Transcript Independence Movement in India

Independence Movement in
India
Indian Nationalism
• India nationalism had been growing in
the country since the mid-1800s
• Nationalism: belief that people should
be loyal mainly to their nation—to the
people who they share a culture &
history with
• Many upper-class Indians studied in
Britain where democracy & the right of
the people were fundamental
• They began to apply those political
ideas to their own country
• Two groups formed to rid India of
foreign rule: the Congress Party, which
was mostly of the Hindu religion…
• And the Muslim League
• Deep divisions existed between the
Muslim & Hindu faiths, but getting rid of
the British was their common ground
World War I Sparks Anger
• Until World War I (1914-1918) most
Indians didn’t really have much interest
in nationalism
• The situation changed as over 1 million
Indians enlisted in the British Army
• They were promised by the British
govt. that they would get to run their
own govt. in return
• Indian leaders expected gains as soon
as the war was over
• Later in the war Parliament passed
resolutions adding more Indians to
govt., which they saw as a positive sign
• In 1918 the troops returned from the
war & found themselves treated like 2nd
class citizens
• Radical nationalists carried out random
violence to show their displeasure with
British rule
British Violence
• To stop the violence, the British passed
the Rowlatt Act
• This law allowed the govt. to jail
protesters for 2 years w/out a trial
• To Western educated Indians the denial
of trial by jury violated individual rights
• To protest the Rowlatt Act 10,000
Hindus & Muslims went to Amritsar to
fast, pray & listen to speeches
• Most in attendance were unaware that
the British has banned public meetings
• British soldiers felt they were defying
the ban & fired on the crowd
• The shooting lasted 10 minutes, with
400 Indians killed & 1200 wounded
• Overnight, millions of Indians changed
from loyal British subjects to
revolutionaries & nationalists
Gandhi’s Civil Disobedience
• The massacre @ Amirtsar set the stage
for Mohandas Gandhi to emerge as the
leader of the independence movement
• His strategy for battling injustice evolved
from his religious beliefs
• His teachings blended the ideas from all
major religions including his own (Hindu)
• When the British failed to punish the
soldiers @ Amirtsar, Gandhi urged the
Congress Party to follow a policy of noncooperation
• Gandhi believed in passive resistance or
civil disobedience
• Civil disobedience = deliberate public
refusal to obey an unjust law
• In 1920, the Congress party endorsed
Gandhi’s civil disobedience strategy as
a way to achieve independence
Gandhi’s Ways
• Gandhi urged Indians to refuse
to give $ to the British by
paying taxes, buying goods,
voting, & attending schools
• Throughout 1920, the British
arrested thousands who
participated in strikes &
demonstrations
• Gandhi’s strategy took a toll on
the British
• They struggled to keep trains
running, factories operating, &
overcrowded jails from bursting
• In 1922, rioters attacked a
police station & set officers on
fire
Salt March
• In 1930, Gandhi organized a demonstration to
defy the hated Salt Acts
• The Salt Acts said that Indians could only buy
salt from the govt. & they had to pay sales tax
• Gandhi & followers marched 240 miles to coast
• They began to make their own salt by letting
the seawater evaporate in their hands
• The peaceful protest was called the Salt March
• Soon afterward, some planned to march to a
British salt processing site
• They wanted to shut it down
• Police officers with steel tipped clubs beat the
demonstrators
• Newspapers around the world carried an
American journalists account of the gruesome
beatings creating more support
• Eventually about 60,000 protestors were
arrested including Gandhi
Movement Towards Independence
• Gradually the work of Gandhi &
his civil disobedience helped get
more political power for Indians
• In 1935, the British Parliament
passed the Government of India
Act
• It provided local self-government
& limited democratic elections
• India began moving towards
independence, but caused
mounting tension between
Muslims & Hindus
• The two groups had different
visions for India’s future
• Indian Muslims, outnumbered by
Hindus feared that Hindus would
control India after independence
India Gains Independence
• The leader of the Muslim League,
Muhammad Ali Jinnah had once been a
member of the Congress Party
• However, he said that only the League
spoke for Muslims
• The Muslim League stated it wouldn’t
accept independence if it meant rule by
the Hindu dominated Congress Party
• The British encourage the division
between Hindus & Muslims because
they thought it would increase their
power
• The Muslim League proposed a partition
of India into separate Hindu & Muslim
states in 1940
• Gandhi was deeply hurt
• He opposed a two-nation theory based
on this political, cultural & moral beliefs
Partition of India
• When World War II ended the British
were ready to transfer power
• But the questioned remained on who
should get the power
• In 1946, rioting of Hindus & Muslims
against each other broke out in cities
throughout India
• May were killed & hurt
• Gandhi did his best to stop the
violence by walking through the worst
areas of Calcutta
• Lord Louis Mountbatten was the last
viceroy (governor) of India for the
British
• He feared that Hindus & Muslims
would never be able to live in peace
• He began to accept the idea that a
partition – or division of India into two
nations—would be best
Division of India
• Mountbatten proposed a division of
India in which the northwest portion
of India would be Pakistan where a
large # of Muslims lived
• The rest would be mostly Hindu India
• On July 16, 1947 the British House of
Commons approved the two nation
partition independence
• The actual independence and
division would take place in one
month
• Native princes had to decide what
nation they would divide
• Everything from the courts, military,
railways, police & even office
supplies had to be divided
• Millions of Hindus, Muslims & Sikhs
suddenly found themselves in hostile
nations
Violence in India
• During the summer of 1947, 10 million people
were on the move
• Hindus were leaving Pakistan, Muslims out of
India, while Sikhs the 3rd major religion were
caught in between
• Whole trainloads of refugees were killed by the
opposition
• Refugee = One who flees in search of refuge,
as in times of war, political oppression, or
religious persecution
• Over 1 million died
• Gandhi felt terrible that what should have been
a joyous time was instead ruined by violence
• He personally went to New Dehli to plead for
his fellow Hindus to treat Muslim refugees fairly
• While there he became a victim of violence
• January 30, 1948 he was killed by a Hindu
extremist who felt he was too protective of
Muslims