A delay in London
August 26, 2024
Gandhi’s arrival in London on August 6, 1914, was spectacularly ill timed. It was two days after King George V, ruler of the British Empire, declared war on Germany, which had just invaded France and Belgium. Today, we number this conflict World War One, but before the sequel, it was known as the The Great War, or, in a phrase coined by H.G. Wells, “the war to end all wars.”
Having concluded his affairs in South Africa, Gandhi had set out to return to India by way of London. Accompanying him on this trip were his wife, Kasturba, and his friend Hermann Kallenbach. Unfortunately, Kallenbach was still a German citizen, and denied permission to continue to British India, thus bringing an end to their close friendship. Kallenbach was held in England during the war, ended up in Berlin after, and then returned to South Africa. It would be more than two decades before he arrived in India to visit Gandhi.
With the fighting going on, Gandhi was conflicted about his role. Taking up arms was out of the question for one committed to nonviolence, but there was an opportunity to help by nursing the wounded. On August 26, 1914, 59 Indians (including Mr. and Mrs. Gandhi) began a short training program in first aid. The class grew in future weeks, and the students were quizzed with questions such as “What is the treatment for a broken collarbone?”
Knowing this was to help the war effort, why did Gandhi contribute? He’d spoken of it as wrongness in South Africa: “[A]s satyagrahis we cannot help in this way either, for such help also amounted to supporting a war.”1 His new argument was that the military protected London’s food supply during the war, accepting that food was profiting from war machine. Since he was unable to become a hermit and live in a cave, he felt compelled to work for the food he accepted. “I cannot say for certain that the step I have taken is the right one,” he admitted in a letter. “I have thought much about the matter though, but so far I have discovered no alternative.”2
The war would soon be over, most people thought. Gandhi himself expected to be in London for another four months: “The War should not go on longer than that.”3 Instead, it would last another four years. By the end, Gandhi himself was recruiting on behalf of the British army. But that’s another story.
What is a duty you felt pressured to accept, even if you preferred not to?
Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi (Letter to Mananlal Gandhi, September 18, 1914) p. 6,689
Ibid.
Ibid.