Greetings. This is a topic that has greatly interested me as I've continued to research western colonialism in Africa. I understand the events, motives, and actions, but for the life of me, I can't seem to wrap my head around why Germany goes to great lengths in avoiding the term 'genocide'.
Could anyone give me a hand? I've heard of some states using the defense that it's actions were committed pre-Geneva, so it wasn't considered Genocide then, but this doesn't apply to Germany. So what's the defense for them?
I'm not really qualified to speak on the particular reasons on why this wasn't acknowledged earlier in depth, but to contextualize (hoping I don't break the 20 year rule in doing this), the German Parliament and Government have acknowledged the acts of colonial troops of the German Reich in Namibia as genocide. This has been a very recent development, but back in 2004 our minister for development and economic cooperation, Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, has called those acts 'genocide' in a speech held in Windhoek on the 100 year anniversary of the battle of Waterberg:
Die damaligen Gräueltaten waren das, was heute als Völkermord bezeichnet würde.
"The atrocities back then were what we would today call genocide".
Last year, the foreign minister signed a resolution by the Bundestag that explicitly called those acts genocide; the quotes are taken in my translation from the transcript of the federal press conference of July 10, last year:
„Der Deutsche Bundestag erkennt die schwere Schuld an, die deutsche Kolonialtruppen mit den Verbrechen an den Herero, Nama, Damara und San auf sich geladen haben und betont, wie Historiker seit langem belegt haben, dass der Vernichtungskrieg in Namibia von 1904 – 1908 ein Kriegsverbrechen und Völkermord war.
"The German Bundestag acknowledges the heavy guilt, which German colonial troops have put upon themselves with the crimes against the Herero, Nama, Damara and San, and stresses, as historians have proven already for a long time now, that the war of extinction in Namibia between 1904-1908 was a war crime and genocide"
Frage: Herr Schäfer, ich habe es noch nicht ganz verstanden. Die Haltung, die Meinung der Bundesregierung ist: Ja, das war Völkermord.
[Question by the interviewer to Mr. Schäfer, speaker of the Foreign office]: "Mr. Schäfer, I didn't quite understand it. The position, the opinion of the federal government is: Yes, it was genocide."
Schäfer: Ich habe es Ihnen doch gerade so vorgelesen; in der Tat.
"Schäfer: I just read it to you this way, indeed."
Zusatzfrage: Die Bundesregierung sagt: Das war Völkermord. - Das wäre ja jetzt eine Meldung.
"Additional question: The federal government says: that was genocide. - Now that would be news."
Schäfer: Dann melden Sie es.
"Schäfer: Then report it."
Negotiations are currently ongoing with Namibia about reparations:
The question is nonetheless an interesting one, I'm sure one of our experts on colonial history here will be able to provide an answer.