Key Component 4 1940-42 Flashcards
Why did Britain’s survival rely on the strategic support of the USA (3)
- Fall of Singapore in 1942
- Japanese armies swiftly occupied British territory in Malaya and Burma
- Pressing at the north-eastern border of India
When was the Atlantic Charter
August 1941
What was the Atlantic Charter
Statement that set out American and British goals for the world after WW2
What quote was included in the Atlantic Charter
Support for “Sovereign rights and self-government”
-FDR saw this as applying to all, disagreement with Churchill
What did the USA do to Britain
Consistently pushed Churchill to make concessions to Indian nationalist demands
When was Cripps sent out
April 1942
Why was Sir Stafford Cripps sent out
Sent to India to discuss the implications of the declaration of Dominion status made in August 1940
What were the 2 parts of Cripps’ brief
- Explain and win backing for the August offer by discussing the processes necessary to bring about Dominion status
- Discuss the arrangements for the war on the basis of the 1935 Act with some scope for additional Indian representation on the Executive Council
What did Cripps propose? (2)
- Dominion status would include the right to provinces NOT to join the Dominion
- the Executive Council should include an Indian as defence minister
What was the result of the Cripps mission
Lack of approval and was a failure
Failure factors that Cripps identified (2)
- -Defeatist attitude aggravated by enemy propaganda
- Hindu-Muslim political antagonism
How was Cripps criticised
Cripps was seen as going beyond his brief with his ideas of an Indian as Defence Minister
How did the British respond to Cripps’ proposals (3)
- Greeted suspiciously by the British, who perceived them as increasing resistance
- Linlithgow had not been briefed, ensured some antagonism
- Churchill saw Cripps as a political rival
How did Congress react to the Cripps mission
Rejected the proposals on 10 April 1942
Why did Congress reject Cripps proposals
- Saw no point in rushing to agree, if the deteriorating war situation would force Britain to offer more later
How did the Muslim League react to the Cripps mission
- rejected the proposals and was increasingly confident in challenging Congress’ claim to represent all Indian opinion
How did both groups react to the failure of the Cripps mission
- Both sides saw this as the opportunity to harden their approaches further
How did Linlithgow harden his approach? (3)
- Increased press censorship
- Used more centralised Special Branch surveillance to intercept Congress communications
- Ordered a search for information to allow him to suggest that Congress was pro-Nazi
What did Gandhi declare in 1942 (3)
- Britain was unable to defend India
- India should prepare a defence strategy of peaceful non-cooperation
- Argued that Japan’s hostility was directed at Britain and India would be able to negotiate peace (Congress declined to agree)
How was the government aware of the plans of civil disobediance
Through intercepts in summer 1942
When was the Quit India Resolution announced
8 August 1942, Gandhi asked Indians to “Do or Die”
British response to Quit India - Congress
- Congress leaders across India were arrested
- The Congress working committee was imprisoned (but its members were able to meet freely, and so continued political discussions)
British response to Quit India amongst general population (4)
- Police shot on sight those breaking curfew
- Conducted public whippings
- about 100,000 protestors arrested
- over 1,000 killed
Specific example of violence in Quit India
- Initial Delhi hartal resulted in arson and the killing of 14 people by police
What emergency powers did Linlithgow get
- the Revolutionary Movements Ordinance gave the viceroy emergency powers
- ALTHOUGH, it was initially struck down by courts and reissued with slight amendments by government
When did the British suppress Quit India + how
End of 1942, using 57 infantry battalions to restore order
What had the British lost in the Quit India movement (2)
- Lost their moral authority within India
- Tainted US opinion; saw the British as more interested in preserving their empire than defeating the common enemy of democracy
When did Wavell become viceroy
October 1943
Wavell’s actions in response to the Bengal famine (3)
- Diverted soldiers to assist with the distribution of food
- introduced rationing
- Control of panic buying and profiteering
Britain’s wartime expenditure
-By 1945 the war time expenditure was £70 million a day
Total British debt was £2.73 billion
How much did Britain spend on administering the Empire
-Amount the government received was £1,400 million HOWEVER cost of administering was £2 billion
Evidence of the empire declining for decades (war just exacerbated this) (2)
-Imports from Britain to India had fallen from £83 million in 1929 to £39 million in 1936
-Japanese competition in the 1930s further squeezed out British goods
WHY was the fall of Singapore significant (4)
- The whole of Asia now lay open to the Japanese
- Calcutta, Madras and ports along the Bay of Bengal had come under attack from Japan’s ships and aircraft
- Linlithgow didn’t have sufficient armed forces
- FEARED Indians would co-operate with the Japanese
when was the fall of Singapore
15 February 1942
Why was British policy influenced by the USA
- British government became increasingly dependent on the United States for military and financial support
Why was the August offer 1940 offered?
The British government was under increasing pressure to make political concessions to Indians
What was offered in the August offer? (4)
- ‘representative’ Indians would join his Executive Council
- A War Advisory Council would be established that would include the princes and other interested parties
- Assurance that the government would not adopt any new constitution without the prior approval of Muslim India
- Dominion
How did groups react to the August offer
- Quickly rejected by Congress and individual civil disobedience campaigns began that saw the arrest of 20,000 within a year
- For Congress there was little new in the August Offer, which repeated the offer of Dominion Status that Congress had rejected
what did the august offer show about the AIML
Further evidence of the strength of the Muslim League
-offer had been based on proposals submitted by Jinnah
Why did Churchill send Cripps (2)
- To secure full Indian cooperation and support for the war effort
- recognised that some sort of self-determination would be necessary in return
Why was Gandhi furious at Cripps’ proposal (3)
- No new concessions
- not willing to accept a situation where states were allowed to opt out of a united India
- Indian opinion saw it as Britain clinging on to India at all costs
Why was Churchill and Linlithgow angry at Cripps
Believed that the Raj had to remain in control while the war against Germany continued
Why did Jinnah reject the Cripps proposal
- Did not believe that Cripps went far enough to safeguard Muslim interests
Factors that led to the failure of the Mission (4)
-Lord Linlithgow
-American influence
-Churchill
-Cripps
How did Linlithgow lead to the failure of the Cripps mission
- Not briefed about the Cripps Mission and felt immediately undermined
- worsened when Linlithgow felt that Cripps had failed to consult him during negotiations
How did the American influence cause the Cripps mission to fail (3)
- Churchill resented the US influence on the process (which hardened his attitude against reforms)
- talks also made more complicated by the presence of Colonel Louis Johnson, an American who acted as a representative of FDR, had no experience or skills suitable
- encouraged Cripps to include an Indian Defence Minister
How did Churchill cause the Cripps mission to fail
- Strongly opposed to reforms
- only wanted to be seen to be addressing the issue to ensure US support in the War
How did Cripps cause the Cripps mission to fail
- negotiated beyond his ‘remit’
- Final offer to Congress had not been approved by Churchill
Significance of the Cripps mission (2)
- AIML were encouraged by the prospect of the states ‘opting out’ the new Dominion- Cripps was the first British official to publicly discuss the possibility of 2 independent separate states
- Congress was ‘blamed’ for the failure of the Mission. Churchill presented Congress, not himself, as the primary obstacle to reform in India
When was the Quit India campaign launched
8 August 1942- Congress officially sanctioned Gandhi’s satyagraha
What did Congress leaders tell their supporters to do for the Quit India campaign
make India ungovernable
What did Linlithgow do after the failure of Cripps (2)
Linlithgow increased press censorship while using more centralised Special Branch surveillance to intercept Congress communications
What did Linlithgow do before Quit India (Congress)
- Congress leaders across India were arrested in morning raids
- Congress working committee was imprisoned
Quit India British repression
-Police shot on sight those breaking curfew and conducted public whippings
-hundreds killed
-about 500 arrested without trial
How did the British suppress Quit India
- used 57 battalions to restore order
- large scale repression
- All Indian members of the Executive Council resigned
