This book began with the short-lived and relatively obscure mutiny of the 5th Light Infantry on the island of Singapore in February, 1915. In spite of its obscurity, as a story the mutiny is dramatic and intense, encapsulating as it does hope, fear, violence, tragedy, revenge, treachery, and death. Adding to the drama are the strange and sometimes counter-intuitive partnerships that characterized it, whether between Indian soldiers and German captives, or between British, French, Russian, and Japanese troops. In short, it is the kind of story that – through the prism of a moment of crisis – simultaneously brings the past to life and captures our attention.

But the mutiny is more than a good story. Rather, it represents in microcosm the ways global currents set in motion by World War I played out over a wide swath of Southeast Asia. We know that the mutiny was caused in part by revolutionary and pan-Islamic propaganda spread by Ghadar networks, which themselves originated in California and were funded by the German Foreign Office. We also know that the leaders of the mutiny had access both to the Ghadar newspaper as well as Ghadar supporters in the city of Singapore, both of which reached the island in the first months of the war. Moreover, the leaders of the mutiny had direct contact with Germans like August Diehn and the crew of the sunken Emden, who were keen to aid the German war effort in whatever way they could. And it was not only the causes of the mutiny that were linked to larger global currents related to the war. As we saw in Chapter 2, the response to the mutiny by nearby colonial powers, independent states, and non-British communities in Singapore were deeply shaped either by wartime alliances or by the desire to stay out of the war. These responses – particularly the military aid provided by Britain's French, Russian, and Japanese allies – had real consequences for the rebellious soldiers, for they all but ensured that the mutiny would fail.