Talk:History of Namibia

Untitled
Didn't the former South African government impose apartheid in Namibia as well? Might be worthy of mention. -- April

They annexed it and made it the fifth province of South Africa. -- Timrollpickering

No they didn't! It was, however, represented in the (whites-only) South African parliament, until the 1970s.

History of...?
This article needs serious expansion. Specifically, there is far too little information on Soviet and Cuban influence on the Independence movement (as I recall, the Soviet airforce actually bombed SADF positions in the late 80s). If I find a decent source I'll take the revision on myself, but would prefer that someone more knowledgable about Namibia (like, maybe a Namibian) do it. 67.86.141.225 00:13, 8 July 2006 (UTC)


 * I think you may be confusing Namibia with Angola, and South-West Africa Peoples Organisation (SWAPO) with the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA). Soviet and Cuban support was given to the MPLA when the SADF invaded Angola, and the Soviet airforce could well have bombed South African positions there (to force SADF withdrawal and kick-start Namibia's independence process).Phase4 11:41, 10 July 2006 (UTC)

The Soviets and Cubans played an integral role in the history of Namibia, but they did not bomb SADF bases inside Namibia, maybe outside Namibia in Southern Angola. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 41.219.126.34 (talk) 06:23, 25 December 2013 (UTC)

Struggle for independence section
This section needs a rewright. Its been around since the second edit of this page (!) and is, if I may say it, a bit to full of technical advanced detail, not giving a good overview for the beginning. For instance, it referec to the Angolian civilwar without really explaining the connection. It needs to be shortened and more focus. I think the easiest way would be to just start again from the beginning.

I am myself no expert on Namibia, so some competent help would be needed here.

--Screensaver 13:33, 26 August 2006 (UTC)

Help with Herero and Namaqua genocide, and Lothar von Trotha
Some help would be appreciated on the Herero and Namaqua Genocide and Lothar von Trotha articles, as there's just two editors (myself and one other) active right now, and we're going nowhere fast! Even if you don't want to get involved actively, keeping a watch on the page would be appreciated. Greenman 20:14, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

The Oorlams Section
The word "Afrikaner" is confusing. Does it refer to the Jonker Afrikaner Clan, or does it refer to the Afrikaner Tribe (Trek Boers ) from South Africa). The term "Whites" is also too general to be of value, as it can be confused with the German colonists who were also white. It must be referred too as Afrikaner-Boers, Dutch descendants, or British. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 41.219.126.34 (talk) 06:30, 25 December 2013 (UTC)
 * Agreed. The section seems to use the term Oorlams and Afrikaners interchangeably, when they are not the same. - Rooiratel (talk) 08:16, 23 September 2019 (UTC)

South African rule section
I wonder if there is a misleading implication in the first sentence of this section that South Africa had already broken away from the British in 1915? ChikeJ (talk) 20:39, 7 October 2009 (UTC)

Article assessment
Seeing the serious flaws and omissions I suggest grading the article down from "B" to at least "C", maybe even "Start". Comments? --Pgallert (talk) 12:50, 15 January 2010 (UTC)
 * ✅ - I take the silence as approval. Pgallert (talk) 09:37, 18 March 2010 (UTC)

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Pre-colonial name?
While cleaning up Category:History of Namibia I came across an inconsistency that has long been around; There is no name and no article for the territory of South West Africa before German colonialisation. So currently we have: All articles relating to the period before 1884 are categorised under the 1915-1990 name, because the territory has the same name as the administrative unit. This leads to illogical categorisations. For instance, there is Category:1866 establishments in South West Africa but no Category:1896 establishments in South West Africa because this is categorised as Category:1896 establishments in German South West Africa. Category:1916 establishments in South West Africa again exists. Analogous, categories like Category:Colonial people in South West Africa lump together pre-1884 and post-1915 entries, and there is no suitable entry in Category:History of Namibia by period.
 * 1) Namibia (1990-)
 * 2) South West Africa (1915-1990)
 * 3) German South West Africa (1884-1915)

I also think the African territory of South West Africa, and with it the period before colonialisation, needs an article---What could be a suitable name? --Pgallert (talk) 08:18, 28 May 2023 (UTC)


 * hi @Pgallert. I appreciate your questions and input on this. however, as far as I know I don't think we have any basis here at Wikipedia as a general rule, to pick an actual name or to set the nomenclature for this era, or any other such eras. just a thought. if your question is simply how to refer to this era, the best way is a simple descriptive phrase, generally. so therefore, the phrase "period before nationhood" is totally fine as an informal phrase for actual usage. any variation thereof would also be totally fine. thanks. Sm8900 (talk) 17:48, 7 June 2023 (UTC)


 * @Sm8900 Thank you for your thoughts. My question was not so much if we can give SWA two qualifiers, one before and one after the Germans, but rather what this qualifier would be. "Nationhood" is not so good; Arguably Namibians are just becoming a nation right now. There was no single state before 1990, and people still argue about what "Namibia" or "Namibian" actually is. German South West Africa perhaps was a nation, but one of Germans. Indigenous people didn't count much those days.
 * At the same time, the only name supported by the sources is South West Africa. In earlier sources it denotes the territory between Orange River and Kavango River, and in later sources it denotes the de-facto province of South Africa. So while South African pre-colonial history is collected at Southern Africa, we could create South Western Africa but it would be a neologism. South West African history could also simply be part of the Southern Africa article. Or, we could create Pre-colonial South West Africa, which would be correct by name. Lastly, we could have the years in brackets, which would maybe look awkward. --Pgallert (talk) 20:28, 7 June 2023 (UTC)