Colonial war
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Colonial war is a form of conflict fought between the foreign occupiers of colony and the colony's indigenous population, colonists, or the military forces of a rival colonial power.
The term usually refers to wars fought during the nineteenth century between European armies in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean, although the term can be used more broadly to describe any war fought in an overseas territory between foreigners and the local population.
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[edit] Victory against colonial power
Although colonial wars usually resulted in a Western victory, local inhabitants were sometimes – though extremely rarely – able to inflict crushing defeats on colonial forces. Perhaps the most famous colonial victory was the American War of Independence, although others include the Battle of Isandhlwana and the Battle of Adowa where native levies commanded by a small force of Europeans were defeated by traditional African soldiery though in overwhelming numbers.
[edit] Types
[edit] Between opposing colonial powers
This is usually the type of conflict referred to be the term colonial war. It was quite a common occurrence from the 15th to 19th centuries for colonial powers to fight for control of lucrative trade routes and colonies that either supplied valuable goods (precious metals, spices) or were vital to the control of these routes. Most often the colonial powers involved were Great Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Ottoman Empire and The Netherlands.
[edit] Between colonial power and colonist
During the Algerian War of Independence at first the French Government fought with the French settlers against the indigenous people. After Charles de Gaulle agreed to Algerian independence the French government then had to fight elements of the settlers and the French army who did not wish the French government to grant Algeria independence.
[edit] Examples
Examples of colonial wars include the Java War, the American War of Independence, the Indian Rebellion, and various conflicts waged during the Scramble for Africa, such as the Anglo-Zulu War and the Mahdist War. The Anglo-Ashanti Wars of the late 1800s were a typical example of colonial warfare, in which small British armies, equipped with modern artillery and machine guns, repeatedly defeated much larger forces of local warriors.
[edit] See also
- Colonialism
- Insurgency and counter-insurgency
- Spice trade
- Dutch-Portuguese War
- Le Fanion de la Légion
- Zulu (film)
- Battle of Isandhlwana
- Malayan Emergency
- Philippine Revolution
- Portuguese Colonial War
- Italo-Turkish War
- First Italo–Ethiopian War
- Second Italo-Abyssinian War
- East African Campaign (World War I)
- East African Campaign (World War II)
- Battle of Adowa
- Society of Colonial Wars
[edit] Other uses
- Colony Wars was a 1997 video game.
