6. The failure of the Simla Conference, 1945 Flashcards
Why did viceroy Wavell travel to London in the spring of 1945?
• he travelled to London for meetings with the British coalition government.
Why was Britain easy to make a fresh attempt for Indian settlement?
- Britain was millions of pounds in debt to India for goods and services borrowed to help win the war.
- terrorist activities and unrest in India.
What did Wavell return with from the 1945 meetings in London?
• a new scheme, loosely modelled on Cripps’s proposals in the Cripps mission.
What was the main difference of Wavel’s and Cripps’s proposals?
• Wavell proposes the composition of his Executive Council.
What was Wavell’s executive council to include?
- it would be chosen in a way that would give a balanced representation of the main communities, including equal proportions of Muslims and Hindus.
- all members would be Indian, except the viceroy and the commander-in-chief, as this was essential while the defence of India remained British responsibility.
Why was Congress unhappy with this arrangement?
• parity with the Muslims would inflate the importance of the Muslim constituency.
What was established to discuss the proposals?
• the Simla conference in June 1945.
Who attended the conference?
- Congress leaders- they were released from prison so they could attend( imprisoned during Quit India).
- 21 Indian leaders travelled to Simla including Gandhi, Jinnah and Nehru.
Why did the conference reach deadlock?
- the issue of how Muslim levers if the newly reconstituted Executive council were to be chosen.
- Jinnah insisted they must be nominated by the Muslim League.
- Congress didn’t want to accept this restriction- providing that Congress was an inclusive party, they thought that Muslims should be able to represent Congress as well as the Muslim League.
How did the Conference end on 14th July 1945?
• Wavell suspended the Conference as he was unable to break the deadlock between Congress and the Muslim League.
