Britain’s Killing Fields. Southern Nigeria 1900 - 1930

Document from the year 2023 in the subject History - Africa, grade: 5, language: English, abstract: During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the British Empire expanded its colonial ambitions to the southern territories of present-day Nigeria. The use of force by the British military in campaigns, expeditions, and in quelling resistance often resulted in significant loss of life - the true extent of which has too often been swept under the rug. For although the casualties on the British side were thoroughly documented, the number of the Nigerian victims remains largely unknown. Who were these people who died under the occupation? Were there women and children among the dead? And under which prevailing political circumstances were they killed? John Igbino intends to fill this knowledge gap with this publication. He has sourced and analyzed a vast number of mainly unpublished archival documents, examining the complicated relationship between Indigenous opposition and occupiers and the ensuing misconduct. Igbino's research facilitates a more thorough and nuanced understanding of Britain's malpractice in British West Africa and the political situation at the time, and tells the stories of those, who have been disregarded in British historiography.