Genocide: - DIIS

“I believe that the nation as such must be annihilated…”
political authorities, Trotha refused to take any account of the fact that the
way in which he resolved the confl ict resulted in the deaths of thousands
of Herero civilians. Trotha’s choice of means to resolve the situation was
actuated by the infl uence on ideas of Social Darwinism and the theory of
total war.
However the precarious situation of the German forces also affected the
decision to deprive the Herero of their possibility of survival. This is made
clear in a later comment made by Trotha and by an entry in his diary from
September 1904 in which Trotha records, “Veldherero, women, children
came here in droves to beg for water. Gave new orders. Everybody must
be driven back by force, as concentration of a large number of prisoners is
a hazard to rations and the health of the troops”. 105
Furthermore in a letter to Schlieffen dated as early as October 4, 1904 he
mentions that it was impossible for German forces to pursue the Herero
onto the Omaheke sand plains without risking dying of starvation and
thirst. 106 Trotha’s interpretation of the facts is confi rmed by other German
offi cers who participated and by Generalstabswerk, that in no uncertain
terms explains that a continued pursuit of the Herero on to the sand plains
was impossible if the German troops were not to suffer the same fate as the
one threatening the Herero. 107
The German lines of supply were stretched to breaking point, illustrated
by the fact that the main German force had to turn about only a day after
taking up pursuit. Furthermore there was constant shortage of water and
great diffi culties fi nding areas to graze the horses and the draught oxen.
Lieutenant Colonel Beaulieu described these diffi culties in a letter immediately
after the battle at Waterberg on August 11: “The water holes were
105 “Haufenweise kamen Veldhereros, Weiber, Kinder herüber, um Wasser zu bitten. Habe
erneute Befehle gegeben. Alles mit Gewalt zurückzutreiben, da Anhäufung von grosse
Zahl Gefangener eine Gefahr für Verpfl egung und Gesundheit der Truppe bedeute“.
Cited in Krüger (1999), 119.
106 Drechsler (1966), p. 189-190.
107 “Eine weitere Verfolgung der Hereros in das Sandfeld war unmöglich, wollte man nicht
die deutschen Truppen der Gefahr aussetzen, einem ähnlichen Schicksal zu verfallen, wie
es jetzt den Hereros drohte“. Generalstabswerk (1906-08), p. 203.
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