Kapp putsch Failed right-wing coup in Berlin in March 1920, led by the nationalist politician and co-founder (in 1917) of the German Fatherland Party, Wolfgang Kapp.

Karl I (1887-1922) Last Habsburg emperor; acceded to the throne after the death of his uncle Franz Joseph on 21 November 1916; abdicated in November 1918 and fled into exile in Switzerland in March 1919.

Kemal, Mustafa (1881-1938) Most famous Turkish military commander of the First World War, making his reputation during the Gallipoli campaign (1915-16). Emerged after the war as the first president of the new republic of Turkey, 1924-38.

Kenya Colony known as British East Africa until July 1920.

Keynes, John Maynard (1883-1946) British economist. Treasury official, 1915-19, author of the pamphlet The Economic Consequences of the Peace (1919), a critique of the harsh terms of the Treaty of Versailles.

King's African Rifles The largest force of African troops in British Africa. First formed in 1902 and commanded by British officers; saw action throughout the continent during the war, particularly in East Africa.

Kitchener, Lord Horatio Herbert (1850-1916) Britain's greatest military hero at the outbreak of war in 1914. War secretary, 1914-16; drowned on his way to a mission in Russia, June 1916.

Knox, Colonel Alfred (1870-1964) British military attaché at the headquarters of the Imperial Russian army, 1914-17; head of the British military mission in Siberia, 1918-19; and a fervent supporter of the leading White Russian general Admiral Kolchak.

Kolchak, Admiral Alexander (1874-1920) One of the principal military leaders of the counter-revolutionary White Russian forces during the civil war of 1917-21. Commanded the 'Whites' in Siberia; shot by the Bolsheviks on 7 February 1920.

Kun, Béla (1886-1939) Drafted into the Habsburg army at the outbreak of the First World War, he was captured and sent to a Russian POW camp in Siberia 1915. Released after the Bolshevik revolution, he became the leader of the Hungarian Communist Party and seized control of the new Hungarian republic in March 1919. Faced by invasion from Czechoslovakia and Romania, Kun resigned in August 1919 and fled to Austria and then to the Soviet Union, where he reportedly died in a Stalinist purge in November 1939.

Kurds Nomadic people living mainly in eastern Turkey, northern Iraq and western Iran. Despite promises of autonomy made in the Treaty of Sèvres (August 1920), the Kurds of Eastern Anatolia remained under Turkish control.

Kurna Town on the River Tigris in Mesopotamia; occupied by British forces in November 1914.

Kut-al-Amara Town on the River Tigris in Mesopotamia; first captured from Turkey by Anglo-Indian forces under General Townshend in September 1915. After defeat at the Battle of Ctesiphon two months later, however, Townshend had to retreat back to Kut, which was besieged by Turkish forces on 7 December. After two failed relief attempts, the town was finally surrendered in April 1916. Anglo-Indian troops under General Maude recaptured Kut for the second time in February 1917.