Herero And Nama Uprisings Analysis

"Within the German borders every Herero, whether armed or unarmed, with or without cattle, will be shot. I shall not accept any more women or children. I shall drive them back to their people - otherwise I shall order shots to be fired at them", ordered Lieutnant-General Lothar von Trotha. The results were devastating: 80% of the Herero population of Namibia were wiped out. But how did this happen? What were the reasons for this extermination? Were the Germans particularly brutal? Are there any other similar cases or is it a specific German case? No matter how these questions will be answered; the suppression of the Herero and Nama uprisings was without a doubt not only a very unproportional blowback from the Germans, but actually led to a
The imperial Germans were looking for appropriate land for their empire. Modern-day Namibia seemed to be quite appropriate to be claimed and occupied. Like other European armies, the German army was rather oppressive and exploiting the local native tribes that they found on “their new land”. Interestingly, in the particular case of the Hereros, South West Africa (SWA) was, in fact, also not the Herero’s native land. They came from further north in Africa, more precisely from “Bechuanaland” which is today known as Botswana. However, one must not forget that the Hereros were the first ones there and thus justifiably defended their land from the German imperialists. In 1888 there were already German officials driven away by Herero warriors. In reaction to these displacements, Germany decided to send German protection forces, the so called “Schutztruppe” to South-West-Africa. The relations with the Hereros soon deteriorated for various reasons. On one hand there was the common resentment towards the Germans because of their abusive farmers, arbitrary actions of German companies and encroachment of their land. On the other hand, there were specific
123 white victims were reported and the Hereros continued with their uprisings on January 12 with the invasion of Okahandja. Two days later, the violence was spread to another German village, Omarasa, where colonial post offices were destroyed. Immediately afterwards, Germany decided to send another 14,000 “Schutztruppen” to “African-Germany” together with a new Supreme commander, Lieutenant-General Lothar von Trotha. Trotha can be characterized as a brutal German general with the clear intention to suppress the African resistance and to destroy them