Russia and the 1915 Indian Mutiny in Singapore

Abstract

On 15 February 1915, the colonial government and community of Singapore faced a bloody mutiny by the Indian officers and men of the Fifth Light Infantry. It posed a major threat to British authority in the region, but was eventually suppressed with the assistance of the local volunteer force and French, Japanese, and Russian marines. This article focuses on the Russian role, by drawing on previously unused materials in the Archive of Russian Foreign Policy and the published reports and despatches of the Russian Consul-General in Singapore. It traces the context of British-Russian relations in South East Asia during the first World War and provides a contemporary diplomatic perspective on the development of the mutiny, as well as speculation on its causes. In the process, new information is presented on the local dimensions of wartime relations between Britain and Russia, the procedures behind the Russian decision to assist the British, and on the official and personal involvement of the Russian Consul-General and the Orel crew.