Race And European Superiority During The First World War

Race and European superiority were important aspects of the First World War for two main reasons. Ideas about race were developed throughout the 19th century during the scramble for Africa. The partition of Africa became one of the most prominent preoccupations of modern Europeans. Furthermore, several of the major countries at war between 1914 and 1918 possessed large colonial empires, where white Europeans ruled over Africans, Asians, and Pacific Islanders. Until recently, historians rarely mentioned the involvement of colonial troops during the First World War. It can be seen today that every country had different point of views concerning the reasons for the involvement of African troops in colonial armies but also the treatment of Africans. It is therefore important to understand how important those ideas of race and European superiority in the treatment of Africans in the colonial armies were. To answer this question, one must first understand the concept of race and European superiority in the treatment of Africans. When Europeans colonised Africa and Asia, they made sure that the native people knew that they were their leaders and that they were superior to them. However, during the First World War many Africans and Asians fought alongside the Europeans. To comprehend how important those ideas of race and European superiority in the treatment of Africans in the colonial armies, one can firstly analyse the importance of race and European superiority in France.Show MoreRelatedThe World Of The Holocaust853 Words   |  4 PagesOne common assumption that people make about the Holocaust is that the atrocity was an event unique to world history. It is not often taught in United States history classes that there were events previous to World War II that set precedence that allowed the Holocaust to occur under Nazi Germany rule. 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