Quote by Samori Touré: “If they burn our fields, we will burn theirs. If they kill, we will kill.”

This stark statement illustrates Samori Touré's retaliatory military doctrine, emphasizing a fierce, uncompromising defense through mirroring the enemy's destructive tactics. It conveys a grim determination to fight fire with fire for survival.

Facing overwhelming French military superiority, Samori adopted a scorched-earth policy, evacuating populations and destroying resources to deny them to the advancing colonizers, showcasing his relentless determination.

Mandinka emperor and military leader who built the Wassoulou Empire in West Africa and led one of the most sustained military resistances against French colonial expansion in the late nineteenth century. He was captured by the French in 1898 and died in captivity in 1900.