Date of Award

2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

World History (Ph.D.)

Department

History

First Advisor

Konrad Tuchscherer

Second Advisor

Philip Misevich

Third Advisor

Catherine E Stratton

Abstract

Historians interested in reconstructing the events of World War One have consistently noted that the military campaigns that occurred in sub-Saharan Africa have been given scant attention. It is commonly accepted among researchers that while there has been some focus on the impressions of the individual European soldiers involved in this conflict, wide gaps still exist in the literature. Very significantly, a thorough search of the literature clearly reveals that the perceptions of whites towards their African counterparts who participated in the military campaigns has been very much neglected. This dissertation helps to close this gap by focusing on the very specific question of exactly how white combatants viewed the Africans who assisted them in the key military campaigns of sub-Saharan Africa, either by actually baring arms or by serving in such capacities as laborers, porters, transporters, etc. It probes the question of to what degree their contact with Africans supported and/or challenged their preconceived Victorian notions of racial relations. In order to engage in this analysis, this study reconstructs two military campaigns, notably the Kamerun (August 1914 to February 1916) and German East Africa (August 1914 to November 1918). It focuses specifically on the contributions made by black personnel in these campaigns. More significantly, it utilizes the primary records available that contain the individual observations of whites about their African counterparts. Key records include the files of the War and Colonial Offices of the National Archives, United Kingdom as well as official histories of the campaigns, regimental histories, unit diaries, and the letters, memoirs, and journals, etc. of white officers and enlisted men. Representative samples of these perceptions are then classified and divided into relevant categories which are that Africans are good soldiers, brave, loyal, excellent laborers, good leaders, racially inferior, poor laborers, easily frightened, and unreliable. The final product is an in-depth insight which in the simplest and most obvious of terms allows the reader to understand what white combatants thought of African participants. By doing so, it helps to fill in a serious gap in the literature.

Download

Share

COinS