Enemies in the Empire : Civilian Internment in the British Empire During the First World War

During the First World War, Britain was the epicentre of global mass internment and deportation operations. Germans, Austro-Hungarians, Turks, and Bulgarians who had settled in Britain and its overseas territories were deemed to be a potential danger to the realm through their ties with the Central Powers and were classified as 'enemy aliens'. A complex set of wartime legislation imposed limitations on their freedom of movement, expression, and property possession. Approximately 50,000 men and some women experienced the most drastic step of enemy alien control, namely internment behind barbed wire, in many cases for the whole duration of the war and thousands of miles away from the place of arrest. Enemies in the Empire is the first study to analyse British internment operations against civilian 'enemies' during the First World War from an imperial perspective. The narrative takes a three-pronged approach. In addition to a global examination, the volume demonstrates how internment operated on a (proto-) national scale within the three selected case studies of the metropole (Britain), a white dominion (South Africa), and a colony under direct rule (India). Stefan Manz and Panikos Panayi then bring their study to the local level by concentrating on the three camps Knockaloe (Britain), Fort Napier (South Africa), and Ahmednagar (India), allowing for detailed analyses of personal experiences. Although conditions were generally humane, in some cases, suffering occurred. The study argues that the British Empire played a key role in developing civilian internment as a central element of warfare and national security on a global scale. Cover 1 Enemies in the Empire: Civilian Internment in the British Empire during the First World War 4 Copyright 5 Preface 6 Acknowledgements 8 Contents 10 List of Figures 12 List of Tables 14 Abbreviations Used in References 16 PART I: INTERNMENT IN HISTORICAL AND GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE 22 1: Introduction 24 2: Historical and Global Perspectives 45 The Beginning of Internment 45 The Impact of the First World War 53 Internment After the First World War 58 Britain and the History of Internment 67 3: The German Diaspora in the Empire 71 Emigration Patterns 71 Germans in Britain 73 Germans in Settler Colonies 79 Germans in Other Territories 89 Conclusion 94 4: Global Germanophobia during Wartime: Public and State Responses 95 The Imperial Dimension 96 The Enemy in Our Midst 100 Measures Against ‘Enemy Aliens’ 106 British Internment in Context 116 5: British Imperial Internment 118 The Evolution of Internment Policy 118 Transportation 121 The Internees 131 British Interment as a Global Experience 143 6: The Extent and Nature of the Camp System 144 Internee Numbers 144 Camp Typology 147 Camp Communities and Cultural Life 154 Conditions 160 Canada 164 West Indies and Bermuda 171 PART II: METROPOLE AND TERRITORIES 180 7: Great Britain 182 The Internment of Germans Resident in Britain 183 Transportation 187 The Camp System 190 The End of Internment 200 The Centrality of Britain 203 8: South Africa 205 Context 205 Public Marginalization and Violence 208 The Mechanics of Internment 213 Women and Children 219 9: India 226 Anglo-Indian Opinion and the Germans 227 The Legal and Economic Exclusion of Germans 229 The Internees 232 The Internment Camps 236 Internment Policy and Its Consequences in India 244 PART III: LIFE IN THE CAMPS 246 10: Knockaloe 248 The Importance of Knockaloe 248 The Establishment and Administration of Knockaloe 248 The Scale of Knockaloe 250 The Prisoners 251 Prison Camp Societies 262 Conclusion 268 11: Fort Napier 271 Context 271 Topography and Composition 273 Activities, Social Dynamics, and Identity 277 Mental Health and Protest 292 Release and Repatriation 295 12: Ahmednagar 297 The Development of Ahmednagar 297 The Prisoners 301 Everyday Realities and Complaints in Ahmednagar 304 Ahmednagar’s Prison Camp Society 313 Golconda: Deportation and the End of Internment in India 316 PART IV: CONCLUSION 322 13: The Nature and Legacy of British Imperial Internment 324 The Nature of British Imperial Internment 324 Return, Legacy, and Memorialization 328 APPENDIX: Main Civilian Internment Camps in the British Empire 336 Bibliography 340 A. Primary Sources 340 B. Secondary Sources 347 Index 368 "During the First World War, Britain was the epicentre of global mass internment and deportation operations. Germans, Austro-Hungarians, Turks and Bulgarians who had settled in Britain and its overseas territories were deemed to be a potential danger to the realm through their ties with the Central Powers and classified as 'enemy aliens'. A complex set of wartime legislation imposed limitations on their freedom of movement, expression and property possession. Approximately 50,000 men and some women experienced the most drastic step of enemy alien control, namely internment behind barbed wire, in many cases for the whole duration of the war and thousands of miles away from the place of arrest. The volume by Manz and Panayi is the first to analyse British internment operations against civilian 'enemies in the Empire' during the First World War from an imperial perspective. The narrative takes a three-pronged approach. In addition to the global it demonstrates how internment operated on a (proto-) national scale within the three selected case studies of the metropole (Britain), a white dominion (South Africa) and a colony under direct rule (India). It then moves to the local level by concentrating on the three camps Knockaloe (Britain), Fort Napier (South Africa) and Ahmednagar (India), allowing for detailed analyses of personal experiences. Although conditions were generally humane, suffering occurred. The study argues that the British Empire played a key role in developing civilian internment as a central element of warfare and national security on a global scale"-- Provided by publisher "During the First World War, Britain was the epicentre of global mass internment and deportation operations. Germans, Austro-Hungarians, Turks, and Bulgarians who had settled in Britain and its overseas territories were deemed to be a potential danger to the realm through their ties with the Central Powers and classified as 'enemy aliens'. A complex set of wartime legislation imposed limitations on their freedom of movement, expression, and property possession. Approximately 50,000 men and some women experienced the most drastic step of enemy alien control, namely internment behind barbed wire, in many cases for the whole duration of the war and thousands of miles away from the place of arrest. This volume is the first to analyse British internment operations against civilian 'enemies in the Empire' during the First World War from an imperial perspective. The narrative takes a three-pronged approach. In addition to the global, it demonstrates how internment operated on a (proto-)national scale within the three selected case studies of the metropole (Britain), a white dominion (South Africa), and a colony under direct rule (India). It then moves to the local level by concentrating on the three camps Knockaloe (Britain), Fort Napier (South Africa), and Ahmednagar (India), allowing for detailed analyses of personal experiences. Although conditions were generally humane, suffering occurred. The study argues that the British Empire played a key role in developing civilian internment as a central element of warfare and national security on a global scale." -- Oxford Scholarship Online 'Enemies in the Empire' demonstrates how Britain developed a global system of mass deportation and internment during the Great War. Using case studies in Britain, South Africa, and India, the authors place these internees into the broader history of internment, the history of the First World War, and the history of the British Empire