

	German colonial rule has been noted by various observers for its brutality, notably with respect to the genocide of the Ovaherero and Nama in German South West Africa. Of course nothing so broad as an entire colonial empire can be accounted for by such a simple description. The German colonial empire was as varied in policies and ruling style as it was in geography. Educational provision across the colonies was similarly diverse. When the British took over German East Africa (Tanganyika) in 1919, they found a large population of educated and literate Africans. German educational efforts in Kamerun and other colonies were also praised by contemporary authors. 
The situation in South West Africa (present-day Namibia) presented a stark contrast.  Unlike in East Africa, where the government established state schools and played a prominent role in the education of the natives, in South West Africa the task of native education was left almost entirely to missionary societies that received limited government support. The government did however invest significant resources towards the education of Europeans in the colony, establishing s system of state schools as well as more heavily supporting and regulating missionary schools. These educational policies had longstanding effects on South West Africa, even after German rule. While other German colonies boasted significant numbers of literate and educated Africans, in South West Africa “the overwhelming majority of the population remained untouched, uneducated, and illiterate.” Various social, political, and economic factors led to the divergent experience of South West Africa. This paper seeks to expand the discussion by identifying these factors and paying particular attention to new research on the attitudes of settlers and colonial authorities to native Africans.
There is a wealth of literature dealing with education in the German colonial empire specifically. Most of these sources are in German and were written in the early twentieth century, during or shortly after the period of German colonial rule. The aim of early works was primarily to describe the features of educational systems in these colonies. Later writings in English expanded the discourse through comparative studies of education in the various German colonies and more detailed analyses of specific aspects of education. These studies illustrated significant differences in the educational systems of different colonies. The most prominent work to explicitly address the topic of this paper is Cohen’s study of education in South West Africa and East Africa. Cohen compares the educational systems of the two colonies and discusses the factors that account for the differences between them. According to Cohen, the large settler population of South West Africa explains many of the distinguishing aspects of the colony’s educational system.
Compared to Germany’s other colonial possessions, South West Africa had a moderately temperate climate, although much of the territory is covered by arid desert. The European population of South West Africa reflected the relatively hospitable conditions. By 1913 nearly 15,000 whites lived in South West Africa, while only 5,336 lived in the colony with the next largest settler population, East Africa. 