| ID | 168235 |
| Title Proper | What if the Huns Come? Imperial Britain’s Attitude Towards Nigerians’ Enthusiasm for Military Service During the Second World War, 1939–1942 |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Mordi, Emmanuel Nwafor |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | In this article, Britain’s attitude towards Nigerians’ voluntary enlistment as combatants during the Second World War is studied. The historical method is deployed to interrogate previously untapped archival sources on the subject. Against the conventional wisdom, this micro-study posits Britain’s rebuff of Nigerians’ voluntary enlistment in order to preserve white supremacy by not arming and deploying Africans to fight Europeans. Nigerians protested the British treatment of the war as a white man’s war in which Africans had no significant role to play. Pressure on British manpower necessitated a policy reversal. Conscription was, thus, not due to Africans’ refusal to fight for Britain. |
| `In' analytical Note | Journal of Asian and African Studies Vol. 54, No.6; Sep 2019: p.838-857 |
| Journal Source | Journal of Asian and African Studies 2019-09 54, 6 |
| Key Words | Southeast Asia ; British Colonialism ; Military History ; Second World War ; Nigerian History ; Italian East Africa |