"Maxims & Myths: How Colonial Conflict Paved the Way" Topic

… For WW1

"Summing up colonial warfare of the 19th century British poet Hilaire Belloc wrote in 1899 "Whatever happens, we have got the Maxim gun, and they have not." However, Belloc's comment often repeated by historians and in textbooks misses the fact that this period's conflicts were often determined by more than just modern firepower.

Sure such victories could be impressive in 1879, an immature Zulu regiment or impi of perhaps 4,000 was held off for two days by 139 British soldiers at the Battle of Rorke's Drift in modern South Africa. In 1897, a group of 21 Sikh soldiers fighting for the British held a small fort at Saragarhi on the Northwest Frontier (in today's Pakistan) against a much larger force. The Saragarhi fighting to the last man their suicidal resolve against over 6,000 hostile Afghan tribesmen allowed them to hold out for hours and delay the hostile force long enough for British reinforcements to rush to the remote region. The Northwest Frontier campaigns waged by the British against Afghan tribes saw numerous situations where small garrisons held off against larger Afghan forces due to superior firepower. In 1885, a French force of 4,500 fought a Chinese force of 35,000 in Taiwan to a draw…!

Main page

link

Armand