Images: Aiding and Resisting Empire

Words and images can serve as emotional blackmail that can be used by either side of opposing forces or empires. In times of war, it becomes especially evident how powerful this is. One example is a depiction of "blowing from a gun", where Indians were tied to canons to be executed by the British. This painting Suppression of the Indian Revolt by the English, was based on a real life event. Images such as these could be used in various ways depending on the intended message, such as Savarkar using images of the execution to show Britain's atrocities. Similarly, whereas Britain condemned the extremely unethical nature of its enemies in World War II, the Axis used depictions of British violence as their form of propaganda.

The back of this leaflet has the following message: "India springs to action, and side by side with Britain, America, Russia and China will trample underfoot the tyranny of Germany and Japan."

By redefining or reinterpreting events of history, opposing empires resisted each other, by exposing the hypocritical nature of their enemies' moral integrity.

Nehru and Césaire both assert that the atrocity of World War II was no coincidence, but that events leading up to it supported the autocracy that culminated, despite a supposed assertion of democratic ideals. As such, they believed that the causes of the war were no accidents but the result of ignoring the barbarity of imperialistic actions and the hypocrisy that it entailed. While this idea is provocative, it may hold some truth. This was such the case with the British occupation of India. Although in essence a democratic nation, Britain did not enforce these same ideals within countries they occupied. This was evident, when India had a surplus crop year, yet millions died as most of the food was redirected to Britain for the war.

In this sense, and while the goals of the Axis were extremely deplorable, moral ambiguity is clearly present. Though I believe that the mistakes that a country makes doesn't permanently define the morality of its people, this conundrum demonstrates how empires can become prisoners of their history. However, while history may leave an unwanted scar on empires, it also serves as a source of reflection and improvement for the future.

"Destroy the Brutal British Remember the Punjab event of 1919? We Indians were forbidden from walking on the sidewalks of our own motherland. The British did this to us."