Herrera tribe. History of Namibia, ancient tribes, history of South Africa. Persecution and mass extermination in the desert
Karen Vrtanesyan, Aram Palyan
5. Destruction of the indigenous peoples of Namibia
Implementation time: 1904 – 1907
Victims: Herero and Nama tribes
Place: Namibia
Character: racial-ethnic
Organizers and performers: government of Kaiser Germany, German army
In 1884, Namibia became a colony of Germany. At that time, the population of the country consisted of the Herero, Ovambo and Nama tribes. Constantly increasing pressure from the colonialists led to the fact that in 1904 the Herero and Nama rebelled against the German colonialists. Regular army units under the command of General von Trotta were sent to help the colonial authorities. On October 2, 1904, the general presented the following ultimatum to the rebel Herero: “... All Herero must leave this land... Any Herero found within German possessions, whether armed or unarmed, with or without domestic animals, will be shot. I will not accept any more children or women. I will send them back to their fellow tribesmen. I'll shoot them. This is my decision...”
The general kept his word: the uprising was drowned in blood. Civilians were shot with machine guns, driven into the deserts in the east of the country, and the wells they used were poisoned. Most of the deportees died from hunger and lack of water. The war continued until 1907. As a result of German actions, 65,000 Herero (about 80% of the tribe) and 10,000 Nama (50% of the tribe) were destroyed.
In 1985, the UN recognized the attempt to exterminate the indigenous people of Namibia as the first act of genocide in the 20th century. In 2004, German authorities officially admitted to committing genocide in Namibia and publicly apologized. Today, Herero representatives are unsuccessfully demanding compensation from the German authorities. On this moment In the United States, lawsuits have been filed against the German government and some German companies, but it is not yet possible to predict the outcome of the lawsuits.
Namibia is a country of amazing beauty, diverse landscapes, rich flora and fauna, a diverse world of amazing cultures. Some of its bearers seem to have gotten lost in time: the San people still have not said goodbye to the nomadic life of primitive hunter-gatherers, but, for example, the Herero are still firmly tied to the history of the 19th century... A tourist who has just arrived and is walking around the capital Windhoek , peering at the glorious smiling faces of schoolchildren in multi-colored uniforms or the faces of young Namibians hurrying past, dressed, like all modern youth, in T-shirts and jeans, it is difficult to determine which of the dozen tribes living here they belong to.
It is quite possible that every second of the local residents we met would turn out to be Herero. But it is not at all difficult to distinguish the women of this tribe from other Namibians.
About female beauty and its owners
We, Russian women, know absolutely exactly where the most beautiful representatives of the fair sex live. Of course, here in Russia. Well, my husband just confirmed this to me. From the bottom of my heart, and not because otherwise there won’t be dinner. However, aware of our superiority, we will be fair to less fortunate ethnic groups - Thai women are famous for their beauty, Ethiopian women for their slenderness, Japanese women for their grace, Indian women for their colorful outfits...
As for the Herero women...Have you never seen them? Oh, this, I'll tell you something. It’s hard to miss them, and once you see them, especially if you’re not used to it, you can’t take your eyes off them. Beautiful posture, thin waist, high breasts, lush hips - everything that a beauty should have, by definition, is all present in women of this ethnic group.
Innocent secrets of the outfit
And if an immodest breeze on the street lifts the edge of the Herero’s hem, then the frills of the fluffy petticoat will flash. But the mischievous wind revealed to the world not all the secrets of the lady’s costume; she wears maybe six or eight similar petticoats, placed one on top of the other...
A dense cocoon of ten meters of fabric - from the neck to the ankles - covers each of the representatives of the fair half of the Herero tribe. And this in such and such heat! However, cases of heatstroke in persons dressed according to the rules have not been recorded throughout the country.
And when two good friends happen to be walking down the street side by side, then no one else can pass - the entire sidewalk is occupied by the voluminous skirts of these colorful people. On the heads of elegant ladies, uniquely shaped headdresses are unique hats, at the same time similar to both a turban and Napoleon’s cocked hat. Yes, let's face it - a beautiful sight, a group of such women!
The male part of the ethnic group dresses not so interestingly, but also not without historical chic - their complex costume is very reminiscent of German military uniforms of the 19th century.
Herero fashion trends before the colonial era
The year 1882 was marked by a grandiose scam: Adolf Lüderitz acquired a piece of land from the leader of the Nama tribe for mere pennies. After a cunning combination, which went down in history as “fraud with miles,” the size of the purchase turned out to be almost 20 times larger than the piece of coast that the natives intended to sell.
True, this scam did not bring any special benefits to Adolf himself, since before he had time to sell the fraudulently acquired territory to the German government, he drowned in the Orange River. From this time on, the German colonization of the future Namibia began.
However, the Germans appeared here much earlier. Back in 1842, members of the Rhine Missionary Society, whose headquarters were based in German city Bartender.
It should be noted that at these times the same tropical climate reigned in the country as now, and the Herero people, exactly as they are now, walked around barely covered, experiencing absolutely no signs of discomfort. Up until the early twentieth century, it was possible to find members of the tribe adorned on the front and back with a piece of sheep or goatskin with carved horn cuffs on the wrists and ankles.
African Fashion: Victorian Dress
But missionaries intervened. They trained Herero men in construction, running Agriculture, and their spouses taught the women the basics of home economics. The natives made efficient workers in the homes and lands of German settlers.
However, I ruined everything appearance. For some reason, the missionary wives especially did not like the sight of the Herero ladies who paid topless visits to the parsonage. And active educational work began with the goal of covering the naked bodies of simple-minded children of nature with clothes. And what could be better for this than your own example?
The Frau themselves, without a doubt, looked most dignified: correct and modest, but following the style of the respected ladies of Hanover and Dresden. Clothes cover the entire body except the hands. Floor length to cover your legs. Exposed ankles are on the verge of a foul. Puffed sleeves, puffed up at the shoulder. Skirts - frills, flowing silhouettes.
At first they were voluminous, with crinolines, but at the end of the century, according to fashion, they became narrower and with bustles. There is a hat on her head, an umbrella in her hands, and a scarf made of light fabric on her neck. These are the styles of the fashion that was called Victorian.
The wives of the colonists who came here later - in the early 1900s - also set an excellent example to follow. And - it was a success! First, the ladies of several prominent Herero families dressed as white ladies, and they were slowly followed by other women of the tribe. But the constant attribute of Victorian fashion - the corset - did not take root with them.
Gradually, Herero women developed a new image that so characteristically makes them stand out from the crowd. Originating in colonial times and based on Victorian women's fashions, their attire has become traditional.
An easy way to feel like a woman
The traditional outfit is worn with equal pride by Herero ladies in both remote rural areas and urban areas of the country. Over time, dresses have become much more interesting and colorful: each is a unique mix of ancient design and individual style the hostess, multiplied by her own sense of beauty.
But what’s interesting: the names of the elements that make up a complex women’s costume are not designated by the Herero in European terms, but are called as in native language The Ojiguero tribe named similar details of the leather clothes of cattle breeders they once wore.
European women on the path to freedom long ago abandoned the fashion for long dresses and numerous skirts, and Herero women for more than a hundred years fiercely defended their right to wear traditional dress, considering it as the most important element of their cultural identity.
“Oooooh, only in it I feel like a real woman!” - said one modern twenty-year-old Namibian woman holding mobile phone in her hands and clad in jeans and a silky blouse when asked about the traditional dress. The answer was expected, because she is of Herero origin.
Lovely cows
The women's colorful dresses are complemented by elaborate headdresses in matching fabric. Look, don't these thick rolls of fabric remind you of the impressive reach of a cow's horn? And they should!
For centuries, Herero pastoralists have thrived on Namibia's grasslands. They had the most reverent attitude towards sheep and cows. “Our cows know what to chew and what to nibble in the bush. Their milk is healing and cures all diseases. Here are the Ovambo - they are treated with a tree whose leaves look like a butterfly, but our milk and butter are much better.”
For a true Herero, there is nothing more valuable than a cow. Therefore, in the eyes of loving Herero men, the women of their people appear in the most beautiful form of precious cows. So the ladies tried to equip their headdress with an accessory that symbolizes what is most important and dear.
The chosen image was perfectly matched by its soft and rounded shapes to the dress and the slow style of gait dictated by it, evoking the image of a well-fed cow with its characteristic leisurely movements.
In any other place, calling a woman a cow means causing her a deep offense. Everywhere, but not in Namibia and not among the Herero people.
What can a dress tell you?
The number of petticoats indicates the number of children the owner has. The more children, the more magnificent the lady’s silhouette, the more respect she is treated with. Sometimes it happens that a very respected person with her enviable size simply does not fit into the store doors.
The Herero community is tolerant of the birth of illegitimate children. If the matron considers it necessary to tell about this piquant moment, then the corresponding skirt is made a little shorter than the others.
The dress is always long, but even here there are possible nuances that characterize its owner. If it is so long that it almost drags along the ground, this is a sure indicator of the lady’s exceptional seriousness. If there are no decorations on the dress, the woman is focused on raising children. If decorations are present, but at the same time have a non-standard character, this is a sign of an enterprising woman who strives to make her home especially cozy and beautiful.
The traditional Herero dress symbolizes a woman's place in society. Married women wear these clothes. By wearing this outfit, the newlywed seems to be telling others that she respects the customs of her ancestors and that she is ready to take on the responsibilities of a housewife and become a worthy mother to future children.
Is it possible to lie with clothes?
Can a lady deceive society about the width of her hips by fraudulently wearing more skirts than she should? Answer: no way. The accuracy of the displayed information is closely monitored by the mother-in-law, and her husband also controls it with full responsibility.
What led to the tribal uprising
It is already certain that history lives on in the dress of Herero women. But that is not all. Hardly anyone believes that in Namibia the relationship between the two races - white newcomers and black aborigines - was idyllic.
When immigrants from Germany first came here, the local population was very diverse in composition, but there is no exact data on the number of ethnic groups. Only in 1907, when the Herero were suppressed, did the German authorities conduct a population census, which became the first in the history of the country. The number of the main groups of tribes before the uprising is estimated by experts to be approximately the following figures:
The German colonialists were no better and no worse than the English, Dutch, French and all the others. They deceived and robbed all tribes without exception, when they succeeded, they quarreled among themselves, following the rule of “divide and conquer.” Of course, there was no talk of any legal equality of colonialists and black subjects of the Reich.
The generally accepted attitude towards the black population is clearly reflected in the words of one of the officers of the colonial forces German Empire: “Negroes are terrible creatures. Predatory animals, whose respect can only be achieved with a whip. They are intended to serve Europeans."
The new 20th century brought disaster to the Herero tribe: due to severe drought, they lost their herds, and, consequently, their means of livelihood. This forced them to go en masse to work as laborers on the farms of German colonists. Thus, the proud and warlike natives were deprived of their former nomadic freedom. But the white settlers managed to make their already difficult life absolutely unbearable. Discontent was building. Soon relations in the colony became extremely tense, so that electric sparks literally jumped through the air.
Herero revolt
In January 1904, the inevitable happened - the great Herero uprising began, which lasted until 1907. At the same time, but separately from the Herero, the Nama tribe opposed the Germans. It is obvious who emerged victorious in both confrontations.
But victory was not easy for the colonialists. Military encyclopedia The pre-revolutionary publication speaks of the Herero opposing Germany as a brave and skillful enemy, which has all the excellent qualities necessary for waging war. Armed with guns and a large supply of ammunition, their 20,000-strong army was a serious opponent for the Germans.
The rebel tribe was brutally dealt with without distinction of gender or age. Approximately 65 thousand of its members died. In 2004, Germany apologized to the Herero people for the genocide they committed. A descendant of the ruthless General von Trotha, who led the suppression of the uprising, visited Namibia in 2007 and said that modern family members were ashamed of the actions of their ancestor.
In the Nama uprising, 10 thousand people were killed. However, apart from these two tribes, the rest of the African population was practically unaffected during the hostilities. The German side lost 1,365 people killed.
Scars of history on clothes
During the battles, Herero men took the uniforms of killed German soldiers and willingly bought them from traders. Why do you think? There was a belief in the tribe that if you wear the enemy's uniform, you can take away his power. An absolutely savage belief was the reason for the emergence of a specific type of male traditional clothes. Worn on exclusively ceremonial occasions, it replicates the uniform of the German army during the suppression of the uprising.
The logic of the people who continue to wear the clothes of the oppressors is not very clear to me personally. But the Herero say that their national clothing serves as a constant reminder of German colonialism, of the tragic period in the life of the people, and at the same time it gives them a feeling of victory over history. Well, they know better.
Every year in August, Herero clans parade through the streets of Okahandya in their national clothes. Men in 19th-century army uniforms march before the leaders, whom they call captains, like soldiers of the Reich. There are also ladies in fluffy Victorian-era dresses and extravagant headdresses.
Everything is combined with African traditions and rituals. With a show of tribal solidarity and a vibrant national consciousness, they mark the day of remembrance of their main national hero, Samuel Magarero, who led the uprising.
Herero at present
Currently, the Herero population is about 130 thousand people. Those who live in cities are often artisans and merchants. But most of them are rural residents. The traditional habitat areas of the tribe are considered to be Kaokoland and Damaraland, which are part of the Kunene region, named after one of the never-drying all year round rivers of the country, the Omaheke region, which includes the historical region of Hereroland, the central part of Namibia with the cities of Okahandya and Otjiwarongo.
In the Herero villages, they live in simple mud huts made from the abundant building material they have - cow dung. In front of the entrance there is a fireplace on which simple food is prepared - corn or maize porridge, meat. Inside the home, everything is simple - an earthen floor, chests with acquired goods, a bed, a table and a chair.
The Herero are polygamous and can have up to four wives, each living in her own hut. Moreover, the wives always live amicably, they do not have serious conflicts. The casket here opens simply: all subsequent wives are chosen by the husband first. For many Herero women, the honorary status of first wife is the ultimate dream, because it allows almost all the work of cleaning, washing, caring for goats, sheep, cows and caring for children to be transferred to the shoulders of the younger spouses.
What is swakara
Born pastoralists, the Herero became successful livestock farmers. They are engaged in the production of astrakhan and broadtail, including such a rare variety as swakara. Don't know what it is? Nothing tricky: the word swakara is derived from the abbreviation South West Africa Karakul - South African karakul.
Karakul is a type of sheep fur. All its beauty is in the fur curls and the intricate lines formed by them. Color - black and gray, less often - brown, very rarely milky. It is interesting to note that the word Karakul itself comes from the name of the city of Karakul in modern Uzbekistan. Karakulcha is a fur made from the skin of lambs. It is more valuable.
In 1907, ten sheep and two rams of a special astrakhan breed were sent from Bukhara to Namibia. By crossing immigrants with local breeds, they obtained a variety of desert sheep that produces fur of unique quality. It does not have long, messy curls; instead, the short, strong pile forms a wavy structure with spaces between the waves. Swakara is the most expensive type of karakul. In Copenhagen, at a fur auction, pelts from Namibia are torn from your hands.
Expensive, light, delicate, soft swakara is not only a fur coat, it makes stunning evening dresses and even swimsuits. Models made from this exclusive material are in the collections of all major fashion houses, including such heavyweights as Prada, Gucci, Cavalli and Dona Karen.
Souvenir for memory
Beautiful and different people live in Namibia. Each nationality makes an indelible impression, and you want to bring home a souvenir of each as a souvenir. With the Herero, the problem is easily solved. Buy a small doll dressed in an exact replica of the colorful outfits that the women of this tribe wear with such dignity.
Look how many there are! There are toys in rich and shiny dresses, overdressed beauties in clothes so beloved by African women in acidic shades of pink and purple, or dolls in more modest vestments with traditional stripes... Choose!
RSS Email Pictures of genocide are difficult for human consciousness to comprehend: charred skeletons in crematoria ovens, ripped open bellies of pregnant women, crushed skulls of children...
Repressing these pictures from memory, from consciousness is a natural defensive reaction of the psyche. However, forgetting history creates the possibility of its repetition.
The term “genocide” came into political use shortly after the Second World War in connection with the investigation of the crimes of fascism and was widely used in UN documents. But the practice of genocide itself probably existed in all known periods of history. It, in particular, was reflected in biblical texts (for example, the destruction of the Canaanite tribes by the ancient Jews, etc.).
Genocide of the Herero and Nama tribes in 1904-1907
One of the first manifestations of an act of genocide in the history of mankind is the genocide of the Herero and Nama tribes, which occurred in 1904-1907, when German troops destroyed 65,000 thousand representatives of the African Herero tribe and 10,000 thousand people from the Nama tribe, this happened against the backdrop of a fire that flared up in Western Europe. African popular uprising. Germany declared Namibia a protectorate country immediately after it realized that it was not interested in its territories, after which the slave labor of Namibians began to be actively used, and their lands were seized for the purpose of exploitation natural resources. At the initial stage, about 60 German settlers were killed; under the leadership of S. Magarero and H. Wittboy, the Herero and Nama tribes killed 120 Germans, including women and children. Under the command of Lothar von Troth, German troops began to suppress the uprising, the number of the German army was 14,000 people. The expedition was financed by Deutsche Bank and equipped by Voormann. In October 1904, von Troth issued an ultimatum: “All Herero must leave this land... Any Herero found within German territory, whether armed or unarmed, with or without domestic animals, will be shot. I will not accept any more children or women. I will send them back to their fellow tribesmen. I will shoot them." At the Battle of Waterberg, German troops defeated the main forces of the rebels, whose losses amounted to 3-5 thousand people. Britain offered the rebels refuge in Bechuanaland in modern-day Botswana, and several thousand people began crossing the Kalahari Desert. Those who remained were imprisoned in concentration camps, forced to work for German entrepreneurs. Many died from overwork and exhaustion. As the German radio Deutsche Welle noted in 2004, “it was in Namibia that the Germans, for the first time in history, used the method of imprisoning men, women and children in concentration camps. During the colonial war, the Herero tribe was almost completely exterminated and today constitutes only a small proportion of the population in Namibia.” There are also reports that the remaining tribal women were raped and forced into prostitution. According to a 1985 UN report, German forces destroyed three-quarters of the Herero tribe, reducing its population from 80,000 to 15,000 exhausted refugees. However, this fact was classified as genocide only in 1985, when it was mentioned in the next UN report, in which this act was compared with the genocide of the Jews, and only in 2004 the commission of genocide on the territory of Namibia was recognized by Germany itself. in October 1904, von Troth put forward an ultimatum, the main idea of which was to force the entire Herero tribe to leave German soil, and any representative of this tribe, if the order was not followed, was simply shot. German troops managed to defeat the rebel forces, with losses amounting to over five thousand people.
The uprising began on January 12, 1904, with the uprising of the Herero tribes under the leadership of Samuel Magarero. The Herero began an uprising, killing about 120 Germans, including women and children. The rebels besieged the administrative center of German South-West Africa, the city of Windhoek. However, having received reinforcements from Germany, the colonialists defeated the rebels at Mount Ognati on April 9, and surrounded them in the Waterberg area on August 11. At the Battle of Waterberg, German troops defeated the main forces of the rebels, whose losses ranged from three to five thousand people.
Britain offered the rebels refuge in Bechuanaland in modern-day Botswana, and several thousand people began crossing the Kalahari Desert. Those who remained were imprisoned in concentration camps and forced to work for German entrepreneurs. Many died from overwork and exhaustion. As the German radio Deutsche Welle noted in 2004, “it was in Namibia that the Germans, for the first time in history, used the method of imprisoning men, women and children in concentration camps. During the colonial war, the Herero tribe was almost completely exterminated and today constitutes only a small proportion of the population in Namibia.”
There are also reports that the remaining tribal women were raped and forced into prostitution. According to a 1985 UN report, German forces destroyed three-quarters of the Herero tribe, reducing its population from 80,000 to 15,000 exhausted refugees. Some of the Herero were destroyed in the battle, the rest retreated into the desert, where most of them died of thirst and hunger. In October, von Trot issued an ultimatum: “All Herero must leave this land. Any Herero found within German territory, whether armed or unarmed, with or without domestic animals, would be shot. I will not accept any more children or women. I will send them back to their fellow tribesmen. I will shoot them." Even the German Chancellor Bülow was indignant and told the emperor that this did not comply with the laws of war. Wilhelm calmly replied: “This corresponds to the laws of war in Africa.”
Those same 30 thousand blacks captured were placed in concentration camps. They were building railways, and with the arrival of Dr. Eugen Fischer they also began to serve as material for his medical experiments. He and Dr. Theodore Mollison trained concentration camp prisoners in methods of sterilization and amputation of healthy body parts. They injected blacks with poisons in varying concentrations, observing which dose would become lethal. Fischer later became chancellor of the University of Berlin, where he created the department of eugenics and taught there. His best student was considered Joseph Mengele, later notorious as a fanatical doctor.
After the defeat of the Herero, the Nama (Hottentot) tribes rebelled. On October 3, 1904, a Hottentot uprising led by Hendrik Witbooi and Jacob Morenga began in the southern part of the country. For a whole year, Witboy skillfully led the battles. After the death of Witboy on October 29, 1905, the rebels, divided into small groups, continued guerrilla warfare up to 1907. By the end of the same year, most of the rebels returned to peaceful life, as they were forced to provide food for their families, and the remaining partisan detachments were soon driven beyond the border of modern Namibia - to the Cape Colony, which belonged to the British.
Anthropological types were recorded that were similar in their characteristics to the modern Khoisan peoples. These are people of the so-called “Boskop” and “Florisbad” anthropological types. The only significant difference from modern representatives of the Khoisan race is their taller height and very large brain volume (1600 cubic cm, which is more than that of modern representatives of Homo sapiens).
In Namibia, archaeological and anthropological finds show the presence of the Khoikhoi and San already in the first centuries of the new era.
The ancestors of modern Hottentots migrated to Namibia from the African Great Lakes region around the same time, displacing or mixing with the ancestors of the modern Bushmen. A number of scientists also express more exotic hypotheses: for example, the French archaeologist Breuil argued that South Africa was inhabited by people from Egypt (he refers to some anatomical features of the Khoisan peoples and ancient Egyptians).
Unlike the San, the Hottentots had already domesticated livestock and had the skills of smelting and processing metals. By the time Europeans arrived on the southern tip of Africa (17th century), the Khoikhoin had already settled down and mastered agriculture.
About a millennium later (in the 16th century), Bantu tribes began to penetrate into Namibia along the same route from the north and northeast, the first of which were the ancestors of the Herero. They were able to push the Khoisans back from the left bank of the Kunene, but their further advance was stopped.
However, subsequently the southern corridor became the main channel of communication with the outside world - from the Cape of Good Hope through the Namaqualand highlands.
During the 17th-19th centuries, the Hottentot tribes inhabiting the southern tip of Africa were practically destroyed. This is how the Hottentot tribes disappeared - Kochokwa, Goringayikwa, Gainoqua, Hesekwa, Kora, who lived in the area of present Cape Town. The rest of the Hottentots largely lost their identity during contacts with Europeans. In the early period of colonization, cohabitation between white colonists and Hottentot women was widespread. As a result, numerous mestizo groups (basters) were formed - “Rehoboth Basters”, “Betan Basters”, “Eagles”, “Coloured” of South Africa.
In the 19th century, new associations were formed from the remnants of the disintegrated tribes, united by the desire to defend at least a share of independence. The most significant of them are the eagles in Namibia and the grikwa in South Africa. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Orlam tribal association (descendants of the Gochokwa, Damakwa, etc. tribes), displaced by white settlers, crossed the Orange River and moved north. The Orlam were already Christians, spoke the Boer language, and used horses and guns. The Orlam included the Witboys - Hottentots who settled in the area of Gobabis, Berseb and Bethany, as well as the Afrikaners (Boers) who wandered in search of livestock and land under the leadership of the Orlam leader - Jonker Afrikaner.
The process of formation of the Nama Hottentot state began with the establishment of the hegemony of the Orlam tribe. The leader of the Jonker Afrikaner tribe formed a regular army of two thousand (the first in the region) and created cavalry as a branch of the army. Around 1823, Jonker founded a settlement and his headquarters, Winterhoek (named after his birthplace in the north of the Cape Colony), which later became the capital of the country, Windhoek. Jonker Afrikaner promoted the development of agriculture, crafts and trade on his lands. All this, as well as the conquest of part of the neighboring Herero tribes (by the 40s of the 19th century, the entire southern and part of the central part of the country was under Nama rule), led to the formation of the first centralized state in southern Africa.
Jonker's grave in Okahandja has become an object of worship - Hottentots from all over the country gather there every year.
In 1865, the Rehobothers, driven by the British from their lands on the left bank of the river, came to the Central Plateau of Namibia. Orange.
In the 70s of the 19th century, following the Rehobothers, Afrikaners moved to Namibia after the British became the owners of the Cape Colony. This migration of Afrikaners was called the “Track to the Land of Thirst.” The "Trackers" moved north along the path paved by the eagles, using water sources discovered by their predecessors, and, as a rule, settled near these sources. Up to the final region of their migration - the Planalto plateau in Angola - the Afrikaners were accompanied by their guides, the Rehobotheri and Nama.
In the north of Namibia, in the 60s of the 19th century, another large inter-tribal association of Herero was created under the leadership of Chief Magerero. The Herero are a Negroid tribe that came to South-West Africa in the 16th century, but their advance south was interrupted by the Hottentots of the Topnar tribe. They faced them in a bloody war on the Swakop River. After this, the two tribes divided their zones of influence, but rivalry remained, which manifested itself in periodic skirmishes.
In the mid-19th century, German colonialists began to penetrate Namibia, initially through Christian missionaries. In SWA, the Rhine Missionary Society was especially active (since 1842 among the Nama, since 1844 among the Herero).
In 1850, Jonker expelled the missionaries from Windhoek and declared himself the head of the local Afro-Christian church and began to perform services himself.
Throughout the territory of what is now Namibia, the Rhine Missionary Society created strongholds of German influence in the form of mission stations, over one of which the Prussian flag was raised back in 1864. In addition, German trading and transport companies began to create communications and a network of trading posts along the entire western coast of Africa.
Thus, relying on the “Rhenish”, the agent of the Bremen merchant Lüderitz G. Vogelsand, on the basis of an agreement dated May 1 and August 25, 1883, exchanged the Angra Peken Bay (modern Lüderitz) with the surrounding area and lands in the interior of the country from the Nama leader J. Fredericks 260 rifles and 600 lb. Art. Then, by deception, the Germans took almost all the lands of this leader into their hands, indicating in the documents the size of the purchased territory in geographical, or German, miles, which was 5 times larger than the English one known to us at that time.
By the beginning of the colonial takeover, the Germans were opposed mainly by two ethnic communities - the Herero (80 thousand people) and the Nama (20 thousand).
After the death of J. Afrikaner, the Rhenish missionaries managed to arm both sides and provoke a war between them, which lasted intermittently from 1863 to 1892.
During the first stage of colonization (1884-1892), the Germans brought more and more areas under their legal and actual control. In the east, the 100 km wide coastal strip was adjacent to the lands of the Nama tribes, who agreed to conclude protectorate treaties with the Germans: Betanians, Topnars, Bersebas, Rui-Nasi, as well as Rehobotherians and Hereros. The possessions of another part of the Nama - the Witboys, Bondelswarts, Veldshundragers, Fransmanns and Kauas, who refused to conclude such treaties, remained outside the German administration. In 1888, the Herero abandoned the protectorate agreement, believing that the alliance with the Germans did not help them in the fight against the Nama.
By the beginning of the second stage of the existence of German South-West Africa (1893-1903), the colonial authorities already had significant forces and means to suppress the resistance of Africans and begin to create a resettlement colony.
In 1892, in response to the demand of the Imperial Commissioner G. Goering (the father of the future Reichsmarshal) - to stop internecine wars- Nama and Herero made peace among themselves for the first time in history, realizing that the front of the struggle should be directed against the Germans.
In April 1893, as German troops advanced inland, they attacked the residence of the Nama paramount chief, Henrik Witbooi, at Hornkranz.
Under the threat of destruction, the paramount leaders of the Herero, S. Magerero, and the Nama, H. Witboy, were forced to sign protectorate agreements: in 1890, the Herero leader, and in 1894, the Nama leader. Armed resistance to the Germans by individual tribes continued in subsequent years, which subsequently turned into the largest joint uprising of the Herero and Nama in 1904 - 1907. The Herero and Nama Bondelswarts, under the leadership of Jan Morenga, were the first to join the fight in January 1904. H. Witboy entered the fight in October of that year, proclaiming himself the spiritual leader of all Nama (back in 1887, following the example of J. Afrikaner, he founded a local Afro-Christian church and expelled the missionaries).
The performances of the Nama together with the Herero were especially effective, as a result of which General L. von Trotha was forced in 1905 to propose peace negotiations, but received a categorical refusal.
The Nama uprising began to decline after H. Witboy was wounded in a shootout near the town of Falgras on October 29, 1905 and died from loss of blood.
Morenga's detachment fought most stubbornly until the fall of 1906, for whose capture William II appointed a reward of 20 thousand marks. Only on March 31, 1907, J. Morenga was killed in a skirmish with the police of the Cape Province.
And only by uniting with the British did the Germans suppress this uprising. Many detachments (tribes) left Namibia for adjacent territories. The last one to do this was in 1909, Simon Copper, who broke through the German border posts with his fellow tribesmen into the southern regions of the Kalahari (Bechuanaland).
It should be noted that the Herero and Nama warriors fought the war according to moral rules: they spared women, children, missionaries, and traders. Their goal was not to destroy the Germans, but to expel them from their land. As a result of the policy of genocide by German troops the Herero population decreased by 80%, and the Nama by 50% (according to the 1911 census).
At the beginning of the First World War, South African troops entered the territory of German South-West Africa. From this point until the end of the 20th century, the territory of Namibia was under South African control. The German population of the country, despite the favorable attitude of the authorities of the Union of South Africa towards it, partially emigrated to Germany (of the 15 thousand Germans living there in 1913, by 1921 only 8 thousand remained).
At the same time, the South African authorities (since 1915) pursued a policy of resettling “poor whites” from the territory South Africa to the territory of Namibia - with the aim of allocating them with land (at the expense of Africans). Already in 1921, the number of South African settlers in the country was 1.5 times higher than the number of Germans, amounting to 11 thousand people.
In the second half of the 30s, Germans began to return to the country, hoping for the restoration of German colonial rule.
The policy of the South African authorities towards the indigenous population was not much different from the German one. The pre-war period was also marked by a number of Namibian protests.
In 1924, the Rehobothers attempted to declare independence. In 1932, the Ovambo rebelled in the north of the country. In 1922, the Nama-Bondelsvarts, who were engaged in cattle breeding and hunting, refused to pay a tax on the dogs they needed on the farm, and took refuge in the mountains, led by the leader J. Christian. The authorities sent mounted riflemen and planes against the Bondelswarts, who subjected the rebel camp to shelling and bombing.
IN post-war period The South African authorities pursued the same segregation policy in Namibia as in their own country.
The principle of separate residence of each people was proclaimed: the country was divided into nine homelands and a large “white zone” for the residence of the European minority. Africans could settle within the “white zone” only with the permission of the authorities. Cities were also divided into neighborhoods based on nationality.
This pattern of settlement largely continues to this day. After the declaration of independence, the European population in the country declined, and many lands were returned to Africans.
