Colonial Violence

By Trevor R. Getz

Colonialism was all about control. This article examines how colonizers
used and justified violence against their colonized subjects.

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Trevor R. Getz

The Issue of Colonial Violence

Historians ask lots of questions. Sometimes these
questions end up on high school history tests. “Was
colonialism good or bad?” used to be a popular history
exam question. Not anymore. The problem is not that
there are no small examples of “good” results about
colonialism. The problem is actually that colonialism
mostly caused great suffering. Saying there was
anything good about colonialism ignores this suffering.

Now, historians try to understand why colonialism was

so cruel. There are at least three reasons for colonial
violence. First, colonialism was all about controlling
other groups. These groups often resisted. The second
is that colonialism was about making money. Colonizers
usually needed forced labor to make more money. The
third reason is that colonialism was a cultural system.
It depended on the idea that one group of people
was better than another. Let’s look at these three
explanations more closely.

Violence for control

Colonialism meant taking control of territory where
people already lived. These people did not want to be
colonized. As a result, colonization happened by force.
Take the example of Henry Morton Stanley. Stanley
was a British explorer. He was known for his courage
after trekking across Africa. However, Stanley was
also violent towards the Africans he met. Many of them
died. Still, Stanley openly wrote about his experiences.
Did Stanley know that his readers would approve of
his actions? Perhaps Stanley acted that way because
he was desperate and hungry. Or maybe Stanley really A 1906 critique of colonialism from a German cultural magazine,
believed it was okay to treat other people that way. Simplicissimus. Like the author of this article, the image suggests
all kinds of reasons for colonial violence. From the author’s private
There was violence in all of these places before collection, Trevor Getz. Public domain.
colonialism, too. However, colonial violence was
often especially bloody for several reasons. First, the
colonial power usually had deadlier weapons than the
locals. Second, locals often outnumbered colonizers.
Colonizers used weapons to make up for the difference in numbers. Finally, the imperial powers used violence to
destroy the governments that already existed. This allowed them to take over and form colonies.

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Once colonialism was established, larger acts of violence did decrease. However, colonizers still needed to
maintain control over their subjects. For this reason, colonial violence continued. Some actions that would have
been forbidden back home were allowed for officials in the colonies. Forced labor and brutal punishments were
common. These methods were designed to keep control over the colonized people.

Violence for profit

Stanley’s violence wasn’t limited to local communities. Stanley’s European adventurers were supplied with African
workers. These workers were often treated violently.

Forced laborers carrying supplies for the building of the Congo-Ocean Railway
in French-ruled Central Africa. Public domain.

Still, Stanley’s treatment of his workers was not that unusual. One purpose of colonialism was to make a profit.
That meant violently forcing colonized people to work for very little or no pay. Some examples of this violence
occurred on large projects. One example is railroad construction. Sometimes, tens of thousands of laborers died
during a single project.

Sometimes colonial companies and plantations didn’t make money. So, systems arose to make money from the
local people. For example, colonizers collected cash through taxes. The only way to get that cash was to work on
plantations or mines. Plantation and mine workers were paid very little and treated poorly. They then used what
little money they made to pay their taxes. These taxes went back to their employers. So it was almost as if they had
never been paid at all!

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Trevor R. Getz

Sometimes, colonial law protected local populations from the worst violence. In some French colonies, the law
banned some types of physical punishment. However, the law still allowed things like forced labor. It also allowed
for 15-hour workdays. Still, many employers ignored the laws. Some managers were fired, but many got away
with their crimes.

Vietnamese bowing to French troops. Colonialism elevated the colonizers and gave them power
over the colonized. The artist who chose to make this image was French. Public domain.

The violence of the French colonies was pretty common. King Leopold II of Belgium set up an even more extreme
system in the Congo, Africa. Leopold brought mercenaries1 from all over Europe. They were instructed to force the
locals to gather rubber, which grows in the Congo. During the Industrial Revolution, rubber was in high demand. It
was used to make belts for machines and tires. The local people were forced to work non-stop or be killed. They
often did not have enough time to gather food for themselves and their families. They were brutally punished if they
failed to gather enough rubber.

Colonialism gave colonizers a huge amount of power. Meanwhile, hardly anyone was watching over them. Is it
surprising that the system was so abusive?

1 Mercenaries are soldiers for hire. They work for money, not to represent their country.
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Trevor R. Getz

Civilizing violence
Colonial violence was justified in at least two ways. One reason had to do with superiority. Many people believed it
was okay for a “superior” race to punish an “inferior” people. Many people argued violence was necessary to force
locals to work. A second reason had to do with being “civilized.” They believed that adult colonial subjects needed
to be disciplined like children. This would teach them how to be civilized. Punishment for children in Europe, Japan,
or the United States at the time often involved beatings. So it seemed quite natural to use physical punishment.

Colonialism also caused psychological violence. Franz Fanon was one of the first people to write about this type of
violence. Fanon was a psychiatrist of African descent who grew up in the Caribbean colony of Martinique. Colonial
subjects were constantly told they were inferior to their colonizers. Fanon learned that this led to feelings of self-
hatred and depression for many.

These forms of violence made colonies pretty terrible places. To be sure, violence and war existed everywhere
during this time. However, the violence of colonialism went beyond war. Colonialism caused huge suffering. That
makes it hard to imagine how any part of colonialism could be “good.”

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Trevor R. Getz

Trevor Getz
Trevor Getz is Professor of African History and World History at San Francisco State University. He has written eleven books
on African and world history, including Abina and the Important Men. He is also the author of A Primer for Teaching African
History, which explores questions about how we should teach the history of Africa in high school and university classes.

Image Credits
Cover: Belgian colonial period Congo. Africa became a centre for ivory hunting from elephants killed for sport or ivory, 1900. ©
Photo by: Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty images
A 1906 critique of colonialism from a German cultural magazine, Simplicissimus. Like the author of this article, the image
suggests all kinds of reasons for colonial violence. From the author’s private collection, Trevor Getz. Public domain.
Forced laborers carrying supplies for the building of the Congo-Ocean Railway in French-ruled Central Africa. Public domain.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:During_building_of_the_Congo-Océan_Railway,_men_working_in_forced_labor_as_
porters_carried_supplies_over_difficult_terrain_(Archives_nationales_d%27outre_mer).jpg
Vietnamese bowing to French troops. Colonialism elevated the colonizers and gave them power over the colonized. The artist
who chose to make this image was French. Public domain. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Annamese_kowtowing_
to_French_soldiers.jpg