The Suppression of the Herero and Nama Revolts by the Germans - The first German Genocide?

Seminar paper from the year 2016 in the subject History - Africa, grade: 2,0, , language: English, abstract: In the paper the author wants to investigate the events of the Herero and Nama revolts of 1904 which lead to the outbreak of a colonial war, that lastet at least until 1907. Was it genocide? What qualifies it as such and why is this almost forgotten by the majority of people? In German historical science, the colonial history of the country is still a peripheral area. Often this period is referred to as 'history of european expansion' or even 'comparative oversea's history'. Although German colonial efforts cannot be compared to the far-reaching activities of the British Empire, France, Portugal or Spain and although Germany started relatively late with its expansion, this doesn't mean that Germany's colonial period can be played down or be trivialized. In general, the European expansion of the 20th century was not aimed at exploring and friendly cohabitation with local peoples. The plan was rather to crowd them out, enslave them and force them to work for the benefits of the newcomers. According to this, the people in South-West Africa were treated until it amounted to what is referred to as the 'first genocide of the 20th century'. Under Reich Chancellor Bismarck, the aim of the German Empire regarding its colonies was at first only to constitute a protecting power. This approach was based on the expectation, that the clamorous colonial lobby, which was constituted as the 'German Colonial Society' in 1887, would stand up for the development of the new acquired regions. For this reason, the economic development and parts of the administration was transferred on terrain-, charter- and commercial companies, that were also left with establishing an infrastructure there. This was problematic since the interest of the German settlers in Africa was more on their personal profits than on a coordinated development of the 'new' territory. Without continuous investment by the state, it was hardly possibly to convert the colonies into prosperous economic territories or settlement areas. Besides this, they faced constant rebellious activities by the local indigenous people. The first steps in the colonies were therefore a 'pacification' of the territories, which most of the times was conducted violently and did not last permanently, as well as establishing medical care in order to make the stay of German settlers, soldiers and administrative corpse possible in the first place.