The colonial way of war : violence and colonial warfare in the British, German and Dutch empires, c. 1890-1914 / Tom Menger.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Menger, Tom, author.

Series:

Cambridge military histories.

Cambridge military histories

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Imperialism--History--19th century.

Imperialism.

Military history, Modern--19th century.

Military history, Modern.

Great Britain--Colonies--History--19th century.

Great Britain.

Germany--Colonies--History--19th century.

Germany.

Netherlands--Colonies--History--19th century.

Netherlands.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xii, 360 pages) : maps

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 2025.

Summary:

The violence of colonial wars between 1890 and 1914 is often thought to have been uniquely shaped by the nature of each of the European empires. This book argues instead that these wars' extreme violence was part of a shared 'Colonial Way of War'. Through detailed study of British, German and Dutch colonial wars, Tom Menger reveals the transimperial connectivity of fin-de-siècle colonial violence, including practices of scorched earth and extermination, such as the Herero Genocide (1904-1908). He explores how shared thought and practices arose from exchanges and transfers between actors of different empires, both Europeans and non-Europeans. These transfers can be traced in military manuals and other literature, but most notably in the transimperial mobility of military attachés, regular soldiers, settlers or 'adventurers'. Pioneering in its scope, Menger's work re-thinks the supposed exceptionality of standout cases of colonial violence, and more broadly challenges conceptions we have of imperial connectivity.

Contents:

Cover

Half-title

Series information

Title page

Imprints page

Table of Contents

List of Maps

Acknowledgements

A Note on Language

List of Abbreviations

Introduction

A 'Western Way of War' in the Colonies

A Transimperial History of Colonial Violence

Violence

Knowledge

Sources

Periodisation and Perspective

Chapter Overview

1 Colonial Warfare: Introductory Observations

Racism, Racialisation and Colonial Warfare

Definitions, Types, Actors

Colonial Warfare and Knowledge

Manuals of Colonial Warfare

2 Colonial Warfare: Case Studies

Wars of Colonial Penetration

The Ndebele-Shona War of 1896-1897

War in Sierra Leone, 1898

The German-Herero and German-Nama Wars, 1904-1908

The Maji Maji War in German East Africa, 1905-1907

The Dutch War in Aceh, 1873-c.1914

Summary

3 Transimperial Knowledge: Colonial Warfare beyond the Nation-Empire

Colonial Warfare and Racial Otherness

Permissiveness

The 'Native Mind'

The 'Basic Imperatives' as Transimperial Knowledge

4 Knowledge Transfers: Exploring the Transimperial Genesis of the Colonial Way of War

Prerequisites: Commensurability and Openness to Learning

Knowledge Transfer in Writing

Knowledge Transfer and the Mobility of Individuals

European Soldiers, Settlers and Adventurers

Conclusion

5 Practices of Violence

The Colonial War of Devastation and Its Aceh 'Alternative'

Extermination in Colonial Wars

6 Conclusion

References

Index.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 12 Sep 2025).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781009508285

1-009-50830-X

1-009-50829-6

1-009-50827-X

OCLC:

1437889446