Naulila is a town and

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the municipality of

Ombadja Ombadja (known as Santa Clara until 1975) is municipality in Cunene Province, Angola. Its seat is the village of Xangongo (known in ancient times as Roçadas). It occupies 12,264 square kilometers and has about 304,964 inhabitants . It is bordere ...

, province of Cunene,

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

. Located on the

Cunene River The Cunene (Portuguese spelling) or Kunene (common Namibian spelling) is a river in Southern Africa. It flows from the Angola highlands south to the border with Namibia. It then flows west along the border until it reaches the Atlantic Ocean. It ...

which separates Angola and

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

, Naulila was the scene of fighting between

Portuguese Angola Portuguese Angola refers to Angola during the historic period when it was a territory under Portuguese rule in southwestern Africa. In the same context, it was known until 1951 as Portuguese West Africa (officially the State of West Africa). I ...

and

German South West Africa German South West Africa (german: Deutsch-Südwestafrika) was a colony of the German Empire from 1884 until 1915, though Germany did not officially recognise its loss of this territory until the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. With a total area of ...

during the early stages of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. On 19 October 1914, a German military column crossed the border and entered Angola without authorisation from the Portuguese authorities. The column was intercepted by Portuguese forces and conducted to Fort Naulila. At Naulila, a dispute occurred between the Portuguese and the Germans which resulted in the deaths of three German officers. On 31 October, the Germans under the command of Oswald Ostermann retaliated, and raided the Portuguese fort at

Cuangar Cuangar is a town and municipality in Cuando Cubango Province in Angola , national_anthem = "Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = ...

with the use of machine guns, in which the fort was destroyed and the majority of the border guards killed. This was later referred to as the "Cuangar Massacre". On 18/19 December,

Victor Franke Erich Victor Carl August Franke (21 July 1865 – 7 August 1936) was a German military officer and last commander of the ''Schutztruppe'' in German South West Africa. Franke was born in Zuckmantel, Austrian Silesia. He was ''Bezirksamtman ...

led a successful retaliatory attack, defeating the Portuguese at Naulila.

Legacy

Today, in the town of

Outjo Outjo (Otjiherero: ''small hills'') is a city of 6,000 inhabitants in the Kunene Region of Namibia. It is the district capital of Outjo Constituency. It is best known as a main gateway to Etosha National Park. Overview The town was founded by ...

, Namibia, there is a monument and a cemetery commemorating German losses in the incidents at Naulila in 1914.

References

Chronology of Events in German Southwest Africa in 1914
* Historicus Africanus: "Der 1. Weltkrieg in Deutsch-Südwestafrika 1914/15", Volume 2, "Naulia", Windhoek 2012, Populated places in Cunene Province Communes in Cunene Province {{Angola-geo-stub