Namibia
before 1884 		History of Southern Africa South African Mandate
1918-1939






Left : Stamps issued for Deutsch-Südwestafrika by the German Postal Administration
Right : South African Stamps overprinted for use in occupied SWA



History of German South West Africa, 1884-1918



German missionaries first became active in the area in the 1840es. In 1883, German businessman A.E. LÜDERITZ acquired a land concession at Angra Pequena. In 1884 the German government declared a protectorate, which at the BERLIN CONFERENCE of 1885 was extended to cover the core of what is Namibia today, leaving out the exclave of WALVISBAAI on which Britain produced an older claim. The protectorate/colony was called DEUTSCH-SÜDWESTAFRIKA (German South West Africa), with the capital at OTJIMBINGWE (1885), since 1891 at WINDHUK (founded 1890). The sparsely populated colony attracted German settlers, 3,700 by 1903, 13,000 by 1910.
In 1890, German minister of foreign affairs CAPRIVI acquired (from Britain) a stretch of land along the Angolan-Bechuana border, the Caprivi strip, to give German South West Africa access to the Zambezi river. The fact is that the German stretch of Zambezi bank is far upstream, above the Victoria falls, at a river stretch which is not navigable.
In 1903, the NAMA (also referred to as Hottentots) rose in revolt, under their leader HENDRIK WITBOOI. In 1904 the HERERO REVOLT broke out. The German military crushed it mercilessly, driving the Herero into the Kalahari desert (i.e. across the border into British Bechuanaland), where ca. 80 % of them perished. Military operations continued until 1907.
DIAMONDS were found in 1908.
World War I broke out in 1914; in 1915 German South West Africa was occupied by South African forces.







EXTERNAL
FILES 		Namibia, history of, from Infoplease
Articles from Catholic Encyclopedia : Damaraland
Links to Namibian History, from Namibia Page, from Looksmart, from African Cultures
Die grossen Aufstaende in Deutsch-Suedwestafrika und Deutsch-Ostafrika 1904-1907, by Hauke Haien (in German, scholarly essay)
War and Rebellion in Southern Angola, 1914-1916, from Colonial Warfare in Portuguese Africa, 1846-1918 by Nuno B. Pereira
The Colonial Wars of Imperial Germany, by Paul Beck, from Savage and Soldier Online
Namibian History, from Africa InSites, emphasizes the history of the indigenous groups
DOCUMENTS
Flag Flag of German South West Africa, from FOTW
Maps Map of 1890, from Encyclopaedia Britannica, Am. ed. 1890, posted by Perry Castaneda Library, UTexas, features German SWA without Caprivi Strip
Africa map of 1892 from Gardiner's Atlas of English History, 1892 shows German SWA without Caprivi Strip
Map of 1912 from Deutsche Schutzgebiete
Map of 1913 on African Religions, by J.G. Bartholomew : Literary and Historical Atlas of Africa and Australasia, 1913, from Perry Castaneda Library, UTexas, shows distribution of mission stations in SWA
Text Documents Gustav Freensen, In the German South African Army, 1903/1904, from Modern History Sourcebook
Deutsch-Südwestafrika in 1913, Retrospect on the Development of Deutsch-Südwestafrika in 1912, original source : Deutscher Kolonialatlas, 1913, here in English translation, posted at this site
Agreement over Protection and Friendship, signed Sept. 15th 1894 between Maj. Leutwein and Hendrik Witbooi, from Hendrick Witbooi Page; Amendment of Nov. 16th 1895, from ditto, Letter from Samuel Maherero, ca. 1904, from ditto, The Hottentot War (Official history of the war, compiled by the German General Staff in 1907), from ditto
Ed. Morel, The Story of German South West Africa, from Black Man's Burden (1920) posted by boondocksnet
Deutsches Kolonial Lexikon 1920, click Recherche, S, Südwestafrika; has numerous other articles on the colony; site in German

REFERENCE Article : German South West Africa, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1913 p.1012 [G]
Article : German South West Africa, in : Statesman's Year Book 1895 pp.569-570, 1898 pp.568, 1901 pp.653-654, 1905 pp.724-725, 1910 pp.860-861 [G]
Article : German South West Africa, in : International Year Book 1898 p.352 [G]
Article : Namibia, in : Appleton's Annual Cyclopedia and Register of Important Events 1894 p.104 [G]



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2001, last revised on September 6th 2007

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