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WW1 From an Indian Perspective

Imperial War Museums

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This video uncovers for forgotten importance of India in the First World War. Using objects from the Imperial War Museum collection we explain how India helped save the British Empire.

0:00 When India saved Britain
1:22 Pre-war Indian Army
3:15 Why did men enlist?
4:44 Early deployments
5:26 Turkish raid on the Suez Canal
6:20 The Gallipoli and Mesopotamia Campaigns
7:52 The Western Front
8:50 Recruitment changes
10:08 The home front
10:52 The Palestine Campaign
11:53 Heroism
13:37 How WW1 changed India

Explore and licence the film clips used in this video: https://film.iwmcollections.org.uk/co...

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20 Comments

@The_Blackshield 10 months ago

I've thought for many years that the Indian contribution to both World Wars has been somewhat swept under the carpet. It's about time they got more recognition.

@pratyushdam1 10 months ago

and the british repaid that with jaliwalan baugh massacre in 1919

@footballspiritual9702 10 months ago

I am surprised that a British Channel accepting India's contribution! 74,000 Indian soldiers martyred in 1st WW, 87,000 martyred in 2nd WW. And those were not even our wars!

@swamiontube 10 months ago

to know that after such a contribution from Punjab for the war efforts and that "Jallianwallah Bagh" happened in the heart of Punjab immediately after the war speaks a lot about the colonial powers of that day.

@bansrisinha7768 10 months ago

Hello. Long time watcher from India. I would like to thank you for your commitment towards showing uncoloured and unbiased history and highlighting the role of India in distant wars and its impact on Indian consciousness and freedom movement. In the present age of polarisation and misinformation, its hard to find fact and evidence based history

@emmiannon1266 10 months ago

God bless India. They gave us so much and we treated them so poorly.

@Kushagra-ee9qz 10 months ago

THe city of Haifa ( Israel ) was also protected by the Indian soldiers against the Ottomans .
There contributions were recently acknowledged by mayor of Haifa
They were outnumbered and severely lacking artillery yet managed to repel the ottoman forces by their daring cavarly charge .

@sturoe7361 10 months ago (edited)

While the Indian contribution is criminally neglected, I've never seen any mention about the contribution that the Chinese labour battalions made.
Like many I knew nothing about them, until I visited the Ayette, Indian and Chinese cemetery,near Arras.

@chirayudesai793 10 months ago

A pro India video on YT??? Yea this is a parallel universe

@tonyt7948 10 months ago

India had the Biggest volunteer army ever and fought for the British in WW2

@andersoncox6892 10 months ago

Nothing like British guy telling us what the Indian perspective is 😂

@hermitda2640 10 months ago

Thank you for this video. Sad that, as a Brit, this is the first time hearing of the extent of the Indian troops' bravery and sacrifice. Would be good to have more detailed videos on there various campaigns they supported

@izzyroberts5518 10 months ago

An excellent Book to read on this subject is 'Sepoys in the Trenches' Major Gordon Corrigan

@hemanthkumar5438 10 months ago (edited)

My grandpa served till the end of WW2, he passed away in 1988, I only have little information about his life in the army, what I heard from my mother.
It's kind of sad from the part of the Indian government that we don't have a memorial day for the people who died in the war, despite contributing 3,50,000 soldiers to the war. Many of them were hoping to get independence after the war.

@thankyou_uncle 10 months ago

The biggest volunteer army in history. Some records will never be broken, this may be one of them.

@JamesKirk-f7f 10 months ago

Hi. Really good one. Showing the contribution of India and the rest of the empire. Something that gets lost in conversation. Same in the second WW . Stay safe and democratic, greetings from Germany

@S15Alfi 10 months ago

Biggest mistake in Indian history helping devil himself.

@arambhsharma2050 10 months ago (edited)

In France against the germans and at the suez and mesopotamia against the ottomans.
now those two defeats had their sprialling consequences at the same time the India gate was constructed in memmory of the countless Indian's laying down their life. A great monument of unity.
It is embarrising how little we are taught in our schools about the contribution in the great war.

@spinninelbow-b 10 months ago

The sad thing is in return Indian leaders at that point just asked for a little more autonomy in making its own decision while staying under the crown. But all India got after the war was the Rowlatt Act and the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre

@JvmCassandra 10 months ago

This historic perspective is an utter distortion of reality. The tone made it sounded like India was a sovereign nation at this time with an independent foreign policy and voluntarily contributed this conflict.

No, the same as WW2, Indian resources were ruthlessly extracted, inevitably at considerable expenses of suffering and detriment to the Indian population. Post War , Indian intelligentsia see themselves as successor to British regime in South Asia causing a highly nationalistic yet dysfunctional colonial bureaucracy, of which the effects are even felt today.