Colonial concentration camps in Cuba and South Africa. Characteristics and significance for the evolution of the idea

In 1896, the Spanish general Valeriano Weyler y Nicolau decided to build the first concentration camps in order to force rebels in Cuba to submit to colonial rule. In 1900, during the Second Boer War, the British command made a similar decision – concentrating the civilian population in controlled areas surrounded by barbed wire in order to hasten the end of the conflict. In both cases, the colonial authorities’ mismanagement and lack of basic supplies led to the deaths of tens of thousands of people. This paper characterizes the first concentration camps based on criteria, i.e. the goals of the camps or the reality of the camps, and then points out the similarities and differences found between the Spanish and British camps. The paper also addresses the problem of the concentration camp as a political precedent – it shows the relationship between the Cuban and Boer concentration camps and the Nazi death camps. Special emphasis is placed on the importance of the first concentration camps for the formation of the Nazi death machine (also in a purely propaganda context).