Germany’s policy regarding Namibia: Attempts to overcome colonialism

The article is devoted to the study of the colonial past of Germany and its influence on the current situation of German-African relations. The article examines the methods, by which Imperial Germany sought and held control over the territory on the example of colony South West Africa (at present Namibia), as well as the causes of the continuous revolts of the tribes against the colonizers. The author considered approaches of European researchers and international organizations to the problem of recognizing the actions of German colonists as genocide against the peoples of Africa. The purpose of the research is to identify the nature and volume of German aid to Namibia and to study its effect on the economy and the humanitarian sphere. Both historical and current sources and literature were used to write the article. The novelty of the research is determined by the fact that there is no work in Russian historiography that assesses the influence of Germany’s colonial past on its modern foreign policy on the African continent. The methodological framework is based on historical periodization, which examines the stages of development of German colonialism, as well as a functional approach that helps to reveal the features of German aid to Namibia. It was found that in terms of the economic characteristic Germany verifies the assumption of the postcolonial theory that the ex-metropolis has a significant impact on the former colonies. In terms of the political characteristic in the case of the German-Namibian relations the theory turns out to be untenable. © 2021 Nataliia V. IVKINA.