About German colonialism in Namibia

If one thinks about colonialism, the first powers to blame are normally Britain, France, Spain and Portugal. In a second row, there are Belgium, the Netherlands, Russia, Italy and Germany. The German colonialism lasted a relatively short period (1884-1919), but maybe can be regarded as the opening of a new chapter in German history - a very sad and barbaric chapter that ended only in 1945 (the democratic years of the Weimarian Republic are a glimpse of light, but they are overshadowned by the actions of the right-wing elites in military and industry). The German colonies were not so many, compared with those of the nations mentioned at first: Tansania, Namibia, Cameroon, Togo, a part of New Guinea (at those days called "Kaiser Wilhelms-Land") and some islands in the Pacific.
If one reads Uwe Timm´s book "Morenga" one gets the impression that German colonialism was much more brutal and primitive than the British´s. Maybe such comparisons are senseless, because each form of colonialism and exploitation is terrible, but one can see that the British had learned to rule through a more "liberal" way of indirect economic force, while the Germans focussed still on direct militarical suppression - especially after the uprisings that led to colonial wars in Namibia and Tansania between 1904 and 1907.

"Morenga" by Uwe Timm is a documentary novel about the time of the war in Namibia that combines facts (diary entries, newspaper articles, military reports) and fiction (narrations of some single protagonists). The story sets in 1904, the year when the uprising of the Herero and Nama began. Gottschalk, a veterinary surgeon in the German army, is a naive guy who does not ask too many questions, but changes through the development of the book. After discussions with his comrade Wenstrup he starts reflecting himself and is more sensible in perceving his environment.
He learns to see his own people through the eyes of the suppressed: the rituals and the discipline of the German soldiers, their chauvinist and technocratic talking now appear more and more ridiculous and senseless to him. Before Wenstrup flees the troop, he hands Gottschalk a book by the Russian anarchist Kropotkin about "mutual help".
Should Gottschalk follow Wenstrup who wanted to join the partisans? He hesitates, but gets more and more alienated from the German colonialists. How could he practice "mutual help" while standing on the wrong side?

The real hero of the story is Jacob Morenga (see the picture above), the leader of the freedom fighters. When Gottschalk asks him why he still leads this war that he could never win, why he would rather die than to give up, Morenga answers: "By that we can all stay human beings - us and you."

In 1907 Gottschalk returns to Germany, the only solution he found was in a new of perceiving the world, in a new way of creating language. He is learning from the poetic Nama-language that he managed to speak. Having a thousand new found words to name and describe the sky, the desert, the clouds, the stones - being not parted from nature.
Gottschalk´s answer is radical in some way, but does not have any political impact, of course. Some weeks later, Morenga is shot. The war ends with the enslavement of the surving Namibian people - those who were not killed in the fightings, had not been expelled to the desert or died during the bad conditions as prisoners in concentration camps. More than 50%(!) of the Namibians (more than 70000 people) died during these years..

After the first world war, Namibia fell to South Africa and the rascist regime continued until 1990 when Namibia gained finally independence. The Namibian people had to wait for 100 years, until a German official asked them to "forgive our guilt" (development minister Mrs. Wiescorek-Zeul in August 2004) ...