Suchergebnisse

"This article deals with cruelty in the context of colonialism and particularly of what Georges Balandier called the 'situation coloniale'. It focuses on two examples from colonial history of Imperial Germany: first, the rebellion of the Dahomeyan slaves serving as policemen and soldiers in Cameroon in 1893, and secondly, the Herero Revolt in German Southwest Africa and its suppression by German forces from 1904 to 1908. The analysis of these cases aims at reconstructing the actual meaning of the cruel acts and their function within the given context. Moreover, it examines the dynamics of cruelty and the conditions leading to it. Specific circumstances and the absence of limiting factors can induce a process of escalation in which the dynamics of cruelty gradually dictates the course of events despite the original intentions of the respective perpetrators. In the case of suppression of the Herero Revolt this process acquired genocidal dimensions." (author's abstract)