3. The Quit India Campaign Flashcards
What caused the Quit India campaign?
- the failure of the Cripps mission.
* both the Raj and India hardened their approaches to the notion of constitutional change.
What was Linlithgow’s reaction to the rumour of a new civil disobedience campaign?
- he stepped up press censorship and intercepts of Congress communications.
- he planned to arrest all Congress leaders and deport them to Uganda, with Gandhi being sent to Aden.
What did Linlithgow’s plan demonstrate from the British side?
• the level of panic felt back in Whitehall.
Why did Gandhi want to create a new campaign?
- he was pressuring congress to support a new satyagraha.
- he argued that Japan’s aggression was towards Britain, saying India could make peace with Japan if the became free from the Raj.
Why were congress against Gandhi’s proposal of a new satyagraha?
- they refused to have anything to do with supporting Japanese fascism.
- it was a critical time in Britain’s struggle against Nazi Germany and the Axis power- commuting to a satyagraha was an act of treasons that would set the Raj against Congress, which would not help their cause for self governance.
Why were Congress also supportive of a new satyagraha?
• if they remained quiet, they might give the upper hand to Jinnah or Bose.
What was Congress’s final decision on whether to support or oppose the satyagraha?
- Congress had no choice but to make their position clear so they could rally supporters.
- 8th August 1942- Congress agreed to Gandhi’s satyagraha and his Quit India Campaign was launched.
How did the India’s campaign?
- ‘Quit India’ was shouted to every British man, woman and child as they went about their daily lives in India.
- ‘Quit India’ was shouted to the troops who were trying to defend India’s frontiers from the Japanese.
How did Congress leaders ensure that the campaign was prominent in the debt that they were imprisoned?
• they called on their supporters to make India ungovernable.
Why was Linlithgow’s plan to arrest all Congress members a misguided plan?
- the Aden governor said if the plan was implemented he would strongly object to the presence of Gandhi in Aden.
- Colleagues of the viceroy said the arrests would fail when put into practice.
What happened to Congress members following the campaign?
• 9th August 1942- the day after Congress accepted the campaign, Gandhi, Nehru and other Congress leaders were arrested and interned.
What happened to local activists following the campaign?
- with in a fortnight, they were rounded up and imprisoned.
* offices were raided, files taken and funds frozen.
How did Gandhi prepare the campaign for the event of the arrests of Congress leaders?
- he realised it would be impossible to organise the satyagraha from the top.
- he urged every demonstrator to become their own leader.
What actions did individual Indians take following Gandhi’s message that they should be their own leaders?
- there were riots, attacks and killings on Europeans.
- they damaged government property- eg: revenue offices and police stations.
- they destroyed stations, signal boxes, railway tracks, telephone lines and telegraph lines, which was alarming in the event of Japanese invasion.
How many were killed and injured during the campaign?
- over 100 were killed.
* over 3000 were injured.
