How did / do the british manage not to be associated with the term of concentration camp ?

Question

British invented the concept of concentration camp and put it in practice in Boers war in south africa , locked up the so-called Mau Mau rebels in Kenya and various places in the so-called british empire , but these days we only associate n***s germany when we talk about concentration camp . Is it true that the Brits have a tendency not to dig out skeletons out of their own closets?

Answer 1

maybe they were just prisons the British used....& the concentration camps are associated with the Germans for what they actually did to the people in them...like extermination!!

Answer 2

I think the concentration camp has become synonymous with the n***s due to the extent of the treatment of the jews and other minorities. It gave them new meaning. Every country has behaved shamefully in their time including most developed countries. Don't forget the US and their involvement in the slave trade as well as the desecration of the native american population.

The british acknowledge that they have made mistakes and done bad things in their past but need to move on from these and ensure that similar things don't happen again. I don't know the details of the concentration camps used during the boer war but I am pretty sure they did not involve the systematic gassing and cremation of more than 6 million people.

Answer 3

If you don't understand the difference between rebels and innocent women and children then you better study harder and look the definition of rebel up...The n***s went to peoples home and stole their homes and possessions and systematically murdered them for no good reason...Mau Mau rebel were rounded up and put in prisons because of crimes they committed or were going to commit....

Answer 4

I did not know that we had done that, but then I was not taught about it at school. (So perhap you are right about skeletons)

But if you think about it every nation on this planet has subgregated (Sorry about the spelling) other peoples & cultures because they seem different and there is a lack of understanding.....But it still does not make it right.

I hope that my answer helps.

Answer 5

It is not the camps that are the problem it was the intent , to corral large amounts of your so called enemy in to a manageable space so that that you can control and feed them sounds quite rational in a war situation especially if its in an isolated situation like Parliament , but to implement such a thing humanly is a different matter to put an army that is fighting a war and seeing there comrades killed, and then putting same army in charge of the camp is a recipe for disaster as happened in the Boer war.The folly there was poor judgement , But in the case of n**i Germany where the intent was to exterminate that is a totally different scenario . To lump the two things into the same question smacks of predigest to me

Answer 6

Your question is so true...shamefully the British did form 'concentration camps' the n***s simply took the concept to an horrific level. However, in the name of British Imperialism, our nation has perpetrated some pretty despicable things which have had devastating affects on other nations and peoples. The British Empire was not always formed by 'winning hearts and minds.' Britain is getting slightly more adept at accepting  its responsibilities...our present government was a G8 leader in the eradication of 3rd world debt, but we still have so far to go, and must never get complacent or smug about our role in the world, past and present.

Equally, we also have to be magnanimous and recognise some of the benefits people enjoy having experienced British influence under colonialism.  This was a concept I found difficult to accept until I talked to some individuals from South Asia who pointed out positives for their development.  Naturally, I accepted their experiences.

Answer 7

Probably. There's a poem from the Sudanese 'wars.' Goes as follows: "Lord Kitchener was a fine man, but, he was prone to rages. When the W--S" ('Western Oriental Gentlemen') "start kicking rough, he put them into cages." Or; words to that effect.

Answer 8

Yes.

Answer 9

It's the British way! we have done such terrible things in the past, but we have been lucky that most of the things we have done have been forgotten about or someone else did the same thing later only worse.

We have leaned form our mistakes of the past but unlike other countries we are not ruled by them either so we can do whatever we need to do unhindered by the ghosts of the past, we are fortunate indeed. I hope this helps you :)

Answer 10

They didn't actually invent them, the were in use by the US in the Philippines, and by the Spanish in Cuba. They weren't set up to kill people. The word concentration just means alot in a small space. Why aren't the Americans and Spanish associated with Concentration camps? Because the Germans were the most infamous user and the first to use them to be the first to kill people not hold people.

Edit: The people that died were killed because of incompetence, they didn't set out to kill people, the camps were badly set up and had poor hygiene that's why.

Answer 11

well actually use of the concentration camp pre dates the boer war, the spanish used them in cuba during various rebellions throughout the 19th century.

history is written by the victors, thats the way it has always been, always will be.

the numbers thing is actually relevant here, british use of concentration camps was not intended to kill 30000 boer civilains. that does not change the fact that it did, but the deaths came as a result of disease, the people were not deliberately killed by their captors. that is not to excuse a clearly inhuman policy, but the fact remains that when the british press revealed the extent of the damage casued to boer civilians, there was a great pubic outcry, and the government lost the next election partly because of its abhorrent conduct. the concentration camp policy was very unfortunate, and a disgusting crime against human rights, but governments do what they must to win wars, and the british won that war.

incidentally, why the 'so called' mau mau and british empire? that is what both things are known as in the historical record independent from british opinion, what point are you attempting to make here?

the mau mau rebellion was also a very unfortunate period of british history, and the reaction of the colonial authorities in interning civilians were certainly reprehensible. the mau mau reballion was marked by particular brutality from both sides though, the mau mau murdered a great many civilains.

the point is all countries have done bad things and continue to do them, everyone knows that, and the british do not particularly claim innocence, in fact they do so much less than many other countries.

the question here really is, what have you got against the british?