The Road to Independence: India, 1914-48

• East India Company ran much of India until 1858
• 1857: The Indian Mutiny
• Britain, concerned with the power of the EIC and the Indian Mutiny, passed the Government of India Act, transferring all the powers of the EIC to the British Crown
• 1885: First annual meeting of the INC, a forum for discussion dominated by high-caste Hindus
• 1906: The All-Indian Muslin League founded
• Independence not an aim at the time

India's Response to the Outbreak of WW1

• INC & ML declared support
• Gandhi urged Indians to volunteer

India's Military & Economic Contribution to the War

• 1.5 million recruited by Nov. 1918
• 60,000 casualties
• £146 million contributed to the Allied war effort
• Many fought in the Middle East, aginst the Ottoman Turks - politically important

Economic impact on India

• Increased taxation, fuel shortages & rising prices
• Manufacturing expanded to replace imports (import costs up 190%)
• Famines & grain shortages due to drought
• Minor unrest

Circumstances

• 1913: ML see the annulment of the Bengal partition as a British loss of interest in separate electorates. They add separation from the Raj to their list of demands, which brings them closer to Congress.
• The declaration of war against Turkey in 1914 caused resentment among those Muslims who saw the Sultan as their Caliph.
• Jinnah, the ML's chief spokesman, did not like separate electorates (he was secular)

Results:

• Agrees the no. of Muslim delegates in provincial legislatures should be laid down province by province & that there should be separate electorates unless a joint one is requested
• Strengthens Congress by healing divisions, but was only an agreement so could not be imposed by either organisation

• Tilak's Home Rule League - national; grows rapidly
• Annie Besant's All-India Home Rule League - grassroots; grows more slowly
• Use rallies, pamphlets, speeches, petitions & newspapers
• Politicise apathetic provinces
• Arguably satisfied by the Govt. of India Act 1919 - not asking for independence / dominion status. Happy for Britain to maintain control of defence, economy, foreign policy, etc
• Provincial assemblies & the Raj become concerned with the rapid growth of the HRL's - Tilak is arrested & Besant interned. This is counter-productive as it only causes the INC & ML to throw their support behind the HRL's. Key theme throughout.

• Edwin Montagu, Sec. of State for India
• Implicitly committed the British govt. to granting some sort of self-govt. to India
• No timescale
• Montagu found the Raj to be slow, complex & reluctant to accept reform
• Particularly critical of Michael O'Dwyer, Governor of the Punjab

• Defence of India Act (1915) - a temporary measure designed to maintain order during WW1
• 1918: Rowlatt Report isolated Bengal, Bombay & the Punjab as centres of revolutionary activity & recommended extension of the Act in these areas
• Recommendations incorporated into the Anarchical & Revolutionary Crimes Act 1919 (the Rowlatt Act)
• Montagu reluctant
• Oppsed by the Indian members of the Indian Legislative Council, who were out-voted anyway 
• Repealed in 1922

Events

• Hartals (protests) turn to rioting in Amritsar. Marcia Sherwood, a Britihs lady, is brutally assaulted. British women & children forced to take refuge in Gobindgarh Fort.
• Dyer heads up a "show of force" in Amritsar. Curfew established & meetings / assemblies banned.
• Dyer sends infantrymen into the Jallianwala Bagh & opened fire on a crowd that had gathered there. 400 killed.
• Dyer establishes the Crawling Order - designed to humiliate

Impact

• Divides public opinion. Commons against Dyer; Lords supported
• Montagu launches the Hunter Commission, which finds no evidence of a conspiracy to overtrow the Raj
• INC publishes its own inquiry. Its report heavily criticises the Raj & arouses anger among Indians

• Establishes a dyarchy - dividing power between the British & the Indians
• Aims to push power away from the centre & towards the provinces
• Provincial & central legislative assemblies enlarged
• Devolution of education, agriculutre, local govt. & public works
• Franchise extended to 10% of the male population
• Reserved seats for minorities in provincial assemblies

Reaction

• Arguably does not satisfy anyone
• Left wing see it as too conservative
• Right wing see it as having gone too far
• Congress not happy about reserved seats

Gandhi's Aims & Objectives

• Based on the "search for truth". Violence would inhibit the search for truth
• Satyagraha - peaceful protest
• Could be considered to be an anarchist - sought a return to small, self-contained communities
• Popular among the peasantry - adopted a peasant lifestyle

Gandhi as Leader of Congress

• Was not anti-Raj to start with. Rowlatt Acts, the Amritsar Massacre & the outcomes of the Paris Peace Conference changed his mind
• Britain no longer had the moral right to rule India
• Won mass support
• 1920: Made leader of Congress
• Rapport with many different areas due to early involvement in local disputes

Attitude to the Raj

• Not anti-Raj to start with
• Supported the British during WW1
• Rowlatt Acts, Amritsar Massare & outcomes of the Paris Peace Conferences changed his mind

Gandhi as leader of Congress\

• Britain no longer had the moral right to rule India
• Won mass support
• 1920: Made leader of Congress
• No real opposition
• Rapport with many different aras due to early involvement in local disputes

• Focused on making the Raj ungovernable (boycotting elections, exams, social events run by the Raj & the courts. Refusing to pay taxes & buy imported goods. Leaving govt. posts removing children from schools)
• Some did not wish to participate fully e.g. parents did not want children to lose out on education & professionals did not want to leave lucrative jobs working from the Raj
• Gandhi tried to avoid the campaign from turning violent & targeted areas that were unlikely to bring protestors into conflict with the police
• Turned violent in many areas (Bombay, Rangpur, Malaba & Punjab
• Ended in 1922 when a police station was torched by a mob
• Hindu-Muslim alliance began to disintegrate

• Congress given time to gain a better undeerstanding of peasants' needs & aspirations
• Congress began to exploit local grievances & use them to campaign for swaraj
• Members of Congress allowed to stand for election & the m/c returned
• The Raj returned to its policy of attempting to balance the need to maintain control while making concessions

• Bose, Nehru & Narayan
• Radical - attracted to socialism
• Strongly opposed dominion status - full independence was their ultimalte goal

• Produced by Nehru Snr.
• Essentially a 1st draft of an Indian Constitution
• Reccommended dominion status
• No further devolution
• Permenant Hindi majority in central govt.
• Vague promises of protection of minority rights & creation of separate Muslim states
• Angred Muslims

• Congress divided over the Raj & independence
• Many groups were gaining a voice, meaning the Raj could play them off against eachother
• The Young Hooligans were gaining traction
• Gandhi & Congress support purna swaraj (full independence)

• Opposition to the Salt Tax - relatively minor issue that affected all Indians, making it a good way of challenging the Raj
• Gandhi marched to the coast, accompanied by thousands of others & picked up a piece of natural salt. He declared that he had just broken the law & urged others to do the same
• Hundreds were arrested, including Gandhi & Congress leaders
• Congress authorised provincial groups to conduct their own protests, making the movement more flexible & making it harder for the Raj to deal with
• Unrest broke out on a large scale, but the Raj re-gained control by 1931
• Stalemate between the Raj & Congress

• Emerged in response to the treatment of Turkey post-WW1 & the removal of the Sultan
• Endorsed by Gandhi - used to support 1920-21 civil disobedience
• Opposed by Jinnah (who was secular)
• Collapsed in 1923 as Turkey rejected the caliphate & became secular
• Alienated more western-oriented politicians (Jinnah resigned from Congress)
• Muslims became uncomfortable with Gandhi's leadership

• Sent to investigate the working of the Government of India Act, 1919
• Boycotted by Congerss, which later passed a resolution backing purna swaraj (The Nehru Report & The Lahore Congress)

The Irwin Declaration

• Reiterated the Montagu Declaration
• Added that dominion status would be a natural development of this
• Indian reps. invited to a Round Table Conference to negotiate a new Indian Constitution
• Congress officially welcomed the declaration & asked for a prisoner amnesty - Irwin refused

The Gandhi-Irwin Pact

• Gandhi & Nehru in prison
• Irwin feared violence from Congress
• Wanted to free Gandhi to allow him to attend the Round Table Conferences, but did not want to be seen to be negotiating with a terrorist
• Gandhi's civil disobedience campaign was suspended, and he promised to attend the Second Round Table Conference. 19,000 prisoners & confiscated property were released

The First Round Table Conference, Nov. 1930

• Opened by Viceroy Irwin & chaired by Labour PM Ramsay MacDonald
• 16 British delegates, 58 Indian delegates (except Congress)
• India would be granted dominion status
• Would be a federation, with 11 princely states & British provinces
• Indian participation at all levels

The Second Round Table Conference, Sept. - Dec. 1931

• Similar makeup, except Gandhi was present as the sole rep. of Congress
• Conference unravelled over separate electorates

The Third Round Table Conference, Dec. 1932

• British political situation meant that the Lab. govt. had been replaced by a Tory-led coalition. Internal disputes meant Lab. didn't send any delagates
• Other issues were more pressing than India
• Jinnah supported separate electorates, as did the British govt. Gandhi stood firm

• Given by PM Ramsey MacDonald
• Gave separate electorates to minorities / special interest groups
• Provoked Gandhi's "fast unto death"

• Hindus & Untouchables met to make a pact regarding separate eectorates
• Needed to satisfy Gandhi, who had threatened to fast until death, which put immense pressure on all involved
• Settled on  the number of provincial assembly seats to be awarded to Untouchables
• Accepted by the British Government, which did not want to be held responsible for Gandhi dying
• Incorporated into the Government of India Act

• Labour generally more progressive & suportive of dominion status & devolution, whilst the Conservatives generally held the opposite view
• The India Defence League was formed by those in Parliament who were opposed to change (ex-military commanders, civil servants, conservative MPs & peers)
• Winston Churchill was always against independence
• The Daily Mail launched a series of articles exaggeratng the issue & claiming that India could not run itself
• PM Stanley Baldwin argued that the British Empire had to either change & adapt or die
• Government of India Act passed in 1935

• The final British-written constitution to be imposed on India by the British government
• India divided in 11 provinces, each with a legislative assembly & a provincial govt. The provinces would control everything except defence & foreign affairs
• Each province would have a governor
• Dyarchy was abolished
• Sate electorates remained the same
• Burma separated from India & given its own govt.
• Sindh & Orissa states created
• Viceroy remained in place, but would have to follow the advice of the Executive Committee

• Both Congress & the League decided to take part
• Congress was highly successful
• The Muslim League fared babdly, partly due to lack of strong leadership until 1935

Congress:

• Shock & horror at the Raj taking India to war with no consultation
• Sympathy with need the defeat facism
• Gandhi urged the British govt. to negotiate with Hitler
• Later supported the British people once it became clear that negotiation was impossible
• Were not prepared to fight unless they were granted immediate swaraj
• Withdrew from provinces where it had a majority in order to disassociate India from the war
• This led to the provinces coming back under the control of the British government

The Muslim League:

• Jinnah sought to take advantage of Congress effectively leaving the political scene
• Jinnah designated the day that Congress abandoned its posts as the "Day of Deliverance"
• The League was able to work with the Raj directly, strengthening its position

• March 1940: Jinnah called a meeting fot eh Muslim League to decide on constitutional goals
• Two main proposals: Separate Muslims state made up of those areas in which Muslims were in the majority & the protection of minorities
• It is not certain that the Muslim League invisaged that two separate Muslim states would emerge
• Protests broke out in opposition to the Lahore Resolution. The Raj acted swiftly & many were jailed
• Hindus & Muslims began preparing for conflict between the two

• 1939: Bose left Congress & formed the Forward Bloc
• Anti-British terrorist organisation aimed at forcing the British out of India
• Escaped from jail & went to the USSR and then Germany to gain support for his cause
• The Raj attempted to quash the Forward Bloc
• Hitler sent Bose to Japan to assist with a possible land invasion. This was unsuccessful & many of the Indians enlisted to help either deserted to the British or surrendered.

• Sent by Winston Churchill to secure full Indian cooperation & support for the war effort
• An offer of some form of independence was needed
• Did not offer enough
• Suggested that all Indian parties form an interim govt. of national unity under the Viceroy & his council until the end of the war & allowed states to opt out of a united India
• Open to the idea of interim govt., but wanted more involvement of Indians, which was rejected

• Linlithgow's plan to arrest Congress leagers & deport them to Uganda fell through - indicative of level of panic within the British Government. Press censorship stepped up as a result of threat of a new independence campaign
• Gandhi argued that an independent India could make peace with Japan. Nehru disagreed
• August 1942: Quit India campaign began. 
• Calls to make India ungovernable
• Thousands imprisoned
• Gandhi encouraged individual action. Thousands killed & injured; railway lines, police stations & govt. buildings destroyed
• Largely unsuccessful - the Raj resisted & the army remained loyal

• Run of poor harvests & distribution failures; loss of imports; wartime price inflation & severe weather conditions caused famine
• Disease spread rapidly & was made worse by malnutrition
• Thousands feld to Calcutta to beg for food
• British & American fear of damaging their own war efforts meant they refused to help
• Jinnah blamed the British govt. & Viceroy Wavell battled with Whitehall for more food to be sent to Bengal

• 1945: Viceroy Wavell travelled to London to meet with Cabinet ministers & form a new constitutional settlement
• Executive Council was to be all-Indian, bar the Viceroy & Commander-in-Chief
• Indian political leaders met in Simla to discuss the proposals
• Ended in deadlock regarding how Muslim members of the council would be chosen i.e by the League or by Congress & the League

• Attlee sent a three-man cabinet mission to try to resolve India's constitutional problems
• Expected that the Labour govt. would implement independence as promised
• Attlee was determined to maintain a united India, appearing to rule out a separate Pakistan
• Aimed to create positive desire for a speedy transfer of power
• Stayed in India for 3 months, determined to break the deadlock between Congress & the League
• Second Simla Conference in 1946 proposed an All-India Union with 3 clusters of provincial govts. & states would be allowed to secede & become independent

• September 1946: Nehru became PM
• Huge unrest & violence between Muslims & Hindus
• Viceroy & the Raj sidelined as Congress gained more control over India
• Jinnah became finance minister
• Viceroy Wavell requested that British citizens & military personnel be moved to highly secure safe zones & evacuated from Calcutta & Karachi. Attlee refused & instead contemplated replacement viceroys
• January 1947: Wavell replaced with Mountbatten
• Power was to be handed over no later than 30 June 1948

• Strong pro-Congress sympathies. Got on well with gandhi & Nehru
• Didn't get on with Jinnah
• Charismatic & charming with left-leaning tendencies

• Mountbatten saw Partition as the only solution to the Hindu-Muslim divide
• Rioting in the Punjab (Muslim majority but governed by an alliance of Hindus, Sikhs & non-League Muslims)
• Gandhi realised his dream of a united independent India was ruined
• Indian subcontinent partitioned into India & Pakistan. East Pakistan later gained independence & became Bangladesh
• Lots of disputes regarding the boundary
• Princely states forced to accede to either India or Pakistan
• British property divided between India & Pakistan

• Desparate & violent scramble for Indians to reach the "right" side of the border. 1 million killed in the process
• British military evacuated
• Mountbatten became Governor-General of India
• Jinnah became Governor-General of Pakistan
• Gandhi left for Bengal
• Indian & pakistani constitutions based on the 1935 Government of india Act
• IAS took over from the ICS
• Major displacement caused by partition
• January 1948: Gandhi assassinated
• Divisions between Hindi-speaking Muslims in Bengal & Urdu-speakers in Pakistan
• 1951: Pakistan's 1st PM, Liaquat Ali Khan, assassinated
• Conflicts between Pakistan & India over Kashmir
• Both pakistan & India later became republics