India and World War One
India played a significant part in World War One. However, India’s part in the war is frequently overlooked as a result of the horrors experienced in trench warfare and by Europe’s tendency to home in on battles such as those fought at the Somme and Verdun, which many assume only Europeans fought in.
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When was broke out in 1914, India was in a
state of growing political unrest. The Indian National Congress had
gone from being a group that simply discussed issues to a body that was
pushing for more self-government. Before the war started, the Germans
had spent a great deal of time and energy trying to stir up an
anti-British movement in India. Many shared the view that if Britain got
involved in a crisis somewhere in the world, Indian separatists would
use this as an opportunity to advance their cause.
| “The moment Britain gets into trouble elsewhere, India, in her present temper, would burst into a blaze of rebellion.” William Archer (author) |
These fears were unfounded. When war was
declared on August 4th, India rallied to the cause. Those with influence
within India believed that the cause of Indian independence would best
be served by helping out Britain in whatever capacity India could –
including the Indian National Congress. Offers of financial and military
help were made from all over the country. Hugely wealthy princes
offered great sums of money, and even areas outside of British India
offered help – Nepal offered help and in total sent 100,000 Gurkhas and
the Dalai Lama in Tibet offered 1000 of his troops to the cause. Despite
the pre-war fears of unrest, Britain, in fact, could take many troops
and most of her military equipment out of India as fears of unrest
subsided. Indian troops were ready for battle before most other troops
in the dominions.
Indian troops were on the Western Front by
the winter of 1914 and fought at the first Battle of Ypres. By the end
of 1915, they had sustained many casualties. Along with the casualties
from sickness, the decision was taken to withdraw the Indian Corps from
front line duty at the end of 1915.
In total, 800,000 Indian troops fought in
all the theatres of the war with 1½ million volunteering to fight. They
fought in most theatres of war including Gallipoli and North and East
Africa. In all 47,746 were classed as killed or missing with 65,000
wounded.
The Indian Corps won 13,000 medals for
gallantry including 12 Victoria Crosses. Khudadad Khan won the Corps
first Victoria Cross.
Such was the cost of the war, that India’s economy was pushed to near bankruptcy.
The Indian support given to Britain’s cause surprised the establishment in Britain. ‘The Times’ wrote:
| “The Indian empire has overwhelmed the British nation by the completeness and unanimity of its enthusiastic aid.” |
For its endeavours, India expected to be
rewarded with a major move towards independence or at the least
self-government. When it became obvious that this was not going to
happen, the mood in India became more militant. During the last phases
of the war Mahatma Gandhi said:
| “Seek ye first the recruiting office, and everything will be added unto you.” |
The British government’s post-war attitude quickly alienated Gandhi and was a great stimulus for his independence movement.
In 1919, the Government of India Act was introduced.
- This introduced a national parliament with two houses for India.
- About 5 million of the wealthiest Indians were given the right to vote (a very small percentage of the total population)
- Within the provincial governments, ministers of education, health and public works could now be Indian nationals
- The act planned for a commission to be held in 1929, to see if India was ready for more concessions/reforms.
However, the British controlled all
central government and within the provincial governments, the British
kept control of the key posts of tax and law and order.
Many in India felt that they had been
badly let down by the British government for their part played in World
War One. However, despite this feeling of being let down, India was to
play a significant part in World War Two.
How was India involved in the First World War?
The UK’s history must include the stories of people from the former British Empire
The UK has a particular responsibility to construct an inclusive history of the experience of the First World War. It was a truly global conflict, and involved many Commonwealth countries that made huge sacrifices vital to Britain’s war effort.
However, as the British Council’s recent international survey — carried out in Egypt, France, Germany, India, Russia, Turkey and the UK — showed, the UK public has only a limited understanding of the extent and significance of the role of Commonwealth countries in the First World War, and is therefore some way away from recognising them appropriately.
Take the example of India
India made a huge contribution to Britain’s war effort. It sent staggering numbers of volunteers to fight and die on behalf of the allied forces. Almost 1.5 million Muslim, Sikh and Hindu men from regions such as the Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Bihar volunteered in the Indian Expeditionary Force, which saw fighting on the Western Front, in East Africa, Mesopotamia, Egypt and Gallipoli. Volunteering offered a chance to break through the caste system, because becoming a soldier paid well and meant becoming part of the ‘warrior’ caste, which gave high status. However, of these men, around 50,000 died, 65,000 were wounded, and 10,000 were reported missing, while 98 Indian army nurses were killed. The country also supplied 170,000 animals, 3,7 million tonnes of supplies, jute for sandbags, and a large loan (the equivalent of about £2 billion today) to the British government.
But do the UK and India remember India’s role?While the UK is one of the top ten unprompted associations with the First World War held by Indian survey respondents, India was not mentioned a single time as a top-of-mind association with the First World War among the 1,215 UK survey respondents. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that twice as many respondents in India compared to the UK feel that their country’s role in the First World War is — to this day — often misrepresented and misunderstood in global history (almost one quarter of Indian respondents indicated this).
At the same time, around three quarters of respondents in India as well as in the UK felt that their country is still affected by the consequences of the First World War.
Were Britain and India on the same side or fighting each other?
Looking for reasons why the First World War still looms large amongst people in India, it becomes clear that that period of history is inextricably bound up with the history of the independence movement. And this can sometimes cause confusion.
For instance, only just over half (51 per cent) of Indian survey respondents knew that Britain and India were fighting alongside each other in the First World War. Over one quarter (27 per cent) believed they were enemies.
And while 63 per cent of UK survey respondents correctly identified that India fought alongside Britain, a full third (33 per cent) thought that India was fighting against Britain.
The First World War and the independence movement in India
This is despite the fact that India was heavily involved in the First World War as a key contributor to the allied forces and at that time an important part of the British Empire.
Having made huge sacrifices and demonstrated military valour equal to that of European soldiers, Indians widely expected a transition to self-government. These expectations were shared by nationalist leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi and Muhammad Ali Jinnah (the founder of Pakistan), but were dashed by the extension of martial law at the end of the conflict.
Following this period, Gandhi launched his first India-wide campaign of civil disobedience against British authority in February 1919. It was not driven by anti-Western or anti-British sentiment per se, but by the pursuit of self-determination. It took a looming Second World War, and the resistance against risking more Indian lives for little tangible return, before nationalist efforts redoubled under the auspices of the Quit India Movement. But the origins of Indian independence can be traced back to the events of the First World War.
The UK’s nascent interest in India’s role in the First World War
Since February this year, when we published our report, Remember the World as well as the War, we have argued that the UK can only gain from developing a global understanding of what was a global conflict with global consequences, and from understanding specific countries’ experiences, such as India’s.
Other organisations and individuals are now echoing this message. In the recent TV series, The World’s War, the BBC’s David Olusoga reveals the experiences of the ‘Forgotten Soldiers of Empire’ — with explicit reference to soldiers from India.
The London School of Economics and Political Science has opened out some of its thinking about India’s role in the First World War to an increasingly interested public. TheIndia at LSE blog contains a growing number of articles from different perspectives.
And for those interested in original documents rather than commentary, the National Archives have made the 171 First World War diaries of the Indian Infantry units deployed to the Western Front available to download via the First World War 100 portal.
The relevance of India’s role for the UK
There’s a growing interest in writing that offers a deeper understanding of the First World War, and what it means for countries such as India, which are historically associated with the UK. The fact that these resources are now more easily available to the public can only be a positive trend.
As Lord Bhikhu Parekh, speaking at Asia House on 20 May 2014,
summarised: ‘It makes British people realise what they owe to Indians.
Their history was not enacted just by them. If you go back in history,
you see Indians, Arabs and other[s] all playing an important role.
Throughout Britain’s history, they are as much the architects of British
history as the British themselves.’Conversely, he pointed out that ‘it is important for Indians in the UK to realise our history did not begin in the 1950s. Indians have been present in the UK in some form or another for several hundred years. It’s good for Indians in the UK to realise that they are part of Britain’s history — it helps bond a society and form shared memories of mutual gratitude.’
Taken From : https://www.britishcouncil.org/voices-magazine/how-was-india-involved-first-world-war
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