German Rule African Subjects

German Rule African Subjects
Jurgen Zimmerer
Softcover
State Aspirations and the Reality of Power in Colonial Namibia

This classic study, now available for the first time in English, explains how German colonial ambitions foundered in present-day Namibia. As it shows, the highly rationalized planning of Wilhelmine authorities could not accommodate the practical, lived realities of both colonizer and colonized.

Though envisioned by its overseers as a "model state," German Southwest Africa never became the success story colonial officials hoped for. Despite the immiseration they inflicted upon the indigenous population-from exploitative labor practices to genocidal violence-the colony lasted only thirty-five years and yielded little for the metropole before being lost to the British Empire. In this now-classic study-available here for the first time in English-the author provides an indispensable account of how German colonial ambitions foundered in what is present-day Namibia. As he shows, the highly rationalized planning of Wilhelmine authorities could not accommodate the practical, lived realities of both colonizer and colonized.