Two new devices for political organization and foreign rule emerged in early imperialism: race as a principle of the body politic and bureaucracy as a principle of foreign domination.

Without race as a substitute for nationhood, the scramble for Africa and the related economic rush might have been seen as a purposeless “dance of death and trade” (Joseph Conrad).

Without bureaucracy as a substitute for government, British rule in India might have remained chaotic under the “breakers of law in India” (Burke), without transforming the political climate.

Both race and bureaucracy were first discovered and developed in Africa (“the Dark Continent”).

Race served as an emergency explanation for Europeans unable to understand or accept the humanity of African peoples, leading to dehumanization and brutality.

The Boers used race ideology to justify exterminating Hottentot tribes and other atrocities.

Notorious massacres included Carl Peters’ actions in German Southeast Africa and the decimation of the Congo population (from 20-40 million down to 8 million).

These brutal methods became integrated into ordinary foreign policies of civilized states.

For example, William II’s exhortation to German troops during the Boxer Rebellion invoked a brutal historical legacy of the Huns to intimidate the Chinese.

Race-thinking, whether homegrown in Europe or a response to harsh colonial experiences, attracted the worst elements of Western civilization.

In contrast, bureaucracy was discovered by and attracted the more educated, clear-sighted European intelligentsia.

Colonial administrators ruled by reports and decrees in secretive and disciplined ways, emerging from a tradition of military discipline amidst lawlessness.

These administrators initially saw themselves as knights in shining armor protecting primitive peoples.

Bureaucracy effectively served the new imperial game of expansion, where every territory was a stepping-stone and every people an instrument for further conquest.

The goal shifted from exploiting a territory’s own riches to exploiting wealth for another country.

Although racism and bureaucracy later became interrelated, they developed independently.

Those who perfected these systems did not foresee their combined potential for power accumulation and destruction.

For instance, Lord Cromer in Egypt transformed from a diplomatic charge d’affaires to an imperial bureaucrat but never envisioned combining administration with mass murder.

Similarly, South African race fanatics never planned to use massacres to create rational political communities, unlike the Nazis with their extermination camps.