioned war. This should be understood, among other things, against the background of the problematic relations between the German Empire and Japan since the Sino-Japanese War (1894-95) and the German Empire's efforts to push Japan out of China. The original manuscript of this unpublished article is kept in the archives of the University of Halle.