{"id":5481,"date":"2020-10-25T21:20:05","date_gmt":"2020-10-26T01:20:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/web.colby.edu\/st112a-fall20\/?p=5481"},"modified":"2020-10-26T14:07:47","modified_gmt":"2020-10-26T18:07:47","slug":"basis-of-social-darwinism-and-the-herero-genocide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/st112a-fall20\/2020\/10\/25\/basis-of-social-darwinism-and-the-herero-genocide\/","title":{"rendered":"Basis of Social Darwinism and the Herero Genocide"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Through this course we have learned how science affects all aspects of life, and the extensive ways it gets manipulated throughout time to impact things that were not necessarily designed for it to impact.\u00a0 Mary Shelley\u2019s story of Frankenstein, for example, continues to influence the way people think about the future of genetic editing and possible cloning till this day.\u00a0 One of the most unique results of scientific discovery is the forming of the ideas of Social Darwinism in the late 19th century.\u00a0 Although sharing the same name as Charles Darwin, these theories solely applied the biological concepts that Darwin wrote about to fields such as politics, sociology, and more.\u00a0 Born out of Europe and the US, these thinkers believed that Darwin\u2019s ideas of survival of the fittest and natural selection applied to both race and ethnicity.\u00a0 Clearly these thoughts were not erected by Darwin during his study of Finches in the Galapagos, but were manipulated views of his teachings translated into different social realms to abuse power and influence.\u00a0 It is well known that Darwin was against slavery, and was a firm promoter of equality and fair representation.\u00a0 Due to this background, Darwin would never stand with the theories of Social Darwinism, as it uses his scientific theory of evolution for an unscientific purpose to increase inequality.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Social Darwinism was a large influencer for the Nazi Germany regime and their imperialistic efforts.\u00a0 This was becoming a common tendency for many European nations and the US at the turn of the century, as their imperialistic pursuits and goals continued to grow.\u00a0 Historian\u2019s <\/span>David Olusoga and Casper W. Erichsen<\/span> speak to this by saying,\u00a0 \u201c<\/span>The white races had claimed territory across the globe by right of strength and conquest<\/span>…<\/span>Alongside the clearing of land, the coming of the railroad, and the settlement of white farmers, the eradication of indigenous tribes became a symbol of modernity. Social Darwinism thus cast itself as an agent of progress\u201d.\u00a0 This explanation effectively shows how Social Darwinism became the leading influence behind Nazi Germany\u2019s and many other nations, imperialistic efforts.\u00a0 Darwin\u2019s biological teachings in his book <\/span>On the Origin of Species<\/span><\/i> were never meant to be used to oppress cultures, however it is exactly what happened in the Herero Nama Genocide.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0This genocide took place between Nazi Germany and the indigenous peoples throughout the colony of German South-West Africa.\u00a0 After almost 20 years of strict oppression from the Germans, the Herero people decided to finally rise against local German leadership.\u00a0 Witnessing the rise in opposition the German General Lothar von Trotha was assigned to take over command of the colony in an effort to minimize the opposition from the indigenous peoples.\u00a0 Von Trotha\u2019s assignment to this position led to some of the most oppressive actions in history, as the genocide is remembered today by its brutality and its similarities to the holocaust.\u00a0 Von Trotha stated that he was assigned to, \u201cannihilate the revolting tribes with streams of blood\u201d, which is exactly what happened as between 20,000-100,000 Herero\u2019s were killed in the short span of 4 years.\u00a0 This conflict was a result of Nazi Germany and Social Darwinism, the two of which combined to form one of the most evil enemies the world has ever seen.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0General von Trotha is a prime reason for the attribution of Social Darwinism principles to this conflict.\u00a0 The military leader was known for his violence and race inequality, and his treatment of the indigenous peoples of the German colony is fundamentally evil.\u00a0 Nazi Germany, and other nations that used Social Darwinism as reasoning for expansionism and oppression have been looked down upon throughout history.\u00a0 Social Darwinism has become largely discredited due to the Nazi\u2019s and other nations as it is inherently racist and oppressive.\u00a0 Social Darwinism has no roots in science, and yet still misuses the theories and teachings that Charles Darwin explains in<\/span> On the Origin of Species.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0 Darwin\u2019s findings are strictly scientific, and should be treated as such for the rest of the future.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Works Cited:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.facinghistory.org\/holocaust-and-human-behavior\/chapter-2\/imperialism-conquest-and-mass-murder<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/arts-entertainment\/books\/features\/did-charles-darwin-believe-in-racial-inequality-1519874.html<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Through this course we have learned how science affects all aspects of life, and the extensive ways it gets manipulated throughout time to … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10697,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[470387],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/st112a-fall20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5481"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/st112a-fall20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/st112a-fall20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/st112a-fall20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10697"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/st112a-fall20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5481"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/st112a-fall20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5481\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5482,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/st112a-fall20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5481\/revisions\/5482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/st112a-fall20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/st112a-fall20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/st112a-fall20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}