Emboldened by its territorial advances, Japan issued 21 demands to China in 1915. China had become extremely weak since the 19th century, and most of its territory was occupied by foreign powers. Refusing to get involved in a conflict that was not its own, China decided to stay neutral. However, Japan had long aimed at gaining territory from China and took advantage of the annexation of Qingdao to extend its influence over the rest of the country. Japan’s 21 demands on the Chinese government were extremely unreasonable and would have reduced China to a Japanese protectorate. These demands were a complete affront to the national honour of the Chinese people. However, given the country’s extremely weak military position, they could do very little. After intense negotiations, Japan finally proposed a revised list of 13 requests. China had no choice but to accept; otherwise, it was risking a war that it knew was lost in advance.

Japan was not the only power putting pressure on China. In 1916, European nations recruited many Chinese labourers to help in the war effort, despite China’s position of neutrality. Lured by the promise of wages, over one hundred thousand Chinese men signed up and were sent to Canada and Europe to work in different industries. Labouring under extremely difficult conditions, many of these people died on foreign soil. For example, in 1917, the German Navy sank the SS Athos, a cargo-passenger ship carrying over 900 Chinese workers. More than half died and, as a result, China broke its neutrality and declared war on Germany and Austria-Hungary. These countries’ concessions in the cities of Tianjin and Hankou were quickly retaken by Chinese troops. With these recaptured areas and the participation of thousands of workers, China hoped to show its new allies that it was an important player in the war, a point we will come back to later.

The first Indian expeditionary forces were deployed in 1914. In France, over 130,000 Indian soldiers took part in the fighting. Indian cavalry divisions (which were mobilized as infantry as needed) fought in many major battles. In some regions of Iraq, Indian forces protected the oil wells. The war in this region of the world was very grueling, and many battles were fought against the Ottoman Empire. Later on, an expeditionary force also participated in the deadly Gallipoli Campaign (1915-1916), where Indian forces sustained heavy losses.

For the Indian military, the war was not just about sending expeditionary forces but also about protecting colonial borders. For example, the Ottoman Empire (which was allied with the Germans) directly threatened British India through Afghanistan. Many Muslim tribes took advantage of the war to rebel against the colonial administration. The Indian army was deployed to secure the territory. Many punitive raids were carried out against different tribes in the northeast part of Afghanistan, such as those in Khost (1914-1915) as well as the Mohmands (1915, 1916 and 1917), Bunerwals (1915), Swatis (1915), Mahsuds (1917), Marris (1918) and Khetrans (1918).

As mentioned above, many of these nations did not receive the hoped-for compensation for their part in the war. During the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, Japan was allowed to keep its annexed territories, but its demand for racial equality with Western nations was opposed. As for China, its requests for the retrocession of its territories were refused by the West, which favoured Japan. Major protests, known as the May Fourth movement, broke out across all Chinese cities. Britain also did not substantially compensate India for its significant contributions to the war.