Most of us have become familiar with the concept of a Jihad. On November 14th, 1914, the influential religious leader of the Ottoman Caliphate known as the Sheikh-ul-Islam, declared a Jihad, urging all Muslims to rise up and defend the Ottoman Empire, a protector of Islam, against its enemies Britain, France, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro:

“Of those who go to the Jihad for the sake of happiness and salvation of the believers in God’s victory the lot of those who remain alive is felicity, while the rank of those who depart to the next world is martyrdom. In accordance with God’s beautiful promise, those who sacrifice their lives to give life to the truth will have honor in this world, and their latter end is paradise.”

This declaration had repercussions. The Singapore Mutiny of February, 1915 staged by Indian Army soldiers was certainly a consequence, as was the decision of Gen. Sir Ian Hamilton to not deploy Indian Muslim soldiers at Gallipoli.

Click here to read an article about The Jihad Legacy of WW1 written by German scholar Wolfgang Schwanitz of The Foreign Policy Institute, a ‘Think-tank’ located in Philadelphia.

James (“Jim”) Patton BS BA MPA is a retired state official from Shawnee, Kansas and a frequent contributor to several WW1 e-publications, including "Roads to the Great War," "St. Mihiel Tripwire," "Over the Top" and "Medicine in the First World War." He has spent many hours walking the WW1 battlefields, and is also an authority on British regiments and a collector of their badges. An Army Engineer during the Vietnam War, he does work for the US World War 1 Centennial Commission and is affiliated with the WW1 Historical Association, the Western Front Association, the Salonika Campaign Society and the Gallipoli Association.