Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Situation
at the end
of WWII
- Britain
- New Labour Govt.
May 1945
- PM Clement Atlee
- Had very
close links
with
Congress
- Want to put money
towards rebuilding
after war not empire
- e.g NHS etc
- Left wing - more
likely to grant
independence
- Genuinely
determined
to grant
political
reform
- Unaware of
the strength
of support for
Pakistan
mov.
- Main aims:
Hold
elections and
form new
constitution
(restarting
democracy)
- Churchill voted out
- Fear of
unrest
- Wavell scared Brit too
eager to hand power to
Congress
- Potential unrest
due to food and
coal shortages
- Discontent
amongst
soldiers who
want to return
home
- When they are
demobbed they don't
return their weapons
- civilian pop now armed
and trained in combat
- Renewed Civil Dis a real
threat to Brit power
- Only 50,000
soldiers
available in
India
- Poor morale
- INA soldiers
and Mutinies
- Congress believe that INA
soldiers were fighting for
freedom of India just in the
wrong way
- Britain court
martialled
three senior
officers, One
Hindu, one
muslim one
Sikh
- British were trying to
make the point that the
soldiers are traitors
without really angering
the public
- unfortunately
this just
united
opposition
against the
British
- Sentence
was
transportation
for life not
death
- They then had
to back track
further and
release them
- Calcutta and
Bombay
Mutinies
- General
Strike in
Bombay
- 20,000 sailors from the
Indian army take 80 ships
- Britain asks
Congress to get the
mutineers to ask
them to stop
- Congress do - they think
this will benefit them in the
negotiations over who will
rule India when the British leave
- Shows that
Congress
have the
power over
the army not
the British
- Elections 1946
(For Indian Prov
Govts)
- Congress
won 90% of
seats
- Gave them power
over 8/11 Prov
Govts
- Muslim
League won
75% of
Muslim vote
- Gives them
90% of
reserved
Muslim seats
- Gained all
30 Muslim
seats in
the central
assembly
- Gave them power
over 2/11 Prov
Govts
- Shows Muslims
really do want
Pakistan - that was
what ML had promised to get
- Support for
Pakistan was
strongest in
Non-Muslim majority
states
- They were more likely
to feel threatened by
the idea of being ruled
by Hindus/Congress
- Remaining Council (in
Punjab) was controlled
by Non Muslim coalition
- Preparation for
partition
- British and
Nationalists both
trying to gauge
strength of Pakistan
demand
- Jan 1946 - fact
finding visit from Brit
MPs
- British and Indians
were waiting to see
what happened in the
elections
- Realisation amongst
Nationalist leaders
Brit are serious about
leaving
- Private
acceptance
amongst British
that Partition is
prob necessary
- Wavell
interested in
making practical
prep for
partition
- Know that Bengal
and Punjab will
cause problems if split
- Amritsar may be cut
off in a future
Muslim Pakistan
- Changing Economics
- Britain had
previously had
monopoly over
imports/exports.
Indians now got
involved and also
competition from
Jap and US
- 1928-29 £83million on Brit
goods spent by Inds By
1936 had fallen to £39mill
- Britain was
broke - WWII
- Industry
had slowed
as a result
of war
- By 1945
£2.37billion
owed to India
and US by Brit
- Reserve Bank of
India set up - 1931.
Rupee no longer
tied to Sterling -
Britain can't
manipulate the
exchange rate to
suit them
- Had a balance of
£1.3billion by 1945
- From 1933
Britain paid
£1.5/year for the
Indian army
- Huge reconstruction need
in Brit (Bombing damage)
also wanted to carry out
social reforms