Asia in Flanders fields : a transnational history of Indians and Chinese on the Western Front, 1914-1920
During the First World War people from the five continents resided in France and Flanders, mostly in service of of the French and British armies. Besides European settlers, it concerned hundreds of thousands of indigenous inhabitants from many colonies. The two largest subaltern groups who served on the Western Front in British service - each in itself accounting for some 140,000 men - were Asian: from the Indian subcontinent and from China. In my book I investigate not only their motives to join up and the nature of their war service on the Western Front, but above all how these subaltern groups experienced a modern war in Europe and what impact this residence in a Europe-in-war had on their subsequent lives and on the society to which they returned. A central position in my judgment of their war experiences is their meeting with the European 'other', the local populations who hosted these uninvited guests. I investigate how the European population underwent the confrontation with their non-European guests, but especially which impression the Europeans, their society and their culture made upon the Asian rank and file. In- and outside the Army Indians and Chinese were confronted with different degrees of
Dendooven, Dominiek
D501 World War I ; DS Asia ; JV Colonies and colonization. Emigration and immigration. International migration
Asia in Flanders fields : a transnational history of Indians and Chinese on the Western Front, 1914-1920. During the First World War people from the five continents resided in France and Flanders, mostly in service of of the French and British armies. Besides European settlers, it concerned hundreds of thousands of indigenous inhabitants from many colonies. The two largest subaltern groups who served on the Western Front in British service - each in itself accounting for some 140,000 men - were Asian: from the Indian subcontinent and from China. In my book I investigate not only their motives to join up and the nature of their war service on the Western Front, but above all how these subaltern groups experienced a modern war in Europe and what impact this residence in a Europe-in-war had on their subsequent lives and on the society to which they returned. A central position in my judgment of their war experiences is their meeting with the European 'other', the local populations who hosted these uninvited guests. I investigate how the European population underwent the confrontation with their non-European guests, but especially which impression the Europeans, their society and their culture made upon the Asian rank and file. In- and outside the Army Indians and Chinese were confronted with different degrees of
asia flanders field transnational history indians chinese western_front first_world_war people continent reside france flanders mostly service french_british army besides european settler concern indigenous inhabitant many colony large subaltern group serve western_front british service accounting men asian indian_subcontinent china book investigate motif join nature war service western_front subaltern group experience modern war europe impact residence europe war subsequent life society return central position judgment war experience meet european other local_population host investigate european population underwent confrontation non_european especially impression europeans society culture make upon asian rank_file outside army indians chinese confront different_degree