Enemies in the Empire
Civilian Internment in the British Empire during the First World War
Panikos Panayi author Stefan Manz author
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Oxford University Press
Published:5th Mar '20
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
During the First World War, Britain was the epicentre of global mass internment and deportation operations. Germans, Austro-Hungarians, Turks, and Bulgarians who had settled in Britain and its overseas territories were deemed to be a potential danger to the realm through their ties with the Central Powers and were classified as 'enemy aliens'. A complex set of wartime legislation imposed limitations on their freedom of movement, expression, and property possession. Approximately 50,000 men and some women experienced the most drastic step of enemy alien control, namely internment behind barbed wire, in many cases for the whole duration of the war and thousands of miles away from the place of arrest. Enemies in the Empire is the first study to analyse British internment operations against civilian 'enemies' during the First World War from an imperial perspective. The narrative takes a three-pronged approach. In addition to a global examination, the volume demonstrates how internment operated on a (proto-) national scale within the three selected case studies of the metropole (Britain), a white dominion (South Africa), and a colony under direct rule (India). Stefan Manz and Panikos Panayi then bring their study to the local level by concentrating on the three camps Knockaloe (Britain), Fort Napier (South Africa), and Ahmednagar (India), allowing for detailed analyses of personal experiences. Although conditions were generally humane, in some cases, suffering occurred. The study argues that the British Empire played a key role in developing civilian internment as a central element of warfare and national security on a global scale.
This book's significance extends beyond the authors' success at demonstrating the ties that bound the British empire's internment camps to policy-makers in London. It offers a much-needed comparative perspective and highlights under-studied aspects of the internment experience. [...] admirable breadth [...]. A noteworthy addition to the field, this book is recommended reading for scholars and students of the First World War and wartime incarceration * Brian K. Feltman, English Historical Review *
Magisterial in its approach and scope, and a fine example of the recent shift to study the First World War in global terms. Manz and Panayi have added considerably to the 'imperial turn' in world war studies.... A seminal study. * Ian van der Waag, Scientia Militaria *
This book is a welcome addition to the body of literature on this important subject, and the authors are to be admired for their continuing work to develop serious academic interest in it. * Matthew Richarson, Folk Life: The Journal of Ethnological Studies *
An important contribution ... In contrast to previous scholarship, which was concerned with specific states, the two authors succeed in broadening the focus through their international comparative and innovative methodological approach (imperial turn, spatial turn, gender studies). * Mathis J. Gronau, Zeitschrift für Geschichtswissenschaft [translated] *
Manz and Panayi use meticulous and extensive archival research across global collections — in Germany, South Africa, and India, as well as the UK — to make a compelling case for the centrality of internment to the British Empire's warfare and security during this time of global conflict...The book offers an impressive geographic scope, contributing to the imperial and global turns in First World War studies...An important modeling for historians of war, empire, and global histories alike. * Anna Maguire, American Historical Review *
ISBN: 9780198850151
Dimensions: 240mm x 166mm x 31mm
Weight: 746g
382 pages