Lekana

In the second half of the nineteenth century something remarkable happened to humankind: We got aware of the full scope of our species, our cognition became worldwide. This was anything but a peaceful development, and for many communities a violent and destructive one – no doubt about this.

Yet, it also wasn't an automatic one, it was constructed and performed. In October 1884, the International Meridian Conference in Washington D.C. agreed upon a global standard of time. Only from this moment on, every individual in its own place could define its relation to any other in time and space. It made the paradox that we share a common world, but everyone remains encapsulated in his or her own spot, manageable.

Less delightful, but just as impactful was the conference of 14 colonial powers at Berlin, beginning six weeks later in November 1884, and ending in 1885. It not only ignited the brutal conquest known as the scramble for Africa, but established the European idea of sovereignty over a territory on a global scale. That is, individuals were understood as belonging to an abstract unity called "state", which controlled a "territory" by a set of statements. It marked the transition from commuity to society as baisc principle of human collectivities.

First peak of this extension of communication was the foundation of the General Postal Union on 9 October 1874, renamed to Universal Postal Union in 1878. It laid the foundation for making global communication possible for everyone by paying just a small fee. This also elaborated a paradox – that we are equal by the shared capability of conversation despite all being different as individuals. Of course, this option practically depended on a whole set of complex preconditions, ranging from given literacy and existing postal services to small money for the postage – but exactly this is the story told here.

Not as a mechanism of human history – such a principle does not exist as chronicles are a sequence of developments mixed with decisions. But obviously there was a orientation of action that was slowly established for all.

This transformation is shown by two interconnected areas as an example: the South African hoëveld around iPritori and the Hanoverian Obergrafschaft around Schüttorf. In 1899 these regions were completely different worlds than a century before.

iPritori, the capital of the Republic of South Africa, and Schüttorf, a small industrial town in Germany, are not only two places where the author has lived. They have a quite unlikely connection.

Pretoria got its name in reference to Andries Wilhelmus Jacobus Pretorius (1798-1853), one of the founders of the settler colony Zuid Afrikaanse Republiek (ZAR), commonly known as the Transvaal. He belonged to the fifth generation of European settlers, referencing Johannes Pretorius (1642-1694) as the one who initially emigrated from Holland to the Cape of Good Hope. And this Johannes Pretorius was the grandson of Barend Wesselszoon Pretorius, born around 1596 in Schüttorf, raised as a shoemaker, who moved as a yound adult to Leiden in The Netherlands, where he was buried in 1669.

It is possible to weave fascinating stories about this improbable connection (cf. Schulte 2024: 84).

Yet, this project is differently motivated, namely by the historical interest in the birth of modern democracy. Pretoria and Schüttorf both turned from a community into an industrial town at about the same time, the second half of the nineteenth century. This process is scrutinised in the studies collected here.

Today, democracy is challenged by different kinds of totalitarianism. Again.

The turmoil created by multitudes of people in a competitive world economy seem to motivate many individuals to voluntarily surrender their autonomy for the ostensible security provided by mighty authoritarian leaders. Again.

I see the root of this problem in the collective inability (or unwillingness) to transform modern society into a system that combines the fallback security of communities with the developmental freedom of world society.

To get closer to a solution, these webpages offer a catalogue of research on a single question at two distant places: How and why, exactly, did people transform their communities into modern societies?

To be sure, this was neither a peaceful evolution nor a straightforward progress. Right to the contrary, it was a violent and at times desastruous experiment. Yet, it was born out of the stalemate of authoritarian communities. Hence, the call for the "good old times" is the most treacherous ideology of all.

A main characteristic of modern society are circuits: cycles of money, loops of electricity, transport routes, and lines of communication. What makes them important is their capacity to lead back to their point of departure. Nobody would invest without the probable outlook of money coming back. Electric devices stop working when there is an interruption in its circulation. A journey is a movement with safe return – everything else is a bold adventure.

Hence, the approach of the studies here is to investigate how people built and constructed their circuits of communication by establishing ever faster flows of messages, goods and people. And by this, it is inevitably a contribution to postal history and philately.

Enjoy surfing.

• Schulte, Jürgen, 2024. Die Obergrafschaft vom Hören und Sagen. Heimatverein Samtgemeinde Schüttorf: Nordhorn.