Replication Data for: Making Sense of Violence in Semi-Technologized Conventional Civil War: Evidence from Nineteenth-Century Japan

While existing studies highlight features of violence in conventional civil wars, they overlook how war technology is linked to the tactics of armed forces. To shed light on the understudied phenomenon of semi- technologized regular forces in a civil war, this article explores why and how violence is executed by such forces. To do so, we examine patterns of violence in the Boshin War that took place in Japan between 1868 and 1869. Our analyses of novel geocoded event data demonstrate that violent incidents occurred in strategically important locations but in ways that differed from conventional and guerrilla wars. Armed forces were unable to operate as technologically sophisticated forces do in modern conventional civil war due to limited logistics capabilities. Avoiding encounters in less accessible areas, the forces tended to fight in and contest areas that allowed them to establish relationships with local civilians. Additionally, violence against civilians was more likely to occur on the front lines where armed forces and civilians interacted because the former relied on the latter to convey provisions, arms, and ammunition. Unlike in conventional civil wars, military battles and one- sided violence were not unrelated to each other. With these findings, we address temporal, regional, and typological biases in civil war studies.

尽管既有研究已阐明传统内战中的暴力特征，却忽略了战争技术与武装部队战术之间的关联。为了厘清内战中半技术化正规部队这一未被充分研究的现象，本文探讨了此类部队实施暴力的动因与方式。为此，本文以1868至1869年间发生于日本的戊辰战争（Boshin War）为研究对象，分析其暴力行为模式。通过对新型地理编码事件数据的分析，本文发现暴力事件多发生于战略要地，但其发生模式与传统内战及游击战均有所不同。由于后勤能力有限，武装部队无法像现代传统内战中的技术先进部队那样开展行动。武装部队避免在交通不便区域发生交火，往往选择能够与当地民众建立联系的区域开展作战并争夺控制权。此外，针对平民的暴力行为更易发生在武装部队与平民存在互动的前线地带——因为武装部队依赖平民运输粮草、武器与弹药。与传统内战不同，军事会战与单方面暴力行为并非毫无关联。基于上述研究发现，本文修正了内战研究中存在的时间、地域与类型学层面的偏误。