Extreme Violence and the ‘British Way’

Colonial Warfare in Perak, Sierra Leone and Sudan

Inbunden, Engelska, 2020

AvMichelle Gordon,Emily J. Manktelow

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Analysing three cases of British colonial violence that occurred in the latter half of the 19th century, this book argues that all three share commonalities, including the role of racial prejudices in justifying the perpetration of extreme colonial violence. Exploring the connections and comparisons between the Perak War (1875–76), the ‘Hut Tax’ Revolt in Sierra Leone (1898–99) and the Anglo-Egyptian War of Reconquest in the Sudan (1896–99), Gordon highlights the significance of decision-making processes, communication between London and the periphery and the influence of individual colonial administrators in outbreaks of violence.This study reveals the ways in which racial prejudices, the advocacy of a British ‘civilising mission’ and British racial ‘superiority’ informed colonial administrators’ decisions on the ground, as well as the rationalisation of extreme violence. Responding to a neglect of British colonial atrocities within the historiography of colonial violence, this work demonstrates the ways in which Britain was just as willing and able as other European Empires to resort to extreme measures in the face of indigenous resistance or threats to the British imperial project.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2020-10-29
Mått156 x 234 x undefined mm
Vikt553 g
FormatInbunden
SpråkEngelska
SerieEmpire’s Other Histories
Antal sidor256
FörlagBloomsbury Publishing PLC
ISBN9781350156883

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AcknowledgementsList of FiguresAbstracts and Key Words1. Introduction: The Place of Colonial Violence within the History of the British Empire2. A ‘Little War’ in Perak: British Intervention, 1875–763. British Suppression of the ‘Hut Tax’ War in Sierra Leone, 1898–994. The Anglo-Egyptian Reconquest of Sudan, 1896–995. Conclusion: Was there a British Way in Colonial Warfare?Bibliography

Michelle Gordon’s history of violence in the British Empire is an important corrective to a traditional historiography which regards such violence as the exception rather than the rule. Gordon demonstrates instead, using the insights of genocide studies, that extreme violence was essential to the establishment and maintenance of control in the British empire. That violence was often knowingly outside of the legal conventions of warfare and included the targeting of potential resistance before the event, collective reprisals including scorched earth policies and the destruction of civilian communities. Ultimately Michelle Gordon requires us to write violence back into the history of the British Empire, which often held the potential for genocide.