The subject of civilian internment and the treatment of so-called “enemy aliens” has in recent years received increased attention by scholars. The centenary of the First World War but also a renewed historical interest in themes such as migration, citizenship, and the treatment of ethnic minorities have all contributed to the emergence of a new field of historical enquiry. There are now a number of national case studies available, such as Panikos Panayi's work on German enemy aliens in Britain, or Matthew Stibbe's meticulous study of the Ruhleben Camp in Berlin, which was used to intern British and Commonwealth citizens in Germany during the war. More recently, scholars have discussed the issue of civilian internment and enemy aliens as a global phenomenon, for instance Mahon Murphy's study of civilian internment in the colonial sphere and, again, Matthew Stibbe's broad global survey of civilian internment during the war. All these recent studies reflect a shift towards offering syntheses of the history of civilian internment in the first half of the twentieth century.
Daniela Caglioti moves in similar direction by offering a global perspective on the issue but also embeds it within the histories of international law and the changing concepts of citizenship and national belonging. Throughout the book, Caglioti highlights that “enemy aliens” were not simply foreigners who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. The concept of the enemy alien itself was the product of historical changes during the nineteenth century that were closely linked to new ideas of national belonging and citizenship. The first three chapters of the book trace the transformation of these concepts in the long nineteenth century. Caglioti emphasises that during the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars allegiance and political loyalty rather than nationality were key categories when judging whether an individual was to be considered an enemy and thus subject to reprisals and detention. Towards the middle of the nineteenth century, though, loyalty and ethnicity were increasingly seen as inherently entwined. Caglioti identifies the Crimean War (1853-1856) and the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871) as turning points in this process. In both conflicts, allegedly hostile and “unreliable” ethnic groups were treated akin to citizens of enemy nations.
A key theme that runs throughout the book is the development of international and humanitarian law during the long nineteenth century. Caglioti discusses in detail how the status and treatment of foreign citizens became a key issue in international treaties and agreements. Initially this concerned non-discrimination clauses in trade agreements that established certain rights and civil liberties for foreign residents and non-naturalised migrants. However, the issue of enemy civilians and enemy aliens was eventually only vaguely defined in the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907. The so-called Martens Clause of the 1899 convention committed the signatories to treat civilians, including enemy aliens, in accordance with the principles of humanity. Yet, as Caglioti highlights, there was no international consensus as to how citizens of enemy countries were to be treated during wars.
The First World War eventually proved to be a litmus test for the vague humanitarian principles regarding the treatment of enemy civilians. Despite the attempts to establish international norms for the treatment of enemy aliens, most belligerents devised their own policies that were often only constrained by the threat of retaliatory treatment of their own citizens. The book provides an excellent overview of the developments in different countries, including the often-neglected cases of the Ottoman Empire and Japan. It emphasises the global dimension of the problem and provides the reader with a comprehensive overview of rather diverse and complex legal debates and policy decisions. While some belligerents, such as Japan, only had to deal with relatively small numbers of enemy aliens and other detainees, most countries in Europe were faced with tens of thousands of enemy aliens. After an initial phase of relative restraint, most powers resorted to repressive policies, including large-scale internment and deportations. This was also reflected in different pieces of wartime legislation that, for instance, stripped citizenship and legal protections from naturalised subjects. Similarly, in multi-ethnic empires, allegedly “unreliable” minorities, such as Italian-speakers in Austria-Hungary, Alsatians in the German Empire, and Ruthenians in the Russian Empire, were de facto treated like enemy aliens. As the book highlights, notions of citizenship were deeply entwined with perceived political loyalties and ethnicity.
The final part of the book highlights the various legacies of the developments during the war. Even after the fighting had ended, enemy aliens were subject to special measures, including their forced removal from what many considered to be their home. Caglioti highlights that for many civilian detainees the war failed to end in 1918. She demonstrates that many of the wartime measures against enemy aliens ultimately had a lasting impact on national citizenship laws but also more specific conventions in international law.
War and Citizenship offers a comprehensive overview of how international law and national policies towards enemy aliens developed during the “long” nineteenth century and the First World War. It analyses in great depth how international discussions about the treatment of enemy civilians and enemy aliens also influenced concepts of national belonging and citizenship. There is perhaps one point of criticism about this book: While the political and intellectual side of these developments is covered in detail, we learn comparatively little about what this meant for those who were labelled “enemy aliens” and how they experienced exclusion, deportations, and internment. Overall, however, Caglioti's book is an indispensable resource for scholars and students of the history of international law and the treatment of civilians in wartime.
