Herero and Nama genocide

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The Herero and Nama genocide, or the Namibian genocide, was the extermination of the Herero and the Nama people in German South West Africa (now Namibia) perpetrated by the German Empire between 1904 and 1908. Around 40,000 to 80,000 Hereros (80 percent of their pre-war population) and 10,000 Nama (half of their pre-war population) died. Facing the consolidation of German rule and attempts to subjugate Africans into a subordinate labor reserve, Herero chief Samuel Maharero launched a surprise uprising on 12 January 1904. Initially, the Herero uprising was a success, although colonists were enraged at being defeated by a people they considered inferior. After reinforcements arrived from Germany, the Herero were surrounded and routed at the Battle of Waterberg in August. During the following months, they fled into the Omaheke Desert where a majority died from thirst, starvation, or small-scale German massacres. German commander Lothar von Trotha ordered the execution of all Herero men, but...

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