The first genocide of the 20th century was committed by the German Empire in 1904-1908 in South West Africa, today's Namibia. The genocide was directed against the Nama and Herero ethnic groups, the indigenous people of this region. In the course of the division of Africa by the European powers in the Berlin Conference of 1884/1885, the German Empire acquired the right to colonize South West Africa. Colonial policy included the expulsion of the local Nama and Herero communities f…