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‘Playing soldiers’: the truppenspieler movement among the herero of Namibia, 1915 to ca. 1945

1990; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 16; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/03057079008708247

1465-3893

W. Werner,

German Colonialism and Identity Studies

Abstract In 1904 Herero pastoralists in Namibia suffered a devastating defeat by German colonial forces. Of the 20 per cent who survived, a sizable number fled to neighbouring Botswana. Subsequent German policies completely dispossessed the Herero of all land and cattle. Conquest by Union troops in 1915 ushered in a brief period of more lenient colonial rule, which once again permitted the Herero to acquire and own cattle. Increased mobility also made it possible for widely dispersed members of the tribe to congregate on their ancestral lands. The space thus created enabled the Herero to reaffirm their customs and traditions in attempts to reestablish themselves as a pastoral community. In this context the Truppenspieler movement with its military structure, loosely modelled on that of the German colonial army, provided an organisational form. The movement was organised into regiments coinciding with administrative districts. Each regiment had its own officers. Regular drilling exercises served to bring together people from widely dispersed farms and rural settlements. Monies collected were used for welfare purposes. In the early 1930s, with South Africa's colonial system firmly in place, the movement assumed a much more political role. Its opposition to reserve headmen and chiefs as well as members of the Advisory Board in Windhoek led to increasing government intimidation and harassment towards the late 1930s. Tensions between the movement and traditional leaders seem to have been resolved over the proposed incorporation of Namibia into the Union in 1946.