World War I Christmas Day Plot

in response britain s entry war on side of france, germany had begun actively considering efforts weaken british war efforts targeting colonial empire. germany nurtured links india nationalists before war, seeing india potential weakness britain. in immediate period preceding war, indian nationalist groups had used germany base , potential support. 1913, revolutionary literature referred approaching war between germany , england , possibility of obtaining german indian movement. in months of war, german newspapers devoted considerable coverage indian distress, social problems, , colonial exploitation britain. indian situation featured in german war strategy. german chancellor theobald von bethmann-hollweg authorised german activity against india in weeks of war, , decision taken offer active support indian nationalists. through newly formed intelligence bureau east, headed prominent archaeologist , historian max von oppenheim, germany contemplated plans nationalist unrest in india. oppenheim helped formation of berlin committee formed c. r. pillai. among members of group v. n. chatterjee of london india house. har dayal himself had fled united states switzerland after arrested on charge of being anarchist. left ghadar party in charge of ram chandra bharadwaj, , switzerland agreed support berlin committee. through indian emissaries , through staff of german consulate @ san francisco, contacts established ghadar party. germany offered aid in finances, arms, , military advisors plans considered between german foreign office, berlin committee, , indian ghadar party in north america clandestinely ship arms , men india united states , orient hoped trigger nationalist mutiny in india in 1914-15, on lines of 1857 uprising.

at time war broke out, jugantar, in convened meeting, elected jatin mukherjee supreme commander. german consulate in calcutta @ time able establish contacts jatin who, encouraged sir ashutosh, had met d. thibault, registrar of calcutta university. consul general reported berlin bengal revolutionary cell significant enough considered active support in undermining british war effort. jugantar began campaign of politically motivated armed robberies obtain funds , arms in august. on 26 august, calcutta store of rodda & co, 1 of biggest arms stores in calcutta, looted. raiders made off ten cases of arms , ammunition, including 50 mauser pistols , 46,000 rounds of ammunition.

ghadar

jatin s cousin dhan gopal mukerji, student @ uc berkeley, had been in united states time. in 1914, jatin sent san francisco party member name of satyendra sen purpose of contacting ghadar party. sen returned in november 1914, information on plans being implemented berlin committee headed virendranath chattopadhyaya , german military attaché franz von papen @ washington, purchase huge consignment arms sent india sea. $200,000 worth of small arms , ammunition had been earlier acquired him through krupp agents, , arranged shipment india through san diego, java, , burma. arsenal included 8,080 springfield rifles of spanish–american war vintage, 2,400 springfield carbines, 410 hotchkiss repeating rifles, 4,000,000 cartridges, 500 colt revolvers 100,000 cartridges, , 250 mauser pistols along ammunition. sen had introduced jatin ghadarite leader, kartar singh sarabha, had returned india co-ordinate plans proposed revolt indian underground. ghadarites, of them indian expatriates punjab, pouring india via calcutta, tasked mobilise sepoys of indian army, preparing mutiny in army centres in north indian region of punjab. commander-in-chief jatin mukherjee co-ordinate draw on indian army in east, in bengal. plot in upper india being coordinated rash behari united provinces, , ably supported vishnu ganesh pingle, ghadarite returned india in november 1914 united states, , sachindra nath sanyal (of dhaka anusilan samiti) worked benares. bose coordinated jatin, , latter himself lead bengal mutiny. mutiny scheduled late february 1915, beginning indian army units in punjab, followed units in bengal. bengal cell punjab mail entering howrah station next day (which have been cancelled if punjab seized) , strike immediately. units far rangoon , singapore part of rash behari s plan.

however, rash behari s plans mutiny failed when, in february 1915, in situation simmering in punjab, ghadar rose prematurely before papen had arranged ship arsenal. set 21 february 1915, details of date , places found way punjab cid through spy, kirpal singh, recruited @ last minute. sensing infiltration, desperate rash behari brought forward d-day 19th, incautiousness allowed kirpal report punjab police in nick of time. mutiny in punjab crushed on 19th, followed suppression of smaller revolts throughout north india. singapore garrison managed revolt openly , held out time before crushed 6 days later. mass arrests followed ghadarites rounded in punjab , central provinces. key leaders of conspiracy, including kartar singh, pingle, kanshi ram, bhai bhagwan singh , others arrested. rash behari bose escaped lahore , in may 1915 fled japan. other leaders, including giani pritam singh, swami satyananda puri , others fled thailand. jatin mukherjee , rest of bengal cell went underground.

autumn 1915

in aftermath of failed february mutiny, concerted efforts attempted destroy indian revolutionary movement. preoccupied increasing police activities prevent uprising, eminent jugantar members suggested jatin move safer place. balasore on orissa coast selected suitable place, being near spot german arms landed indian rising. facilitate transmission of information jatin mukherjee, business house under name universal emporium set up, branch of harry & sons in calcutta, created in order keep contacts revolutionaries abroad. jatin therefore moved hideout outside kaptipada village in native state of mayurbhanj, more thirty miles away balasore. in meantime, papen, in liaison chandrakanta chakrabarti, self-styled agent of berlin committee in united states, arranged first shipment of arms aboard schooner annie larsen under successful cover set lead british agents believe arms warring factions of mexican civil war. under elaborate deception, schooner left san diego sometime in march 1915 rendezvous in secret second ship, oil tanker ss maverick off socorro island near mexico. maverick sail dutch east indies. disastrous co-ordination prevented successful rendezvous off socorro island. after waiting maverick month, annie larsen returned san diego told return island , wait tanker. maverick, in meantime, reached rendezvous month late, having been held @ port repair work. unable find schooner, set sail across pacific, hoping pick trail @ hawaii. annie larsens second voyage meanwhile failed when ran headstrong winds. returning hoquiam, washington, after number of failed attempts, annie larsen s cargo promptly seized customs intimated british intelligence. maverick made across pacific dutch east indies, captain had no way of forewarning germans there came not arms expected, bales of revolutionary literature , handful of indian revolutionaries. in april 1915, unaware of failure of annie larsen plan, papen arranged, through krupp s american representative hans tauscher, second shipment of arms, consisting of 7,300 springfield rifles, 1,930 pistols, 10 gatling guns , 3,000,000 cartridges. arms shipped in mid june surabaya in east indies on holland american steamship ss djember.