The Colonial War in Southwest Africa

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The colonial war in Southwest Africa in 1904-1907 is the example of genocide against the Herero people realized by the German authorities and military within the territories of Southwest Africa. The Herero people rose up to bring down the suppressive order of the German rulers to become the independent nation in 1904.

The actions of the German authorities and military leaders as a reaction to the revolt were too radical and oriented to the mass destruction of the Herero people. This fact allows speaking about genocide against the African people based on the threat of losing power by the German leaders.

Furthermore, this situation became the first example of genocide at the beginning of the twentieth century. In the article “German Military Culture and the Colonial War in Southwest Africa, 1904-1907”, Isabel Hull states that the reaction of the German militaries to the revolt in Southwest Africa can be classified from the point of the destructive extremes, and the source of this reaction is in the German military culture, usage of typical military practices, focus on doctrines and order, and inability to adapt to the non-European methods of war.

From this point, genocide against the Herero people became the result of the focus of the German military leaders on destruction, pursuit, racism, and mass killing in order to confirm their state’s power.

Genocide can be discussed as one of the most controversial global problems which is based on the issues of people’s intolerance and racism in relation to some nations and ethnicities. The revolt of the Herero people against the German rule in Southwest Africa was the reasonable reaction of the people to the suppression of the colonialists.

However, the German leaders focused on the quick victory in order to overcome the revolt and accentuate the country’s power. To achieve the goal and to become winners in the war, the German military concentrated on the traditional or habitual methods of the fighting and warfare patterns typical for the Western world.

Nevertheless, the approaches of the African nations to fighting are rather different basing on their culture and society’s development (Walther, 2004). Focusing on the European patterns, the German military did not expect a lot of difficulties associated with developing the war at the African territories. As a result, the German soldiers were destabilised psychologically when the Herero people were in their comfortable environments.

From this point, it is possible to speak about the psychological effects of the risk to be defeated by the non-organized African people (Steinmetz, 2003). Thus, the focus of the German military on the policies of destruction can be considered as the extreme approach to state the power of the country’s with the effective military and organizational culture.

The conflict of two different cultures ended in the opposition of two military cultures which methods were aggressive and destructive. Therefore, ideologies, psychological factors, and social impacts are significant for forming the military culture of the country.

The quick victory became impossible for the German military that is why the course was changed to mass killing and pursuit. From the point of political concerns, mass killings of the Herero people and their pursuit were effective methods to stabilize the situation in the region and state the power of the country which can overcome any revolt. The main political idea of the war was the statement of German superiority.

Nevertheless, discussing the situation from the point of the historical development, it is necessary to pay attention to realizing the principle of achieving the definite goal “by all means” at the beginning of the twentieth century (Hull, 2011). Thus, the concentration on emphasizing the state’s power made the German military able to kill thousands of people without following the traditional principles of the war.

If the actions of the German army are the example of achieving the goal “by all means” from the point of military culture, the situation with the Herero people should be discussed as genocide from the sociological perspective. There are no political or military goals which can justify mass killings and racism realized in Southwest Africa in 1904-1907. The actions of the German military destroyed the life of the whole community because of the authorities’ fears to lose the power and status (Walther, 2004).

The colonial war in Southwest Africa in 1904-1907 can be discussed from many perspectives, including historical, psychological, sociological, and political ones. The role of the colonial war in Southwest Africa in history is significant because it is the vivid example of the country’s usage of all the means in realization the definite goals.

Losing its position at the stage of preparation for the war, the German military focused not only on overcoming the revolt but also on destructing the nation with the help of mass killings. Nevertheless, the end results of the war could be less dramatic. From this point, it is necessary to pay attention to the psychological discussion of the problem.

The German leaders chose the extreme methods of warfare because of the fear to lose the status within the European colonial countries. The fear became the driving force for developing the war and realizing mass killings of the Herero people.

Being ready to sacrifice everything to emphasize the political power of the state, the Germans not only re-established the German authority in the region but also contributed to the development of one of the main social problems for all the historic periods. This problem is genocide based on racism.

According to Hull, the origins of the German authorities’ violence are in the vision of the Africans as inferior peoples and in the focus on the order and power (Hull, 2011).

The colonial war in Southwest Africa should be examined from the all the mentioned perspectives because of the role of the experience for the development of the global citizenship. There cannot be reasons for any extreme human destruction when the war leads to killing soldiers as well as civilians. Focusing on the aim to defeat the enemy completely, the German military pursued the goal to develop the war according to the standard procedures and principles.

Nevertheless, the plan did not work within the environments of the Southwest Africa because of the people’s specific identity, culture, values, and visions of the world (Steinmetz, 2008). Thus, it is possible to speak about the responsibility of the authorities for actions which can be threatening for the life of local communities.

The German leaders ruling the territories of the Southwest Africa failed in relation to their responsibility as local citizenship because they followed the principles of colonialism and mass destruction. As a result, not only the Herero people but also German settlers became the victims of the German soldiers’ inhuman actions.

However, the actions by the German military can be explained from the point of the military culture and social patterns typical for the German society. Thus, the German authorities used to win quickly because of their unique order, effective organizational structures, planned actions, and developed strategies.

Nevertheless, all these principles were ineffective to fight with the Herero people who did not follow any specific war principles (Steinmetz, 2008). The inability to adapt to the specific war environments made the German military focus on mass destruction without focusing on any principles in order to avoid the loss by any means.

As a result, the decision-making process realized by the German militaries in relation to the Herero people is based on the differences in cultures. From the sociological perspective, the decision-making process regarding genocide actions was planned and used as the effective method to defeat the nation physically and psychologically.

The colonial war in Southwest Africa is the dramatic example of genocide against the nation because of discussing it as inferior and unable to build the independent state. The destructive actions and pursuits of the German military led to the catastrophic outcomes. Thus, genocide as one of the issues of global development was based on the elements of the German military culture, practices, and doctrines.

References

Hull, I. (2011). German military culture and the colonial war in Southwest Africa, 1904-1907. In W. E. Lee (ed.), Warfare and Culture in World History (pp. 143-164). New York: New York University Press.

Steinmetz, G. (2003). “The Devil’s Handwriting”: Precolonial discourse, ethnographic acuity, and cross-identification in German colonialism. Comparative Studies in Society and History, 45(1), 41-95.

Steinmetz, G. (2008). The colonial state as a social field: Ethnographic capital and native policy in the German Overseas Empire before 1914. American Sociological Review, 73(4), 589-612.

Walther, D. (2004). Gender construction and settler colonialism in German Southwest Africa, 1894–1914. Historian, 66(1), 1-18.

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The Colonial War in Southwest Africa

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