Editing History of Namibia (section)

=== The Herero and Nama wars ===
{{Main|Herero and Nama genocide}}
The ongoing local rebellions escalated in 1904 into the [[Herero and Nama genocide|Herero and Nama Wars]] when the Herero attacked remote farms on the countryside, killing approximately 150 Germans.

The outbreak of rebellion was considered to be a result of Theodor Leutwein's softer tactics, and he was replaced by the more notorious General [[Lothar von Trotha]].

In the beginning of the war the Herero, under the leadership of chief [[Samuel Maharero]], had the upper hand. With good knowledge of the terrain they had little problem in defending themselves against the Schutztruppe (initially numbering only 766). Soon the Nama people joined the war, again under the leadership of [[Hendrik Witbooi (Nama chief)|Hendrik Witbooi]].

[[File:Herero chained.jpg|thumb|300px|right|[[Herero people|Herero]] chained during 1904 rebellion.]]

To cope with the situation, Germany sent 14,000 additional troops who soon crushed the rebellion in the [[Battle of Waterberg]] in 1904. Earlier von Trotha issued an ultimatum to the Herero, denying them citizenship rights and ordering them to leave the country or be killed. To escape, the Herero retreated into the waterless [[Omaheke]] region, a western arm of the [[Kalahari Desert]], where many of them died of thirst. The German forces guarded every water source and were given orders to shoot any adult male Herero on sight; later orders included killing all Herero and Nama, including children.<ref name="genocide">{{Cite web |url=https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/it-s-as-if-we-never-existed-namibia-continues-seeking-justice-for-germany-s-colonial-era-genocide-a-57e3dbc5-8f51-476a-a692-bf2b036fcfc0 |work=[[Der Spiegel]] |date=2022-11-10 |accessdate=2022-11-10 |language=en |last1=Popp |first1=Maximilian |last2=Riedmann |first2=Bernhard |title=Namibia Continues Seeking Justice for Germany's Colonial-Era Genocide |archive-date=11 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221111020951/https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/it-s-as-if-we-never-existed-namibia-continues-seeking-justice-for-germany-s-colonial-era-genocide-a-57e3dbc5-8f51-476a-a692-bf2b036fcfc0 |url-status=live }}</ref> Only a few of them managed to escape into neighbouring British territories. These tragic events, known as the ''Herero and Nama Genocide'', resulted in the death of between 24,000 and 65,000 Herero (estimated at 50% to 70% of the total Herero population) and 10,000 Nama (50% of the total Nama population). The genocide was characterized by widespread death by starvation and from consumption of well water which had been poisoned by the Germans in the [[Namib Desert]].<ref>Samuel Totten, William S. Parsons, Israel W. Charny, "Century of genocide: critical essays and eyewitness accounts", Routledge, 2004, pg. 51 [https://books.google.com/books?id=5Ef8Hrx8Cd0C&pg=PA51&dq=Herero+Poisoned+wells]</ref><ref>Marie-Aude Baronian, Stephan Besser, Yolande Jansen, "Diaspora and memory: figures of displacement in contemporary literature, arts and politics", Rodopi, 2007, pg. 33, [https://books.google.com/books?id=LItBN2keNpQC&pg=PA33&dq=Herero+starvation]</ref><ref name=kroll>Dan Kroll, "Securing our water supply: protecting a vulnerable resource", PennWell Corp/University of Michigan Press, pg. 22</ref>

Descendants of Lothar von Trotha apologized to six chiefs of Herero royal houses for the actions of their ancestor on 7 October 2007.