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Colonial war is a form of conflict fought between the foreign occupiers of a colony and the colony's indigenous population, colonists, or the military forces of a rival colonial power.

The term usually refers to wars fought during the nineteenth century between European armies in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean, although the term can be used more broadly to describe any war fought in an overseas territory between foreigners and the local population. The latter would normally be described as a War of independence.

Contents 1 19th Century 2 Victory against colonial power 3 Types 3.1 Between opposing colonial powers 3.2 Between colonial power and colonist 4 Examples 5 See also 6 Other uses

Colonialism in the nineteenth century, in particular the Scramble for Africa, saw many conflicts between native peoples and small, professional European armies which were often equipped with cutting-edge military technology such as rifled guns and artillery, compensating for their small numbers. Colonial military operations in this context were generally split into two phases; firstly, a small European army would invade a territory in order to eliminate local forces and secure the area as an official colony. Once the colony was secured, a smaller European force would remain as a garrison, maintaining order and quelling any uprisings, and often organising local inhabitants into European-style military units, such as the Sepoys and Askaris of India and Africa respectively.

Although colonial wars usually resulted in a Western victory, local inhabitants were sometimes – though rarely – able to inflict crushing defeats on colonial invaders. Examples include the Battle of Khartoum, the Battle of Isandhlwana, and the Battle of Adowa, all of which saw traditional African armies decisively defeat European forces. Often, this was due to European commanders' perception of native forces as posing little threat to a Western army, and subsequently refusing to treat their enemies with the same degree of caution.

This is usually the type of conflict referred to be the term colonial war. It was quite a common occurrence from the 15th to 19th centuries for colonial powers to fight for control of lucrative trade routes and colonies that either supplied valuable goods (precious metals, spices) or were vital to the control of these routes. Most often the colonial powers involved were Great Britain, France, Spain, Portugal and The Netherlands.

During the Boer Wars, for example, the forces of Great Britain (the colonial power) fought white colonists (Boers) as well as the indigenous peoples of South Africa. By that time the Boers no longer considered themselves to be colonists, but natives fighting a war of independence.

Examples of colonial wars include the Java War, the American War of Independence, the Indian Rebellion, and various conflicts waged during the Scramble for Africa, such as the Anglo-Zulu War and the Mahdist War. The Anglo-Ashanti Wars of the late 1800s were a typical example of colonial warfare, in which small British armies, equipped with modern artillery and machine guns, repeatedly defeated much larger forces of local warriors.

• Colonialism
• Spice trade
• War of Independence, where inhabitants native to the colony in question seek to gain independence from the occupying colonial power.
• Le Fanion de la Légion
• Zulu (film)

• Colony Wars was a computer game of the 1990s.