Cultural mobilisation as a transnational phenomenon in the South African War of 1899–1902: a case study of Russian adolescents

Abstract

Researchers have focused on the influence of cultural mobilisation on the population of a belligerent state. Yet, such mobilisation can spread abroad, affecting foreigners who sympathise with the goals of military campaigns led by other nations. For example, the Boer cultural mobilisation during the South African War of 1899–1902 led to the self-mobilisation of foreign volunteers, including Russian adolescents. The pro-Boer messages originating in the South African republics were internalised by other cultures. Although the initial impulse comes from the belligerent nation, cultural mobilisation can have a transnational dimension, defined and developed by its agents in their own countries.