A History Lesson (Part One)

Look at a map of Namibia and you will find the Caprivi in the top north east corner. An odd looking strip of land which looks like a ballet dancer’s leg pointing at Zambia, the region is a shinning example of colonial map-making at its worst.

Designated a German protectorate and extension to South West Africa (now Namibia), the region’s borders were drawn and ratified in 1890 following agreements with Portugal, who occupied neighbouring Angola and the British Protectorate of Bechuanaland (Botswana). As the latter turbulent course of African history testifies to, nobody consulted the locals about this.

The Germans, who wanted a corridor to the Zambezi River, were uncharacteristically slow to move into the area and it wasn’t until 1908, that the first official arrived. Herr Hauptman Streitwolf, complete with grand title of ‘Imperial Resident, settled in a most unlikely spot, about 3km from the Zambezi, in a place which he named Schuckmannsburg, in honour of the then governor of South West Africa. (Although one wonders about the ‘honour’ of having your name attached to a insect-infested malarial swamp?)

On hearing of Streitwolf’s arrival, the indigenous Lozi tribe, perhaps fearing a future invasion of deck chairs and striped beach towels along the banks of the Zambezi, upped and fled to what is now Zambia. It is however more probable that they had heard of Germany’s virtual annihilation of the Hereros and Hottentot tribes in other parts of South West Africa. (Germany was busy practising ‘final solutions’ long before the Holocaust).

Schuckmannsburg, possibly the most remote and inhospitable outpost of the German empire entered into the history books on September 22, 1914 with the dubious honour of being the very first piece of territory ‘captured’ at the outbreak of the First World War. The garrison which consisted of four German officers surrendered to a small contingent British troops ‘without a shot being fired’.