Final Timeline India Flashcards
Late 1930’s (India)
- recalculation of British interests
- What will the British Empire look like after war?
- During 1946, British realizes that India is no longer an asset but a cost
Significance/connection(s): British revaluation of current strategies due ot fear of imperial decline
Turbulence in India → resistance to British control
1939(India)
- The British declare war on India’s behalf
Great Britain during this time heavily relied on their colonies to join the war effort against Hitler during WWII. - Many Indian nationalists felt that India should not help the British war effort until India funds their effort for their own freedom. It is ironic that the British are fighting a war for freedom when their Indian soldiers are unfree.
- Spoke FOR India without their consent
Significance/connection(s): Orientalism, advancing British interest
Period of increased Hindu-Muslim tension (domestic unrest)
Analogy: using their colonies as soldiers (WWI and Palestine)
1940 (India)
- Jinnah’s Lahore Resolution
- Turning point
- The Lahore Resolution, also called Pakistan Resolution, was written and prepared by Muslims in India and was a formal political statement adopted by the All-India Muslim League.
- The resolution called for not only the separation from Great Britain but also to separate from India and form their own nation, also known as Pakistan.
- Bengal is not included in this acronym (hints at the fact there was an internal debate about what it would look like geographically
- A way from the possibility of a unified India where all religions feel safe and welcomed
- Made the INC less popular and the Muslim league more popular
- It determined for the Muslims a true goal and their homeland in the northeast and north-west. The acceptance of the Pakistan resolution accelerated the pace of the freedom movement. It gave new energy and courage to the Muslims who gathered around Muhammad Ali Jinnah for the struggle for freedom. - Wikipedia
Significance/connection(s): First time the Muslim League articulates demand for a sovereign state
British tried to ignore
Shift in power from INC to Muslim League
1942 (India)
- Cripps Mission
- The Cripps Mission was a failed attempt in late March 1942 by the British government to secure full Indian cooperation and support for their efforts in World War II.
- Headed by senior minister Stafford Cripps
Significance/connection(s):
Distrust was too high between British government and India
Cripps promised India elections and full self-government after the war ended
- INC’s Quit India Movement (INC satyagraha campaign (get out of India))
- Gandhi called Congress to mobilize for “Quit India” campaign following disappointment of Cripps Mission
- Launched at the Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee by Gandhi during World War II, demanding an end to British rule in India.
- One of the movement’s causes was when British nonconsensually sent Indian troops to fight for the empire during WWII
- Sweeping detentions leave congress adrift → detention for all INC leaders
Left the INC party leaderless when they are struggling - Failed → lacked coordination, agenda, leadership
Significance/connection(s): Viceroy says that they fear another 1857 (fear of violence), 100 years later still obsessed fear of large crowds, uprising, imperial decline
Viceory also says that “the British need to hide from this world” → fear of decline
1943(India)
- The Bengal Famine of 1943 occured in the province of Bengal in British India, which is known today as Bangladesh and Eastern India, during World War II.
- During this year-long period, there was a shortage of rice causing starvation, malaria, and poverty. 3 million people died
- Originally, the India British government and Westerners blamed nature, Indian officials, and the markets for exacerbating the famine, but today, it is commonly accepted that Churchill and British India officials were the biggest factor.
Significance/connection(s):
Winston Churchill and British officials in India’s perpetuation of the Bengal Famine led to deepening opposition to British rule in India while simultaneously propelling nationalist movements.
Loss of public support
June 1945(India)
- Wavell Plan → Wavell’s talks with nationalist leaders end in failure
- As Viceroy, Wavell was tasked with figuring out the future of Indian politics
- Advocated Indian self-governance
Significance/connection(s): increasingly violent and politicized tensions between Hindus and Muslims
Jan 1946(India)
- Muslim League succeeds in elections
Summer 1946(India)
- Cabinet Mission fails
- The INC responds to cabinet mission proposal as being equivocal
- Jinnah: “Failure to constitutional methods”
The INC (I think) shifted to violent methods - In August of 1946: 5,000 people die in the Hindu-Muslim riots
Significance/connection(s): Ruins any chance for Hindu-Muslim unity
March 1947(India)
- The new Viceroy, Lord Mountbatten, concludes partition is inevitable. Discussion of the partition plan for India begins. There was debate about whether anyone involved even wanted partition, as everyone was exhausted in the wake of WWII. Agreement was reached more or less reluctantly:
- Parts of northeast and northwest India were to go to Pakistan
Significance/connection(s): Mountbatten was a controversial figure → best interests of India versus saving British face
Nothing was ever in the best interests of the colonized
May 1947(India)
- Mountbatten, moved partition deadline up dramatically
- Announced Aug. 15, 1947 deadline
June 1947(India)
- Formation of the Radcliffe Boundary Commission (RBC)
- Discussion of territorial issues began
- There was little discussion between the INC and the British over where the line between Pakistan and India should be
- A commission half made up of the INC and Muslim League (lawyers and justices)
- Radcliffe Boundary Commission was meant to escape and avoid British Responsibility
Significance/connection(s): Elkins themes - decolonization was not so much about conceding imperialism, maintaining British control in a new format
August 12, 1947
- Boundary decision made and delivered to Mountbatten
- The decision was delivered to Mountbatten on the 13th of August. He delayed the announcement after independence day because he did not want to “mar the joy of independence”
- In reality the delay was due to timing, bloodshed and responsibility. If violence happened before the 15th. The British would appear more at fault.
Significance/connection(s): British Prestige
August 15, 1947(India)
- India’s Independence
- Today, India is a democracy
Significance/connection(s): Bittersweet legacy of terrible violence and triumphant independence
