Princely States

The Princely States were utilized by Great Britain in order to keep control over India alongside the British Raj. As a result, Victoria of Great Britain as proclaimed the Empress of India, a title her descendants would hold until Edward VIII. This would hold until the Great War, wherein George V reorganized the region into the Dominion of India. The new government of the Dominion attempted to incorporate the Princely States into a cohesion, and many of these monarchs were made to give up significant powers.

When Great Britain declared war on the German Empire and the Kingdom of America, India was made to join as well as a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. Other members, Including Australia and Egypt would break from the Commonwealth, giving inspiration to many Indians.

When Egypt took control of the Suez Canal, Germany utilized it to send a corps of soldiers to the south of India. When there, the German commanders met with discontent monarchs from the Princely States, only the largest and strongest of which were able to stand against total British rule. These states rebelled, taking most of the south of India. When these states pressed against British units in the north, the Indian Civil War became another front in the World War.