2 Changing Political Relationship, 1920-30 Flashcards
What were Gandhi’s aims and beliefs?
1) the concept of Satyagraha
2) Adopting a peasant lifestyle
What was the concept Gandhi used to describe as non-violent resistance to injustice or evil?
Satyagraha
What term did Gandhi hate and give examples?
“passive resistance’ (resisting authority by doing nothing )
examples are: sit down protests, removing children from school
What sort of things did Gandhi do to win the hearts and the minds of the nation?
1)He increasingly adapted a peasant lifestyle:
1-He discarded Western clothes and only wore the Indian ‘Dhoti’.
2-He was a vegetarian
3-He walked everywhere
4-He had a daily spinning routine
What were the 3 things that changed Gandhi’s mind into becoming anti-British?
1) The Rowlatt Acts-which aimed at continuing indefinitely wartime restrictions
2) The Amritsar Massacre-(April 1919) and its tacit endorsement by large sections of the British community in India.
3) One of the outcomes of the Paris Peace conferences that ended WW1 was that Turkey had to pay a huge indemnity and lose its territories. This confirmed the worst fears of Indian Muslims - that the British had little concern for Islamic nations. A s a result this made Gandhi realise that this could increases the idea of separateness among Muslims.
How did Gandhi emerge as leader of Congress?
- There was no other all-Indian political party leader or group who could challenge him.
- Members from different communities supported Gandhi.
How did Gandhi impose the non-cooperation campaign 1920-22?
1) Congress’s 25th annual meeting in December 1920 had Gandhi dominating support from the delegates as he bind together both Hindus and Muslims.
2) He persuaded the delegates to vote for his policy of non-cooperation with the Raj.
3) Gandhi had also written to the Viceroy explaining why he has now persuaded congress to support non-cooperation in their pursuit of independence.
What did the non-cooperation entail?
Congress urged all Indian to:
1) Boycott elections to the new legislative assemblies
2) Hand back all titles and decorations awarded by the Raj.
3) Remove their children from government schools
4) Refuse invitations to social events run by the Raj
5) Boycott law courts
6) Withhold taxes
7) Refuse to buy imported goods
8) Leave all government posts
What areas did Gandhi target when imposing Non-cooperation?
Gandhi had targeted those areas of government where the Indian non-cooperation was unlikely to bring them into conflict with the police like before ‘Satyagraha’.
What were the successes of the non-cooperation(1920-22)?
1) Students boycotted their examinations, taxes were not paid, a large number from the 1920’s elections.
2) Around 200 lawyers stopped work and during the visit of the Duke of Connaught to Calcutta in 1921, shops were closed throughout the city.
- few attended official ceremonies
3) Muslims were involved for the first time.
What were the consequences of the non-cooperation (1920-22)?
1) Unfortunately millions of Indians were unable to understand the concept of Satyagraha and so they followed their own agendas.
- communal violence broke down
2) In Chauri Chaura 22 policemen were torched to death in a police station.
3) Hartal designed to coincide with the visit of the Prince of Wales turned into 4 days of looting/rioting.
- 53 were dead
4) Muslims declare Jihad and killed wealthy Hindu and Muslim Landlords forcing peasants to convert to Islam.
- Hindus on the Gangetic Plain forced muslims to become Hindus.
5) The incident forced Gandhi to end Satyagraha and withdraw to his ashram.
When did the non-cooperation campaign come to an end and how did it end?
February 1922- whereby Gandhi was arrested and charged due to his ‘satyagraha’. And was released from prison in January 1924, having served only 2 years.
What was the significance of Gandhi’s imprisonment?
During Gandhi’s imprisonment (1922-24) many events occured:
1) Congress became more involved in peasant communities and gained a greater understanding of peasants’ needs and aspirations.
2) Congress became more ready to understand and exploit local grievances and explore how those could be linked to the broader campaign for ‘Swaraj’.
3) Leadership of Congress: C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru. Both favoured taking advantage of the Government of India Act 1919.
- In 1923, members of Congress were allowed to stand for elections and their presence on the local councils lent those bodies an air of respectability as well as boosting the popularity of the congress party itself. Many middle class indians alienated by Gandhi’s non-cooperation campaign, returned to the fold.
4) The Raj returned to its traditional policy of attempting to balance the need to keep control while, at the same time making concessions to India. Considerable support was given to the local assemblies, where for example there was a cholera outbreak.
How successfully did congress consolidate its position during 1922-30?
1)Congress refined and developed its structure and increased its membership and appeal by reaching out to groups and areas unknown.
2)Gandhi’s’ release from prison and his ‘back to basics; policy did much to increase support for congress in rural areas
3(Congress members has started to use ‘ Satyagraha’
How did Congress extend their appeal?
1) membership
2) organisation
During the period of non-cooperation, membership grew of the Congress by how many?
From a base of 100,000 to 2 million by the end of 1921.
How did membership in Congress change ?
1) Congress transformed into being a pressure group into being a pressure group into one that demonstrated open defence of the Raj.
2) Many Muslims left because of the failure of Gandhi’s support over the breaking of the Ottoman Empire. But membership still grew.
What are the 2 ways Congress achieved support and increased membership?
1) Extended appeal into a wider spread of geographical areas throughout the subcontinent
2) It began wooing interest into groups that has hitherto been neglected. They began to recruit people such as : railway workers, poorer peasants.
When Gandhi emerged as leader of congress in 1920, the party organisation consisted of 3 administrative levels. What are they?
1) Local Branches
2) Provincial Committees
3) All Indian Congress Committee (ALCC)
How did organisation of the Congress change?
1) The structure (1920) was reformed because of Gandhi’s perception that a new sense of direction and purpose was needed.
2) Cooperation with the Raj was to end and was to be replaced by non-violent non-cooperation.
3) Membership of the All-Indian Congress Committee was increased from 1616-350 and seats were re-allocated on regional population basis.
4) Greater emphasis was placed on recruiting women. Around 100 additional provincial committee and several hundred more local branches were set up .
After Gandhi was released from prison he set up a new unit within the AICC (All indian congress committee). What was it called?
The Congress Working Committee (CWC) and its job was to formulate policy. It was mirroring what a cabinet was to government.