The Berlin Conference's Forgotten Victims: The Herero and Nama Genocide

While the Berlin Conference of 1884–85 is often remembered for drawing lines on a map, its most brutal consequence unfolded decades later in German South West Africa. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the Herero and Nama uprisings of 1904–1908, the first genocide of the twentieth century. They discuss the roots of German colonial rule under Heinrich Göring, the catastrophic Battle of Waterberg where thousands of Herero were driven into the Omaheke desert, and the notorious extermination order issued by General Lothar von Trotha. The conversation also covers the concentration camps on Shark Island, the medical experiments conducted by Dr. Eugen Fischer, and the long road to official recognition—Germany finally acknowledging the genocide in 2021. Through this lens, they ask what the Berlin Conference's 'effective occupation' principle really meant for the people who already lived there. #Herero #Nama #Genocide #GermanSouthWestAfrica #Namibia #LotharVonTrotha #BattleOfWaterberg #SharkIsland #EugenFischer #BerlinConference #Colonialism #Africa #Imperialism #1904 #History #FexingoHistory #ColonialGenocide #20thCentury Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo