AFAIK back then some plague caused cattle to die. Two tribes blamed white settlers and started killing them. The German security force commander responded by driving the tribes off into the desert and a lot of them starved to death. To make his bitch ass sound more important the German commander exaggerated his actions in his reports home and the guilt-ridden politicians of today take his accounts at face value.
Fast forward to today: the majority ruling tribe wasn't involved back then and is actually at odds with the affected tribes. Last I read the current government accepted the money but it's unlikely the tribes of the victims are actually going to see any of it because they are rivals of the current government. Probably a good part of the reason those tribes don't like the offer.
German politicians at the time were quite critical of it as well. Von Buelow criticized the action as un-Christian, and both the Catholic Center Party and the Social Democrats were critical of it.
Total shitshow in all regards.
AFAIK back then some plague caused cattle to die. Two tribes blamed white settlers and started killing them. The German security force commander responded by driving the tribes off into the desert and a lot of them starved to death. To make his bitch ass sound more important the German commander exaggerated his actions in his reports home and the guilt-ridden politicians of today take his accounts at face value.
Fast forward to today: the majority ruling tribe wasn't involved back then and is actually at odds with the affected tribes. Last I read the current government accepted the money but it's unlikely the tribes of the victims are actually going to see any of it because they are rivals of the current government. Probably a good part of the reason those tribes don't like the offer.
wait, so the current ruling tribe wasn't even affected by this incident?
Yea.
The affected tribes are Herero and Nama (who make up about 12% of the population).
The ruling party is dominated by the Ovambo (who make up about half the population).
German politicians at the time were quite critical of it as well. Von Buelow criticized the action as un-Christian, and both the Catholic Center Party and the Social Democrats were critical of it.