Soon after the guns in Belgium and France had signalled the commencement of what would become the world's single most destructive conflict to date, the British, Ottoman, German, Russian, Austro-Hungarian, French and Belgian Empires were at war. Empires in World War I marks a turn away from the pre-eminence of the Western Front in the current scholarship, and seeks to reconstitute our understanding of this war as a truly global struggle between competing empires. Based on primary research, this book opens up new debates on the effects of the Great War in colonial arenas. The book assesses the effects of the war on Native Americans in the United States for example, as well as on the relationship between India and Pakistan, the British justice system in Palestine and the 'imperial scramble' in the Asia-Pacific region. Empires in World War I will be essential reading for students and scholars of the twentieth century.

Part I: Myths and Realities of Imperial ExpansionChapter 1. Matthew G. Stanard, "Digging-In: The Great War and the Roots of Belgian Empire"Chapter 2. Maryanne Rhett, "Race and Imperial Ambition: The case of Japan and India after World War One"Chapter 3. William Matthew Kennedy, "A Pacific Scramble?: Imperial Readjustment in the Asia Pacific, 1911-1922"Part II: Soldiers of Empire, Far from HomeChapter 4. Steve Sabol, "'It was a Pretty Good War, but They Stopped it too Soon': The American Empire, Native Americans, and the First World War"Chapter 5. Julian Saltman, "The Full and Just Penalty?: British Military Justice and the Empire's War for Palestine"Chapter 6. Andrew T. Jarboe, "Propaganda and Empire in the Heart of Europe: Indian Soldiers in Hospital and Prison, 1914-1918"Part III: Thinking Imperially, Acting LocallyChapter 7. Sarah Zimmerman, "Citizenship, Military Service and Managing Exceptionalism: Originaires in World War One"Chapter 8. Kenneth Orosz, "For God and Country: Missionary Service in Colonial Africa during the Great War"Chapter 9. Erin Eckhold Sassin, "The Visual Politics of Upper Silesian Settlements in the First World War"Part IV: Imperial AftershocksChapter 10. Richard Smith, "The First World War and the Permanent West Indian Soldier"Chapter 11. Alan McPherson, "The First World War and Empire in the Americas"Chapter 12. John Lack and Bart Ziino, "Requiem for empire: Fabian War and the Imperial War Graves Commission"Conclusion