January 18, 2011

Michelle Moyd (Indiana University)

Askari Ways of War:
Training, Community, and Combat in German East Africa

African soldiers, or Askari, of the German East African colonial army have received considerable attention from historians and a wider reading public because of their loyalty and battlefield performance during the East African campaign of World War I. Fascination with the Askaris’ alleged loyalty, dedication, and skill during the arduous campaign, however, has tended to obscure the processes of training and socialization that made them into such formidable soldiers. This paper offers a locally-situated historical analysis of the making of the askari, their ways of war, and the effects of their styles of warfare on East African political and moral economies.

Michelle Moyd is Assistant Professor of History at Indiana University She is currently a Resident Fellow at the Institute for Historical Studies, University of Texas at Austin, where she is working on her book, tentatively entitled Violent Intermediaries: African Soldiers, Conquest, and Everyday Colonialism in German East Africa.

In co-operation with the North Carolina German Studies Seminar Series

Co-sponsored by the Triangle Institute for Security Studies