As in total war , invading powers often directed actions against indigenous non-combatants and local economies . This included the burning of villages , theft of cattle , and systematic destruction of crops as committed by the French in pacification campaigns in Algeria , and the Germans in the Herero Wars of southern Africa . In extreme cases , some powers advocated for the extermination of troublesome peoples , as the Germans did following the Herero conflict , resulting in the Herero and Namaqua genocide . Such actions were usually undertaken when there was a lack of political or military goals for an invader to achieve ( if there was no central government to seize or organized army to subdue ) as a means to subjugate local populations . European powers held the common perception that Asians and Africans " only understood the language of violence " so that they would not be subdued but through heavy-handed means . They refused to make concessions to indigenous forces for fear of appearing weak
Herero and Namaqua genocide
Herero and Namaqua genocide
Colonial war