Colonial Perspectives in Africa’s History Books

Textbooks used in Africa often present the continent’s history from a colonial perspective. Many Africans argue that it is time to tell Africa’s history from an African point of view.

The Niger River, Africa’s third-longest waterway, flows in a great arc through five West African countries before emptying into the Gulf of Guinea.

Interestingly, according to some Nigerian textbooks, the Niger River was “discovered” by the Scottish explorer Mungo Park in 1796—a “fact” that Nigerian historian Faith Odele also learned during her school days.

"You start to wonder. Didn't the river exist before Mungo Park arrived?" she asked DW. "Didn't people travel to the river, didn't people fish in it? So why should Nigerians be taught that Mungo Park discovered the Niger River?"

The first genocide of the 20th century: The genocide against the Herero and Nama in German South West Africa (present-day Namibia) is the most severe crime in Germany’s colonial history. During the Battle of Waterberg in 1904, most of the Herero rebels fled into the desert, where German troops systematically blocked their access to water. More than 60,000 Herero are estimated to have perished.
Our future lies on the water: Under Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, Germany’s colonial empire was established in territories that are today Namibia, Cameroon, Togo, and parts of Tanzania and Kenya. Emperor Wilhelm II, crowned in 1888, sought to expand colonial possessions further by building new fleets (see image). The German Empire wanted its “place in the sun,” declared a later chancellor, Bernhard von Bülow, in 1897.
Acquisitions were made in the Pacific (Northern New Guinea, Bismarck Archipelago, Marshall and Solomon Islands, Samoa) and in China (Tsingtao). A conference held in Brussels in 1890 decided that the German Empire would be given the kingdoms of Rwanda and Burundi, linking them to German East Africa. By the end of the 19th century, Germany's colonial conquests were largely complete.
A system of inequality: The "white" population in the colonies was a small, highly privileged minority - rarely more than one per cent of the population. In 1914, around 25,000 Germans lived in the colonies, just under half of them in German South West Africa. The 13 million natives of the German colonies were seen as inferior, with no access to legal redress.
Colonial war with far-reaching consequences: From 1905 to 1907, a broad alliance of ethnic groups rose up against colonial rule in German East Africa. An estimated 100,000 locals died in the Maji-Maji rebellion. Although it was hardly ever discussed in Germany afterwards, it remains an important chapter in Tanzanian history.
German criminality: Only around 16,000 Herero survived the extermination campaign. They were then interned in concentration camps, where many more died. The exact number of victims was never determined and remains a point of controversy. How long did these emaciated Herero survive after fleeing across the desert? In any case, they had lost all personal belongings, livelihoods and future prospects.
Reforms in 1907: In the aftermath of the colonial wars, the administration of the German colonies was restructured with the aim of improving living conditions there. Bernhard Dernburg, a successful entrepreneur (pictured in German East Africa), was appointed State Secretary for Colonial Affairs in 1907 and introduced reforms to Germany's colonial policy.
Science and the colonies: Along with Dernburg's reforms, scientific and technical institutions were established to deal with colonial issues, creating faculties at today's universities of Hamburg and Kassel. In 1906, Robert Koch directed a long expedition to East Africa to investigate the transmission of sleeping sickness. Pictured above are microscopic specimens collected there.
Colonial ambitions for the Third Reich: Colonial ambitions resurfaced under the Nazis - and not just those laid out in the "Generalplan Ost", which outlined the colonisation of Central and Eastern Europe by means of genocide and ethnic cleansing. The Nazis also aimed to restore the country's lost African colonies, as shown in this school map from 1938. They were to provide resources to Germany.
Lost colonies: After being defeated in World War I, Germany signed the Peace Treaty of Versailles in 1919 which specified that it would relinquish sovereignty over its colonies. Posters like this depicted the Germans' subsequent fear of lost economic power, poverty and misery in their homeland.
A thorny process: Negotiations on a joint declaration on the genocide of the Herero and Nama are now entering a difficult phase. While Germany is at a standstill when it comes to financial compensation, there are also shortcomings in the internal political structures of Namibia. Herero representatives recently submitted a formal complaint to the UN to oppose their exclusion from the ongoing negotiations.

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