Herero Genocide

One of the first acts of genocide in the 20th century occurred in Africa. German colonist almost completely eradicated the Herero people from 1904-1907. What Historical events happened to lay the groundwork for the genocide? What motivation and contributing factors could have led to the near destruction of the people and their culture? How and why were these acts carried out? What are the lasting effects on the people and their culture? I will review and discuss several points that will bring to focus to the atrocities committed, the mind frame of the perpetrators and what these acts did to the Herero people. I will start by examining the culture of the colonies and how the German leadership promoted the genocide. I will then explain the acts that occurred. During my research, I found that the unrest in the region from colonization by the Germans fueled the motives, both from the German colonists and the Herero. In the end thousands upon thousands of people were massacred, starved to death and killed. These terrible acts had psychological impacts as well. The Herero were afraid for their families and children and resorted to unimaginable acts to “protect” them from the brutality of the Germans. I hope to shed some light on an event in history that is not talked about a lot and to educate people to this culture that was almost wiped off the face of the earth.

To understand the events that took place in Africa, we must first take a trip back to 1880. 1880 to 1900 was known as the Scramble for Africa (Boddy-Evens, A., n.d.). During this period, rapid colonization by European countries was happening at an alarming rate. In addition to German occupation in Africa, many other countries had territories there. Britain had Freetown in Sierra Leone, forts along the coast of The Gambia, a presence at Lagos, the Gold Coast protectorate, and colonies in Southern Africa (Boddy-Evens, A., n.d.). France had settlements at Dakar and St Louis in Senegal, the Assinie and Grand...