Ersatz is a
GermanGerman is a West Germanic language, thus related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. It is one of the world's major languages and the most widely spoken first language in the European Union. Around the world, German is spoken by approximately 105 million native speakers and also by...
word literally meaning
substitute or
replacement. Although it is used as an adjective in
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
,
Ersatz can only function in German as a
nounIn linguistics, a noun is a member of a large, open lexical category whose members can occur as the main word in the subject of a clause, the object of a verb, or the object of a preposition....
on its own, or as a part in compound nouns such as
Ersatzteile (spare parts) or
Ersatzspieler (substitute player). While the English term often implies that the substitution is of unsatisfactory or inferior quality, this connotation does not necessarily exist in the German context. For example, "
Ersatzbutter" or "
Butterersatz" could be used as a generic term for
margarineMargarine , as a generic term, can indicate any of a wide range of butter substitutes. In many parts of the world, margarine has become the best-selling table spread, although butter and olive oil also command large market shares. Margarine is an ingredient in the preparation of many other foods...
as a substitute for
butterButter is a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermented cream or milk. It is generally used as a spread and a condiment, as well as in cooking applications such as baking, sauce making, and frying...
.
In Britain, this was additionally popularized as an
adjectiveIn grammar, an adjective is a word whose main syntactic role is to modify a noun or pronoun, giving more information about the noun or pronoun's referent...
, from the experiences of thousands of U.S., British, and other English-speaking combat personnel, primarily airmen, who were captured in the
European Theater of OperationsThe European Theater of Operations , is the term used in the United States to refer to US operations north of Italy and the Mediterranean coast, in the European Theatre of World War II.-Definitions:...
during
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. These Allied
Kriegsgefangene (prisoners of war) were served
Ersatzkaffee (replacement
coffeeCoffee is a brewed beverage prepared from roasted seeds, commonly called coffee beans, of the coffee plant. They are seeds of "coffee cherries" that grow on trees in over 70 countries. It has been said that green coffee is the second most traded commodity in the world behind crude oil. Due to its...
) by their German captors. Needless to say, this substitute drink (a
Getreidekaffee or "grain coffee") was not popular with the POWs, who longed for the real beverage.
In English, "
ersatz" arose as a
pejorativePejoratives are terms which have a negative connotation. Sometimes a term may begin as a pejorative word and eventually be adopted in a non-pejorative sense...
during WWII because
Ersatzbrot (replacement bread) was given frequently to the POWs, which was made of the lowest grade flour,
potato starchPotato starch is starch extracted from potatoes. The plant cells of the root tuber of potatoes plant contains starch grains . To extract the starch, the potatoes are crushed, the starch grains are released form the destroyed cells...
and frequently intermixed with other extenders such as sawdust. This practice was prevalent on the Eastern front and at the many labor and death camps organized by the Nazi regime.
As to why
Ersatz is a noun only in German but an adjective in English, the explanation is the German language's propensity for building new words out of existing ones by combining nouns. In the case of
Ersatzkaffee, the latter two syllables were recognizably "coffee" to English-speaking ears so the first half of this word was logically but mistakenly assumed to be an adjective, when it is in fact the first half of a single German word. In this way, "
ersatz" came to be an English adjective connoting something inferior if not entirely phony, as when one thing masquerades as another.
Historical context
The term
ersatz probably gained international attention during
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
, when the Allied naval
blockade of GermanyThe blockade of Germany was a naval blockade conducted during World War I by the British Royal Navy from 1914 onwards, in an effort to restrict the maritime supply of raw materials and foodstuffs to Germany and its allies, and is considered one of the key elements in the eventual victory of the...
throttled maritime commerice with Germany, forcing Germany to develop substitutes for products like
chemical compoundA chemical compound is a pure chemical substance consisting of two or more different chemical elements that can be separated into simpler substances by chemical reactions. Chemical compounds have a unique and defined chemical structure; they consist of a fixed ratio of atoms that are held together...
s and provisions.
Ersatz products developed during this time included:
synthetic rubberSynthetic rubber is any type of artificially made polymer material, which acts as an elastomer. An elastomer is a material with the mechanical property that it can undergo much more elastic deformation under stress, than most materials and still return to its previous size without permanent...
(
bunaSynthetic rubber is any type of artificially made polymer material, which acts as an elastomer. An elastomer is a material with the mechanical property that it can undergo much more elastic deformation under stress, than most materials and still return to its previous size without permanent...
produced from
oilPetroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid found in rock formations in the Earth consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights, plus other organic compounds.The term "petroleum" was first used in the treatise De Natura Fossilium, published in...
),
benzeneBenzene, or benzol, is an organic chemical compound with the molecular formula C6H6. It is sometimes abbreviated Ph–H. Benzene is a colorless and highly flammable liquid with a sweet smell and a relatively high melting point...
for heating oil (coal gas),
teaTea is the agricultural product of the leaves, leaf buds, and internodes of the Camellia sinensis plant, prepared and cured by various methods...
composed of ground
raspberryThe raspberry is the edible fruit of a multitude of plant species in the subgenus Idaeobatus of the genus Rubus; the name also applies to these plants themselves...
leaves or catnip, and
coffeeCoffee substitutes are non-coffee products, usually without caffeine, that are used to imitate coffee. Coffee substitutes can be used for medical, economic and religious reasons, or simply because coffee is not available. Roasted grain beverages are common substitutes for coffee.In World War II,...
, using roasted acorns or
beanBean is a common name for large plant seeds of several genera of the family Fabaceae used for human food or animal feed....
s, which were not
coffeeCoffee is a brewed beverage prepared from roasted seeds, commonly called coffee beans, of the coffee plant. They are seeds of "coffee cherries" that grow on trees in over 70 countries. It has been said that green coffee is the second most traded commodity in the world behind crude oil. Due to its...
beans. Though a similar situation arose in Germany during
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, this connotation with the term
ersatz has sunk into oblivion in present Germany.
Another example of the word's usage in Germany exists in the
German navalThe German Navy The German Navy The German Navy (Deutsche Marine is the navy of Germany and part of the Bundeswehr (German Armed Forces).The German Navy traces its roots back to the Imperial Fleet (Reichsflotte) of the revolutionary era of 1848–1852 and more directly to the Prussian Navy, which...
construction programs of the beginning of the 20th century. In this context, the phrasing "Ersatz (shipname)" indicates that a new, larger, or more capable ship was a replacement for an aging or lost previous vessel. Because German practice was not to reveal the name of a new ship until its launch, this meant that the vessel was known by its "Ersatz (shipname)" throughout its construction. At the end of
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
, the last three ships of the planned
Mackensen classThe Mackensen class was the last class of battlecruisers to be built by Germany in World War I. The class was to have comprised four ships: Mackensen, the name ship, Graf Spee, Prinz Eitel Friedrich, and Fürst Bismarck. None of the vessels were completed, as shipbuilding priorities were redirected...
battlecruiserBattlecruisers were large warships in the first half of the 20th century that were first introduced by the Royal Navy. The battlecruiser was developed as the successor to the armoured cruisers, but their evolution was more closely linked to that of the dreadnought battleships...
s were redesigned and initially known simply as the
Ersatz Yorck classThe Ersatz Yorck class were a group of three battlecruisers ordered for the Imperial German Navy in April 1915. They were a slightly enlarged version of the , armed with guns as opposed to the weapons on the preceding design. The boilers would have been trunked into a single massive funnel...
, since the first ship was considered to be a replacement for the lost
armored cruiserThe armored cruiser, or armoured cruiser , is a type of cruiser, a naval warship. The armored cruiser is protected by a belt of side armor, in addition to the armored deck and protective coal bunkers that define the protected cruiser.Armored cruisers were the chief combatants in two naval...
,
YorckSMS Yorck
["SMS" stands for "Seiner Majestät Schiff", or "His Majesty's Ship" in German.] was the second and final ship of the Roon class of armored cruisers built for the German Imperial Navy. Yorck was named for Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg, a Prussian field marshal...
.
Ersatz capitalism
The term
ersatz capitalism has been used to mean two concepts, both critical:
- In the usage of Joseph Stiglitz, as a synonym for lemon socialism
"Lemon socialism" is a pejorative term for government support of private-sector companies whose imminent collapse is perceived to threaten broader economic stability. It is not a current within socialism per se; rather, it points to a corruption of free-market capitalist systems, which would...
.
- Relating to the scholarly work of Kunio Yoshihara, ersatz capitalism refers to the early rising economies of East Asia and their dynamic and technologically intensive development.
Yoshihara’s definition classifies Japanese, South Korean and Taiwanese nations’ capitalist drives as what might be called ‘pseudo-capitalism’ (cf.
capitalismCapitalism is an economic and social system in which the means of production are privately controlled; labor, goods and capital are traded in a market; profits are distributed to owners or invested in technologies and industries; and wages are paid to labor...
). This refers to such government and business actors’ abilities to utilize a nation's comparative advantages and artificially motivate an economy toward higher-end economic activities, specifically similar to those of developed Western nations, including areas such as capital investments and technologically intensive production.