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Let Us Die Fighting : the Struggle of the Herero and Nama Against German Imperialism (1884-1915)

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Let Us Die Fighting : the Struggle of the Herero and Nama Against German Imperialism (1884-1915) Let us die fighting : the struggle of the Herero and Nama against German imperialism (1884-1915) http://www.aluka.org/action/showMetadata?doi=10.5555/AL.SFF.DOCUMENT.crp3b10018 Use of the Aluka digital library is subject to Aluka’s Terms and Conditions, available at http://www.aluka.org/page/about/termsConditions.jsp. By using Aluka, you agree that you have read and will abide by the Terms and Conditions. Among other things, the Terms and Conditions provide that the content in the Aluka digital library is only for personal, non-commercial use by authorized users of Aluka in connection with research, scholarship, and education. The content in the Aluka digital library is subject to copyright, with the exception of certain governmental works and very old materials that may be in the public domain under applicable law. Permission must be sought from Aluka and/or the applicable copyright holder in connection with any duplication or distribution of these materials where required by applicable law. Aluka is a not-for-profit initiative dedicated to creating and preserving a digital archive of materials about and from the developing world. For more information about Aluka, please see http://www.aluka.org Let us die fighting : the struggle of the Herero and Nama against German imperialism (1884-1915) Author/Creator Drechsler, Horst Publisher Zed Press (London) Date 1980 Resource type Books Language English Subject Coverage (spatial) Namibia Coverage (temporal) 1884 - 1915 Source Northwestern University Libraries, Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies, 968.802 D771sX Description This book covers the entire period of German colonial rule in what is today Namibia. Using previously unpublished German government documents, Drechsler covers not only official government policy but also an analysis of missionaries and traders who enable the colonial government. There is also strong emphasis on underlying economic factors that shaped colonial policy. Format extent 287 pages (length/size) http://www.aluka.org/action/showMetadata?doi=10.5555/AL.SFF.DOCUMENT.crp3b10018 http://www.aluka.org ar 4d)bt aY 4 ar 4d)bt aY 4 .... .... .. .. 1r1 I)I,~viq ~v' i~r 'Ni It ... .... I2 t--'' - ' 4~ * 'sht Q,4 t il 5 ~ 4ý pi~1Wi # I tPF ilt, 't1 Z1g s't~5 ....... I-I I Im~ .55. Horst Drecbsler "Let Us Die Fighting" Explanation of title: "Let us diefigbting", the title of this book, is a quotation from a letter sent by Samuel Maharero, Supreme Chief of the Herero, to Hendrik Witbooi, Chief of the Nama, in early 1904. In it he repudiated his earlier collaboration with the German imperialists and urged Witbooi to forget their peoples' past differences and join together against German rule. Had the message reached its destination, had Witbooi been inclined to listen and joined the war of liberation against German colonialism from the beginning, the defeat and subsequent genocide of both the Herero and Nama peoples might have been averted. Cover photograph: This shows Chief Hendrik Witbooi, chief of the Nama, during their war of liberation against the German colonial administration. "LET US DIE FIGHTING" The Struggle of the Herero and Nama against German Imperialism (1884-1915) HORST DRECHSLER ZED PRESS 57 CALEDONIAN ROAD, LONDON N1 9DN ,1A~ ,-~ hi1 "L et Us Die Figbting" was first published in English by Zed Press, 57 Caledonian Road London NI 9DN. The book was originally brought out in German under the title Sidwestafrika unter deutscber Kolonialberrscbaft by Akademie-Verlag, Berlin, in 1966. Copyright @ Akademie-Verlag 1966 Translation © Zed Press, 1980 ISBNHb 0 905 762 47 9 Pb0905762371 Translated by Bernd Z611ner Cover illustration courtesy of International Defence and Aid Fund Cover design by Mayblin/Shaw Typeset by Akademie-Verlag Printed by Akademie-Verlag All rights reserved Contents Preface by Sam Nujoma, President of SWAPO ................ Introduction ............ ................................ I: The German Penetration of South West Africa The Peoples of South West Africa ... ............... The Role of the Rhenish Missionaries ... ............ Laderitz and his "Purchases" .................... The So-called Protection Treaties .... .............. The Sale of Laideritz's "Possessions" ................. The Borders of South West Africa .... .............. A Bleak Economic Situation: Disillusionment and Stagnation . Gold is "Discovered" ... ................... The Collapse of the German "Protectorate".... ........ The Herero Provoked ...... ................... Official and Commercial Plans for South West Africa ....... Collusion between the Kharaskhoma Syndicate and the Ger The Occupation of Windhoek .... ............. English Capital Comes to South West Africa ........ The Nama and Herero Make Peace .............. II: Land and Cattle (1893-1903) ......... The Raid on Hornkranz ...... ............... Witbooi Takes the Initiative .... .............. The Subjugation of the Khauas and Franzmanns .... Leutwein and Witbooi Come to Terms ... ........ Leutwein Intervenes with the Bondelswarts .. ....... Political Divisions among the Herero ............ Leutwein's War Plans ..... ................. The Rising of the Mbandjeru and Khauas ......... South West Africa's Economic Situation, 1893-1902 . The Rising of the Afrikaaners .... ............. The Rising of the Zwartboois ... ............... The Bondelswarts and Bethanie Resist Weapons Control . Plans to Subdue Amboland. ..... .............. man C (1884-92). ~overnment ...... .....O. .....O. The Rising of the Bondelswarts ........... ....................... 106 Territorial Losses of the Herero and Nama ...... .................. 1..ll The Mission's Plans for a Reserve ........ ...................... ....114 The Cattle Losses of the Herero ........ ...................... ..... 117 III: The Herero Uprising (1904) ............................ 132 The Causes of the Uprising ........ ....................... ..... 132 The Search for a Scapegoat ......... ........................ ....138 The Herero Conduct of the War ........ ...................... ....142 The Anti-Herero Propaganda Campaign ...... ................... ....144 Initial Stages of the War ......... ........................ ..... 147 The Germans Take No Prisoners ........ ...................... ....150 The Battle in the Waterberg: The Genocide of the Hereto ............. ..... 154 Von Trotha's Conduct of the War ........ ...................... ....156 A Pyrrhic Victory .......... ............................ ....162 VI: The Nama Uprising (1904-07) ..... ................. ....176 The Situation in Namaland ......... ........................ ....176 Jakob Morenga Opens Hostilities ........ ...................... ....179 The Causes of the Uprising ......... ........................ ....181 The First Stages of the War ........ ........................ .... 183 The Witboois Withdraw from the Struggle ...... .................. ... 190 The Germans Pursue Morenga into British Territory ... ............. ..... 194 Negotiations, the Last Resort ....... ....................... .....195 Morenga is Shot by the British ........ ....................... ....199 A Shabby Deal ........... ............................. ....204 Hereto Slave Labourers ............ .......................... 207 Plans to Deport the Nama ........ ....................... .... 210 The Human Cost ............. ............................ 211 Final Expropriation .......... ........................... ....214 The Beneficiaries of the War ......... ........................ ....217 V: The Peace of the Graveyard (1907-15) .... ............. ... 231 The Herero and Nama Become Forced Labourers .... ............... .... 231 The Quest for Manpower ............ ........................ 233 The Use of Flogging .......... ........................... ....234 German Apprehensions about Resistance ...... ................... ....237 Hintrager's Resettlement Plans ........ ....................... ....240 Economic Changes in South West Africa, 1907-15 ....... ............... 243 Epilogue, 1979 ........... ............................. ....248 List of Abbreviations .......... ........................... ....255 Bibliography ............... .............................. 256 Index ................ ................................. 276 Preface by Sam Nujoma. President of SWAPO The social order which the Namibian people are fighting to overthrow is a product of a century of brutal colonial oppression and exploitation. It is essential, therefore, that those who are seeking to bring about a fundamentally new social order in Namibia should understand fully the events which helped, in the last hundred years or so, to shape the present social order in that country. Society is only fully intelligible when it is studied in terms of its history and of the economic, social, political and spiritual factors which helped to form it. Without a sound grasp of those past events which lie behind the present difficulties in our country, Namibian revolutionaries and patriots would not be in a position to formulate appropriate strategies for the dismantling of the prevailing social order as well as for its replacement. However, while the need to study our people's past is recognized, much of the time and energies of Namibian revolutionaries and patriots is consumed in the liberation activity of our country such that our scholars are not now in a position to conduct in-depth studies of our society. Therefore, contributions by progressive scholars or scientists to a new and reliable literature on Namibia, beyond the existing
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