INDIA: INDEPENDENCE (Origins and Rise of Independence Movement)

DEMOCRACY (TOPIC 9)
INDEPENDENCE (TOPIC 8)
1. What problems resulted from partition, what challenges did independent India and Pakistan face, and how did they respond?
2. What factors influenced the origins of the nationalist movement in India?
  1. IMPACTS OF WWII ON INDIA
    1. industrialisation increased, e.g. Bombay became a hub for light engineering, chemicals and pharmaceuticals
    2. 1943: Bengal Famine killed over 2 million
      1. caused both by loss of Burmese rice imports and by British decision to send food to the military rather than the Bengal countryside
    3. Indians fought in North Africa, Italy, Burma
    4. economic relationship between India and Britain reversed so that Britain was now in debt to India
      1. British economy suffered, maintaining their empire would be impossible with their economy at risk of collapsing completely
      2. Britain had also had to borrow money from India
      3. India supplied British many resources, and became their biggest supplier of steel during the war
  2. WARS AND CONFLICTS
    1. 1939 – 1945: WWII
      1. good opportunity for nationalists as British did not have the resources to suppress an uprising
        some concessions made
        1941: Churchill signed Atlantic Charter but later announced that it was not applicable to India
        1942: Churchill sent Stafford Cripps to India to negotiate with leaders
        promised independence but only after the war and if they dedicated their full support the the British
        Britain needed Indian leaders' support in fighting the Japanese
        caused nationalist outrage
        Atlantic Charter: gave all peoples the right to political self-determination
      2. 1941: Britain's military reputation and pride damaged by Japanese invasion of East Asia
      3. Britain involved India in the war without asking India themselves, which as legal and constitutional but further motivated nationalists to break out of the subservient colonial role
    2. 1919 – 1938: CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENTS
      1. 1935: Government of India Act (2)
        lack of nationalist unity could benefit British, but said tensions could cause civil unrest that would be hard to control
        INC and League not satisfied but participated in 1937 provincial elections anyway
        35 million voters based on property qualifications
        League only got 5% of Muslim vote
        INC won 70% of popular vote
        granted Indian ministers more control, but British still had "emergency powers" that could be implemented whenever they saw it as necessary
      2. 1927: Simon Commission
        appointed by government to make recommendations regarding constitutional reform
        rejected by nationalists as it did not include any Indians
        called for dominion status (complete self-governance)
        ignored by British, which frustrated Indians, as well as the plateau in reforms and policy changes
        one of the factors that helped nationalists develop their demands for independence
        DOMINION: when a country remains part of another's empire while being totally self-governed
      3. 1919: Government of India Act (1)
        did not satisfy nationalists
        British still controlled central government, police and justice system
        aspects of governance like agriculture, education and health handed over to Indian ministers
    3. 1919: AMRITSAR MASSACRE
      1. increased membership and support of INC
        Gandhi rose to prominence
        including some Indian elite who previously been loyal British subjects
      2. 5000 unarmed protestors in Amritsar
        General Reginald Dyer ordered troops to open fire
        shocked and angered Indians
        forced to resign
        however, he was viewed in England and by settlers as a "hero", and some other British officers approved of his choice
        injured over 1000
        killed 379
        many women and children
    4. 1914 – 1918: WWI
      1. increased nationalism in that Indians hoped that they would be given more independence in return for aiding the British in the war
        1917: British planned to encourage the "gradual development" self-governance (in some instances)
        rejected by INC and League as not enough
        1918: reforms disregarded, harsh measures implemented to crush the oppostion
        nation-wide protests
        hartal (work stoppage) and marches
      2. eventually led to dissatisfaction
        Muslims conflicted due to Ottoman Empire being German ally
        Britain wanted more soldiers
        increased taxation
      3. initial different views of war by nationalists
        most actually supported and encouraged Indians to support Britain
        opportunity to push for more independence
      4. 1.5 million soldiers sent to fight for Britain
  3. RACE, RELIGION, SOCIOECONOMIC
    1. socioeconomic
      1. 1929: Wall Street Crash and Great Depression caused exports and their value (crops) to decrease
        increased nationalism and civil unrest/dissatisfaction
        forced farmers to borrow money, which created debt and eventually many farmers were thrown off their land
        millions of unemployed peasants migrated from rural India to cities for work
        increased urban unemployment
      2. after WWI, food production struggled to keep up with the high growth in population rate
      3. WWI created an economic boom in several Indian industries due to increased British demand
        iron and steel
        cotton/textiles
    2. 1905: Partition of Bengal increased Indian nationalist sentiment
      1. British responded with mass arrests to try to quash resistance and protests
        ineffective, evident by 1909 that the situation was getting out of hand
        decided to make concessions in order to retain their control over India
        John Morley, secretary of state
        capital city changed to Delhi, appeased Muslims as it was the old Mughal capital
        Bengal was reunited
        allowed for some Indian representation in govt
        allowed for Indians to directly have a say in decision-making, and to debate with colonial officials over things such as national budget
        Muslims were granted separate electorates and seats that were saved for them
        seen as a decision that impacted future political happenings
        1910: elections held for central and provincial legislative councils
      2. support for Muslim League increased as Muslims were concerned by the Hindu nationalist appeal of the movement
        reps met with the viceroy
        to emphasise that they were a distinct community that needed separate political representation and voice
        to directly voice their concerns
      3. led to the formation of more radical political opposition, such as the New Party, a revolutionary wing of the INC
        more radical leaders seemed to be favoured that moderates
      4. boycott of British goods: made public bonfires, and encouraged Indians to use local products
        led to realisation of power of economic boycott
        reduced British imports by 25% and made way for economic expansion of some areas as their industries took advantage of the lack of imports
      5. British wanted to split Bengal into two parts: western Bengal with Hindu majority, eastern Bengal with Muslim majority
        nationalists all around India were united in support of the anti-partition movement
    3. INC was formed in 1885 by educated Indians who wanted more Indian representation in the govt.
      1. Muslim League was formed in 1906 as Muslims believed that it was the only way to protect their own interests
        similar in terms of middle-upper class making up most of the League
      2. mostly Hindu but not exclusively so
        believed that India's needs as a country should take precedence over religion or caste
        made efforts to include/encourage Muslim membership
      3. generally unsupported as it only represented middle class (wealthy) interests and concerns and was seen as too elitist
        used petitions to call for more Indian rep. in legislative councils, for the Civil Service to be more accessible, and for less money to be spent on the army
        conservative: did not want independence, did not question British rule
    4. British used divide and rule to exacerbate existing differences between Indians in order to prevent them from uniting against their rule, as well as to maintain control
      1. especially caste and religion
  4. NATIONALISM AND IDEOLOGY
    1. at the start of the 1600s, the EIC had set up trading posts along the coast, and its control spread into the interior by mid-1800s
      1. uprising in 1857-1858, British government took over from EIC and sent in troops to intervene, and the Mughal emperor was exiled for having supported the uprising
        India now part of British empire
        capital of British India was Calcutta
        direct British administration over most of India, but there were over 500 princely states, where control over local affairs was left to hereditary Indian leaders
        funded by Indians' taxes
        large army consisted of British officials and Indian troops
        ruled by viceroy and 5000 government officials. their government was efficient but authoritarian
        Indians not given any roles or power in this govt
        VICEROY: highest ranking official in colonial system, ruled over India in lieu of the British monarch. mostly symbolically powerful position as they did not have a lot of power to influence policy (decided by British govt. and implemented by the secretary of state)
    2. prior the British, India and the Indian subcontinent was ruled by Hindu princes, before the Mughal Empire took over from 1526 to 1858
3. What methods were used, what were the roles of leaders, and what were the reasons for success?
  1. REASONS
  2. JINNAH
  3. GANDHI
    1. managed to turn the INC from a small and elitist into a mass nationalist movement
      2. "courageous display of unity among Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs" Sugata Bose and Ayesha Jalal
    2. appealed to peasants by adopting traditional Indian peasant dress and lifestyle, his commitment to self-sufficiency by traditional means
  4. METHODS

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INDIA: INDEPENDENCE (Origins and Rise of Independence Movement)

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