3. A Dark Record of Rape
The natives of German south west Africa had more causes for grievances against the colonists, in addition to the plunder of their livestock and the confiscation of their lands. The Africans’ resentment of the European interlopers’ depredations was further exacerbated by the settlers’ frequent rape of native women and girls. It was a crime that the German authorities rarely addressed, let alone punished.
Unsurprisingly, such abuses alienated the natives. When the Herero and Nama learned that the Germans planned to further divide their lands and herd them into reservations, they rose up in rebellion. In January 1904, they launched a surprise attack that killed about 125 Germans. In response, the Germans sent an expeditionary force of about 14,000 soldiers, led by General Lothar von Trotha.