29 replies to this topic

[KHA]

James W

I respectfully agree with Harry that this is a debate / discussion that should be preserved in the other thread as well.

But, while we're here - the one man that is responsible for what happened to the Herero and Namaqua is Trotha. It was his decision to carry out the war as he did and he wrote the proclamation that sealed the fate of the Herero (he wrote another later especially addressed to the Nama).

The German government is responsible as well because they did not immediately repudiate the order. In any event, the German actions in DSWA are repugnant to us today, but theirs were not the only violations of human rights.

You rightly mention Belgium and King Leopold - but don't forget that the government stripped him of "his" territory only after an international outcry. Had there been a war - Belgium probably would have lost the territory to France, much as Germany did to the Allies.

The same can be said of Great Britain in the Boer War with their concentration camps. I won't mention the native Americans and the reservations.... or China in Tibet...

That does not excuse Germany but it was a mindset of the colonizing power that might makes right.  Today there is no country immune from scrutiny

VR

[KHA]

Harry

While I agree to some extent that this was "all in a day's work" for many colonizers - it was recognized as wrong by many in Europe at the time. Trotha was roundly criticized for his order in the Bundestag and it was countered by von Bulow under the Emperor's signature.

But, to say the colonial administration and not the Schutztruppen, that is to say Trotha was responsible is not a credible argument.

Trotha was the Supreme Commander of the colony as well as the military and it was under his orders that the campaign was carried out.

VR

[KHA]

Mark

Nice report. I would, however, observe that unlike the commanders in Cameroon and DSWA. Lettow fought a drawn out irregular campaign that tied up significant amounts of Allied resources for the entire war. These were resources that could well have been used in Europe and brought the war possibly to an earlier conclusion. As you said he didn't lose, but he won by not losing.

Lettow also made a significant change in his tactics early on in the war, from conventional head-on confrontations to hit and run operations that suited the asymmetrical nature of the conflict. This was because he realized that he could not win a conventional war.  This was unlike LTC Franke, the successor to LTC Heydebreck, who never attempted anything but conventional tactics in DSWA. This was surprising because Franke had fought against the rebels in DSWA and should have known how difficult they were to counter if properly employed.

VR

[Anncie]

I just read your essay which brought to mind something you may not know: that the English edition of Mein Leben has JUST been published by Jerry Rilling, in Illinois.  I received my copy two days ago.  I wish I'd had the English version when I wrote my book "Seventeen Letters to Tatham: A WWI Surgeon in East Africa"  The Lettow-Vorbeck book is beautifully done, looking exactly like the original.  Very impressive.
Anncie

[hog]

One of the men in the British forces  trying to find Lettow-Vorbeck would have been this man.


Captain Frederick Courtney Selous who was 64 years old at the time of the conflict, he was awarded the DSO for his actions and was killed by a sniper at the battle at the Rufiji River.