A Multi-Faceted Military Campaign

Abstract

The German army's campaigns against the Herero and Nama peoples between 1904 and 1907 were the result of the sum of several dynamics that defined their development: Western military culture, the emergence of Total War, German military doctrine, and biological racism linked to the cultural revolution that took place in Europe in the last decades of the 19th century. However, the defining factor in its development was the international position of the German Empire at the beginning of the 20th century. The result was not only the defeat of two indigenous peoples, but also the first genocide of the 20th century. However, this genocide was not a planned action but the result of the German military's inability to defeat the indigenous warriors. After the victory of the Kaiser's soldiers, the imperial general staff was unable to draw any lessons from this colonial war, despite the limitations of the concept of the decisive battle, the cornerstone of its military doctrine.