"‘Barbarity more suited to Savages’: British ...." Topic

….soldiers' views of Spanish and Portuguese violence during the Peninsular War, 1808–1814.

"This article explores British soldiers' reactions to the violence that Iberian soldiers, guerrillas and civilians perpetrated against wounded French soldiers and prisoners of war during the Peninsular War. Whilst they saw this violence as retaliatory, and sympathized with the suffering of the occupied, British soldiers were shocked, disturbed and outraged, often leading them to self-identify with their very enemy — the French. On one level, this violence was seen as a fundamental violation of customary rules of war. Yet further, in British minds it revealed a deeper Iberian culture of violence and way of war, which set the Iberian peoples apart from ‘civilized' nations…."
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Amicalement
Armand

I am 82, and recall – from age 4 – watching newsreels of WWII and on into 1947 when my parents moved us to Washington, DC from the Pennsylvania (PA)hard-coal country of east-central PA.

I gained great respect for our allies – the Chinese and Russians, guarded respect for the German fighting man – despite being our enemy, and outright hatred for the Japanese. I still recall seeing newsreels, including Japanese soldier throwing a Chinese baby up onto the air, and one catching the baby on his bayonet.

All this inspired my interest in military history, and I have come to realize that the Spanish were driven to this barbarity by the 700-year occupation of Spain (ending in 1492 – the year Columbus discovered America) by the Muslims; and the Spanish Inquisition – established to support driving the Muslims out. The Spanish won because they were even more savage than the Muslims! The French were portrayed as godless devils by the Spanish priests. Hence the continued hatred against non-Christians.

It seems that every society that has succeeded in driving the Muslims out have done it by out-terrorizing the Muslims.

Agree!.

Amicalement
Armand