Between intimacy and violence

Abstract

During the First World War, Britain assembled in British East Africa (Kenya) imperial troops from across Africa, India, Europe and the West Indies for the conquest of German East Africa (Tanzania). This moment of inter-imperial and international encounter between white British and colonial soldiers is explored in this chapter. Firstly, the process of observation, adaptation and subjugation is explored among the newly arriving soldiers from Britain as they encounter African and Indian soldiers. The second focus is the shared daily lives of British soldiers and their African servants. Racist paternalism and brutal force were never far from the surface in these interactions, but dependencies and control oscillated, creating opportunities for African staff and frustrations for the British men. Finally, the assertion of colonial power over the colonial body through extreme violence is explored as the sharp divisions and differences between men from Britain and those from the colonies were made most starkly manifest. On one side, we have those who could inflict violence and on the other those who were subjected to this violence, despite both fighting on the same side in the war. Rather than being transformative, these encounters between Europeans and Africans strongly reinforced established colonial worldviews.