Situation at the End of WWII

INA Soldiers
1. INA Soldiers imprisoned after helping out Japanese attempt to invade in 1944
  1. Congress called for their release
    1. Saying it would be a tragedy to punish people who fought for freedom
      1. No matter how mistakenly
2. British wanted to make point that INA were traitors
  1. Brits court marital a sample of 3 officers - 1 Hindu, 1 Sikh, 1 Muslim
    1. Bad move by Brits - this just united religious opposition against them
3. INA officers charged with waging war against crown
  1. Sentenced to deportation for life
    1. However they were forced to drop sentence amongst fears that Indian army could turn on Brits
Mutinies
1. Feb 1946
2. total 20000 men from Royal Indian Navy
  1. In Bombay, Calcutta and Karachi
    1. Took over approx 80 ships and general strike was called by Bombay Communist Party
3. Congress persuade mutineers to surrender
  1. Angered many Indians
    1. However Congress + ML thought that at this point it was better to work with British then against
      1. Congress Solved problem - shows shift in power
        British never trust army to sort out problems again after this
Britain
1. 1945 May Elections
  1. Attlee new PM under Labour govt
    1. Has close ties with Congress
      1. determined to give political reform to India
        Wants to form a group to discuss a new constitution for India
  2. In British admin in India
    1. There is a fear that new govt does not appreciate the strength of support for Pakistan
Fear of Unrest
1. Wavell worried that Labour was too keen to hand power to Congress
2. Food +Coal shortages - unrest building
  1. Created fears that Congress will launch another Civil Disob
3. Only 50000 soldier in British Indian Army
  1. 1 soldier to 8000 people
    1. Army is demoralised, eager to get home
      1. Large number of soldiers don't return weapons
Preparation for Partition
1. British privately accept that they will leave India in Jan 1946
2. There is fear from both Hindus and Muslims who lived in areas that could be the 'wrong' side of the border
3. Britain believes Pakistan must be granted to avoid Muslim uprising
4. Amritsar is a problem
  1. Holy city for sikhs
    1. Logically should be in Pakistan, but Sikhs want it in India
5. Elections of 1946 would be key in deciding how to move forward
1946 Indian Elections
1. Polarisation of Support
  1. Congress win 90% of seats
  2. Muslim league get 75% of Muslim Vote
    1. Also win 90% of Muslim reserved seats
      1. Compared with poor performance in 1937 elections - shows popularity of Pakistan demand
Economics
1. war debts estimated at 2.7 billion by end of war
2. In Britain - began reconstruction programme - rebuild bomb damaged buildings
  1. Costs a lot of money
3. New Labour govt wanted to introduce Social Reform
  1. NHS - Education etc - all cost money
  2. Saw this as a priority over empire
4. Britain's investment in India fell in 1930's
5. Indian imports fell dramatically
  1. Japanese goods cheaper
6. Owed Indian soldier 1.3 billion in wages
7. Keynes estimated empire costing 1 billion per year
  1. Britain are bankrupt
8. Roosevelt died - New president - less financial backing for Uk

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Situation at the End of WWII

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