Divide and rule
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The phrase comes from the Latin divide et impera, which translates to "divide and rule".
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[edit] Explanation
In politics and sociology, divide and rule (also known as divide and conquer) is a combination political, military and economic strategy of gaining and maintaining power by breaking up larger concentrations of power into chunks that individually have less power than the one implementing the strategy. In reality, it often refers to a strategy where small power groups are prevented from linking up and becoming more powerful, since it is difficult to break up existing power structures.
Effective use of this technique allows those with little real power to control those who collectively have a lot of power (or would have much more power, were they able to unite).
Typical elements of this technique involve
- creating or at least not preventing petty feuds among smaller players. Such feuds drain resources and prevent alliances that could challenge the overlords.
- aiding and promoting those who are willing to cooperate with the overlords, often by giving them the lands and wealth of rebellious local rulers.
- fostering distrust and enmity between local rulers.
- encouraging expenditures on personal frivolities (e.g., showy palaces) that leave little money for political manoeuvering and warfare.
This technique requires a lot of skill and political finesse, as well as a good understanding of political science, history and psychology.
"Divide and rule" works only if the subjects of this technique are willing to go along with it (e.g., because it is to their personal advantage), or behave foolishly. It works best in societies where competition between noble families, clans or social classes was already fierce before the overlord took over.
The strategy was used to great effect by administrators of vast empires, including the Roman and British, who would play one tribe against another to maintain control of their territories with a minimal number of imperial forces. The concept of 'Divide and Rule' gained prominence when India was a part of the British Empire, but was also the strategy used by the Romans to take Britain, and for the Anglo-Normans to take Ireland. The British used the strategy to gain control of the large territory of India by keeping its people divided along lines of religion, language, caste etc. The British took control of petty princely states in India piecemeal.
Also mentioned as a strategy for market action in economics, it can be applied to get the most out of the players in a competitive market.
[edit] Examples of Divide and Conquer strategies
[edit] Middle East
- Jewish colonization of Palestine was conceived as a means of maintaining British dominance in the Middle East by Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour in 1917. The first Governor of Jerusalem Sir Ronald Storrs stated that Israel "will form for England a little loyal Jewish Ulster in a sea of potentially hostile Arabism." [1]
- Israel has provoked Kurdish separatism in Iraq, Syria, and Iran. The Israeli foreign-intelligence agency, Mossad, has conducted covert operations in Kurdish areas as a means of destabalizing rival Middle Eastern countries. [2] [3]
- During Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon Israel installed the South Lebanon Army, a Christian-led proxy militia to manage a 12-mile wide occupied zone along the border. Israel supplied the SLA with arms and resources to fight Lebanese resistance forces led by Hizbullah. Israel also used the Phalange as a proxy militia to fight Shia Lebanese and the Palestine Liberation Organization.
- Robert Dreyfuss's Devil's Game presents the support of Islamic Radicalism as a tool against Communists and pro-Soviet Pan-Arabism. He also sees this aspect in Israel's support of Hamas against Palestinian Liberation Organization. Foreign Affairs's review criticizes the author's view as including flaws.[4]
[edit] Eastern Mediterranean Sea - Cyprus
- Cyprus was placed under British control on 4 June 1878 as a result of the Cyprus Convention, which granted control of the island to Britain in return for British support of the Ottoman Empire in the Russian-Turkish War.
- Famagusta harbour was completed in June 1906; by this time the island was a strategic naval outpost for the British Empire, shoring up influence over the Eastern Mediterranean and Suez Canal, the crucial main route to India.
- A British colonial strategy was to keep the Greek Cypriot majority and Turkish Cypriot minority of the island separate and discourage intermingling. The British hoped and succeded to strengthen their hold on this strategically important colony. [5]
- Cyprus Independence was attained in 1960 after exhaustive negotiations between the United Kingdom, as the colonial power, and Greece and Turkey, the cultural 'motherlands' for both of the communities in Cyprus. The UK ceded the island under a constitution allocating government posts and public offices by ethnic quota, but retained two Sovereign Base Areas. The British drafted constitution, reflected mutual distrust bred earlier between the communities by the colonial power [6]. Today, two British Sovereign Base Areas are found in Cyprus and the divide et impera effects endure as the Cyprus dispute.
[edit] Sri Lanka
[edit] The Caste divide
- During the last quarter of the 19th century, British Governors encouraged Inter-caste rivalry among the Sinhala speaking inhabitants of Sri Lanka to prevent the formation of anti-colonial movements. The British administrators helped loyal families of mixed origin who professed the Anglican faith of the British administrators, to merge with the numerically large Govigama caste of cultivators and peasants and pose as native leaders. Among them were the De Saram family that had married Burghers, and later through other marriage alliances, created a network embracing the Obeysekere, Dias-Bandaranaike, Ilangakoon, de Alwis, de Livera, Pieris and Siriwardena families. This “Govigama” Anglican Christian network expanded further with the preponderance of native headmen as Mudaliyars, Korales and Vidanes from the Buddhist Govigama section of the community.
- Eventually the British created a very powerful class of Sri Lankan Mudaliyars. Towards the end of the 19th century, appointments to high native positions were restricted for several years only to the Govigama caste. In the Caste system in Sri Lanka, the Govigama caste had been the lowest Sudra caste. Nitinighanduwa, a spurious publication on so called native laws which was in reality designed to claim the highest status for the Govigama caste was published by the British government and it sparked the famous caste-conflict of that period. This caste antipathy remained for decades and it effectively prevented the formation of a nationalistic independence struggle in Sri Lanka. It also laid the foundation for the post-independence Govigama hegemony which has led to several youth uprisings followed by brutal mass massacres by Govigama controlled governments to suppress them. The country has been ravaged by a civil war for over two decades driven by demands for democracy and autonomy and there is brewing discontent among youth against the exploitation of the nation by a few political families.
[edit] The Race divide
- Through their methods of administration, divide and rule policies, census taking methods and mandatory declaration of one’s ‘Race’ on official documents, The British Governors forced the Sri Lankan population of diverse ethnic origins to become either Sinhalese or Tamils based on the language they spoke in the 19th century.
- Ethnically diverse but Sinhala speaking castes and racial groups who had their own origin myths were virtually compelled to adopt a common origin myth, the myth that all Sinhala speaking people descend from Vijaya the grandson of a lion. This myth was encouraged and popularised by the British colonials ably aided by staunche nationalists. Prince Vijaya died without even a royal heir and subsequent dynasties until the 12th century Kalingas never claimed Vijayan connections. Nevertheless in the modern Sinhala psyche the ‘descent from the lion’ story has a special place and is widely accepted unquestioningly.
- Similarly in northern Sri Lanka, ethnically diverse communities of various origins but speaking Tamil, the language of trade and commerce of the region, were grouped as Malabars and subsequently relabelled as Tamils.
- These follies or strategies, created two mega races, the Sinhalese and the Tamils in Sri Lanka and a raging civil war based on this division has been raging for over two decades.
[edit] Africa
Western countries have used the divide and conquer strategy in Africa during the colonial and post-colonial period.
- Germany and Belgium both ruled Rwanda and Burundi in a colonial capacity. Germany used the strategy of divide and conquer by placing members of the Tutsi minority in positions of power. When Belgium took over in 1916, the Tutsi and Hutu groups were rearranged according to race rather than by occupation. Belgium defined "Tutsi" as anyone with more than ten cows or a long nose, while "Hutu" meant someone with less than ten cows and a broad nose. The socioeconomic divide between Tutsis and Hutus continued after independence and was a major factor in the Rwandan Genocide.
- When the British Empire ruled Sudan, it restricted access between the North and the South. The British also neglected to develop southern Sudan or include southern Sudanese in governance. The disparity between the North and South helped lead to the First and Second Sudanese Civil Wars. See also History of the Anglo-Egyptian condominium.
- During British rule of Nigeria from 1900 to 1960 different regions were frequently reclassified for administrative purposes. The British used conflict between Ibos and Hausa as a means of consolidating their power in the region. Regional, ethnic, and religious splits remain a barrier to uniting Nigeria. [7]
[edit] See also
it:Divide et impera (latino) hu:Divide et impera nl:Divide et impera pl:Dziel i rządź (polityka) sl:Deli in vladaj (razločitev) sv:Söndra och härska tr:Böl ve Yönet politikası
