Conquest: How Societies Overwhelm OthersThe history of the world has been the history of peoples on the move, as they occupy new lands and establish their claims over them. Almost invariably, this has meant the violent dispossession of the previous inhabitants. Whether it is the Normans in England, the Chinese in Tibet, the Germans in Poland, the Indonesians in West Papua, or the British and Americans in North America, the claiming of other people's lands and the supplanting of one people by another has shaped the history of societies from the ancient past to the present day. David Day tells the story of how this happened - the ways in which invaders have triumphed and justified conquest which, as he shows is a bloody and often prolonged process that can last centuries. And while each individual conquest is ultimately unique, nevertheless they often share a number of qualities, from the re-naming of the conquered land and the invention of myth to justify what has taken place, to the exploitation of the conquered resources and people, and even to the outright slaughter of the original inhabitants. Above all, as Day shows in this hugely bold and ambitious book, conquest can have deep and long-lasting consequences - for the conquered, the conquerors, and for the wider course of world history. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
1 Staking a Legal Claim | 11 |
2 The Power of Maps | 28 |
3 Claiming by Naming | 49 |
4 Supplanting the Savages | 69 |
5 By Right of Conquest | 92 |
6 Defending the Conquered Territory | 112 |
7 Foundation Stories | 132 |
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Aborigines Africa Ainu American ancient Arab argued army assert Australian Baudin borders Botany Bay Britain British century ceremony Chinese civilization claim coast coastline colonies colonists Columbus conquered conquest Constantinople continent Cook cultivation cultural declared discovery dispossession Dutch eastern empire English established ethnic Europe European expedition explorers Flinders forced foundation story French Frontier genocide German Greece Greek Han Chinese Hitler Hokkaido Ibid immigrants imperial Indian nations indigenous invaders invasion Irish island Israel Israeli Japan Japanese Jefferson Jewish Jews justify king Koreans land later living London Macedonian maps Matthew Flinders Melbourne Mexica million moral Muslim native Nazis North America northern numbers occupied Pacific Palestinians Poles Polish population possession proprietorship region remain Republic of Macedonia rival River Russian savages settlement settlers soil South South Wales Spanish supplanting societies Sydney Sydney Cove Tasman territory thereby towns trade Turkish Turks University Press voyage Wales