Izzat: How the Empire Recruited Over A Million Indians to Fight in the First World War

Words by Zuber Singh Ahluwalia

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In the 1920s, travel posters, made for steamship lines and airlines, became extremely popular. The style changed notably in the 1920s, to focus attention on the product being advertised. The images became simpler, precise, more linear, more dynamic, and were often placed against a single color background. They conveyed a sense of power and safety – basically, what travelers were supposed to feel boarding liners and trains and visiting new destinations. (Available as print)

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Izzat: How the Empire Recruited Over A Million Indians to Fight in the First World War

Indian soldiers in trench, Gallipoli (Turkey) -1915.

On the eve of the Great War, British Indian authorities would be tasked with the Herculean feat of raising a large volunteer army from its colonial Indian subjects. The efforts would exceed expectations, with a total of 1,272,460 men recruited between 1914-1918. In order to secure loyalty from this available pool of manpower, the British authorities would actively promote a narrative linking military enlistment with social upliftment. On the other side of this coin, dissent was systematically suppressed