Synopsis
David Olusoga explains the derogatory Martial Race Theory and how it was employed in the British Indian army in WW1.
- Programme: The World's War: Forgotten Soldiers of Empire
- Episode: 01: Martial Races
- Channel: BBC Two
- Broadcast year: 2014
- History | The First World War, 1894-1918 | The First World War, 1894-1918 | The First World War: stalemate
Licence: ERA Licence required
Free to watch for UK schools, colleges and universities with an ERA Licence
UK only
Staff and students of licensed education establishments only
Cannot be adapted
Add Notes
More clips from The World's War: Forgotten Soldiers of Empire
01: Martial Races | The World's War: Forgotten Soldiers of Empire
01: Martial Races | The World's War: Forgotten Soldiers of Empire
David Olusoga challenges our perceptions of the First World War with the stories of the millions of Indian,...
Battle of Neuve Chapelle | The World's War: Forgotten Soldiers of Empire
Battle of Neuve Chapelle | The World's War: Forgotten Soldiers of Empire
David Olusoga discusses the Battle of Neuve Chapelle.
French troops from Sub-Saharan West Africa | The World's War: Forgotten Soldiers of Empire
French troops from Sub-Saharan West Africa | The World's War: Forgotten Soldiers of Empire
David Olusoga investigates the WW1 experiences of French troops from Sub-Saharan W...
Indian soldiers in Marseille | The World's War: Forgotten Soldiers of Empire
Indian soldiers in Marseille | The World's War: Forgotten Soldiers of Empire
David Olusoga discusses the experiences of the Indian soldiers arriving in Marseille at the begi...
Racism and theories of civilisation | The World's War: Forgotten Soldiers of Empire
Racism and theories of civilisation | The World's War: Forgotten Soldiers of Empire
David Olusoga discusses the racist values and theories of civilisation propagated by Germ...
The Battle of Verdun | The World's War: Forgotten Soldiers of Empire
The Battle of Verdun | The World's War: Forgotten Soldiers of Empire
David Olusoga discusses the events and deaths of the brutal battle of Verdun.
The Indian Corps and trench warfare | The World's War: Forgotten Soldiers of Empire
The Indian Corps and trench warfare | The World's War: Forgotten Soldiers of Empire
David Olusoga discusses the Indian corp experiences of industrialised trench warfare.
More resources about Twentieth century warfare
S01E02: Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand | Days That Shook the World
S01E02: Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand | Days That Shook the World
How the duke's death led to the start of the First World War.
S01E04: Hiroshima | Days That Shook the World
S01E04: Hiroshima | Days That Shook the World
Documentary recalling 6 August 1945, when the atom bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, with testimony from American colonel Paul Tib...
Dunkirk (2017)
Dunkirk (2017)
Hundreds of thousands of British and Allied troops find themselves in an impossible situation. Christopher Nolan's epic wartime action thriller.
01: Advance Britannia | Andrew Marr's History of Modern Britain
01: Advance Britannia | Andrew Marr's History of Modern Britain
Andrew Marr revisits Britain in 1945 and finds the country victorious but nearly bankrupt, beginning a battle...
05: 1968 Vietnam | Peter and Dan Snow: 20th Century Battlefields
05: 1968 Vietnam | Peter and Dan Snow: 20th Century Battlefields
Peter and Dan Snow reveal the techniques use by US marines to flush out Communist fighters who lived in a ne...
Hiroshima
Hiroshima
Dramatic reconstruction of the devastating impact of the first atomic bomb to be used against people on the citizens of Hiroshima.
The Cold War: 01: Berlin 1945-48 | History File
The Cold War: 01: Berlin 1945-48 | History File
Compilation of secondary schools programme about the Cold War, featuring Berlin Crisis, Hungarian Uprising, rise of Soviet le...
08: Their Finest Hour | Battlefield Britain
08: Their Finest Hour | Battlefield Britain
Peter and Dan Snow take an in-depth look at the battles that shaped our nation. The Battle of Britain was the pivotal air battle ...
The First World War: 01: The Approach of War | History File
The First World War: 01: The Approach of War | History File
The first section asks who was to blame for the war.
S02E03: Attack on Pearl Harbor | Days That Shook the World
S02E03: Attack on Pearl Harbor | Days That Shook the World
The 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, which changed world history.
00: Goes Back in Time | Operation Ouch!
00: Goes Back in Time | Operation Ouch!
Dr Chris and Dr Xand turn back the clock and look at what medicine was like in the First World War. They meet a Paralympian runner wh...
The Cold War: 02: Hungary 1956 | History File
The Cold War: 02: Hungary 1956 | History File
Compilation of secondary schools programme about the Cold War, featuring Berlin Crisis, Hungarian Uprising, rise of Soviet lead...
Kate Adie's Women of World War One
Kate Adie's Women of World War One
Distinguished war reporter Kate Adie examines the impact of women's work on the Home Front during the First World War.
A Scottish Soldier: A Lost Diary of WWI
A Scottish Soldier: A Lost Diary of WWI
Poet Jackie Kay tells the story of Arthur Roberts - one of thousands of black soldiers who fought in WWI. His diary provides a unique...
S01E09: Chernobyl | Days That Shook the World
S01E09: Chernobyl | Days That Shook the World
Two days highlight the benefits and terrors of atomic power: Chernobyl's nuclear meltdown on April 26, 1986.
01: Comrades: 1917-1945 | Cold War
01: Comrades: 1917-1945 | Cold War
Both the United States and the Soviet Union drifted apart after the Russian Revolution of 1917, the Russian Civil War and the Paris Peace ...
The First World War: 02: Stalemate | History File
The First World War: 02: Stalemate | History File
The second section explores why the war wasn't over by Christmas 1914 and what life was like in the trenches.
01: War Comes to Britain | Britain's Great War
01: War Comes to Britain | Britain's Great War
Jeremy Paxman presents a four-part documentary charting how the First World War affected Great Britain, with this episode focu...
20: Genocide | The World at War
20: Genocide | The World at War
This edition recounts Himmler's plans to realise Hitler's vision of a pure Aryan Germany. Narrated by Laurence Olivier.
Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster | Surviving Disaster
Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster | Surviving Disaster
In April 1986 a blast at a Soviet nuclear plant emits 400 times more radiation than the bomb at Hiroshima-the UN claims it ha...
More from David Olusoga
Number 10 Guinea Street in Bristol | A House Through Time
Number 10 Guinea Street in Bristol | A House Through Time
David Olusoga begins his investigation into the history of number 10 Guinea street in Bristol.
Joint-Stock Companies | Empire with David Olusoga
Joint-Stock Companies | Empire with David Olusoga
This clip discusses the joint-stock companies set up under Elizabeth I.
03: The Two Nations | Union with David Olusoga
03: The Two Nations | Union with David Olusoga
The 19th-century union appears secure, but beneath the surface run deep divisions, leading to the emergence of a new working-c...
The Discovery of Penicillin | Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer
The Discovery of Penicillin | Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer
The story of how Alexander Fleming accidentally discovered penicillin.
The Unwanted: The Secret Windrush Files
The Unwanted: The Secret Windrush Files
How black immigrants who made Britain their home came face to face with the government's 'hostile environment'. David Olusoga exposes...
08: The Cult of Progress | Civilisations
08: The Cult of Progress | Civilisations
David Olusoga explores the artistic reaction to imperialism in the 19th century.
Kitchener and British Empire Historiography | A Timewatch Guide
Kitchener and British Empire Historiography | A Timewatch Guide
David Olusoga explains how perceptions of empire have shifted throughout different generations.
Neil Kenlock - Photographing the black British experience | Black and British: A Forgotten History
Neil Kenlock - Photographing the black British experience | Black and British: A Forgotten History
David Olusoga talks to Neil Kenlock about his photographs of the experienc...
01: Profit and Loss | Britain's Forgotten Slave Owners
01: Profit and Loss | Britain's Forgotten Slave Owners
In 1834 Britain abolished slavery, a defining and celebrated moment in our national history. What has been largely for...
French troops from Sub-Saharan West Africa | The World's War: Forgotten Soldiers of Empire
French troops from Sub-Saharan West Africa | The World's War: Forgotten Soldiers of Empire
David Olusoga investigates the WW1 experiences of French troops from Sub-Saharan W...