A-Infos (en) Germany, Die Platform: 120 years of the Herero uprising: We do not forget the genocide of German imperialism! (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

120 years ago today, on January 12, 1904, the Herero population rose in 
a mass uprising against German colonial rule. ----- The uprising was 
preceded by two decades of brutal colonial oppression. In 1884, an 
official protected area of the German Empire was established on the 
territory of today's Namibia under the name "German South West Africa". 
In the years that followed, this was increasingly expanded into a 
colony. Over 15,000 European settlers came to the country. The German 
colonial administration ruled with extreme brutality and the principle 
of racial separation. The native tribes were completely disenfranchised 
and forced to vacate their land for the German colonial economy. The 
settlers used force to appropriate more and more land, thereby 
threatening the livelihoods of the semi-nomadic Herero.

Faced with increasingly untenable conditions and the existential threat 
to their lives, the Herero began a resistance campaign on January 12th. 
Military stations were besieged, railway lines blocked and trading posts 
raided. The German colonial troops were surprised and forced onto the 
defensive.

From May, military command of the German colonial units was transferred 
to Lieutenant General Lothar von Trotha. He specifically relied on the 
method of war of annihilation. The colonial troops now took brutal 
action against the insurgents. In August 1904, von Trotha surrounded the 
Herero and gave an order for their destruction. The persecuted were left 
with only one choice: die in German gunfire or flee into the 
life-threatening Omaheke Desert. Only a few were able to break through 
the German pocket; most of them starved and died of thirst. After the 
uprising was suppressed, the few survivors were interned in 
concentration camps and used as forced labor by the Germans. The 
colonial oppression under the flag of the German Empire was to last 
until the outbreak of the First World War.

In the historiography of the Federal Republic of Germany, the history of 
German colonial rule was either barely paid attention to, downplayed or 
justified by bourgeois historians for a long time. Even today, this 
period of German imperialism is not presented in school lessons in its 
actual relevance and brutality. The students are told that, in contrast 
to Great Britain or France, the German Empire was only a "latecomer" 
with small, insignificant colonies.

This fits with the reason of state of the Federal Republic, which, after 
110 years of the Herero's struggle for truth and justice, only gradually 
admitted in 2015 what could no longer be denied: the suppression of the 
Herero uprising was the first German genocide of the 20th century! 
However, there was a caveat attached to this admission: There were no 
legal consequences for the current German state. The descendants of the 
Herero are still fighting for full recognition and reparations, although 
the German state is trying everything to prevent this with meaningless 
gestures, small symbolic payments and tough realpolitik. The role of the 
bourgeois Namibian state should not be forgotten, which acts as a 
representative of the interests of the Herero and at the same time and 
unsurprisingly betrays them.

The history of the Herero uprising, its suppression and its completely 
inadequate response shows us several things. They make it important that 
we continue to talk about it today: German rule in South West Africa is 
an impressive example of brutality - specifically German - colonial 
oppression. From the 17th to the 20th centuries, burgeoning capitalism 
stretched a web of domination and exploitation over the populations of 
the global south. The Herero uprising, like many anti-colonial uprisings 
before and after it, proved that the oppressed populations are not 
condemned to accept this rule. In many places they rose up to fight for 
their liberation. And as in many other regions, the colonial rulers 
responded with even more brutal violence. The current politics of 
European states shows us that the global power relations that made 
German rule in South West Africa possible still exist in their 
fundamentals today. The African continent continues to be plundered by 
corporations and subjected to political and military interventions.  The 
fact that the descendants of the Herero are still fighting for justice 
today is an impressive testimony to how little has changed. It should 
also serve as a mission for us - as people who live and fight in the 
heart of the imperialist beast - to advance and intensify our fight to 
overthrow these power structures.

In memory of the victims of the genocide!
Truth and justice for the Herero!
Down with German imperialism!

https://www.dieplattform.org/2024/01/12/120-jahre-aufstand-der-herero-wir-vergessen-den-voelkermord-des-deutschen-imperialismus-nicht/#more-2823
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Subscribe/Unsubscribe https://ainfos.ca/mailman/listinfo/a-infos-en
Archive: http://ainfos.ca/en