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12 May 2011

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First Genocide of the 20th Century

 

The Herero people were slaughtered in South West Africa

so Germany could access the area’s resources

 

During the “Scramble for Africa” European powers seized land and resources from indigenous Africans as though the people didn’t exist.

 

In the second half of the 19th century several European nations realized that Africa was a storehouse of treasure other than the slaves they had previously traded in.

 

Explorers were sent out into the jungles and plains to find out what resources of value there might be on the continent. This led to what Heart of Darkness author Joseph Conrad referred to when describing the exploitation of Congo as, “the vilest scramble for loot that ever disfigured the history of human conscience”

 

A Punch cartoon of 1906 depicts King Leopold II of Belgium as a serpent strangling a Congolese rubber plantation worker.

 

 

Congress of Berlin Settles Territorial Claims

The most prominent countries involved in the “Scramble for Africa” were Britain, Portugal, and France. When claims to territory were made squabbles inevitably erupted, most of which were sorted out at the Congress of Berlin in 1884-85. No African representatives were invited to attend the meeting.

 

The continent was carved up, mainly among the major players; a few crumbs were tossed the way of Germany, Italy, and others. One of those crumbs given to Germany was South West Africa (today known as Namibia).

 

South West Africa Inhospitable but Valuable

The southwestern corner of Africa is rich in minerals but poor in water. Along the coast is the Namib Desert and to the east is the Kalahari Desert; in between, is a dry central mountain plateau.

 

In the late 19th century German settlers started to arrive and claim the land. Inconveniently, the territory was already occupied by the Namaqua and the Herero tribes who herded cattle on the thin grasses.

 

Herero Rebel against German Colonial Rule

As the Africans were pushed farther and farther off their traditional land they became destitute.

 

Peace Pledge Union (PPU), an anti-war group based in the U.K., records that, “In January 1904, the Herero, desperate to regain their livelihoods, rebelled. Under their leader Samuel Maherero they began to attack the numerous German outposts.”

 

Germany sent Lieutenant-General Lothar von Trotha to deal with the revolt.

 

Rebellion put down with Ruthless Ferocity

Von Trotha brought with him a well-trained army and a reputation for brutal bloodletting. He had previously dealt with unruly tribes in East Africa and wanted there to be no doubt about what kind of man he was.

 

According to Namibia-1 on 1.com Von Trotha reported to the colony’s governor and told him: “I know the tribes of Africa. They are all alike. They only respond to force. It was and is my policy to use force with terrorism and even brutality. I shall annihilate the revolting tribes with streams of blood.”

 

Methodically, the general moved his forces towards the Waterberg Plateau, in the north-central region of the country, where the Herero were still grazing their cattle.

 

Clash of Colonial Forces and Colonized Africans

Von Trotha had 4,000 seasoned soldiers armed with machine-guns, cannons, and rifles. Samuel Maherero had perhaps 6,000 troops, but they had a motley collection of arms and little experience in battle.

 

On August 11, 1904 the two sides clashed and the battle is described in vivid detail by Jon Bridgman in his 2004 book The Revolt of the Hereros.

 

Initially, the Africans gave the Germans a hard time in close skirmishes, but the German bombardment of the Herero camps to the rear caused devastation and Samuel Maherero withdrew from the battle.

 

Bridgman quotes one combatant, Hendrik Campbell, as saying: “When the fight was over we discovered eight or nine Herero women who had been left behind. Some of them were blind. They had food and water. The German soldiers burned them alive in the huts in which they lay.” It was a portent of what was to come.

 

Herero People Hunted down and Killed

The survivors of the battle were driven into the desert where they died of starvation and thirst. Von Trotha issued the command (see sidebar) that all Herero in German territory were to be hunted down and killed.

 

Starving survivors of the Herero massacre of 1904.

 

PPU says that “those who still lived were rounded up, banned from owning land or cattle, and sent into labour camps to be the slaves of German settlers. Many more Herero died in the camps, of overwork, starvation, and disease.” Roughly 65,000 people perished.

 

And so it was that an entire people was almost exterminated in what was called by Neil Levi and Michael Rothberg in their 2003 book The Holocaust: Theoretical Readings “the 20th century’s first genocide.”

 

Sources

“Talking about Genocide.” Peace Pledge Union Information.

“The Holocaust: Theoretical Readings.” Levi, Neil; Rothberg, Michael (2003). Rutgers University Press.

“The Revolt of the Hereros.” Jon Bridgman, 2004. University of California Press.

“Germany Admits Namibia Genocide.” BBC News, August 14, 2004.

 

© Canada and the World, May 2011

All rights reserved

 

Video

Colonialism in Ten Minutes

 

“In the space of just 20 years, 90 per cent of Africa was brought under European occupation. Europe had captured a continent.”

 

Al Jazeera

September 2010

 

General Lothar von Trotha (above) issued the following proclamation in 1904:

 

“I, the great general of the German soldiers, send this letter to the Hereros.

 

“The Hereros are German subjects no longer. They have killed, stolen, cut off the ears and other parts of the body of wounded soldiers, and now are too cowardly to want to fight any longer.

 

“I announce to the people that whoever hands me one of the chiefs shall receive 1,000 marks, and 5,000 marks for Samuel Maherero.

 

“The Herero nation must now leave the country. If it refuses, I shall compel it to do so with the ‘long tube’ (cannon). Any Herero found inside the German frontier, with or without a gun or cattle, will be executed. I shall spare neither women nor children. I shall give the order to drive them away and fire on them. Such are my words to the Herero people.”

 

 

AN ADMISSION

 

In August 2004, reports the BBC, “German minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul told a commemorative ceremony that the brutal crushing of the Herero uprising 100 years ago was genocide.”

 

However, the minister said there would be no compensation and she stopped short of saying sorry, although she claimed her statement amounted to an apology.