1860年代德意志「福爾摩沙殖民論」再商榷

Revisiting German Colonial Ambitions for Formosa in the 1860s

1860年代發生在「德國」境內的「殖民福爾摩沙」討論及境外的「大南澳事件」，使德國在臺灣涉外關係研究中成為十九世紀對臺灣有所意圖的列強之一。然而，彼時的德國仍在積極推動帝國統一，在東亞的商貿與政治布局也甚淺，為何會突然關注到遙遠的福爾摩沙、欲佔領一個缺乏良港的島嶼作為德意志遠東海軍基地—這是以傳統馬克思帝國主義發展理論作為研究框架的相關先行研究未曾真正回答的問題。
本文透過分析1860年代「殖民福爾摩沙」輿論的相關著作與其生成背景，以社會史和知識史的角度切入，嘗試與臺灣涉外關係史的先行研究對話，主張1860年代無論是曾經來臺的普魯士特遣艦隊（Die Preussische Expedition nach Ost-Asien）或普魯士與德意志關稅同盟官方，均沒有殖民臺灣的明確意圖與實際作為，因為對當時的德意志邦國而言（尤其是普魯士與奧地利），德意志地區內部的統合遠比占領太平洋上的遙遠島嶼來得重要。至於先行研究所言「德國對臺灣的覬覦」，真正的行動者其實是部分普魯士擴張主義者，他們認為在當時普奧兩強對峙的情況下，普魯士可藉由取得海外殖民地鞏固在德意志地區的領導地位，進而看上臺灣。

Based mainly on two pieces of evidence, it is sometimes asserted that nineteenth-century Germany had colonial designs on Taiwan. The first piece of evidence centers on discussions by some German speakers in the 1860s to turn Formosa, as Taiwan is referred to in these discussions, into a German colony. The second comes from the Da-Nan- Ao Incident (大南澳事件) of the 1860s, in which the German James Milich, working in concert with the British national James Horns, attempted to turn Nan-Ao in north-eastern Taiwan into a navy harbor, to be operated by the Germans. At the time, however, the various German states were busy with the project of German unification; they also lacked any history of lengthy engagement with East Asia. Why they would suddenly turn their attention to Taiwan, and why they would want to occupy a harbor too small to be of much military value are matters left unaddressed by traditional Marxist accounts of the period.
This paper challenges previous scholarship and argues that Germany never had any real intention of turning Formosa into a German colony. It claims that the project of German unification was far more important than that of the colonization of Taiwan. Those who did advocate occupying Formosa were supporters of Prussian Expansionism. They believed that if they could portray Prussia as being in favor of colonization, they would strengthen Prussia’s position vis-à-vis Austria in the German Federation. But their call to colonize Taiwan was posturing on their part, not meant to be taken seriously.