Nationalist tensions immediately apparent in German South-West Africa

Richard Shu contributed to this article.

Tensions between committees in a JCC are inherent, but tensions within an individual JCC committee can cause added drama: the first session of the historical German South-West Africa committee immediately revealed heated conflict between the indigenous African polities and the German colonial administration. The Chief Leader of Insurrection joined her African comrades in highlighting the documented evidence of systematic forced sterilization, and allegations of rape and other atrocities committed against the people of South-West Africa by the Germans. The German Industrialist leader claimed that, to the contrary, Germany had offered many courtesies to the people of South-West Africa, and that they should be grateful for the technological advances that Germany pioneered in the region. This served only to infuriate the African bloc, who objected to the patronizing implications of “courtesies.” The German Commissioner for South-West Africa insisted that through German nationalism the committee could make South-West Africa great again. “It’s gonna be yuge,” he added, with aplomb. The circumstances will make an interesting conference experience for the delegates in this committee, but unless they can reconcile their differences, they will have a hard time passing meaningful directives that will allow German South-West Africa to be a major player in the overall historical JCC.