“In violence, we forget who we are.”

–Mary McCarthy

Earl Kitchener of Khartoum also nicknamed as Kitchener of Chaos, was the British Military Chief in the First World War. Other than his service to Britain, he is known for his controversial role in the South African Boer War. He was an engineer by profession and likewise, most of his tactics were developed in a manner that it did not account for human life. Kitchener was just fastidious about the end result, without considering the means deployed to achieve the results, making his callous disregard for others.

Once, During the conflict, his troops were stricken with malady but Kitchener rather chose to reduce spending on their health care. British incurred heavy losses fighting the Boer guerrillas, who knew the terrain well and used its features to their advantage. Kitchener, frustrated from his unsuccessful attempts, instigated a new stratagem to hunt down the Boers. He decided to flush out his enemies by cutting off their supply by burning farms and livestock. On his orders, lands were evicted from the Boers and their families sent to concentration camps. By the end of the conflict, more 26000 women and children had perished from starvation and illness.