WW1 (1914-1918)

WW1 (1914-1918)

Defence of India Act 1915
1. legislation designed to give the government of British India special powers to deal with revolutionary and German-inspired threats during WW1 especially in the Punjab.
  1. A special legal tribunal was set up to deal with such cases without prior commitment and with no appeal.
2. Power was also taken for the internment of suspects.
3. By 1918 there were about 800 internees detained under this and other provisions.
4. Extended controls - Rowlatt Acts ( Feb 1919)
  1. led to non-cooperation movement (1919)
5. The act, being a wartime measure, was due to expire six months after the end of hostilities.
Formation of Home Rule Leagues 1916
1. Annie Besant
  1. Besant's All-India Home Rule League was smaller then Tilak's and grew more slowly but its network committees covered most of the rest of India.
  2. "Freedom without separation"
2. Tilak
  1. Tilak's Home Rule League for India rapidly gained 32,000 members despite being focused on just two regions of Maharashtra and Karnataka.
3. The home rule leagues were based closely on the campaigns for home rule in Ireland in the late nineteenth century
4. Tilak + Besant joined together to gain as much support as possible.
  1. Both ended up arrested
5. Brits realised they needed to do something
  1. Montagu declaration
Lucknow Pact 1916
1. covered a broad statement of political objectives + the precise details of future electorates, once India was self governing.
2. Proportion of seats in the provincial councils reserved for Muslims
3. occasion enhanced by the re-integration of the radical wing of the Congress Party at the same session
4. On Muslim side, there was resentment against the British over...
  1. The declaration of war against Turkey, home of the Ottoman Sultan, the head of the international Muslim community
  2. the 1911 reversal of the partition of Bengal which had originally been of benefit to Muslim Politicians
5. To the British it seemed that the nationalist movement was reuniting and gaining strength
6. There were general agreements such as, provincial councillors would serve for 5 years etc.
Montagu Declaration 1917
1. It was clear to the British that there was no benefit in postponing political concessions until after the war
2. Montagu set off on a massive tour of India to consult politicians and public opinion
  1. His findings were published in the 1918 M/C report (which would become the basis for the 1919 legislation)
    1. By the time the reforms became law, events at Amritsar would have sealed the fate of the British Empire in Britain
3. "increasing association of Indians in every branch of the administration and the gradual development of self-governing institutions with a view to the progressive realisation of responsible government in India as part of the British Empire."
  1. "gradual" - no intention in giving self rule any time soon

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	Created by savanna q over 10 years ago