Inequality in War

• In Event: Innovations in the Study of Militaries and International Conflict

Abstract

How does racial inequality in the military shape who dies in war? We theorize how commanders’ prejudicial attitudes shaped assessments of the relative combat effectiveness of soldiers. At times, these prejudices reduced estimates of soldiers’ combat effectiveness, decreasing soldiers’ exposure to frontline combat. In others, we argue that prejudicial biases that some soldiers were from “martial races” increased exposure to frontline combat. We assess the argument focusing on the British Army during World War I, comparing the relative fatality levels of over one million soldiers fighting in units drawn from different regions in the commonwealth. Ultimately, the project provides new insights into how prejudicial attitudes can play a crucial role in shaping battlefield assignments, and in turn who dies in war.

Authors

• Connor Huff, University of California, Los Angeles

• Eric Min, UCLA

• Robert Schub, Rutgers University, New Brunswick