Caprivi Strip: Germany's Colonial Legacy in Namibia

Stretching towards the Zambezi River, you'll find the Caprivi Strip, which also sometimes is called Itenge or the Okavango Panhandle. Today it is part of Namibia and divided administratively between the Kavango East and Zambezi regions. Its largest settlement is Katima Mulilo, located at the point where the Zambezi reaches the Strip. Most of the people here speak siLozi, a Bantu language primarily spoken by the Lozi (or Barotse) people of southwestern Zambia.
So, why does it belong to Namibia?
That's exactly what we'll be exploring: from the German Colonial Empire's unrealized ambitious for the Strip and German South West Africa as whole to the South West Africa People's Organisation's (SWAPO) struggle for independence during the South African Border War, separatism, and emergence of the Caprivi Liberation Army.
#history #africa #namibia #geopolitics #geography #ghostcountries
CHAPTERS
00:00 Intro + Where is the Caprivi Strip?
02:28 Leo von Caprivi + Germany's colonial legacy
05:42 South African occupation
06:07 Apartheid, bantustans, and the homeland system
07:15 South African Border War, Albert Mishake Muyongo, and post-independence politics
08:46 Emergence of the Caprivi Liberation Army and Caprivi Conflict
09:37 Caprivi Treason Trial
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Intro Animation + Character Design: Emily Clearwater (iamprettyawesome.co.nz)
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[@noahjohnson935]

i find it interesting how Namibia still had influence from the German colonial period. German is a commonly spoken language in Namibia, and one of their politicians has a name of a.... certain... Austrian Painter.

[@peter_meyer]

Well, his name is Adolf Uunona. Uunona publicly distanced himself from his namesake and attributes this to his parents' ignorance at the time. Politically, he classifies himself as a civil rights activist.

[@noahjohnson935]

@@peter_meyer yes, I find Mr. Uunona a very interesting and very admirable person. I just find the name funny.

[@GhostCountries]

I definitely think we’ll explore that more in an episode about German South West Africa someday! Of all Germany’s former colonial holdings, Namibia really is the only one you can still see it rather definitively - that is, even with the decline of the German Namibian population.

[@memofromessex]

The one that noone can mention on KZbin!

[@noahjohnson935]

@@memofromessex because KZbin and Goebbels take lessons from Herr Goebbels

[@aquiladoro8535]

Been in Namibia just one month ago, what a beautiful country!

[@GhostCountries]

Oh, wow; I personally think the Skeleton Coast and Kolmanskop would be really interesting to check out someday!

[@atilla4372]

How safe is it?

[@aquiladoro8535]

@@atilla4372 very safe compared to the rest of the continent!

[@JohnCarey-bw1cd]

Beautiful. Loved it

[@Argacyan]

There are a lot of forgotten tales in colonial history pertaining to German states: Brandenburg owning Arguin or Trinidad, Austrian colonial ambitions in Western Sahara or Bengal, Kurland in Gambia. Also stuff like while Switzerland never owned a colony as a state, the fact that there's a buckload of settlements and colonies by Swiss people which existed from the US & Brazil to Crimea and an obscure & short-lived factory-town in Algeria.

[@Tobi-ln9xr]

Could you also make a video about the Herero and Namaqua or Maji-Maji genocide? Those were very important colonial wars which shaped the population and historical understanding of the population in that region till today.

[@GhostCountries]

Yes, definitely! I can't say when, but we'll be doing a video on each of Germany's colonial holdings and will dive into both of the subjects you mentioned. Also, I can't tell you how much I want to bring the story of the Maji Maji Rebellion to a larger audience; to me, that is really an overlooked chapter of history. We might even do a stand alone episode or something about it.

[@matthiasm4299]

I'd say one waterfall didn't make a river unusable for transportation. There were many rivers that had navigable stretches interrupted by cataracts, like the Nile or Congo. You had to figure out how to transport goods between the navigable stretches, for instance by building a railroad. The Zambezi was probably a very challenging case and the German colonies were not nearly valuable enough to build this infrastructure.

[@obsidianjane4413]

Its more efficient to just build a continuous railroad or highways. Transferring cargos, even in containers, costs a lot of time and money.

[@matthiasm4299]

@@obsidianjane4413 Building a railway through wilderness without any existing infrastructure was incredibly time consuming, deadly and expensive. Navigable rivers offered cheap transportation, often over long distances. Also keep in mind that most African colonies weren't that profitable, so the colonizers weren't going to build railways everywhere.

[@obsidianjane4413]

@@matthiasm4299 You suggested building a railroad to get around cataracts. If you are hauling in all of the equipment and infrastructure to lay a short track of that, you might as well just run it the whole way, that is where the cost is. A river isn't navigable if you have obstacles in it. Its very expensive to have separate ships and portage.

[@matthiasm4299]

@@obsidianjane4413 It was common to build railroads to access navigable rivers, that's just a historical fact. For instance the Matadi-Kinshasa Railway or the Dakar-Niger Railway. The Congo's rail network is still not interconnected without river boat travel. There are also still no railways along the Niger outside of southern Nigeria. The French built the aforementioned line from Dakar simply to access the upper Niger. Colonial economics seemed to disfavor building more. Edit: Another example is the Congo-Ocean Railway for the French Congo.

[@jgr7487]

The funniest thing is that, going downriver after Victoria Falls, you'll find so many ofollowing falls & rapids. If they wanted to make the Zambezi navigable, they would have had to build locks & dams all the way down, until they got inside Portuguese East Africa/ Mozambique.

[@GhostCountries]

Very true!

[@caeruleusvm7621]

I'm an African colonial history enthusiast, who has always been interested in Caprivi. I'm very impressed with this video - it's comprehensive, concise and objective. But I have a complaint: it is true that Germany wanted access to the Zambezi, the country has very few rivers at all - but by the time of the treaty they knew full well that it wasn't navigable to the sea.To say Britain lied about it and kept the Victoria Falls as a surprise is just plain silly. The Falls were widely known by that time.@@GhostCountries

[@kirbyward2001]

Well done !!!! Very informative Really love the African Content

[@GhostCountries]

Thanks! We've got one more African-related ghost geography (or, at least, that's the plan) and then we'll be switching to another continent for a few episodes. I thought doing it like that would allow for some continuity, while still changing the content ever so often.

[@muhammedjaseemshajeef6781]

🙏 thanks for your hardwork

[@DiscoDashco]

Absolutely loved the concise conclusion right at the end to sum up all these fascinating details. Great work.

[@StoicHistorian]

Another great vid about strange borders, I enjoy it when you guys ask those questions that I’ve been wondering for so long

[@GhostCountries]

Oh, glad you enjoyed the video man! Believe me 😅, we’ve got some even stranger, more obscure ones planned…hahaha

[@revinhatol]

I wonder if Namibia could make a region between the Okavango and Kwando rivers and name it "Mesopotamia".

[@sanandwadominik7066]

My home town ❤

[@josephpadula2283]

Prior to the damming of the Columbia River , locks and canals were made to bypass rapids and waterfalls .

[@kalomboC]

I think you need to see just part of the river in question to know, it wouldn't work

[@theculturedjinni]

A new interesting video! I like when you go into African history and political situations.

[@GhostCountries]

Thanks man; we’re probably doing one more ghost geography video set in Africa, then switching to another area (probably Asia) for a bit!

[@BlueBuckJS]

Great video as always! It would be really interesting to see something about Barotseland someday too, especially since it dovetails nicely with this episode.

[@GhostCountries]

Great suggestion! Yeah, I was actually considering a tie-in with Barotseland. The whole story of the Lozi people in Zambia (and beyond) is fascinating and definitely something I’d like to explore in more detail.

[@GhostCountries]

…especially as there is the whole issue of separatism there as well.

[@Melnokina.-.]

Thank you watching from Windhoek Namibia

[@GhostCountries]

Oh, thanks for the comment! It's always cool to hear from someone from one of the areas we covered.

[@QuatosLavendarSerinae]

Your videos are the Best!

[@GhostCountries]

Hey, thank you so much - we've got plenty more planned!

[@RockyPondProductions]

Keep up the African content. Such a complex aera but it doesn't get as much coverage. Also, Vietnam would be an interesting subject. It is definitely a bit more "mainstream knowledge" but there are many interesting complexities in both recent and older history.

[@GhostCountries]

Thanks man; we’ll probably do one more Africa-related video for ghost geography and then switch to another region. I personally was thinking the Asia-Pacific and, actually, I do have an episode about a certain part of Vietnam in mind!

[@jiayizhou323]

Nice video explanation! Must've taken a lot of work😊

[@Tobi-ln9xr]

Namibia is one of a few former German colonies in which the German influence is still very visible. I guess it has something to do with the fact that German settlers were allowed to stay after the end of WW1.

[@GhostCountries]

Yep, and German SW Africa definitely had the most settlers in general. I just looked it up, but in Africa (c. 1913), 12,292 Germans lived in German SW Africa, 4,107 in German E Africa, and 1,643 in Kamerun.

[@seansmith3058]

It's astonishing that the Germans had not heard about Victoria Falls.

[@caeruleusvm7621]

I'm afraid that is simply not true. Otherwise, a great video.

[@kf9346]

Thanks for the great video! Ialways wondered abuot the strip since being a kid and looking at maps.

[@user-qt7nq5xl1m]

They certainly have a pretty flag. I would even venture to say it is one of the prettiest in the world.

[@morkusmorkus6040]

Lol

[@elementallynx493]

Hey first time watching your videos, it's cool to see someone talk about lesser known countries. If you want a recommendation I think Salzburg would be an interesting nation to cover, it was closely aligned with Austria before annexation by the Austrian Empire after it's defeat against Napoleon.

[@GhostCountries]

Honestly, that would make for a very interesting video - just added it to our list! It sort of hits similar notes as our Battle of Nancy video and I think it makes sense to tackle like this before actually doing something on the HRE itself.

[@LarzGustafsson]

Very interesting clip. Thank you!

[@GhostCountries]

Glad you enjoyed the video!

[@jimbeam7636]

Subscribed my guy. Loved The Gambia video

[@GhostCountries]

Hey, thanks! Got more videos like that on the way soon!

[@ScarletRebel96]

Good to see you again

[@Tobi-ln9xr]

Great and very informative video. It’s a shame that it doesn’t get more views…

[@GhostCountries]

Hey, thank! I guess you never know exactly how the YT algorithm is going to treat a video. I was kind of hoping for a repeat of our The Gambia video, which got a major bump after like 3 day. Still, it is growing...just very slowly. 😅

[@GeraldEatsSoup]

Its in the Northeast of Namibia, which used to be called Southwest Africa. So basically it should be called Northeast Southwest Africa

[@NormanSilv]

Former German colony of German Southwest Africa. Known for Diamond Mines. Cut from German Empire after WWI settlement.

[@mkmkmk9536]

Awesome vid!

[@GhostCountries]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@kirbyward2001]

It should at least be an autonomous zone

[@mimishimura6314]

Would you consider doing a video about Japan’s Northern Territories?

[@GhostCountries]

Yes, definitely; the Kuril (or Chishima) Islands Dispute is personally something I’d love to cover!

[@derevianne1108]

​@@GhostCountriesand karafuto too please

[@dustinsearle4672]

subscribed :)

[@eberhard1991]

Good video but you are wrong, Caprivi strip doesn't stretch from Kavango. Kavango was already part of German SWA, before Caprivi strip was incorporated in German SWA.

[@dj2prince]

It’s actually called the Zambezi Strip now…it was renamed in the 2013 timeframe when the Kavango region was split.

[@benjsmithproductions]

I'm going to go ahead and assume it exists to access a lake and/or river

[@kirbyward2001]

Agreed

[@nbkhafula8381]

@Tobi-In9xr• game on, I am pleased you raised that.

[@ChancellorOfHistory]

Great video! I've seen that you are making more Africa videos. North America next?

[@GhostCountries]

Hey, thanks man! Yeah, we’ve decided with our ghost geography miniseries at least to do something like 3-4 related episodes before switching it up. I personally was leaning towards Asia for the next region we cover, but North America would be interesting too! I might put it to the community as a poll. 🗳️

[@danielbickford3458]

Know about the Germans wanting River access, did not know about the falls

[@josephpadula2283]

1 second ago Is this where the Africa Queen was fired as by the German Gunboat?

[@caeruleusvm7621]

I think that was on Lake Nyasa (Malawi).

[@danieleppelsheimer9273]

Well done A huge missing piece of The puzzle is the former DDR

[@glenags]

As well as Wakhan koridor

[@davidcomtedeherstal]

It was some trade between Germany and England as far I know.

[@christopherellis2663]

It's more interesting as a swamp

[@outerspace7391]

Because the British lied to the Germans is the shortest most out of context yet accurate response you can give to someone asking about the caprivi region I'll definitely be using that

[@pz9mo1221]

RIP herero and namaqua

[@EdMcF1]

The UK really should have taken back Heligoland after WW2.

[@kwaobenti]

Why? What use would it be to the UK?

[@Razorrx223]

Caprivi strip obviously belongs to Estonia.

[@johnmeinhardt-jensen7713]

To much waffle, 4m+ before u get to the nub

[@tyronenewman5534]

'promo sm' 😘

[@ArdaSReal]

We only talk about this slightly, mostly in history advanced classes but in most normal German history classes this isnt even a topic. The herero genocide that wiped out an estimated 50% of the population is ignored

[@manuelblasino8999]

In my history classes that was a big topic. Maybe it depends on the teacher then

[@ArdaSReal]

@@manuelblasino8999 wir haben fast nur über Nazi Deutschland geredet, ganz am Ende bisschen Europa und erster Weltkrieg. In anderen Kursen hat man nichtmal das gemacht aber kommt bestimmt aufs Bundesland an.

[@peter_meyer]

The herero genocide went through german media in the last decades several times.

[@GhostCountries]

Another even more overlooked chapter of the German Colonial Empire - at least, in my opinion - is the Maji Maji Rebellion over in German East Africa.

[@Tobi-ln9xr]

We talked about the Herero and Namaqua genocide as well as the Maji-Maji rebellion in our history class. (Hessen)

[@petephone9353]

You can't just excise an area from the planet, it is not like a map, it is REAL. I has existed since the formation of the earth, and it will be there at the end too.

[@theultimateartist4153]

Dont forget the Irish in Jamaica

[@MichaelReidOttawa]

Si do I understand this correctly. If you hold a UK passport, live in Gib. You are not able to cross La Frontera since un reserva de hotel? 😠😠😠😤😤😤

[@theotherandrew5540]

Poor Africa.