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The colony of German South West Africa (modern Namibia) was founded in
1883 by Adolf Lüderitz and was recognised as a German
Protectorate in 1884. Its borders were fixed by the addition of the
Caprivi Strip in 1890.
The first capital at Otjimbingwe was changed in
1891 to Windhuk (or Windhoek). Its mostly arid farming land had
attracted 13,000 German settlers by 1910, the recent discovery of
diamonds adding to the potential of the colony.
The history of German
South West Africa was marred by three major rebellions and the harsh way in which they were crushed.
After Germany's defeat in the
First World War, the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 stripped Germany of
all her colonies and overseas possessions. German South West Africa was
awarded to the Dominion of South Africa. |
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Map of German
South West Africa 1911
Picture from
Brockhaus Kleines
Konversations-Lexikon /
WikiCommons |
Campaigns in German South West Africa
Campaigns into the Interior
As German expeditions gradually
ventured further into the colony mapped out as theirs by agreement with the
other European powers
they encountered armed resistance on several occasions. The Ovambo
people in the North of German South West Africa remained largely
unconquered by the Germans throughout the colonial period. These small campaigns were usually fought by company sized
(or smaller) units of
the Schutztruppe sometimes with assistance from African
auxiliary troops from rival tribes.
The First Nama Rebellion 1893-94
The first major resistance to German rule in South West
Africa was by the Nama people (also
called "Hottentot" by the Boers and Germans after the clicking sounds made in the
Nama language which sounded like stuttering to European ears. The rebellions are
therefore often called the Hottentot Rebellions). In 1893 they rose under their
new tribal leader Hendrik Witbooi. The Nama (and also the Herero) of South West
Africa were not primitive warriors armed with spears but after contact with
Boers and other Europeans they often wore European style clothes, were armed
with firearms and fought using Boer style guerrilla tactics. The rebellion had
initial success but was eventually defeated by the reinforced Schutztruppe under
the newly appointed Major Theodor Leutwein at the Battle of Naukluft in April
1894. Under terms of the peace treaty, the Witbooi Nama became allies of the
Germans and fought alongside them on several occasions thenceforth.
Recommended External Link - See "The Colonial Wars of
Imperial Germany" at
Savage and Soldier
The Herero Rebellion 1904-07
The Herero people of the Central and Northern parts of the colony had been
relatively peaceful and cooperative with the Germans but increasing numbers of
German settlers and their attitude towards the Herero changed all this. The once
proud Herero had become labourers on German farms and were now abused by the
Germans. Reports of rape and murder became common. German plans to disarm the
Herero finally caused them to rise up in rebellion in January 1904 under their chief,
Samuel Maherero, in what was to become
Germany's largest and most notorious colonial war. The Herero murdered about 120
German settlers (but spared women and children, missionaries and non-Germans)
and even threatened to capture Windhoek. The Schutztruppe were caught off guard, being
mostly deployed in the South of the colony fighting the Bondelswartz at the time, but eventually managed
to restore some order but not to defeat the Herero. Major von Leutwein was then
replaced as commander by the more ruthless General Lothar von Trotha and the
Schutztruppe were reinforced up to a strength of over 19,000 by volunteers from
Germany. This new force cornered and defeated the Herero at the Battle of
Waterburg in August 1904. The Herero were then pursued into the desert and left to die
of thirst. Von Trotha issued orders that no quarter be given to any returning
Herero man, woman or child. Although the orders were later rescinded, it is
estimated that up to 65,000 (80% of the total Herero population) died in the following years. Maherero and a
small band of his followers managed to escape into British Bechuanaland where they
were granted asylum.
Recommended External Link
- Namibia-1on1
- The Herero-Uprising
The Second Nama Rebellion
1905-08
The Nama people of the Southern part of the colony were
sworn enemies of the Herero and initially assisted the Germans in fighting the
rebellious Herero under the terms of their treaty of 1894 with the Germans.
But in 1905 when German intentions to disarm them too became known they once again rebelled against German rule
under Hendrik Witbooi. Despite being
heavily outnumbered, their guerrilla warfare pinned down large numbers of
Schutztruppe but inevitably they were also defeated and a bloody retribution was
taken. It is estimated that up to 10,000 (50% of the total Nama population) died
in the rebellion and its aftermath.
When news of the slaughter and starvation of the Herero and Nama reached
Berlin it caused outrage. Von Trotha was withdrawn to Germany and German
colonial rule became slightly less harsh under newly appointed civilian
governors.
The First World War in German South West Africa
The initial intended South African invasion of German territory was delayed
by an internal Boer insurrection against the South African Dominion Government
(the "Maritz Rebellion"), destruction of South African railway and communication
lines by German troops and an early German victory over South African forces at Sandfontien in September 1914. The outnumbered Germans under Oberstleutnant von
Heydebreck (who was killed in an accidental explosion during the campaign) and
later Oberstleutnant Franke, were however forced to gradually withdraw to the
Northern interior of the country, fighting several actions along the way. Here
they tried to call a truce based on a partition of the country but were forced
by allied refusal, to fight on until faced with an invasion of over 50,000
mainly South African troops under General Botha. The Schutztruppe finally
surrendered at Khorab on July 9th 1915, although some small groups remained on
the loose and evaded South African authorities until as late as 1919.
Recommended External Link- See "The War in Africa" and "GSWA History" at
The Kaiser's Cross
Forces in German South West Africa
Schutztruppe
The very first German troops sent to South West Africa in May 1888 were the "Truppe
des Reichs-Kommissars" led by Leutnant Ulrich von Quitzow and consisted of
two officers and 5 NCOs who commanded twenty African soldiers (from the Baster
and Nama peoples) to protect the first Imperial Commissioner, Dr. Heinrich
Göring (father of the later infamous Hermann Göring). The unit was gradually expanded over the following years to a
strength of about 700 German troops by 1897. Their name was officially
changed to the Kaiserliche Schutztruppe by an imperial order in
1895. Unlike the Schutztruppe of German East Africa
and Cameroon, which relied on large numbers of Africans for the ranks and file,
the Schutztruppe of German South West Africa consisted entirely of German
troops, employed as elite mounted infantry. All the officers and NCOs and most of the
other ranks had previous experience in the regular German army and had usually
volunteered for overseas service. During the Herero Rebellion the Schutztruppe were vastly expanded under
General Lothar von Trotha by the addition of almost 15,000 new troops from
Germany. Once peace was restored most of these troops returned home. The 1914 peacetime strength
of the South West African Schutztruppe was
approximately 90 German Officers with 1,800
German other ranks formed into 9
mounted infantry companies ("Feldkompagnien"), the 7th of which
was camel mounted and 3 artillery batteries.
Police
The German South West African Police force ("Landespolizei") was
initially formed
in 1905, although due to the rebellions in the colony did not become a fully
functioning police force until 1907. Prior to then the Schutztruppe had conducted police duties. While the Polizeitruppe in the other colonies were essentially paramilitary
units, consisting of locally recruited police soldiers officered by Germans and
often dealing with local rebellions, the Landespolizei of German South
West Africa was almost exclusively made up of German policemen and
concentrated on standard police duties. The 1914 peacetime strength of the German South West African
Landespolizei was approximately 7 German Police Officers and 500 German
other ranks, with 50 African auxiliaries. On the outbreak of the First
World War the majority of the police force were incorporated fully into
the Schutztruppe (and issued Schutztruppe uniforms), only a small number
remained on police duty.
Highly Recommended Reading - "Unter
dem Kreuz des Südens" by S Schepp
Recommended External Link -
Namibian
Police History
Navy
German South West Africa had no permanent naval establishment, but the imperial
navy did serve in South West Africa as reinforcements during rebellions. The SMS
Habicht was patrolling off the coast of South West Africa when the Herero
Rebellion broke out. The landing party were the first reinforcements to reach
the colony. These sailors remained in action throughout the rebellion. In
addition the navy provided
medical staff and artillery to support the Schutztruppe during the Herero
Rebellion.
When
the First World War broke out SMS Eber was patrolling German South West African
waters. Having no natural cover from Entente warships along the coastline of
South West Africa (unlike the SMS Königsberg in East Africa), it sailed to
Brazil where it was scuttled in 1917.
German South West Africa also had its own non-military ships, separate from the
Imperial navy. These vessels came under the control of the colonial governors
and were officered by Germans with locally recruited crews. They were not
intended for military use although they could be used to ferry supplies and
troops in times of war.
Recommend External Link - Axis History Forum Discussion on the
Nachtigal
Marine Infantry
The German Marine Infantry- the Seebataillone were deployed in South
West Africa during the Herero Rebellion, arriving long before Schutztruppe
reinforcements could be mustered in Germany.
In January
1904 two companies each from the I. and II. Seebataillone were formed into a
Marine Expedition Corps under the command of Major Glassenap for service in
German South West Africa at the time of the Herero Rebellion. Once in Africa the
four companies were divided amongst Schutztruppe formations. They saw action and
suffered casualties in various actions against the Herero, although they also
suffered heavily from disease and the harsh climate. They returned to Germany in
March 1905.
Recommended External Link -
Marine Infanterie
German Reservists and Volunteers
German civilians living in German South West Africa were liable to call up in
times of rebellion and war. Reservists were called up during the Herero
Rebellion and many German civilians and farmers also volunteered to fight
during the rebellion. During the First World War reservists added three companies and two artillery batteries to the size of the Schutztruppe.
A Landwehr and Landsturm were also formed for garrison duties. Many
of those called up or volunteering had former military training and most being used to life on
the Veld were excellent shots and good horsemen. Unlike the other colonies where
uniforms were often in short supply and reservists were often left to provide whatever uniforms they could
themselves,
the Schutztruppe of South West Africa had sufficient stocks so that their
reservists were issued standard Schutztruppe uniforms.
South African Free Corps
Many
Boers in South West Africa volunteered to fight with the Germans during the First World War, forming
the company strength South African Free Corps (known as the
“Südafrikanischen
Freiwilligen-Korps” or simply "Freikorps" in German or "Vrijkorps"
in Dutch/Afrikaans). Later a Free Artillery Battery was added. The Free Corps fought several actions against South African forces, but
were disbanded in early 1915.
African Auxiliaries
Due to the dreadful state of relations between the German occupiers and the main
Namibian tribes no regular African Schutztruppe units were raised in South West Africa.
At various times several temporary auxiliary units were formed from African
soldiers.
The two main South West African tribes, the Herero and the Nama were
bitter enemies. In the 1890's Herero auxiliaries fought alongside the
Germans against the Nama. After their defeat in 1894, the Witbooi Nama
then sided with the Germans and fought alongside them in several small
campaigns and later against the Herero in 1904-05. The Rehobot-Basters
also supplied troops to serve under he Germans during the Herero
Rebellion. This policy of
employing tribal auxiliaries led to the unfortunate side effect of
having both the major warlike tribes becoming familiar with German
weaponry and tactics. After the final defeat of the Herero and Nama
Rebellions by 1908, the tribes were disarmed and all African units
serving the Schutztruppe were disbanded.
Armed Africans did however
occasionally still serve in the Landespolizei. In August 1909 a small
armed African unit (15 men) was recruited to serve
in the Landespolizei in the area of the Caprivi Strip.
When the First World War broke out more African units were recruited
for second line duties such as garrisoning the Northern outposts and
guarding Prisoners of War, thus freeing up German troops for frontline
service. The Rehobot-Basters formed a company strength unit and a half-company of mounted Berseba Nama was
also recruited. Another under-size company was formed from former
Cameroon Schutztruppe soldiers who had been exiled to South West Africa
in 1910 after a mutiny. The "Kamerun Kompanie" were promised
their freedom to return home in return for service. These wartime
African units saw no frontline action and were all disbanded before the
end of the campaign in South West Africa (the Baster Company after a
mutiny amongst them due to being posted to guard South African POWs
outside their initially agreed service area). Some of those disbanded
men then served as drivers, labourers or police auxiliaries. The Kamerun
Kompanie were finally returned home in 1917.
Recommended Reading- "Askari und Fitafita" by
Thomas Morlang (see Book Reviews Page)
Many Africans also served the Schutztruppe as scouts, guides and servants ("Bambusen").
As mentioned above, the Landespolizei also employed African Auxiliaries. Unlike other German colonies in Africa, the
deserts of South West Africa did not suit the use of large numbers of
African porters to follow Schutztruppe units.
Aircraft
In the summer of 1914 three pilots arrived in South West Africa to form a new Schutztruppe air force. One was Leutnant Alexander
von Scheele (an army pilot
who was appointed to command the new Schutztruppe air force), the second
was Willy Trück (a civilian Aviatik factory pilot), the third was an
Austro-Hungarian, Paul Fiedler. They had two
aeroplanes between them, an Aviatik and a Roland, both biplanes. Trück and Fiedler
initially performed test
flights on the aircraft under the supervision of von Scheele and it was
reported that neither aircraft was particularly fit for flight in the
the climate of South West Africa. Before the aeroplanes could be
replaced however, war broke out and they were pressed into service. Von
Scheele now took over the role of piloting the Aviatik from Trück, while
Fiedler flew the Roland. Both pilots flew many sorties over
South African lines during the campaign, gaining valuable information on
enemy troop movements (Fiedler was also a keen and useful photographer) and dropping
bombs on enemy positions. Both pilots were injured and both
planes were damaged to various extents throughout the campaign by crashes
and enemy gunfire often meaning their grounding for weeks at a time.
The last mission was flown by von Scheele in May 1915. The Schutztruppe
surrendered in July and both planes were destroyed before falling into
enemy hands.
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