Gandhi Flashcards
When did Gandhi launch his civil disobedience campaign?
- February 1919 during the passage of Rowlatt Acts
- Called for a hartal on 6th April
- However, only gained a narrow majority in Congress to do so
Which 3 principles guided Gandhi’s campaigns?
- Satyagraha: suffering if necessary
- Ahisma: ‘non-violence’; peaceful methods means not breaking the law and so British cannot respond easily
- Swaraj: ‘self-rule’
What is ‘swadesh’ and ‘hartal’?
- Swadesh: boycotts of goods, courts, schools
- Hartal: strikes
How did Gandhi unite Hindus and Muslims?
- Khilafat: Muslim movement of grievance
- Historically British removed last Mughal emperor in 1858
- British and French trying to break up Ottoman Empire after WWI
- Muslim opinion against British in India; Gandhi concerned and spoke at Khilafat conferences
- 1920: Congress pass a resolution in support
Outline the 1920 non-cooperation movement
- December 1920: Nagpur Congress meeting
- Gandhi proposes larger NCM and unanimously approved (Amritsar April 1919)
- Gandhi declared aim of Swaraj within one year
What did protest campaigns invovle?
Boycotts of…
- Law courts by lawyers
- Schools and colleges by teachers
- Elections, councils etc.
What happened when the Prince of Wales’ visited India in 1931?
Boycotts turned into huge demonstrations with 30,000 arrested
Why was Gandhi arguably so successful?
- New type of protest as opposed to counter productive terrorism
- Non-violent but assertive
- Didn’t rely on proving educated Indians able to govern
When did non-cooperation end?
- Ahmedabad session of Congress December 1921
- Agreed to launch mass civil disobedience campaign unless issue s of Khilafat and Amritsar were redressed
- As it began, Gandhi suddenly called it off because of growing communal violence
Why did non-cooperation fail?
- Gandhi refused to compromise his principles
- He feared the movement falling into the hands of ‘mob’
- Not enough people responded to Gandhi’s call
What’s an example of Gandhi refusing to compromise his values?
- Chauri Chaura Incident 5th February 1922
- Mob of congress workers torched a police station, incinerated 22 constables
- 6th February: upon hearing about this, Gandhi suspended the movement
What’s an example of people failing to respond to Gandhi?
- 1920 elections
- Gandhi calls for a boycott of elections but only 6/637 of Provincial Assemblies’ seats had no candidate
How did non-cooperation strengthen Congress in numbers?
During non-cooperation, membership increased from under 100,000 to peak of about 2m by the end of 1921
How did non-cooperation strengthen Congress in representativity?
- Before 1920, C had been an elite body and after 1920 it became a mass organisation
- Vehicle of urban, commercial and rich peasants
- More representative than educated elite but not completely
When did Gandhi take leadership of Congress?
1920
What did Gandhi do when he got out of jail in 1924?
Set up all-Indian Spinners’ Association to spread general economic self-reliance
How did Gandhi raise the reputation of Congress?
- Pushed them into supporting programmes to spread mass literacy and improve village sanitation
- Programme of ‘constructive work’ = dedicated to national good
- Conflicted with moral authority if they continued to be violent
