NSSCO History 6138 cheat sheet

Pre-colonial Namibia held diverse societies: Ovatjimba and Ovahimba herders in the north-west, Nama (Khoikhoi-speaking) groups in the south, Herero cattle-keepers in the centre, and Ovambo kingdoms (Ondonga, Uukwanyama, Uukwambi, Ombalantu) with hereditary kings and a cattle-and-grain economy in the north.

The Oorlam groups (Afrikaner Oorlam under Jonker Afrikaner, and the ǁKhara-Haoǁân) migrated north from the Cape frontier after 1800, introducing horses and guns and shifting power in the south; Jonker Afrikaner's base at Windhoek became a trade hub from the 1840s.

Trade networks linked the interior to the Atlantic and Cape markets: ivory, ostrich feathers, cattle and hides were exchanged for guns, ammunition, tobacco, iron and copper wire; the Walvis Bay and Cape routes were key.

Missionary penetration began with the London Missionary Society (Schmelen at Bethanie 1814, Moffat and later Hahn) and the Rhenish Missionary Society from 1842 (Kleinschmidt at Windhoek); missions introduced literacy and Christianity and mediated conflicts.

The Cape's northern frontier expanded through the ǁKhowa (Griqua) and Basters, and through trade and hunting; Britain annexed Walvis Bay in 1878, giving the Cape a coastal foothold before formal colonisation.

Diamond discoveries at Kimberley (1867-1871) and gold on the Witwatersrand (1886) transformed the regional economy, drawing migrant labour and accelerating European imperial interest in the interior.

The Herero-Nama wars (c.1863-1870) over cattle and trade routes weakened both societies; the peace of 1870 at Okahandja, mediated by missionaries, followed Jonker Afrikaner's death in 1861.

The Berlin Conference (1884-85) set rules for effective occupation; Germany declared a protectorate over South West Africa in 1884 (Lüderitz's 1883 acquisition of Angra Pequena) and Britain recognised it in 1885, with the northern border fixed by the 1890 Heligoland-Zanzibar Treaty.

German administration evolved from the Reichskommissar (Göring, 1885) to a governor at Windhoek; the Schutztruppe (colonial troops) enforced control, and the 1890s saw 'punitive expeditions' against the Nama and Herero.

The rinderpest epidemic of 1897 devastated cattle herds, destroying Herero and Nama economic independence and forcing dependence on wage labour and credit from traders.

Land alienation accelerated through concessions and 'protection treaties' (Schutzverträge) that transferred land and sovereignty; the 1903 Bondelswarts and 1904 Herero uprisings were responses to dispossession and debt.

The Herero and Nama genocide (1904-1908): after the Herero uprising under Samuel Maharero, Lothar von Trotha issued the extermination order at Waterberg; tens of thousands died, and Nama resistance under Hendrik Witbooi and Jakob Morenga continued until 1907.

Concentration camps (Shark Island, Windhoek, Swakopmund) and forced labour killed many; survivors were subjected to pass laws, labour contracts and land confiscation; the 1907 'native ordinances' codified racial segregation.

South African rule began with the 1915 invasion (Botha and Smuts) defeating German forces; the Treaty of Versailles and the 1920 League of Nations mandate gave South Africa administration as a 'sacred trust'.

The 1922 Bondelswarts Rebellion was crushed by aerial bombing; the Rehoboth Basters' 1925 revolt was also suppressed, showing South Africa's coercive control.

South Africa applied its own laws (the 1913 Natives Land Act extended in 1920s) and migrant labour systems; the 1946 United Nations refused to recognise South Africa's annexation attempt, setting the stage for later international disputes.

The 1946 UN refusal to allow South Africa to annex South West Africa began international oversight; the 1950 International Court of Justice advisory opinion held that the mandate continued and South Africa could not unilaterally alter the territory's status.

The 1960s saw the formation of nationalist movements: SWAPO (1960, from OPO, under Sam Nujoma), SWANU (1959), and the emergence of armed struggle after the 1966 ICJ ruling and the start of the 'Border War'.

The 1966 ICJ judgment (Ethiopia and Liberia v. South Africa) dismissed the case on procedural grounds; the UN General Assembly then terminated the mandate in 1966 and renamed the territory Namibia in 1968.

UN Security Council Resolution 276 (1970) declared South Africa's presence illegal; the 1971 ICJ advisory opinion confirmed the illegality of South African administration and the UN's authority.

The 1970s saw the Turnhalle Conference (1975-77) and South Africa's 'internal settlement' attempts, the 1978 UN Security Council Resolution 435 (UN Transition Assistance Group plan), and the 1978 elections that SWAPO boycotted.

The 'Border War' intensified: South African Defence Force (SADF) operations into Angola after 1975 (Operation Savannah), support for UNITA, and SWAPO's People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) bases in Angola and Zambia.

Diplomacy linked Namibian independence to Cuban troop withdrawal from Angola: the 1988 Tripartite Accord (New York) between Angola, Cuba and South Africa led to UNTAG implementation and Resolution 435.

Independence came with the 1989 UNTAG-supervised elections (SWAPO won 57% of the vote), the Constituent Assembly, and the 21 March 1990 declaration of independence with Sam Nujoma as president; Walvis Bay was transferred in 1994.

The Scramble for Africa (c.1880-1914) was driven by industrial demand for raw materials and markets, strategic rivalry, nationalism, missionary activity and the 'civilising mission' ideology; the Berlin Conference (1884-85) set the rules of effective occupation.

Key events: the British occupation of Egypt (1882), the Congo Free State under Leopold II (1885), the Fashoda incident (1898), the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902), and the Maji Maji rebellion (1905-07) in German East Africa.

Forms of colonial control included direct rule (French assimilation), indirect rule (British 'native administration' via chiefs), settler colonies (Kenya, Southern Rhodesia, Algeria) and chartered company rule (Cecil Rhodes's BSAC).

African resistance took many forms: armed resistance (Zulu, Ashanti, Herero, Nama), religious and prophetic movements (Maji Maji, Ethiopianism), and early nationalist organisations (the ANC 1912, the National Congress of British West Africa 1920).

Decolonisation after 1945 was shaped by the weakening of European powers in WWII, the Atlantic Charter (1941), the UN Charter, the rise of the USA and USSR as anti-colonial superpowers, and the 1955 Bandung Conference.

Ghana's independence (1957, Nkrumah) began the wave of sub-Saharan decolonisation; 1960 was the 'Year of Africa' with 17 new states; the OAU was founded in 1963.

Settler colonies resisted longer: Algeria (1962 after the FLN war), Kenya (1963 after Mau Mau), Zimbabwe (1980 after the liberation war), and South Africa (1994 after apartheid).

Neocolonial critiques (Nkrumah's 'Neo-Colonialism', dependency theory) argue that economic dependence persisted after political independence through trade structures, aid and multinational corporations.

Causes of WWI: alliance systems (Triple Alliance 1882, Triple Entente 1907), militarism and naval rivalry, imperial competition, nationalism in the Balkans, and the trigger of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand (28 June 1914).

WWI's consequences included the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman, Russian and German empires, the Treaty of Versailles (1919) and its war-guilt clause, the League of Nations, and mandates in Africa (including South West Africa to South Africa).

Causes of WWII: the harshness of Versailles, the Great Depression, the rise of fascism (Mussolini, Hitler), appeasement (Munich 1938), and the Nazi-Soviet Pact (1939); the war ended with the defeat of Germany (1945) and Japan (Hiroshima and Nagasaki).

The Cold War (1947-1991) was a bipolar rivalry between the USA and USSR expressed through the Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, NATO (1949) and Warsaw Pact (1955), nuclear deterrence, and proxy wars (Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Angola).

The Cuban Missile Crisis (1962) was a turning point showing the risk of nuclear confrontation; détente in the 1970s was followed by a 'Second Cold War' under Reagan and the eventual reforms of Gorbachev (glasnost, perestroika).

African decolonisation was entangled with the Cold War: Congo (1960-65), Angola (1975-2002), Mozambique, Ethiopia and Somalia became arenas of superpower and regional rivalry.

The Non-Aligned Movement (Bandung 1955, Belgrade 1961) offered a third path for newly independent states; the UN became a forum for decolonisation and human rights.

The end of the Cold War (fall of the Berlin Wall 1989, dissolution of the USSR 1991) reshaped international relations and enabled negotiated settlements such as Namibian independence (1988-90).

Source analysis: distinguish primary (contemporary) from secondary (later) sources; evaluate origin, purpose, value and limitations (OPVL) - who made it, when, why, and for whom.

Bias and reliability: a source can be biased yet valuable for revealing attitudes; cross-reference multiple sources and consider the silences and omissions, especially of colonised peoples.

Chronology and periodisation: place events in sequence (e.g., 1884 Berlin Conference, 1904 Herero uprising, 1920 mandate, 1966 UN termination, 1990 independence) and recognise that period labels (e.g., 'Scramble') are constructed.

Causation: distinguish long-term causes (structural, economic, ideological) from short-term triggers; use concepts of contingency, agency and multiple causation rather than single-cause explanations.

Change and continuity: assess what changed for whom; colonial rule changed political structures but often preserved labour and gender hierarchies; independence changed sovereignty but not always economic structures.

Historiography: compare interpretations such as imperial/colonial history, nationalist historiography, and post-colonial or subaltern approaches; Namibian historiography has moved from settler and South African accounts to Namibian and revisionist scholarship.

Evidence and argument: a historical argument needs a clear thesis, supported by specific evidence, acknowledging counter-evidence and the limits of sources.

Interpretation of statistics and maps: check scale, categories and who compiled the data; colonial census categories often reflected administrative needs rather than social realities.