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Reflections

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Fighting an Alien War

To begin with a question from Indian history.
As part of their job who were the first Indians sent by their organisation to go to Europe to do their job onsite in large numbers ?
No, it weren't the software engineers. Much before the software boom happened, there was a large contingent of Indians sent to Europe. The organisation was the Indian Army and the work assigned was to fight in the World War 1 including the Western Front which was the most important theater of the war.
Well the working conditions exactly were not as good as one would like. Official figures of Indian soldiers death in WW1 were 64,449. More Indians volunteered to fight for British than the sum total from all the rest of Britain's colonies and dominions.
So what was the motivation for Indians to join the Army and fight for cause which was alien. It could not be patriotism. The soldiers were fighting an alien war. Well it could be the same which provokes the s/w professionals to seek opportunities outside India ie money. Though for the soldiers working conditions were not good and salary for infantrymen was a meager Rs 11 ,but it could be a incentive enough for poor and may be promotion could bring a decent increment. For some it was just a professional duty. WW1 was not the first war in which Indian Army fought for the British. But it was the first war the Indian soldiers served so far from India and in different climatic conditions (climate was much colder than in India).
About WW 1 it is said that it was a war fought 20th century weapons and 19th century strategies resulting in large number of casualties. For most Indian soldiers it was the first time they were participating in a modern war. For some it came as a shock. The soldiers in Western front spent a considerable time in trenches where life was very difficult. Soldiers in trenches not only died of enemy bullets but also of disease. It would have been more difficult for Indian soldiers who were not acclimiatised to cold weather to serve in trenches. As a result two Indian divisions were withdrawn form the Western front in Dec 1915 and sent to Mesopotamia (Iraq) to fight the Ottomon empire (which later on Muslim soldiers of Indian Army resented and some of them mutined. Well religion has always been a strong factor for Indians.) The pschycological effects of fighting in war lasted even years after the war ended . Many soldiers suffered form shell shock. Indian soldiers had the added stress of living so far away form home at a time when the only means of communication with home was through letters. Consequently many suffered from depression and low morale. The war lasted 4 years which was considerable long time to be away from home.
Even conditions in Mesopotamia were not much better. According to an entry in Wikipedia
"Some 11,800 British Empire soldiers, most of them Indians, became prisoners after the Siege of Kut, in Mesopotamia, in April 1916; 4,250 died in captivity. Although many were in very bad condition when captured, Ottoman officers forced them to march 1,100 kilometres (684 mi) to Anatolia. A survivor said: "we were driven along like beasts, to drop out was to die." The survivors were then forced to build a railway through the Taurus Mountains."
Muslim soldiers who refused to fight Turks were court martialled and were were imprisoned.
Similar to Indian National Army later on, some Indian revolutionaries tried to organise a force from Indian troops to fight British in India.
After the war British built the India Gate to commemmorate the soldiers who died fighting for British. In mainstream Indian history the Indian contribution to the British war effort for the 2 world wars is largely ignored.

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Sunday, June 14, 2009

A Tale of Two Movies

All Quiet on Western Front is a anti-War movie made in 1930 about the German participation in WW1 based on the novel of the same name written by by Erich Maria Remarque, a German veteran of the war.
The Great Dictator is a 1940 Charlie Chaplin movie which satirises Nazism and Hitler.
One significant thing about the movies is the years in which they were released. Since the end of WW2 a lot of great movies have been made about the subject of the two great wars and the intermediate period ,but these two movies stand out, for these were made around the time when Hitler was not part of history but making history.
Therefore not surprisingly The Great Dictator was banned in many parts of Europe. Initially even Britain decided to ban the movie(before it was released) but reversed it's stand later on. Similarly All Quiet on Western Front was banned in Nazi Germany and many other parts of Europe including France.
When Charlie Chaplin decided to make movie in 1937 , it was a courageous decision back then. The WW2 had not started and the extents of horrors of Nazi Germany were still not known and Europe was following a policy of appeasement towards Germany. It would have been a bold political statement against a powerful nation. In the end of the movie Charlie Chaplin's character makes a speech for democracy and peace which is considered an out-of-characterpersonal plea from Chaplin. By the the time movie was released the war had begin but US was still officially neutral. The movie was well received in America and used for propaganda by Britain.

There is a piece of dialogue in the movie AQOTWF which goes as follows
"Tjaden: Well, how do they start a war?
Soldier #1: Well, one country offends another.
Tjaden: How could one country offend another? You mean there's a mountain over in Germany gets mad at a field over in France?
Soldier #1: Well, stupid. One people offends another.
Tjaden: Oh, that's it. I shouldn't be here at all. I don't feel offended.
Katczinsky: It don't apply to tramps like you......"

Here the soldiers are discussing the futility of war. It is they who are suffering to satisfy the pride of their rulers. This movie questioned the idea of nationalism as understood at that time. The idea of nationalism was at its peak at that time in Europe, when countries were fighting over colonies. The European nations were in constant conflict with each other unlike the Europe of today. The world was yet to see another bloody war. It was perhaps the first great movie in the War Genre and made a strong political statement. The movie portrayed the suffering of soldiers in the trench warfare and how young men without much training and understanding of the ground realities were enlisted in the army in the guise of nationalism.
These two movies have special place in the history of cinema for they were made when history was being made.

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