Namibia’s history is marked by the give and take between the various cultures within its borders (most noticeably between indigenous groups and European influences such as colonialism and missionary work). It is also marked by the great diversity of these groups, and thus a history of the country is actually many histories. To give a sense of cultural shifts independent of colonization, I will briefly describe indigenous migrations before describing European influence.
The San people, formerly hunters and gatherers, are said to have been the first and only inhabitants of the region until about 2000 years ago. Later, the Owambo, Kavango, and Caprivians lived in the Northeast. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the San in the South encountered the Nama migrating from South Africa who forced them northward to more desolate areas. The Nama also enslaved the Bergdamara at this time. In the 17th century, the Herero came down from the Northwest to settle in the Kaokoveld. In the 18th century, this group split and the Herero moved south, while the Himba and Tjimba remained in the Northwest. We will return to this southward Herero migration later. (Cubitt, Richter 1976)
The first European on the soil of what was soon dubbed South West Africa was Diego Cão in 1486 (Portugal, in this case, motivated by a lack of trade in the Middle East, which had been severed due to Turkish rule) became. Many years later, in the middle of the 19th century, the Rhenish Missionary School took over all missionary work, which from that point on had a distinct German influence (Le malentendu colonial).
In 1870, Hermanus van Wyk, the kaptein of the Basters fleeing oppression in South Africa, settled his people in Rehoboth for the rental of one horse per year (land sale by local chiefs in many regions was symbolic, and largely misunderstood by outside cultures).
The Herero, having moved south in the 1700’s, battled fiercely with the Nama all through the 19th century. Meanwhile, several events were underway that would later influence their fate and the fate of all the country’s native groups. In 1884, the Berlin Conference was held and Walvis Bay was dubbed a South African territory. Also in this year, the German flag was raised over Lüderitzland. “Almost overnight Germany was in possession of an overseas territory four times the size of Great Britain” (Cubitt, Richter 1976). In 1889, the first “Schutztruppe” or “protection troops” landed at Walvis Bay, intending to provide general security towards the development of the country. They would later be in place to oversee the slaughtering of the native populations of the country. Around this time, the first tactical retaliation against colonial rule occurred when Hendrik Witbooi—a Nama chief who was instigating most of the attacks on the Herero chief, Kamaherero—decided, rather unexpectedly, to stop attacking the Herero and begin gathering allies among the Rehoboth Basters to attack the Germans. He and his people were defeated in 1894.
The conflict between German troops and indigenous populations soon reached catastrophic levels. In 1903, the Bondelswarts of Warmbad killed their German district officer. This was the first of many incidents that led, in January of 1904, to the war between the Germans and South West Africa’s indigenous populations. Later that year, the order was given to pursue fleeing Herero, and a genocide began that lasted until 1908. In 1904 alone, 75-80% of the Herero population was killed, roughly 50,000 people. And by 1908, almost half of the Nama population had been wiped out.
Economic and political events soon led to the South African government’s power over South West Africa. The year that the German conflict ended, diamonds were discovered near Lüderitz Bay by Zacharia Lewala, and from that point on throughout the 20th century, mining (along with farming and the export of karakul wool) was a major source of the country’s income. On Christmas in 1914, South African troops landed at Walvis Bay to fight the Germans. Soon after, the League of Nations denoted a C-class mandate for South Africa’s control of South West Africa.
South Africa’s governmental power over South West Africa was reexamined several times in the years that followed World War II. When the League of Nations was replaced by the United Nations, South Africa’s control was reassessed. Between 1955 and 1956, multiple court cases went before the International Court of Justice, resulting in the decision that duties of supervision in South West Africa should transfer to the United Nations. Since this was not a binding decision, it was mostly ignored by South Africa. In 1966, Ethiopia and Liberia asked the International Court to reexamine the situation, and were essentially told to mind their own business. After this decision the General Assembly maligned the judges of the International Court. In 1968, a resolution was passed in the U.N. to change South West Africa’s name to Namibia. In 1971, the International court reexamined the cases in Namibia and decided that the South African administration there was illegal. Following this decision, South Africa made a statement that they would not leave the country until “South West Africa had completed the process of self-determination and themselves requested it to withdraw” (Cubitt, Richter 1976).
(If anyone has links to good sources online for relatively unbiased overviews of general Namibian history, please send them my way. I have not been able to find them.)
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