India and World War I: A Centennial Assessment

Description

World War I directly and indirectly caused events and social and political trends which defined the history of the world for the rest of the century, including the Russian Revolution and the rise of communism to the Great Crash of 1929 which lead to the Great Depression and the rise of Hitler and Nazi Germany. It marked a turning point in world history as the end of the historical era of European dominance and the ushering in of a period which accelerated demands for freedom and autonomy in colonial settings. India played a significant role in the war and in the Allied victory on the battlefield. This book explores India's involvement in the Great War and the way the war impacted upon the country from a variety of different viewpoints including case studies focusing on key individuals who played vital roles in the war. The long and short term impacts of the war on different locations in India are also explored in the chapters which offer an analysis of the importance of the war on India while commemorating the sacrifices which were made. A new, innovative and multidisciplinary examination of India and World War I, this book presents a select number of case studies showing the intimate relationship of the global war and its social, political and economic impacts on the Indian subcontinent. It will be of interest to academics in the field of War Studies, Colonial and Imperial History and South Asian and Modern Indian History. Cover Title Copyright Contents Maps Notes on contributors Introduction: India and the Great War, a centennial assessment 1 The view from government house: Sir Michael O’Dwyer’s war 2 The Bombay Presidency’s ‘home front’, 1914–1918 3 War-time in an imperial city: the apocalyptic mood in Calcutta (1914–1918) 4 The Tribal belt and the defence of British India: the North-West Frontier during World War I 5 India and the African experience in the Great War 6 ‘Subalterns’ at Mesopotamia: battle, siege, and captivity 7 In the shadows: contextualizing cholera outbreaks in the Indian Army during the Great War 8 The war got in the way: Annie Besant, the contingencies of the Great War, and the course of Indian nationalism 9 Gandhi’s great war Index