The Hindu–German Conspiracy Trial commenced in the

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on November 12, 1917, following the uncovering of the

Hindu–German Conspiracy The Hindu–German Conspiracy (Note on the name) were a series of attempts between 1914 and 1917 by Indian nationalist groups to create a pan-Indian rebellion against the British Empire during World War I. This rebellion was formulated betw ...

(also known as the Indo-German plot) for initiating a revolt in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

. It was part of a wave of such incidents which took place in the United States after its entrance into

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. The trials came after pressure from the United Kingdom to suppress the

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed. The first nationalistic ...

abroad. In May 1917, a group of

Indian nationalists Indian nationalism is an instance of civic nationalism. It is inclusive of all of the people of India, despite their diverse ethnic, linguistic and religious backgrounds. Indian nationalism can trace roots to pre-colonial India, but was f ...

of the

Ghadar Party The Ghadar Movement or Ghadar Party was an early 20th-century, international political movement founded by expatriate Panjabi s to overthrow British rule in India. Many of the Ghadar Party founders and leaders, including Sohan Singh Bhakna, ...

were indicted by a federal

grand jury A grand jury is a jury empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a person to testify. A grand ju ...

on charges of conspiring to form a military enterprise against the United Kingdom from the United States, and violating US neutrality laws. The trial lasted from November 20, 1917, to April 24, 1918, and resulted in the convictions of 29 people, including 14 Indian nationalists. The British authorities hoped the conviction of the Indians would result in their deportation back to India. Had the nationalists been deported to India, they would have faced much harsher sentences, including execution. The Lahore Conspiracy Case trial in British India, which sparked the trials in the United States, resulted in the convictions of 291 Indian nationalists, of which 42 were executed and 114 received life terms. In contrast, the Indian nationalists convicted in the San Francisco trial received prison terms ranged from 30 days to 22 months. Ultimately, strong public sympathy in favor of the Indians resulted in the

US Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of federal laws and the administration of justice. It is equ ...

choosing not to deport them.

Background

From 1915 to 1917, the British government repeatedly requested that the United States government suppress the activities of

in the US. However, these requests were turned down, as nothing in US law prevented the Indians from seeking to overthrow the British government. The British ambassador, Cecil Spring Rice, was reluctant to press the matter diplomatically, fearing the political fallout at a time when Britain was working to end US neutrality and bring it into the war on the side of the Allies. Shortly before the outbreak of

, the Ghadar intellectual, Lala Hardayal, was arrested for anarchist activities and left the US before he could be deported. With other Indian Nationalists in Europe, he enlisted the aid of Germany, who believed supporting a revolt in India would weaken the United Kingdom. In 1915, Germany offered the Indian nationalists financial aid for transporting arms and Indians back to India via the United States. The British government claimed that the United States was violating its neutrality with Britain by allowing Germany to conspire with the Indians on American soil. The first of several arrests of the Indian nationalists were made in the spring of 1917 with one hundred and five people of various nationalities being arrested. Eventually, thirty-five were tried for conspiracy, including nine Germans, nine Americans, and seventeen Indians. During the war, nativists in the United States were expressing hostility toward certain minority groups, especially

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and recent

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

viewing anything un-American with suspicion. By 1917, Germans were the object of much American nativist fervor. Fear of German subversion and conspiracies ran rampant throughout the US after the

Black Tom explosion The Black Tom explosion was an act of arson by field agents of the Office of Naval Intelligence of the German Empire, to destroy U.S.-made munitions that were about to be shipped to the Allies during World War I. The explosions occurred on Ju ...

and the Kingsland Explosion, both suspected to have been caused by German agents. Thus by being linked to Germany in a conspiracy, the Indian Nationalists should have been the recipients of the same hostility. Although calls for their deportation were made by government officials after the Hindu-German conspiracy trial, none of the Indian Nationalists were deported.

The arrests

Ernst Sekunna %26 Chandra Charkraberty LOC 16116290023

The arrests started in March 1917, with Chandra Kanta Chakraverty "a thin-faced, falsetto-voiced Hindu, a native of Bengal, and a speaker of many languages", and the German, Ernst Sekunna, being arrested on charges of conspiracy. Most of the others were arrested on April 8, including Franz Bopp, the German Consul General for San Francisco, E. H. von Schack, Deus Dekker and

Wilhelm von Brincken Wilhelm von Brincken (May 27, 1881 – January 18, 1946), also known as Wilhelm L. von Brincken, William Vaughn, William von Brinken, and William Vaughan, was a German diplomat and spy during World War I, who went on to become an American charac ...

. The Indian Nationalists were accused of taking "advantage of American neutrality to plot on American soil against the allies" at "the expense of the laws and hospitality of the United States". The two men had also taken out trade names to do business as ''The Oriental Society'', ''The Oriental Kitchen'', and the ''Oriental Review'', and purchased of land in an isolated part of New York State.

The trial

The Hindu German conspiracy trial started in San Francisco on November 20, 1917. Despite attempts to focus on the machinations of the German agents, the Indians presented their position in terms of the ideals of the

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. As the trial started, Jodh Singh, an Indian "whose testimony sent nine men, including his brothers to their death and condemned a score to life imprisonment in the Far East," pleaded with the court for an American square deal. The British had brought Singh to the United States to testify against his fellow Indian Nationalists. He pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charges and was to be a government witness in this trial. But when he took the witness stand, he suddenly refused to testify. He asked to change his plea to stand trial with his "brothers" in an American court. The judge refused his request. The ''

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'' described the courtroom during the testimony of one of the government witnesses: The Indians were placed into custody for the remainder of the trial following claims that they had been harassing witnesses by following them and attempting to bribe them. When Dr. Chakraverty's extensive confession was delivered, "the diminutive Hindoo was the target for dark glances from this fellow defendants, the subject of excited whisperings and the recipient of several notes from the Hindoos." One of the defendants even stuffed a wad of paper down Chakraverty's neck. To these notes and "to the dark scowls of his countrymen, Chakraverty responded with a broad grin." Chakraverty was followed by several of the Hindu defendants when he left court. A woman who gave evidence in the trial described how she had met two of the Ghadar activists,

Taraknath Das Taraknath Das (or Tarak Nath Das; 15 June 1884 – 22 December 1958) was an Indian revolutionary and internationalist scholar. He was a pioneering immigrant in the west coast of North America and discussed his plans with Tolstoy, while organ ...

and Lala Hardayal, when all three were at

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. One wanted to "transform her into a modern

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, leading the Indians in intrigue against the British." The other wished to "inspire her to be an idealist and a teacher in India." Evidence was also produced of money paid to two American women by HarDayal in an attempt to "lure women to Europe to assist the revolutionists." The prosecution also suggested that Taraknath Das had used Camille de Berri, to store a bomb manual in her safety deposit box. When she was finally located she was revealed to be the

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divorcee of a wealthy mining expert and who had recently remarried. Her new husband had been suspended from the

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, upon graduating, for petty pilfering from gymnasium lockers. De Berri had come to his rescue by heading a special investigating committee to look into the affair and then by testifying as an alibi witness for him. The defense attorney attempted to argue the accused's beliefs placed them squarely within American ideals. The opening address to the jury denounced the British Government's rule in India, declaring that the whole case was being tried at the initiation of Britain. Copies of Ram Chandra's Ghadar Party paper were produced quoting liberty appeals by

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, and President

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The trial ended with a sensational climax when Ram Chandra Bharadwaj, one of the main accused, was shot to death in the courtroom by fellow defendant, Ram Singh. ''

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'' described the incident, which occurred just after the court announced a recess: Chandra had been murdered because it was believed he had been diverting nationalists' funds to his own use. A week later, the judge found the defendants guilty of violating the neutrality of the United States. The Indians, "students and revolutionists, several of them highly educated" were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 30 days to twenty-two months.

References

Resources

* Gower, Karla K.
"The Hindu-German Conspiracy: An Examination of the Framing of Indian Nationalists in Newspapers from 1915-1918"

External links

"Secrets Of The Master Spy"
September 1932, ''Popular Mechanics'' *
Tragic Climax in Trial of Hindus
, ''Norwich Bulletin''. (Norwich, Conn.), 24 April 1918. ''Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers''. Library of Congress. *
Jury Convicts 29 Tried for Plotting
, ''Evening Star''. (Washington, D.C.), 24 April 1918. ''Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers''. Library of Congress.
"Hindu Pawns Lost in Kaiser's Game of Empire
, ''New-York Tribune''. (New York .Y., 28 April 1918. ''Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers''. Library of Congress. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hindu-German Conspiracy Trial 20th-century American trials Ghadar Party

Trial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, w ...