British India in World War I

Although military operations did not directly affect India , the world war had a huge impact on its development. India became the main colonial rear, on the basis of which, England participated in the war.

British military policy was actively supported by the Indian bourgeoisie. The war promised them enormous material benefits. In addition, supporting the military efforts of the British Empire, the Indian "elite" hoped to make him certain political and economic concessions.

The collaboration of the national bourgeoisie facilitated the mobilization and widespread use of the human and material resources of India in the war by the British authorities. In some areas, all able-bodied men in the family were drafted into the army. The Indians fought on many fronts in Europe , Asia and Africa . The British colonial authorities mobilized Indian workers, who were sent for military work in France , the British occupied areas of Mesopotamia and other countries. India supplied grain to the British armies located in Asia and Africa . All Indian troops operating on the fronts fought and were financed by the population of India .

Indian Expeditionary Force A

After the outbreak of World War I, the Indian command was able to send 2 cavalry and 2 infantry divisions for combat operations. Of these four divisions, the Indian Expeditionary Force A was formed under the command of Major General James Willcox ^[3] . September 30, 1914, these units arrived in Marseille . Indian troops were sent to the front line at Ypres . At the end of 1914, the Indians participated in the battles of La Bass .

In March 1915, the Indian division took part in the offensive at Nev Chapelle . Indian troops, not having time to get used to the new Lee-Anfield rifles , without their own artillery, and also poorly adapted to the continental European climate , were not combat-ready units. In addition, there were not enough Hindi officers in Indian units. The general low morale of the Indians led to the fact that in the fall of 1915 all Indian infantry units were transferred from France to Egypt ^[4] . After the withdrawal of infantry units on the Western Front, two Indian cavalry divisions remained. Basically, they were in reserve , waiting for a breakthrough in the position front . However, in 1916, they actively participated in the Battle of the Somme . In March 1918, they were also transferred to Egypt. Of the 130,000 Indians serving on the Western Front, about 9,000 were killed. ^[5]

Indian Expeditionary Force B

In 1914, the governor of British East Africa requested assistance to combat the German colonial forces from German East Africa . It was decided to form the "Indian Expeditionary Force B" to send him to fight with German troops in East Africa. “Expeditionary Forces B” consisted of: one infantry division, two infantry brigades, engineering units and mountain artillery units ^[6] .

Indian troops under the command of Major General Arthur Aitken landed in Tanga on November 2 - 3, 1914. The task of the Indian corps was the invasion of German East Africa near Lake Tanganyika . After the landing between the Indian troops and German troops under the command of Lettv-Forbeck , the battle of Tanga took place . During the battle, small German troops were able to defeat the Indian troops, and the latter lost 359 people killed and 148 prisoners ^[7] .

Indian Expeditionary Force C

The Indian Expeditionary Force C was also formed for operations in East Africa. The “expeditionary forces C” included: one infantry brigade, five infantry battalions, the 29th infantry regiment, and various volunteer formations from various Indian principalities.

After arriving in Mombasa, Indian troops took part in guarding the railway in Uganda . November 3, 1914 Indian troops take part in the battle of Kilimanjaro . During the battle, the Indian regiment came under the crossfire of German troops and suffered significant losses. As a result, Indian troops retreated, losing 312 people and not achieving their objectives ^[8] .

Indian Expeditionary Force D

The largest Indian army sent abroad was formed for military operations in Mesopotamia under the command of General John Nixon ^[9] . The first Indian units were sent to Mesopotamia in November 1914 with the aim of protecting the British oil rigs in the Basra region. After the start of the first battles in Mesopotamia against the Turkish forces, Indian troops under the command of Arthur Barrett , and then Charles Thousand, took Basra ^[10] and advanced deep into Mesopotamia. However, in November 1915, Indian troops were defeated at Ctesophone due to logistical difficulties.

After this, Indian troops retreated to the city of Kut and Ottoman troops besieged it . From January to March 1916, Indian troops tried several times to lift the siege, but all attempts were unsuccessful. In April 1916, the British-Indian garrison was forced to capitulate due to food shortages and epidemics. Ottoman captured 9,000 Indian troops.

After that, additional Indian units and the new commander Stanley Maud arrived on the Mesopotamian front. After this, Indian forces launched a new offensive and in March 1917 captured Baghdad . After that, Indian troops participated in the final battles on the Mesopotamian front until the signing of the Mudros Armistice ^[11] .

The Mesopotamian campaign became the main front for the Indian army in World War I. The bulk of the British troops in Mesopotamia were Indian units. During the fighting in Mesopotamia, 11,212 Indian troops were killed, 3,985 died from wounds, 12,678 died from illness, 13,492 were captured and missing, and 51,836 were injured ^[12] .

Indian Expeditionary Force E

The Indian Expeditionary Force E was formed in early 1918 after two Indian cavalry divisions were transferred to Palestine from the Western Front. A cavalry brigade consisting of three Lancers from the principalities of Hyderabad , Mysore and Jodhpur ^{[10] was} also attached to these two divisions. The 3rd and 7th Infantry Divisions were transferred to the Palestinian Front from Mesopotamia.

In addition, 36 battalions of the Indian army were sent to help the British troops. The composition of the 10th, 53rd, 60th and 75th English infantry divisions ^[13] .

Indian Expeditionary Force F

In 1914, the “Indian Expeditionary Force F” was formed in Egypt, consisting of the 10th and 11th Indian infantry divisions ^[14] . The task of this group of forces was to protect the Suez Canal from Turkish troops. In January - February 1915, Indian units, together with other British troops, repelled the Ottoman offensive on the Suez Canal. In 1915, the 11th Infantry Division was disbanded, and in 1916 the 10th Division was also disbanded and sent to other fronts ^[10] .

Indian Expeditionary Force G

In April 1915, the “Indian Expeditionary Force G” was sent to the Gallipoli Peninsula to participate in the Dardanelles operation ^[5] . The 29th Indian brigade, which participated in the second and third battles for Critias, fought at Gallipoli. Later, the brigade took part in the battles at Sari Bair with the support of the Navy . However, like all allied forces, the Indian brigade also failed during the battles at Gallipoli. During the battles for Sari-Bair, the 29th brigade was forced to retreat to its original position, having suffered heavy losses. After that, the brigade was transferred to Egypt ^[14] . During the Dardanelles operation, the loss of the 29th brigade amounted to 1358 killed and 3421 wounded ^[15] .

Beginning in 1916 , British colonial authorities, represented by Viceroy Lord Chelmsford, announced concessions to Indian demands; these concessions included the appointment of Indians to officer positions in the army, the awarding of princes with awards and honorary titles, the abolition of the extremely excitement of the excise tax on cotton by the Indians. In August 1917, Secretary of State for Indian Affairs Edwin Montague declared the goal of Britain the phased formation in India of "a responsible government as an integral part of the British Empire."

By the end of the war, most of the troops were relocated from India to Mesopotamia and Europe , which worried the local colonial authorities. Riots became more frequent, and British intelligence noted many cases of cooperation with Germany . In 1915, the Indian Defense Act was passed, which, in addition to the Press Act of 1910 , allowed the prosecution of politically dangerous dissidents , in particular, sending journalists to jail without trial and censorship.

In 1917, a committee chaired by British judge Rawlate investigated the involvement of Germans and Russian Bolsheviks in outbreaks of violence in India. The findings of the commission were presented in July 1918, and three districts were identified: Bengal , the Bombay presidency , and the Punjab . The committee recommended expanding the powers of the authorities in wartime conditions, introducing trials of three judges without a jury, introducing government supervision of suspects, and empowering local authorities to arrest and detain suspects for short periods without trial.

The end of the war also brought about economic changes. By the end of 1919, up to 1.5 million Indians participated in the war. Taxes increased, and prices doubled between 1914-1920. Demobilization from the army exacerbated unemployment, in Bengal, Madras and Bombay hunger riots took place.

The government decided to implement the recommendations of the Roulat committee in the form of two laws (the “ Roulat bill ”), however, when voting in the Imperial Legislative Council, all its Indian deputies voted against. The British managed to carry out a truncated version of the first bill, which allowed the authorities extra-judicial persecution, but for a period of only three years, and only against "anarchist and revolutionary movements." The second bill was completely rewritten in the form of amendments to the Indian Penal Code. Nevertheless, a strong outrage flared up in India, which resulted in a massacre in Amritsar and brought to the front line the nationalists of Mahatma Gandhi .

In December 1919, the Indian Government Act was passed. The imperial and provincial legislative councils were expanded and the asylum of the executive branch was abolished when passing unpopular laws in the form of an “official majority”.

Cases such as defense, criminal investigation, foreign affairs, communications, and tax collection remained under the jurisdiction of the Viceroy and central government in New Delhi , while health care, land rent, and local government were transferred to the provinces. Such measures made it easier for the Indians to participate in public service, and to receive officer posts in the army.

Indians' suffrage was expanded nationally, but the number of Indians with voting rights was only 10% of the adult male population, many of whom were illiterate. The British authorities were engaged in manipulation; Thus, more seats in legislative councils were received by representatives of villages, who were more sympathetic to the colonial authorities than the townspeople. Separate seats were reserved for non-Brahmins, landowners, businessmen, college graduates. According to the principle of “community representation”, seats were reserved separately for Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus, Indian Christians, Anglo-Indians, Europeans who lived in India, in the Imperial and provincial legislative councils.

In 1935, the British Parliament established legislative assemblies in India; in 1937, Burma was separated from British India, becoming a separate crown colony . In the same year, nationwide provincial assembly elections were held, in which Congress won 7 out of 11 provinces. In addition, under the 1935 law, Burma was to pay the Indian colonial government a debt of 570 million rupees, which included the costs of conquering Burma, the construction of railways, etc.

World War I had major consequences for India. The international position of India after the war became completely different than before the outbreak of world conflict. The important role played by the Indian army changed the relationship between Great Britain and India. In the 1920s , India became a member of the League of Nations , and in 1920, Indian athletes participated in the Olympic Games in Antwerp ^[16] . Realizing the increased authority of India in the world, national Indian politicians began to demand the expansion of local self-government in the country ^[17] .

• History of India
• History of British India
• British indian army
• Indo-German anti-British activities
• British India in World War II

• In English:
• Barthorp, Michael. Afghan Wars and the North-West Frontier 1839–1947. - Cassell, 2002 .-- ISBN 0304362948 .
• Baura. The state at war in South Asia. - University of Nebraska Press, 2005 .-- ISBN 0803213441 .
• Bridger, Geoff. The Great War Handbook. - Barnsley: Pen and Sword, 2009 .-- ISBN 978 1 84415 936 9 .
• Chappell, Mike. The British Army in World War I: The Western Front 1914-16. - Osprey Publishing, 2003 .-- ISBN 1841763993 .
• Chappell, Mike. The British Army in World War I: The Eastern Fronts Volume 3 of The British Army in World War I. - Osprey Publishing, 2005 .-- ISBN 1841764019 .
• Davis, Paul K. Ends and means: the British Mesopotamian campaign and commission. - Associated University Press, 1994. - ISBN 083863530X .
• Ford, Roger. Eden to Armageddon: The First world war in the Middle East. - London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 2009 .-- ISBN 9780297844815 .
• Heathcote, T A. The Military in British India: the development of British land forces in South Asia, 1600-1947. - Manchester University Press ND, 1995. - ISBN 0719035708 .
• Hoyt, Edwin P. Guerilla: Colonel von Lettow-Vorbeck and Germany's East African Empire. - MacMillan Publishing Co, 1981. - ISBN 0025552104 .
• Jeffery, Keith. The British Army and the Crisis of Empire, 1918-22. - Manchester University Press ND, 1984. - ISBN 0719017173 .
• Karsh, Efraim. Empires of the Sand: The Struggle for Mastery in the Middle East. - Harvard University Press, 2001 .-- ISBN 0674005414 .
• Kinzer, Stephen. All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror. - London: Stephen Kinzer, John Wiley and Sons, 2003 .-- ISBN 0471265179 .
• March, Francis Andrew. History of the World War. - Plain Label Books, 1921. - ISBN 1603032428 .
• Pati, Budheswar. India and the First World War. - Atlantic Publishers & Distributors, 1996 .-- ISBN 8171565816 .
• Perrett, Bryan. Megiddo 1918. - Osprey Publishing, 1999 .-- ISBN 1855328275 .
• Perry, Frederick William. The Commonwealth Armies. - Manchester University Press ND, 1988 .-- ISBN 0719025958 .
• Reid, Brian Holden. Military Power: land warfare in theory and practice. - Routledge, 1997 .-- ISBN 0714647683 .
• Riddick, John F. The History of British India: a chronology. - Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006. - ISBN 0313322805 .
• Rinaldi, Richard A. Order of Battle British Army 1914 .-- Ravi Rikhye, 2008 .-- ISBN 0977607283 .
• Sumner, Ian. The Indian Army 1914-1947. - Osprey Publishing, 2001 .-- ISBN 1841761966 .
• Willmott, H P. First World War. - Dorling Kindersley, 2003 .-- ISBN 1405300299 .
• In German:
• Werner, Haupt. Deutschlands Schutzgebiete in Übersee: 1884 - 1918. - Podzun Pallas Verlag, 1994 .-- ISBN 3790902047 .