Colonial Connections, Postcolonial Insecurities: Polish Officers in British West Africa during World War II.
The article uses a postcolonial lens to analyze the triangular relationship between the Polish officers commissioned to the Royal West African Frontier Force, their British colleagues, and African inferiors in the years 1941–1943. I argue that despite the disparaging racial classification by the Bri...
| Published in: | Polish Review Vol. 70; no. 2; pp. 28 - 50 |
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| Format: | Article |
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University of Illinois Press
2025
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=185137829&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 185137829 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00322970 PLE jtl: Polish Review issn: 00322970 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: 2025 vid: 70 iid: 2 pid: 416 pub: University of Illinois Press artinfo: ui: 185137829 10.5406/23300841.70.2.02 ppf: 28 ppct: 22 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 199KB tig: atl: Colonial Connections, Postcolonial Insecurities: Polish Officers in British West Africa during World War II. aug: au: Puchalski, Piotr affil: University of the National Education Commission, Kraków su: British colonies Racial classification War Decolonization Imperialism sug: subj: British colonies Racial classification War Decolonization Imperialism keyword: (post)colonialism Africa Britain decolonization Poland ab: The article uses a postcolonial lens to analyze the triangular relationship between the Polish officers commissioned to the Royal West African Frontier Force, their British colleagues, and African inferiors in the years 1941–1943. I argue that despite the disparaging racial classification by the British, many Polish officers in West Africa aspired to become a sort of colonial intermediaries used not only for essential practical tasks during wartime but also to acquire the sympathy of Africans for the Allied cause. Others rejected any colonial ambitions altogether, becoming unexpected critics of the established system, but also of their lost homeland. Using little-known Polish-language sources alongside British materials, I demonstrate fascinating racial and sociocultural dynamics between the three groups brought about by a unique set of circumstances. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Copyright of Polish Review is the property of University of Illinois Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. item: Polish Review holder: University of Illinois Press dt: @attributes: year: 2025 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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