PROPAGANDA

Propaganda was a multifaceted, competitive enterprise to secure and influence Indian support and participation in the Great War.

British newsletters and posters in regional Indian languages called on the public to support Indian troops in their fight ‘for India and for Empire’. Propaganda films shown to British audiences featured footage of Indian soldiers – ‘our dusky allies’, as one title went – to signify the unity within the Empire in its fight for freedom. Moreover, the treatment of Indian soldiers in the Brighton Royal Pavilion hospital provided a unique propaganda opportunity to reiterate the narrative of imperial benevolence.

Propaganda aimed at India was not restricted to British efforts only. For its part, Germany sponsored journals for Indian prisoners of war (titled Hindostan) aimed at fostering nationalistic sentiment and aided anti-British revolutionary organisations like the Berlin committee. The Government of India and GHQ(I) also used propaganda as a tool to counter revolutionary and Khilafat influences on Indian soldiers.