Chapter Summaries

Tilak, Gandhi, and Nehru discussed the danger facing India as Britain weakened and Germany expanded its conquests. They feared an impending war and doubted that Germany would support Indian autonomy or independence.

• The chapter described India's history of conquest and British colonial rule, as well as the Indian National Congress's struggle for independence.
• Tilak and Gandhi met at the Congress Party Headquarters in Mumbai, with Nehru recording their discussion.
• Tilak warned Gandhi that the colonial authorities were expanding their forces and that war would soon engulf India.
• Gandhi asked whether the war could be avoided, and Tilak said powerful Western nations would continue to seek control of India.
• Nehru proposed asking Germany to support Indian autonomy or independence, but Tilak insisted Germany would enslave India instead.

Baron Charles Hardinge persuaded Tilak, Gandhi, and Jinnah to support the British war effort by promising Indian autonomy in three years and independence in ten, though he intended to break the promise. Their leaders rallied recruits, and the Anglo-Indian Army filled its five-million-troop quota in a week.

• Baron Charles Hardinge promised Indian leaders autonomy and eventual independence if they helped defeat Germany.
• Tilak and Gandhi agreed to cooperate with the British authorities, and Jinnah committed the Green Party Alliance to the same cause.
• Baron Charles Hardinge signed an agreement guaranteeing Indian autonomy within three years and independence within ten.
• Members of the Indian National Congress and Green Party Alliance joined the Anglo-Indian Army, while Tilak, Gandhi, and others urged Indian youths to enlist.
• Indian youths enlisted in such numbers that the Anglo-Indian Army filled its five-million-troop quota in one week.

Viceroy Charles Hardinge sought to strengthen India's defenses against the German invasion, but recruitment was obstructed by Indian leaders who feared the casualties. He decided to promise them freedom, though his cold smile suggested he intended to use the offer for his own purposes.

• Charles Hardinge asked Lord Nicholson about India's forces and learned that the British Army in India and the Anglo-Indian Army totaled 1.4 million men.
• Nicholson said recruitment remained difficult because the Indian National Congress and other groups discouraged enlistment, despite weapons being shipped to India and produced there.
• Hardinge demanded more troops and learned that Indian leaders opposed enlistment because they expected the German military to inflict terrible casualties.
• Nicholson warned Hardinge against acting harshly against the leaders while the German invasion threatened India.
• Hardinge ordered the leaders summoned and declared that he would grant them the freedom they wanted, while wearing a cold smile.

Baron Charles Hardinge planned to promise Indian political leaders self-government after the war and possible independence within ten years, using that hope to recruit Indians to fight the German invasion. He ordered the Anglo-Indian Army expanded toward five million troops and potentially ten million, leaving Lord Nicholson to plan how to command them.

• Lord Nicholson warned Baron Charles Hardinge that suppressing Indian political leaders could provoke another uprising, and Hardinge said he would instead offer them hope of independence.
• Baron Charles Hardinge planned to promise Indian leaders self-government after the war and possible independence in ten years so they would help resist the Germans.
• Lord Nicholson said existing weapons could equip three million Anglo-Indian troops, and Hardinge ordered the Cabinet to send more equipment and Indian arsenals to work in three shifts.
• Baron Charles Hardinge ordered the Anglo-Indian Army expanded to five million troops, or ten million if the war went badly, even suggesting that two Indians share a rifle.
• Lord Nicholson agreed that such a huge force might defeat the Germans and said he would plan how to organize and command the troops.

Baron Charles Hardinge revealed to Lord Nicholson that Britain planned to use Indian leaders to resist Germany, then eliminate them and preserve colonial rule. He invited Indian National Congress and Green Party Alliance leaders to Government House, where he warned them of a German attack on India.

• Baron Charles Hardinge told Lord Nicholson that Britain would deceive Indian leaders into fighting Germany and use the war to eliminate those who opposed British rule.
• Lord Nicholson warned that the plan could cause further unrest, but Hardinge argued that removing radicals would make rebellion easier to suppress.
• Hardinge invited Tilak, Gandhi, Nehru, and Jinnah to Government House to discuss India's future.
• On January 31, 1916, Hardinge welcomed the Indian leaders and told them that Germany was preparing to attack India.

Baron Charles Hardinge tried to persuade Indian leaders to support Britain’s defense against Germany by promising India autonomy if it resisted the invasion. The leaders weighed the promise against the enormous casualties involved as Hardinge urged India to raise millions of troops.

• Baron Charles Hardinge asked Gandhi and Jinnah to use their influence to recruit Indians for the army and defend India from Germany.
• Gandhi and Jinnah warned that war would bring terrible casualties and doubted India could defeat Germany.
• Baron Charles Hardinge promised Tilak and the other leaders that Britain would gradually grant India autonomy within three years if it withstood the German attack.
• Gandhi questioned the promise and pointed out that the British authorities would only offer autonomy because Germany posed a grave threat.
• Baron Charles Hardinge urged the leaders to mobilize five million troops, arguing that India’s population could support an even larger army.

Qin Tian and his generals learned that the British had rallied Indian political groups and rapidly expanded the Anglo-Indian Army, potentially to millions of troops. He ordered the Indian Ocean and Pacific Fleets to blockade India and remained confident that Germany’s elite forces could defeat the poorly trained recruits.

• General Balaimin reported that the Indian National Congress and Green Party Alliance were helping the British expand the Anglo-Indian Army, which could grow beyond five million soldiers.
• Qin Tian learned that India had weapons for only about three million troops, but North American merchant ships were bringing in more equipment and Indian armories were producing arms.
• Qin Tian ordered Admiral Scheer to send the Indian Ocean Fleet and Pacific Fleet to blockade India and stop weapons from reaching the colony.
• Qin Tian rejected Field Marshal Falkenhayn’s suggestion to send reinforcements, arguing that the hastily assembled Indian troops would be poorly trained and vulnerable to Germany’s elite forces.
• General Balaimin explained that the British had promised India autonomy and eventual independence in exchange for resisting Germany, and Qin Tian declared that Germany would conquer India by force.

Germany declared India a war zone and announced a naval blockade ahead of its planned invasion, while Britain and the United States rushed to strengthen India’s defenses. Admiral Spee’s combined fleet approached India and prepared to divide the blockade between the Pacific and Indian Ocean fleets.

• On February 9, Foreign Minister Wachth declared India a war zone and warned that Germany would blockade its coast and sink ships that entered its waters.
• Churchill ordered Baron Charles Hardinge to make the Germans suffer in India and promised him the next Chancellor of the Exchequer position if he defeated them.
• Britain and the United States rushed weapons and equipment to India before the blockade began, while Crown Prince Karl hoped Germany would suffer a serious setback.
• Admiral Spee led a combined fleet of eight battleships, six battlecruisers, and nearly a hundred warships toward India.
• Aboard the Battleship König, Admiral Spee proposed that the Indian Ocean Fleet blockade western India and the Pacific Fleet blockade the east, while both fleets supported the Army’s landings.

The German Navy’s Indian Ocean Fleet arrived off India and began a loose blockade, prompting British Indian leaders to rush preparations for war. As the Anglo-Indian Army expanded and trained new recruits, Germany’s 8th Army Corps embarked for India as the invasion’s spearhead.

• On February 16, the German Navy’s Indian Ocean Fleet appeared west of India and dispersed along the coast to blockade it.
• Baron Charles Hardinge warned Lord William Nicholson that the German Army would soon arrive and urged him to make Indian recruits combat-capable quickly.
• Lord William Nicholson explained that he had reorganized the 1.2 million existing troops into twenty-five army groups to train recruits, though the five-million-man Anglo-Indian Army lacked equipment, officers, and time.
• Baron Charles Hardinge agreed to recruit another batch with help from the Indian National Congress and the Green Party Alliance, while Lord William Nicholson privately worried about troop morale.
• After resting and reorganizing following the destruction of the Kingdom of Wajid, Germany’s 8th Army Corps boarded transports for India, with the 4th Army Corps expected to follow.

General Ludendorff and the Indian Ocean Fleet planned the 8th Army Corps’ landing in western India. They chose Alibag as the landing site, aiming to move quickly on Mumbai and capture its port intact.

• On February 19, the German 8th Army Corps arrived off western India, and General Ludendorff met Vice Admiral Ingol and Rear Admiral Luiet aboard the Nassau.
• General Ludendorff said he wanted to begin the landing the next day, and Vice Admiral Ingol promised seven Capital Ships would provide fire support.
• Vice Admiral Ingol reported that the fleets had sunk dozens of ships trying to carry supplies into India, while British recruitment and arming continued.
• General Ludendorff and Vice Admiral Ingol discussed Mumbai’s strategic value and the risk that the British would destroy its port.
• General Ludendorff chose Alibag, near Mumbai, as the landing site, and Vice Admiral Ingol estimated that a few thousand Anglo-Indian troops defended it.

On February 20, German battleships Nassau and Westfalen bombarded Alibag to prepare for a landing by the 3rd Marine Division. The battered Anglo-Indian garrison took cover in town, awaiting the German assault.

• Anglo-Indian soldiers watched German warships approach Alibag, and their British platoon leader rebuked them for praising the German fleet.
• Nassau and Westfalen turned broadside and opened fire on Alibag as transport ships carrying the 3rd Marine Division approached the coast.
• The bombardment struck the town and barracks, while the brigadier ordered a telegram sent to Division Headquarters requesting reinforcements.
• The battleships pounded Alibag Beach for twenty minutes, destroying its defenses and leaving craters across the shoreline.
• Officers of the 2nd Infantry Brigade rallied their frightened soldiers in town to prepare for the German attack.

Major General Adam ordered the German 3rd Marine Division to land at Alibag and capture its port intact. The 1st Regiment overwhelmed the surprised Anglo-Indian defenders, secured the beachhead, and opened the way for more German troops to land and advance toward Mumbai.

• Major General Adam urged his commanders to win a decisive victory and ordered the 1st Regiment to begin the landing operation.
• The British-led Anglo-Indian forces rushed to defend Alibag’s beach as German landing craft approached.
• German cruisers and destroyers bombarded the defenders, inflicting heavy casualties and disrupting their resistance.
• The 1st Regiment landed under fire, counterattacked with naval support, and broke through the beach defenses.
• Within half an hour, the 1st Regiment secured the beach and captured Alibag with its port nearly intact.
• More German Marine Corps units and troops from the Army’s 8th Army Corps began landing to continue the advance toward Mumbai.

General Howard ordered a massive Anglo-Indian Army counterattack on the German landing at Alibag, while General Ludendorff hurried to land troops and secure naval fire support. The Germans faced the approaching assault with only a fraction of their main force ashore, and the 4th Army Corps was still three days away.

• General Howard received Lord Nicholson’s orders granting him temporary command of the west coast forces and ordered six infantry divisions and the 11th and 12th Army Corps to converge on Alibag and Mumbai.
• The German Marine Corps captured Alibag as the 3rd Marine Division and the 8th Army Corps began disembarking through the harbor.
• General Ludendorff ordered Marine Corps landing craft to ferry more troops ashore before the Anglo-Indian Army attacked, and requested support from the Indian Ocean Fleet.
• Vice Admiral Ingol promised comprehensive naval fire support and sent the fleet’s remaining five Capital Ships to the combat zone.
• General Ludendorff learned that the 4th Army Corps would take another three days to reach the battlefield.

General Howard’s Anglo-Indian Army launched an assault on Alibag, but German naval artillery devastated the attackers and shattered their morale. The Anglo-Indian Army failed to break through and ended the attack with heavy casualties and Indian troops fleeing.

• A forced march left the Anglo-Indian advance units exhausted when they reached Alibag, so General Howard ordered them to rest for an hour.
• Four German infantry divisions completed their landing, strengthening the German defenders alongside a Marine Division and naval fire support.
• General Howard ordered the Anglo-Indian Army to attack Alibag from the north and south.
• German commanders called in naval fire, and the German Navy’s capital ships and other vessels bombarded the packed Indian formations.
• The bombardment caused heavy casualties and panic, and Howard’s renewed assault failed, leaving countless dead and Indian troops fleeing.

German bombardments shattered the Anglo-Indian Army’s repeated assaults on the German beachhead at Alibag. After the 8th Army Corps finished landing, General Ludendorff launched a counterattack that routed the Anglo-Indian Army and left many soldiers surrendering.

• German naval and army artillery inflicted heavy casualties on the Anglo-Indian Army, whose attacks failed to breach the German defenses.
• Lieutenant General Paul reported that the 11th Army Corps had suffered more than fifty thousand casualties, while General Howard ordered the army to resume its offensive the next day.
• General Ludendorff ordered the German troops still aboard ship to speed up their landing at Alibag before dawn.
• The Anglo-Indian Army renewed its attacks the next morning but stopped by noon after suffering further losses.
• General Ludendorff sent the 8th Army Corps’ ten Infantry Divisions on a counterattack, routing the Anglo-Indian Army toward Mumbai.
• General Howard fled, and Indian soldiers cut off from escape surrendered to the German military.

After routing the Anglo-Indian Army at Alibag, General Ludendorff ordered a relentless pursuit toward Mumbai, where German naval bombardment and the collapse of the defenders led to the city's capture. General Howard retreated after ordering the port destroyed, but several docks remained usable as German forces pressed along India's west coast.

• General Ludendorff ordered the German 8th Army Corps to pursue the fleeing Anglo-Indian troops toward Mumbai and requested naval fire support that would spare the port.
• The Indian Ocean Fleet bombarded the retreating Anglo-Indian Army, prompting hundreds of troops to surrender and leaving fewer than two hundred thousand to reach Mumbai.
• General Howard learned that German forces had approached Mumbai and that seven German battleships were shelling the city.
• The German military attacked Mumbai, and General Howard ordered a retreat and the destruction of the port.
• The Germans captured Mumbai, then advanced north along the coast as the German 4th Army Corps landed and attacked south.

German forces captured Mumbai and swept north and south along India’s west coast, inflicting severe losses on the Anglo-Indian Army. At headquarters in Delhi, British and Indian leaders argued over responsibility for the defeats before Baron Charles Hardinge urged them to unite and continue the war.

• The German 8th Army Corps captured Mumbai and advanced north along the coast, while the German 4th Army Corps landed and pushed south with support from the Indian Ocean Fleet.
• Lord William Nicholson told Baron Charles Hardinge and the Indian leaders that the Anglo-Indian Army had been overwhelmed on the west coast, but insisted that further resistance remained possible.
• Gandhi urged Nicholson to consider Indian casualties, and Nicholson blamed the soldiers’ lack of bravery for the defeats.
• Tilak accused Nicholson of unfairly blaming Indian troops after they had received poor pay, little training, and inadequate preparation.
• Baron Charles Hardinge halted the argument and called on Nicholson and the Indian leaders to unite and seek a way to defeat Germany with fewer losses.

Baron Charles Hardinge and Lord William Nicholson planned a decisive battle against Germany, aiming to lure the German forces away from the coast and encircle the 8th Army Corps near Delhi. They committed the British Army in India and several Anglo-Indian corps to the operation, believing victory could secure the Indian theater.

• Baron Charles Hardinge reassured Tilak and the other Indian leaders that Britain would honor its promises and protect Indian soldiers, while privately valuing British lives far more than Indian ones.
• Baron Charles Hardinge and Lord William Nicholson agreed to maintain their alliance with Indian leaders until Germany was defeated, then planned to eliminate their influence in India.
• Lord William Nicholson proposed fighting away from the coast to avoid German naval guns and encircling the advancing German 8th Army Corps near Delhi.
• Baron Charles Hardinge approved the plan to concentrate the main forces against the 8th Army Corps, which he considered Germany’s strongest corps.
• Lord William Nicholson committed the British Army in India and multiple Anglo-Indian corps, totaling 1.8 million men, to the decisive battle.

General Ludendorff advanced toward Delhi, where the Anglo-Indian Army gathered to confront him. The Germans held Ajmer against repeated attacks, but Lord Nicholson committed more troops as the Anglo-Indian forces suffered heavy losses.

• General Ludendorff ordered the German 8th Army Corps to continue toward Delhi while sending two regiments to Baroda to secure supplies.
• After German troops encountered Anglo-Indian forces near Jaipur, General Ludendorff ordered the 71st and 72nd Infantry Divisions to hold Ajmer as bait for a larger German counterattack.
• Lord Nicholson ordered several Anglo-Indian Army Corps to converge on Ajmer, where 600,000 troops attacked the two German divisions on March 31.
• The German divisions used their artillery to repel repeated assaults, and the Anglo-Indian attackers suffered heavy casualties over five days.
• After three Anglo-Indian Army Corps lost nearly half their strength, Lord Nicholson sent two more corps to attack Ajmer, despite his troops’ flagging morale and lack of supplies.

Facing dwindling ammunition in two besieged divisions, Lieutenant General Ludendorff ordered an attack that routed the British Army in India and triggered a general Anglo-Indian retreat. Lord Nicholson realized that the decisive battle was lost.

• Lieutenant General Rundstedt reported that the 71st Infantry Division and the 72nd Infantry Division could hold out for only three more days without resupply.
• Lieutenant General Ludendorff ordered the 8th Armored Division, the 73rd Infantry Division, and the 74th Infantry Division to attack the British main force in two days.
• On April 3, the German divisions launched a surprise assault, and the 8th Armored Division’s tanks broke through British defenses.
• The British Army in India fled or surrendered, while the Anglo-Indian forces around Ajmer began retreating without orders.
• Lord Nicholson learned of the collapse and realized the decisive battle had been lost.