Colonial Soldiers: Race, Military Service and Masculinity during and beyond World War I and II

Millions of colonial soldiers served the empires during World Wars I and II. Until the end of the twentieth century their history and memory received little attention. This chapter shows how martial-race theory, notions of mental capacity, and pre–world war experiences impacted the deployment of colonial troops. These factors included fear of arming colonial subjects, anxieties about the apparent mental and physical incapacity of some white soldiers, and pragmatic strategic considerations. The chapter takes a comparative approach to explore how the imperial military service of colonial soldiers contributed to masculine visions of independent nationhood and citizenship following the First and Second World Wars. Visions of heroic masculine sacrifice were appropriated by emerging nations, even where war service involved discrimination and deployment as military labor. The chapter also evaluates the extent to which imperial loyalty and the hope of postwar political patronage motivated colonial troops.