Abstract
The First World War constituted a step change in the history of internment. Whilst the practice of isolating specific population groups and captives had been applied before 1914 during localised military or societal conflicts, operations now became truly global and universal, affecting millions of people. Out of Line, Out of Place adds a range of case studies to the growing body of literature on this aspect of the First World War. The edited volume aims to connect local and global histories through five lines of enquiry: first, categorisation into military, civilian and political internment, with a clear appreciation that lines between the categories were blurred; second, the global dimension, with increasing standardisation of norms, but also the spread of ethnic conflict and racial stereotyping; third, the determinants of treatment, oscillating between global norms and local factors; fourth, the longevity of the internment experience going beyond November 1918 for many of those affected; and fifth, the impact on future internments. In combination, the chapters testify to the significance and richness of this topic to better understand how the twentieth century could develop into the ‘century of camps’.
Matthew Stibbe sets the tone in his chapter on the global context of civilian internment in Germany. Motives and practices were simply too complex to speak of a centralised camp system. André Keil looks at radical socialists, ‘unreliable’ ethnic groups, defeatists and other ‘enemies within’ who were detained in Germany in protective custody (Schutzhaft). Another function of camps is covered by Doina Anca Cretu. Wartime action on the fringes of the Austro-Hungarian empire triggered over one million internally displaced civilians. Cretu investigates health work in refugee camps set up by the Austro-Hungarian authorities. Assaf Mond discusses Alexandra Palace, a camp for German ‘enemy aliens’ in London, as a ‘liminal sphere’ between military and home front and argues for the use of the term ‘concentration camp’. Lena Radauer tackles the impact of civilian professional skills on the POW experience in Russia. Highly educated prisoners such as doctors and artists came in touch with, and contributed to, local community life around camps in Siberia. Nancy Fitch analyses German photobooks depicting North African, Black, Eastern European, and Asian internees in order to construct notions of German racial superiority.
The second part of the volume goes beyond Europe, starting with Bohdan Kordan's chapter on labour camps in Canada. Internees were mostly civilian Ukrainians and other immigrants from the Austro-Hungarian empire. They were classified as Prisoners of War and endured harsh conditions. Those held in Japan experienced incomparably better treatment, as shown by Naoko Shimazu. Inmates were deportees from the German concession territory in China, which was captured by Japanese and British troops. Mahon Murphy's chapter returns to the theme of race. He shows that German propaganda of alleged mistreatment of Germans in African and Asian camps was only partially successful as the general public was more interested in stories from the frontlines.
The third part tackles the long-term consequences of internment. Hazuki Tate concentrates on the Eastern Front. Forced movements and internments carried on until 1923 and brought in new actors, notably the League of Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross. In the last chapter, Neville Wylie and Sarina Landefeld discuss the post-war failure of international law-making in improving the legal and normative framework governing internment. The little progress that was made did not stand up to national self-interests after 1941.
The research paradigms are well conceived in the introduction and the conclusion, but some imbalances and omissions remain. Despite a ratio of eight million military POWs to one million civilians, the contributions mostly focus on civilian internees. A focus of this kind is legitimate but needs to be highlighted, not least for conceptual reasons. Other paradigms are missing. For example, questions of gender are sidelined with the argument that hardly any women were interned. Recent scholarship, however, has shown that we need to look beyond the barbed wire to understand the broader detrimental effects of internment on women and families. Finally, the Armenian genocide is only mentioned in passing. Considering that questions of internee treatment are central to the volume, this leaves a significant gap in the analysis. In order to understand the full spectrum between Bandō camp in Japan (‘the best camp in the world’, according to inmates) and Bab camp in Syria (which was, in essence, an instrument of genocide), some elaboration on the Ottoman Empire would have been desirable. Nonetheless, the individual chapters are of high quality, and the volume manages to highlight the wider significance of internment in the history of twentieth century conflicts.