Can't imagine what it would have been like to have to fight wars for foreign colonial powers. They come, take over your lands, treat your people like shit, rob your country of wealth, and then force you to fight their wars. And now we see former colonial powers as developed and civilized. Makes my blood boil a bit
Counterintuitive as it seems, military service was honestly probably one of the least hated parts of colonialism at the time. Many young men were eager to sign up and get their hands on a gun and military experience, as young men... often are. As colonial powers also had incentive to keep those who were armed not too keen to put a bullet through their colonists' heads, military service often was voluntary and had significant benefits compared to the civilian colonized population, who were often subject to forced labor without compensation and a near-total lack of rights. For that reason, colonial troops stationed long-term on the Western Front acquired a reputation for tenacity and endurance, despite the fact that no one in their right minds would have blamed them for doing the bare minimum.
A sick world, where fighting in the trenches for a foreign occupier was one of the least bad outcomes for an individual.
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