Uploaded February 2020 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Watch The Great War on Nebula: go.nebula.tv/the-great-war
Thank you William Blakemore Lyon, doctoral candidate at Humboldt University of Berlin, for the research for this episode and thank you to the Gerda Henkel Foundation for making it possible for William to pursue this project. More about William: iaaw.hu-berlin.de/en/region/africa/africa/history/staff/william-lyon?set_language=en
Woodrow Wilson's 14 Points and their idea of self-determination didn't go unnoticed in the former German colonies like German Southwest Africa. But especially South Africa had other ideas at the Paris Peace Conference and lobbied to take control over future Namibia and its lucrative diamond mines.
» SUPPORT THE CHANNEL
Patreon: patreon.com/thegreatwar
Become a member: youtube.com/channel/UCUcyEsEjhPEDf69RRVhRh4A/join
» OUR PODCAST
realtimehistory.net/podcast - interviews with World War 1 historians and background info for the show.
» BUY OUR SOURCES IN OUR AMAZON STORES
realtimehistory.net/amazon *
*Buying via this link supports The Great War (Affiliate-Link)
» SOURCES
Emmett, Tony. 1999. Popular Resistance and the Roots of Nationalism in Namibia, 1915-1966. Basel, Switzerland: P. Schlettwein Publishing.
Olusoga, David, and Casper W. Erichsen. 2011. The Kaiser’s Holocaust: Germany’s Forgotten Genocide and the Colonial Roots of Nazism. London, UK: Faber and Faber.
Onselen, Charles van. 1980. Chibaro: African mine labour in Southern Rhodesia 1900-1933. London, UK: Pluto Pr.
Pirio, Gregory. 1988. “The Role of Garveyism in the Making of Namibian Nationalism.” In Namibia 1884-1984: Readings on Namibia’s History and Society : Selected Papers and Proceedings of the International Conference on “Namibia 1884-1984: 100 Years of Foreign Occupation ; 100 Years of Struggle”, London 10-13 September, 1984, Organised by the Namibia Support Committee in Co-Operation with the SWAPO Department of Information and Publicity, edited by International Conference on “Namibia 1884-1984: 100 Years of Foreign Occupation; 100 Years of Struggle,” Brian Wood, Namibia Support Committee, United Nations Institute for Namibia, SWAPO, and Department of Information and Publicity. London: The Committee in cooperation with United Nations Institute for Namibia.
“Report on the Natives of South-West Africa and Their Treatment by Germany.” 1918. 1918. https://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00072665/00001/1j.
Silvester, Jeremy, and Jan-Bart Gewald, eds. 2003. Words Cannot Be Found: German Colonial Rule in Namibia: An Annotated Reprint of the 1918 Blue Book. Sources for African History, v. 1. Leiden, NL ; Boston, USA: Brill.
Smith, Iain R. 1999. “Jan Smuts and the South African War.” South African Historical Journal 41 (1): 172–95. doi.org/10.1080/02582479908671890.
Vinson, Robert Trent. 2012. Americans Are Coming!: Dreams of African American Liberation in Segregationist South Africa. Athens: Ohio University Press. public.eblib.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=1773382.
Wallace, Marion, and John Kinahan. 2013. A History of Namibia from the Beginning to 1990. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
William Blakemore Lyon. 2015. “The South West Africa Company and Anglo-German Relations, 1892-1914.” Master’s thesis, Cambridge University.
Zimmerer, Jürgen, and Joachim Zeller. 2008. Genocide in German South-West Africa. Monmouth, UK: Merlin Press.
Michell, Lewis (1910). The Life and Times of the Right Honourable Cecil John Rhodes 1853-1902, Volume 2. New York and London: Mitchell Kennerly
Rhodes, Cecil, (1902) The Last Will and Testament of Cecil John Rhodes: With Elucidatory Notes to Which Are Added Some Chapters Describing the Political and Religious Ideas of the Testator, London : "Review of Reviews" Office
Cecil Rhodes, "Confession of Faith", 1877 https://pages.uoregon.edu/kimball/Rhodes-Confession.htm
» MORE THE GREAT WAR
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16 DAYS IN BERLIN: realtimehistory.net/pages/16-days-in-berlin
»CREDITS
Presented by: Jesse Alexander
Written by: Jesse Alexander
Director: Toni Steller & Florian Wittig
Director of Photography: Toni Steller
Sound: Toni Steller
Editing: Toni Steller
Motion Design: Philipp Appelt
Mixing, Mastering & Sound Design: above-zero.com
Maps: Daniel Kogosov (patreon.com/Zalezsky)
Research by: Jesse Alexander
Fact checking: Florian Wittig
Channel Design: Alexander Clark
Original Logo: David van Stephold
Contains licensed material by getty images
All rights reserved - Real Time History GmbH 2020
Watch The Great War on Nebula: go.nebula.tv/the-great-war
Thank you William Blakemore Lyon, doctoral candidate at Humboldt University of Berlin, for the research for this episode and thank you to the Gerda Henkel Foundation for making it possible for William to pursue this project. More about William: iaaw.hu-berlin.de/en/region/africa/africa/history/staff/william-lyon?set_language=en
Woodrow Wilson's 14 Points and their idea of self-determination didn't go unnoticed in the former German colonies like German Southwest Africa. But especially South Africa had other ideas at the Paris Peace Conference and lobbied to take control over future Namibia and its lucrative diamond mines.
» SUPPORT THE CHANNEL
Patreon: patreon.com/thegreatwar
Become a member: youtube.com/channel/UCUcyEsEjhPEDf69RRVhRh4A/join
» OUR PODCAST
realtimehistory.net/podcast - interviews with World War 1 historians and background info for the show.
» BUY OUR SOURCES IN OUR AMAZON STORES
realtimehistory.net/amazon *
*Buying via this link supports The Great War (Affiliate-Link)
» SOURCES
Emmett, Tony. 1999. Popular Resistance and the Roots of Nationalism in Namibia, 1915-1966. Basel, Switzerland: P. Schlettwein Publishing.
Olusoga, David, and Casper W. Erichsen. 2011. The Kaiser’s Holocaust: Germany’s Forgotten Genocide and the Colonial Roots of Nazism. London, UK: Faber and Faber.
Onselen, Charles van. 1980. Chibaro: African mine labour in Southern Rhodesia 1900-1933. London, UK: Pluto Pr.
Pirio, Gregory. 1988. “The Role of Garveyism in the Making of Namibian Nationalism.” In Namibia 1884-1984: Readings on Namibia’s History and Society : Selected Papers and Proceedings of the International Conference on “Namibia 1884-1984: 100 Years of Foreign Occupation ; 100 Years of Struggle”, London 10-13 September, 1984, Organised by the Namibia Support Committee in Co-Operation with the SWAPO Department of Information and Publicity, edited by International Conference on “Namibia 1884-1984: 100 Years of Foreign Occupation; 100 Years of Struggle,” Brian Wood, Namibia Support Committee, United Nations Institute for Namibia, SWAPO, and Department of Information and Publicity. London: The Committee in cooperation with United Nations Institute for Namibia.
“Report on the Natives of South-West Africa and Their Treatment by Germany.” 1918. 1918. https://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00072665/00001/1j.
Silvester, Jeremy, and Jan-Bart Gewald, eds. 2003. Words Cannot Be Found: German Colonial Rule in Namibia: An Annotated Reprint of the 1918 Blue Book. Sources for African History, v. 1. Leiden, NL ; Boston, USA: Brill.
Smith, Iain R. 1999. “Jan Smuts and the South African War.” South African Historical Journal 41 (1): 172–95. doi.org/10.1080/02582479908671890.
Vinson, Robert Trent. 2012. Americans Are Coming!: Dreams of African American Liberation in Segregationist South Africa. Athens: Ohio University Press. public.eblib.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=1773382.
Wallace, Marion, and John Kinahan. 2013. A History of Namibia from the Beginning to 1990. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
William Blakemore Lyon. 2015. “The South West Africa Company and Anglo-German Relations, 1892-1914.” Master’s thesis, Cambridge University.
Zimmerer, Jürgen, and Joachim Zeller. 2008. Genocide in German South-West Africa. Monmouth, UK: Merlin Press.
Michell, Lewis (1910). The Life and Times of the Right Honourable Cecil John Rhodes 1853-1902, Volume 2. New York and London: Mitchell Kennerly
Rhodes, Cecil, (1902) The Last Will and Testament of Cecil John Rhodes: With Elucidatory Notes to Which Are Added Some Chapters Describing the Political and Religious Ideas of the Testator, London : "Review of Reviews" Office
Cecil Rhodes, "Confession of Faith", 1877 https://pages.uoregon.edu/kimball/Rhodes-Confession.htm
» MORE THE GREAT WAR
Website: https://realtimehistory.net
Facebook: facebook.com/TheGreatWarYT
Instagram: instagram.com/the_great_war
Twitter: twitter.com/WW1_Series
Reddit: htpps://reddit.com/r/TheGreatWarChannel
» OTHER PROJECTS
16 DAYS IN BERLIN: realtimehistory.net/pages/16-days-in-berlin
»CREDITS
Presented by: Jesse Alexander
Written by: Jesse Alexander
Director: Toni Steller & Florian Wittig
Director of Photography: Toni Steller
Sound: Toni Steller
Editing: Toni Steller
Motion Design: Philipp Appelt
Mixing, Mastering & Sound Design: above-zero.com
Maps: Daniel Kogosov (patreon.com/Zalezsky)
Research by: Jesse Alexander
Fact checking: Florian Wittig
Channel Design: Alexander Clark
Original Logo: David van Stephold
Contains licensed material by getty images
All rights reserved - Real Time History GmbH 2020
