1914-1918

As Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914, Lord Hardinge, the Viceroy of India, announced that India too was at war, without consulting Indian political leaders. Yet, the responses to the war within India, both from the native princes and the political elite, were largely enthusiastic. The feudal princes who ruled one third of India, were overwhelmingly supportive. Both the Indian National Congress and the All India Muslim League supported the war effort, and nationalist leaders backed the Allied effort. The anti-colonial nationalist movement that was burgeoning in India took a backseat for a while when the call for the war effort was made. The spirit of war was such that Sir Pertab Singh, the regent of Jodhpur and the favourite of Queen Victoria, was said to have threatened to sit at the doorstep of the Viceroy in protest if not allowed to serve in the war. Men were heavily recruited, were trained and readied for the voyage across the black waters.^ On 26 September 1914, the ships carrying the first of the Indian troops from the Lahore Division nudged their way into the harbour at Marseilles. Of all the colonies in the British, French and German empires of the time, Brit