That's exactly why you aim at the guys with rank insignia first. The military is a meritocracy, so you're shooting what passes for their cream of their fighting population.
That's the whole idea, actually, is to cull them down to their worst specimens, and then you can take over and destroy what's left. Except humans are stupid enough to want survivors as workers, instead of breeding and moving more of their own kind. Like they do when they're at war with other species.
Not exactly. Shooting at officers assists in the breakdown of command and control Shooting at people who are the most skilled would be really impossible to tell.
Except humans are stupid enough to want survivors as workers, instead of breeding and moving more of their own kind. Like they do when they're at war with other species.
Stupid? Every single empire that has ever existed normally tries not to wage a war of extermination because everyone, including the empire, is far better off with a productive population, than an exterminated one.
Assimilation doesn't prevent wholesale slaughter. Neither does division. If it did, places where Jews & Chinese assimilated or segregated wouldn't have seen slaughter. Instead, it didn't matter where ether of them went or how much assimilation did/didn't take place.
All that matters is paternalism and resentment. If the immigrant group moves towards paternalism, it breeds resentment in the base population. If authoritarians see that the base population can be secured by scape-goating the immigrant group, they ratchet up the resentment for political control over the remaining majority. The successful immigrant group may actually try to use paternalism to prevent or lower resentment, and it only has the opposite effect.
Assimilation, at that point, becomes totally irrelevant. Once resentment is sufficiently stoked, it becomes the slaughter of the un-outraged, by the outraged. If you're not the targeted group, then you can be targeted by "affiliating" with the targeted group, "working" with the targeted group, or "tolerating" the targeted group. You can be accused of having the targeted group's ideas or mannerisms. At this point, assimilation may have actually been worse because the authoritarians can run around screaming that anyone is the secret member of the targeted group. The dreaded subverter. And if they are a member of the majority group all the way through, you can call them a "traitor".
Now, back to working imperial systems. It actually doesn't matter whether or not the group integrates or assimilates. So long as they acquiesce to the Empire and submit to Imperial systems, they're basically fine.
That's exactly why you aim at the guys with rank insignia first. The military is a meritocracy, so you're shooting what passes for their cream of their fighting population.
That's the whole idea, actually, is to cull them down to their worst specimens, and then you can take over and destroy what's left. Except humans are stupid enough to want survivors as workers, instead of breeding and moving more of their own kind. Like they do when they're at war with other species.
LOL, Not for a long time.
P.S. In pretty much any combat situation all rank insignia are removed and you do not salute.
EHHHHHH....
Not exactly. Shooting at officers assists in the breakdown of command and control Shooting at people who are the most skilled would be really impossible to tell.
Stupid? Every single empire that has ever existed normally tries not to wage a war of extermination because everyone, including the empire, is far better off with a productive population, than an exterminated one.
It's not stupid, it's the only smart decision.
In the short run. But in the long run, what happens if that population isn't thoroughly assimilated, culturally and genetically, every damn time?
Assimilation doesn't prevent wholesale slaughter. Neither does division. If it did, places where Jews & Chinese assimilated or segregated wouldn't have seen slaughter. Instead, it didn't matter where ether of them went or how much assimilation did/didn't take place.
All that matters is paternalism and resentment. If the immigrant group moves towards paternalism, it breeds resentment in the base population. If authoritarians see that the base population can be secured by scape-goating the immigrant group, they ratchet up the resentment for political control over the remaining majority. The successful immigrant group may actually try to use paternalism to prevent or lower resentment, and it only has the opposite effect.
Assimilation, at that point, becomes totally irrelevant. Once resentment is sufficiently stoked, it becomes the slaughter of the un-outraged, by the outraged. If you're not the targeted group, then you can be targeted by "affiliating" with the targeted group, "working" with the targeted group, or "tolerating" the targeted group. You can be accused of having the targeted group's ideas or mannerisms. At this point, assimilation may have actually been worse because the authoritarians can run around screaming that anyone is the secret member of the targeted group. The dreaded subverter. And if they are a member of the majority group all the way through, you can call them a "traitor".
Now, back to working imperial systems. It actually doesn't matter whether or not the group integrates or assimilates. So long as they acquiesce to the Empire and submit to Imperial systems, they're basically fine.