Since there has been critical historiography regarding German South West Africa, the German pacification wars against the Herero and Nama (1904-1908) have been referred to as genocide. While there are no doubts in the academic debate about whether it occurred, much remains unclear regarding how it unfolded. Based on partly still unknown sources, such as the handwritten war diary of the notorious commander of the South West African Schutztruppe, Lieutenant General Lothar von Trotha, this study provides a reconstruction of the war between the Herero and the Germans, with a particular focus on the unleashing of genocidal violence. It significantly narrows the strictly genocidal phase of the war compared to common representations. The study aims to demonstrate that and to what extent the prevailing narrative...