Reblogged from lienatik
![lienatik:
Herero prisoners of war in 1904
In the late 19th and early 20th century, the indigenous Hereros of Namibia were predominantly cattle herders. They measured their wealth by the number of animals they owned.
As more and more German settlers arrived in the region, the Hereros began to see their wealth disappear. Tensions started to increase between the Africans and the Europeans in Namibia.
“The Germans came in saying, ‘we want to rule this colony. It’s not something just on paper. We want to take over. We want it to be a German settler state.’ And by creating a German settler state, you are obviously going to antagonise the Africans who live here, who own land and cattle. They weren’t going to go along with that… In other colonies you had seen these anti-colonial fights taking place much earlier, but because it was such a young colony, you hadn’t had that fight yet, you hadn’t had those issues resolved yet: Who was in control? And I think, that’s where the 1903-1904 wars come in. I think that’s what they were about. Who is the master?” says Erichsen.
In 1884, convinced that it would be better to formalise Africa’s colonisation rather than fight over territory, Otto von Bismarck, the first chancellor of the German empire, organised a conference of 14 European countries in Berlin to divide Africa between the European powers. As a result of the Berlin conference Germany came away with Tanzania, Togo, Cameroon and Namibia.
“The first settlers that came here [to Namibia] came in the hope of making easy money. But it wasn’t that kind of a colony. It wasn’t like Togo or Cameroon, these very fertile places,” says historian Casper Erichsen.
Between 1904 and 1908 German Emperor Kaiser Wilhelm II’s army brutally suppressed a rebellion by the indigenous Herero tribe, killing over 65,000 people in just four years.
This is now recognised as the first genocide of the 20th century and many say it was a template for Hitler’s extermination of Jews only a few decades later. (x)
Spent most of my day reading up on this “forgotten genocide”. I had never heard of it either until I read an article about it in my newspaper. Horrible the things humans do to others.
The wikipedia entry is really well researched and has some nice links to documentaries for all who want to know more.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-2003-0005,_Deutsch-Südwest-Afrika,_Kriegsgefangene_Herero.jpg)
Herero prisoners of war in 1904
In the late 19th and early 20th century, the indigenous Hereros of Namibia were predominantly cattle herders. They measured their wealth by the number of animals they owned.
As more and more German settlers arrived in the region, the Hereros began to see their wealth disappear. Tensions started to increase between the Africans and the Europeans in Namibia.
“The Germans came in saying, ‘we want to rule this colony. It’s not something just on paper. We want to take over. We want it to be a German settler state.’ And by creating a German settler state, you are obviously going to antagonise the Africans who live here, who own land and cattle. They weren’t going to go along with that… In other colonies you had seen these anti-colonial fights taking place much earlier, but because it was such a young colony, you hadn’t had that fight yet, you hadn’t had those issues resolved yet: Who was in control? And I think, that’s where the 1903-1904 wars come in. I think that’s what they were about. Who is the master?” says Erichsen.
In 1884, convinced that it would be better to formalise Africa’s colonisation rather than fight over territory, Otto von Bismarck, the first chancellor of the German empire, organised a conference of 14 European countries in Berlin to divide Africa between the European powers.
As a result of the Berlin conference Germany came away with Tanzania, Togo, Cameroon and Namibia.“The first settlers that came here [to Namibia] came in the hope of making easy money. But it wasn’t that kind of a colony. It wasn’t like Togo or Cameroon, these very fertile places,” says historian Casper Erichsen.
Between 1904 and 1908 German Emperor Kaiser Wilhelm II’s army brutally suppressed a rebellion by the indigenous Herero tribe, killing over 65,000 people in just four years.
This is now recognised as the first genocide of the 20th century and many say it was a template for Hitler’s extermination of Jews only a few decades later. (x)
Spent most of my day reading up on this “forgotten genocide”. I had never heard of it either until I read an article about it in my newspaper. Horrible the things humans do to others.
The wikipedia entry is really well researched and has some nice links to documentaries for all who want to know more.
The 1904 Namibia Genocide was one of the darkest phases in the history of the country. This massacre of men, women and children of Namibia was the result of a long succession of events. An important part of Namibia history, the genocide in 1904 had its roots in the conflict between the colonizers and the colonized.
Germany occupied the country of Namibia in the 20th century. The native tribes living in the country did not oppose to the German occupation of land in the initial stages. With time the settlers in Namibia had acquired a large portion of land area used as cattle grazing grounds by the natives. The credit system adopted by the Europeans took advantage of the simplicity of the natives and completely tore down their means of living.
The Herero and Nama tribes started a revolt against the oppressors. The most prominent leaders of the revolt were Samuel Maherero and Hendrik Witbooi. They killed the Europeans but never harmed the women or the children of the settlers. The missionaries were also not killed. This revolt by the tribes resulted in the appointment of Lieutenant-General Lothar von Trotha, an important figure in Namibia Genocide.
The German Forces under Trotha cornered the fighting tribes from three sides. The tribal people were driven to the point where the only way of escape from the German Forces was the vast expanses of the Kalahari Desert. The techniques employed for genocide in Namibia consisted of poisoning the water sources. The majority of the people, including the women and children died from lack of drinking water.
Severe criticism of Namibia Genocide throughout the world finally stopped this cruel deed. However, most of the tribal people were tortured and murdered during this time. The terrible episode of Namibia genocide marks the inhuman cruelty of the German forces over hundreds of innocent lives.
(Source: warriorsrise)
Namibia Genocide
postcard from German colonial Namibia, during the genocide in which the Germans sold skulls of the Herero to scientists back in Europe.
(Source: soulquarius)
Nazi Documentary . A hundred years ago, three quarters of the Herero people of the German colony of Namibia were killed, many in concentration camps. Today, the descendants of the survivors are seeking reparations from the German government. This film tells for the first time this forgotten story and its links to German racial theories.
(Source: pedaltothemetal)
Article by at 2011-09-25 11:38:37
Categorized in Namibia, News, Southern Africa,
Herero Leaders Requested Compensation From Germany For Genocide ! http://newish.info/28643-herero-leaders-requested-compensation-from-germany-for-genocide
Each image, a portrait of Herero tribe members of Namibia, reveals a material culture that harkens the region’s tumultuous past: residents wear Victorian era dresses and paramilitary costume as a direct result and documentation of its early 20th century German colonization.
Photographer: Jim Naughten
