Germany speaks of ‘genocide’ in Namibia (in 1905)

TheLocal.de ^ | 08 Jul 2015 17:31 GMT+02:00 | (AFP)

[Olog-hai]

The speaker of the German parliament on Wednesday said the slaughter of indigenous Namibians a century ago constituted a “genocide” that stemmed from a “race war”.

Norbert Lammert, writing in a guest column for news weekly Die Zeit, said the Herero and Nama peoples had been systematically targeted for massacre by German imperial troops.

“Using today’s standards of international law, the crushing of the Herero revolt was genocide,” he wrote. …

[BeadCounter]

I certainly never knew this.

[2banana]

Incensed by German settlers stealing their land and cattle and taking their women, the Herero people launched a revolt in January 1904 with warriors butchering 123 German civilians over several days. The Nama tribe joined the uprising in 1905.

When you go "game on" - you better be prepared to play the game.

[jalisco555]

This is not nearly as well known as it ought to be. Basically, a dress rehearsal for the Holocaust.

[Mastador1]

Incensed by German settlers stealing their land and cattle and taking their women, the Herero people launched a revolt in January 1904 with warriors butchering 123 German civilians over several days. The Nama tribe joined the uprising in 1905

Um, I think that some people might say the same thing about Settlers and American Indians, no?

[Bringbackthedraft]

Sometimes people tend to go into areas they shouldn’t. There are people in this world who like being with their own, and are not appreciative of being over come by greedy outsiders. Sounds racist, but most people are happier being amongst their own kind and being left alone to decide their own destiny. From the looks of things it sounds like the Germans may owe more reparations??

[katana]

In terms of little known 19th century colonial atrocities and sheer scale, Belgium's King Leopold II's record in Central Africa (the Congo) may have been the worst. Around 10 million natives (upper estimate is 15 million) died from starvation and being worked to death. The ivory and rubber they extracted helped pay for all that magnificent architecture in the center of Brussels. Unmet rubber quotas were punished with amputations.

[bkepley]

The Germans were brutes. Must have been all the philosophy they read. Philosophers were kinda like rock stars to them.

[VanDeKoik]

It was pretty bad. However, Namibia today has largely moved past that and is home to many Germans both native and people that have moved there from Germany (about 2% of the population). They have many prominent positions in industry, and I recall that one was mayor of Windhoek, or might be still.

[Olog-hai]

The deaths of around four-fifths of the Hereros is something way beyond “pretty bad”.

[VanDeKoik]

I know. Unfortunately typing on a phone, I accidentally deleted the first half of my post, and got to lazy to do it over again.

But part of me knew that part of the second attempt would stand out! :P

[Sherman Logan]

It’s reasonable to point out that the Zulus under Shaka had in the previous century completely wiped out entire tribes and caused a billiard ball effect across a good chunk of the continent that killed millions.

AFAIK, nobody calls his actions genocide.

[Moltke]

Perfectly reasonable.

But where to apply for reparation payments for *that*?

Easier to go for the PC-induced guilt-trip idiots with deeper pockets.

In any case, this whole thing was precipitated by Namibian *demands* (sound familiar?). Somehow that part seems to have been lost in the headline.

[Olog-hai]

I’ve read many opinions describing Shaka’s actions as genocide. But Shaka did not rule the German Empire.