‘Sufficient Reinforcements Overseas’: British PostWar Troops' Recruiting Policy in Nigeria, 1945–53

2019 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 823-844
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Nwafor Mordi
Keyword(s):  
Second World War ◽  
South East Asia ◽  
Law And Order ◽  
World War ◽  
Colonial State ◽  
Historical Method ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Overseas Deployment ◽  
Second World

This article critically examines Britain's postwar recruitment policy in Nigeria, 1945–53. It is a subject that has not been studied by scholars. As the Second World War drew to a close, the Nigerian colonial military had declared that it had sufficient illiterate, ‘pagan’ infantrymen of northern Nigerian ‘tribal,’ including Tiv, origin to meet any but unforeseen demands of troops for service in the South East Asia Command (SEAC). Yet, recruitment of the same category of infantrymen, as well as ex-servicemen, was resumed after the war. The critical/analytic historical method is deployed to interrogate Nigerian and British archival sources on the subject. The study shows that, unlike the case of the High Commission Territories Corps (HCTC), Nigeria's postwar recruitment was not meant for overseas deployment. It was primarily driven by Britain's objectives of restoring the army to its pre-war role of enforcing colonial law and order in furtherance of its resolve to maintain its colonial state in Nigeria despite postwar militant nationalism.

scholarly journals The history of archaeological research at the site of the former Kulmhof extermination camp

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-14
Author(s):  
Andrzej Grzegorczyk
Keyword(s):  
Second World War ◽  
Archaeological Research ◽  
World War ◽  
The Public ◽  
Area Of Interest ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Second World

The Kulmhof extermination camp in Chełmno nad Nerem was the first camp set up by the Nazis to exterminate Jews during the Second World War. The history of Kulmhof has long been an area of interest for academics, but despite thorough research it remains one of the least-known places of its kind among the public. Studies of the role of archaeology in acquiring knowledge about the functioning of the camp have been particularly compelling. The excavations carried out intermittently over a thirty-year period (1986–2016), which constitute the subject of this article, have played a key role in the rise in public interest in the history of the camp.

What if the Huns Come? Imperial Britain’s Attitude Towards Nigerians’ Enthusiasm for Military Service During the Second World War, 1939–1942

2019 ◽  
Vol 54 (6) ◽  
pp. 838-857 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Nwafor Mordi
Keyword(s):  
Significant Role ◽  
Military Service ◽  
White Supremacy ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Conventional Wisdom ◽  
World War ◽  
Historical Method ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Second World

In this article, Britain’s attitude towards Nigerians’ voluntary enlistment as combatants during the Second World War is studied. The historical method is deployed to interrogate previously untapped archival sources on the subject. Against the conventional wisdom, this micro-study posits Britain’s rebuff of Nigerians’ voluntary enlistment in order to preserve white supremacy by not arming and deploying Africans to fight Europeans. Nigerians protested the British treatment of the war as a white man’s war in which Africans had no significant role to play. Pressure on British manpower necessitated a policy reversal. Conscription was, thus, not due to Africans’ refusal to fight for Britain.

The Role of Middle Powers

1971 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 77-90
Author(s):  
Carsten Holbraad
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Balance Of Power ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Competitive Balance ◽  
World War ◽  
The Subject ◽  
International Role ◽  
Middle Powers ◽  
Second World

While the recent interest in the international role of middle-sized powers may be traced back to the end of the Second World War, some European writers of earlier centuries touched upon the subject. Both the older and the modern writers have used the term 'middle powers' in various senses and have failed to draw up satisfactory criteria for distinguishing them from other states. Yet, it is possible to examine the roles of middle-sized powers by studying their behaviour in a variety of historical situations. Here their typical roles arc outlined in several distinct situations of the 'bipolar’ system, namely, cold war, condominium and détente, as well as in two characteristic situations of the 'multipolar’ system, namely, concert and competitive balance of power.

Hendrik Draye, tegenstander van de uitvoering van de doodstraf

2006 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 134-152
Author(s):  
Luc Vandeweyer
Keyword(s):  
Death Penalty ◽  
Second World War ◽  
World War ◽  
Penal Policy ◽  
Catholic University ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The University ◽  
Second World ◽  
Young Professor

Hendrik Draye, opponent of the carrying out of the death penaltyIn this annotated and extensively contextualised source edition, Luc Vandeweyer deals with the period of repression after the Second World War. In June 1948, after the execution of two hundred collaboration-suspects in Belgium, the relatively young linguistics professor at the Catholic University of Leuven, Hendrik Draye, proposed, on humanitarian grounds, a Manifesto against the carrying out of the death penalty. Some colleagues, as well as some influential personalities outside the university, reacted positively; some colleagues were rather hesitant; most of them rejected the text. In the end, the initiative foundered because of the emphatic dissuasion by the head of university, who wanted to protect his university and, arguably, the young professor Draeye. The general public’s demand for revenge had not yet abated by then; moreover, the unstable government at that time planned a reorientation of the penal policy, which made a polarization undesirable. Nevertheless, Luc Vandeweyer concludes, "the opportunity for an important debate on the subject had been missed".

The Nonviolent Struggle for Indian Freedom, 1905-19

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Hardiman
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Second World War ◽  
World War ◽  
Passive Resistance ◽  
Civil Resistance ◽  
Political Concept ◽  
History Of ◽  
Second World ◽  
Moral Stance

Much of the recent surge in writing about the practice of nonviolent forms of resistance has focused on movements that occurred after the end of the Second World War, many of which have been extremely successful. Although the fact that such a method of civil resistance was developed in its modern form by Indians is acknowledged in this writing, there has not until now been an authoritative history of the role of Indians in the evolution of the phenomenon.The book argues that while nonviolence is associated above all with the towering figure of Mahatma Gandhi, 'passive resistance' was already being practiced as a form of civil protest by nationalists in British-ruled India, though there was no principled commitment to nonviolence as such. The emphasis was on efficacy, rather than the ethics of such protest. It was Gandhi, first in South Africa and then in India, who evolved a technique that he called 'satyagraha'. He envisaged this as primarily a moral stance, though it had a highly practical impact. From 1915 onwards, he sought to root his practice in terms of the concept of ahimsa, a Sanskrit term that he translated as ‘nonviolence’. His endeavors saw 'nonviolence' forged as both a new word in the English language, and as a new political concept. This book conveys in vivid detail exactly what such nonviolence entailed, and the formidable difficulties that the pioneers of such resistance encountered in the years 1905-19.

Implications

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Edele
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Soviet Regime ◽  
World War ◽  
Ongoing Debate ◽  
Middle Position ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
War Effort ◽  
Second World

This chapter turns to the present and explains the implications of the current study for the ongoing debate about the Soviet Union in the Second World War and in particular about the role of loyalty and disloyalty in the Soviet war effort. It argues that this study strengthens those who argue for a middle position: the majority of Soviet citizens were neither unquestioningly loyal to the Stalinist regime nor convinced resisters. The majority, instead, saw their interests as distinct from both the German and the Soviet regime. Nevertheless, ideology remains important if we want to understand why in the Soviet Union more resisted or collaborated than elsewhere in Europe and Asia.

scholarly journals Per Ravenna trecentesca: nuove proposte per l’assetto architettonico di Santa Maria in Porto Fuori

2019 ◽  
Vol 82 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-31
Author(s):  
Fabio Massaccesi
Keyword(s):  
Fourteenth Century ◽  
Second World War ◽  
World War ◽  
The Subject ◽  
First Time ◽  
Santa Maria ◽  
Second World ◽  
The Church

Abstract This contribution intends to draw attention to one of the most significant monuments of medieval Ravenna: the church of Santa Maria in Porto Fuori, which was destroyed during the Second World War. Until now, scholars have focused on the pictorial cycle known through photographs and attributed to the painter Pietro da Rimini. However, the architecture of the building has not been the subject of systematic studies. For the first time, this essay reconstructs the fourteenth-century architectural structure of the church, the apse of which was rebuilt by 1314. The data that led to the virtual restitution of the choir and the related rood screen are the basis for new reflections on the accesses to the apse area, on the pilgrimage flows, and on the view of the frescoes.

Memory and identity: intergenerational narratives of violence among refugees in Serbia

2013 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 1065-1082 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mila Dragojević
Keyword(s):  
Identity Formation ◽  
Crucial Role ◽  
Political Mobilization ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Warning Signs ◽  
Cycle Of Violence ◽  
World War ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Second World

This article examines the role of the intergenerational memory of the Second World War (WWII) in identity formation and political mobilization. An existing explanation in the ethnic-conflict literature is that strategic political leaders play a crucial role in constructing and mobilizing ethnic identities. However, based on 114 open-ended interviews with individuals born in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia, conducted in Serbia during 2008–2011, nearly a third of the respondents make spontaneous references to WWII in their statements, usually drawing parallels between the cycle of violence in the 1990s and that in the 1940s. The question this article asks, then, is why some respondents make references to WWII spontaneously while others do not. It is argued that intergenerational narratives of past cycles of violence also constitute a process of identity formation, in addition to, or apart from, other processes of identity formation. The respondents mention WWII violence in the context of the 1990s events because they “recognize” elements, such as symbols, discourse or patterns of violence, similar to those in the intergenerational narratives and interpret them as warning signs. Hence, individuals who had previously been exposed to intergenerational narratives may be subsequently more susceptible to political mobilization efforts.

scholarly journals Agency and Analogy in African History: the Contribution of Extra-Mural Studies in Ghana

2007 ◽  
Vol 34 ◽  
pp. 273-296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate Skinner
Keyword(s):  
Second World War ◽  
Gold Coast ◽  
Academic Disciplines ◽  
African History ◽  
World War ◽  
Significant Extent ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Autobiographical Texts ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Second World

As the pioneering generation of postwar British academics retired, some produced autobiographical texts which revealed the personal circumstances and intellectual influences that brought them to the study of Africa. Edited volumes have also provided broader reflections on the academic disciplines, methodologies, and institutions through which these scholars engaged with the continent. In one such text, Christopher Clapham and Richard Hodder-Williams noted the special relationship between extramural studies (also known as university adult education) and the academic study of Africa's mass nationalist movements:The impetus for this study came to a remarkable degree from a tiny group of men and women who pioneered university extra-mural studies in the Gold Coast immediately after the [Second World War], and to a significant extent established the parameters for subsequent study of the subject [African politics]. Gathered together under the aegis of Thomas Hodgkin […], they were led by David Kimble […], and included among the tutors Dennis Austin, Lalage Bown and Bill Tordoff, all of whom were to play a major role in African studies in the United Kingdom over the next forty years.

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