Home > Decision in the Colonies: Revolt or Assist? Resisting or assisting your colonizer in their war
Decision in the Colonies: Revolt or Assist? Resisting or assisting your colonizer in their war
This discussion addresses the following outcomes:
- Critically evaluate the role that imperialism played in the expansion of World War I outside of Europe into Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia and the reactions of colonial citizens (CO2, CO3, CO5)
For this discussion, imagine that you are a leader in the community of a colonized state. Your European colonizer is embroiled in World War I and is calling upon you to supply them with soldiers and equipment. You and your people are tired of being subjugated by them, so you decide to take advantage of this opportunity. Launching a war for independence might be fruitful, as the armies of the colonizer are otherwise busy, and you have obvious allies abroad in the form of your colonizer’s enemies. They could supply advisors, weapons, and money to your cause, and offer to advocate your interests in the peace process; however if you fail you are likely to be executed and many of your people will have died for nothing.
If, on the other hand, you cooperate with your colonizer, not only will your people receive formal military training that could be put to good use in a later revolt, assuming they survive the war, but your European colonizer might be so grateful for your assistance that they will reward you with some version of home rule within the empire. But, imperial powers rarely give up their authority without coercion, and if you wait too long for your revolt your colonizer will be able to direct the full force of his military against you. What do you do?
In preparation for this discussion, make sure you read the following: the Module Notes, Chapter 4 (Links to an external site.), pages 140-149 in Chapter 5 (Links to an external site.), and pages 294-305 in Chapter 11 (Links to an external site.) in the Neiberg textbook, and view World War I in Photos: Global Conflict (Links to an external site.).
Then, in an initial post of at least 250 words discuss the following:
- In your opinion do you believe that it is better to resist or assist your colonizer in their war? Why? Use the reading to back up your opinion with real examples from World War I.
