Captivity in War during the Twentieth Century

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-ix

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2. The Diplomatic Role of Transnational Actors in Wartime Captivity

   • Marcel Berni, Tamara Cubito

   Pages 1-21

3. “Any Unfavourable Condition or Untoward Circumstance Will Receive Immediate Attention”: American Consuls’ Visits to British Colonial Internment Camps of the Great War

   • Tamara Cubito

   Pages 23-46

4. “Heraus mit unseren Gefangenen!” The German Home Front and the International Campaign for Prisoner of War Repatriation, 1918–1919

   • Brian K. Feltman

   Pages 47-72

5. An Uneasy Balance: International Relief Efforts in the Chaco War

   • Robert Niebuhr

   Pages 73-99

6. Japanese Civilian Internees in New Caledonia: A Gap Between the Protecting Powers and the ICRC

   • Rowena Ward

   Pages 101-118

7. Japanese Prisoners of War, the American-Soviet Conflict, and the Role of Repatriated War Veterans in the Early Cold War in East Asia

   • Frank Jacob

   Pages 119-136

8. The ICRC and Communist Captives During Vietnam’s American War

   • Marcel Berni

   Pages 137-156

9. Biafra’s Captives: The “Oilmen Incident” and International Diplomacy in the Nigerian Civil War

   • Oluchukwu Ignatus Onianwa

   Pages 157-174

10. Back Matter

    Pages 175-182

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This book offers new international perspectives on captivity in wartime during the twentieth century. It explores how global institutions and practices with regard to captives mattered, how they evolved and most importantly, how they influenced the treatment of captives. From the beginning of the twentieth century, international organisations, neutral nations and other actors with no direct involvement in the respective wars often had to fill in to support civilian as well as military captives and to supervise their treatment. This edited volume puts these actors, rather than the captives themselves, at the centre in order to assess comparatively their contributions to wartime captivity. Taking a global approach, it shows that transnational bodies - whether non-governmental organisations, neutral states or individuals - played an essential role in dealing with captives in wartime. Chapters cover both the largest wars, such as the two World Wars, but also lesser-known conflicts, to highlight how captives were placed at the centre of transnational negotiations.

• Prisoners of war
• World War I
• World War II
• Conflict
• Modern warfare
• International organisations
• Neutral states
• Non-governmental organisations
• International law
• Diplomats
• Relief efforts
• POWs

• Military Academy, ETH Zurich, Birmensdorf, Switzerland

  Marcel Berni, Tamara Cubito

Marcel Berni is a Research and Teaching Fellow at the Swiss Military Academy at ETH Zurich, Switzerland. He specialises in the history of the Cold War. His dissertation on the treatment of communist captives during Vietnam's American War has won the André Corvisier Prize.

Tamara Cubito is a Research and Teaching Fellow at the Swiss Military Academy at ETH Zurich, Switzerland. She recently completed her PhD on the treatment of enemy aliens in the British colonies during the First World War.

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