The great war of racism

The First World War, or the “Great War”, marked a seismic shift in international relations, paving the way for the rise of the United States as a global superpower, the founding of the League of Nations, and eventually, the United Nations. Yet, its aftermath also left a humiliated Germany burdened by crippling reparations, 20 billion gold marks, imposed by the Treaty of Versailles. This overwhelming debt, coupled with the “War Guilt Clause,” created a “metaphorical chariot of loss” for Germany. A young Adolf Hitler, deeply embittered by Germany’s defeat and cast down by this humiliation, pledged revenge and a ruthless vision of racial supremacy that would sow the seeds of the Second World War. Romanticised by some zealous historians, the story of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary and his wife Sophie, assassinated by a Serbian nationalist, Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo, is often portrayed as a romantic tragedy that triggered the war. Indeed, Austria-Hungary’s declaration of war on Serbia on July 28, 1914, escalated through entangled alliances into a global conflict that claimed over 16 million lives and reshaped the 20th century. The Central Powers, including Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire, faced off against the Allied Powers —- Britain, France, Russia and later the United States. However, when we clear the Western imperial lens, a sharper truth emerges: World War I was fundamentally a war of race and domination. European powers competed fiercely over colonies, exploiting racial hierarchies to control vast territories and subjugate peoples of Asia, Africa and beyond. India, then a British colony, contributed over 1.4 million soldiers, half of whom were from Punjab, the “martial races” heartland, to this imperial war machine. The war’s devastating social and economic impact and the unfulfilled promises of political reform ignited the flames of Indian nationalism. When veteran soldiers returned, they helped galvanise resistance that culminated in tragic events like the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, marking a turning point in India’s struggle for independence. Today, as one witnesses ongoing atrocities, whether in Gaza, Yemen, or elsewhere, the same dark legacies of colonialism, racism and imperial power struggles persist. These are not distant conflicts but continuations of historic patterns of oppression, racism and the denial of human dignity. For Indians and all people conscious of this legacy, the legacy of the First World War compels one to reject Eurocentric narratives. It instigates one to call the war for what it was, a brutal contest for dominion underpinned by racism and anti-democratic violence.