Topic 2 Flashcards
what led Gandhi to change his mind and develop the idea of swaraj/self-rule?
- The Rowlatt Acts
- Amritsar Massacre
- Muslim community fears - fears that consisted of white europeans and Americans having small concerns for Islamic nations
how effective/successful was Gandhi’s proposal to Congress about his non-cooperation campaign?
very successful, majority agreed - 2:1
what did Gandhi’s non-cooperation campaign entail?
- boycott the law courts
- boycott elections to the new legislative assemblies
- hand back all titles and decorations awarded by the Raj
- remove their children from government schools
- refuse invitations to social events run by the Raj
- withhold taxes
- refuse to buy imported goods
- leave all government posts
did the campaign entail quite unrealistic behaviours?
yes, lawyers, for example, were unlikely to leave their lucrative practices, neither would parents want to deprive their children of an education -HOWEVER, many areas of the non cooperation were realistic and could quite easily bring the machinery of gov to a shuddering halt
did many Indians cooperate with the campaign?
yes: students boycotted their examinations, taxes were not paid, a large number of qualified voters stayed away from the 1920 elections, around 200 lawyers stopped work and during the visit of Duke of Connaught shops were closed throughout Calcutta (where he went to visit) and few Indians attended the official ceremonies
how did millions of Indians react?
They followed their own agendas, violence broke out at different times at different provinces, a hartal was designed to coincide with the visit of the Prince of Wales - turned into 4 days of looting and rioting - leaving 53 dead and hundreds injured, the mob attacked moneylenders at Rangpur, the Muslim Moplahs of Malaba declared a jihad, known as a holy war, killing British ppl and wealthy Hindu and Muslim landlords and moneylenders as well as forcing Hindu peasants and labourers to convert to Islam, Hindus also forced Muslims to ‘purify’ themselves by total immersion in water tanks and rivers -> resulting in many drownings
What was a bad consequence that appeared from the satyagraha movement?
the always fragile Hindu-Muslim alliance was in serious jeopardy
what assisted in bringing a halt to the campaign?
the torching of a police station in Chauri Chaura burning alive 22 Indian policemen - Gandhi immediately withdrew and began his fasting and meditation and few days later called an end to the movement
what did Gandhi do as a result of the ending of the campaign?
he turned away from political agitation to work on a social welfare programme in the villages with, of course, an emphasis on self-sufficiency and spinning and weaving
what happened to Gandhi less than a month after calling off the campaign?
he was arrested and charged with promoting disaffection with the legally established gov
what happened during Gandhi’s two years in prison?
- congress became more involved in peasant communities, understanding their needs and aspirations
- congress became more ready to understand and exploit local grievances and explore how these could be linked to the broader campaign for swaraj
- leadership of congress was passed to Nehru and Das
- the raj returned to its traditional policy of attempting to balance the need to keep control, while at the same time, making concessions to India
what did congress do with the failure of the satyagraha movement?
congress refined and developed its structure and increased its membership and appeal by reaching out to groups and areas hitherto untapped.
extending the appeal of Congress (membership)
- during the period of non cooperation the membership of congress grew by leaps and bounds. -> from a base of 100,000 to around 2,000,000 by the end of 1921
- a large number of muslims left because of what they saw as Gandhi’s failure to support them over their concerns about the break-up of the Islamic Ottoman Empire after WWI
- the membership was overwhelmingly trending upwards nevertheless
- Congress extended its appeal into a wider spread of geographical areas throughout the subcontinent
- Congress also began wooing interest groups that had hitherto been neglected
extending the appeal of Congress (organisation)
- when Gandhi emerged as the leader of Congress the party organisation consisted of 3 administrative levels: local branches, provincial committees and an All India Congress Committee (AICC)
- this structure was revitalised in 1920 since Gandhi believed a new sense of direction and purpose was needed
- cooperation with the raj was to be replaced by non-violent non-cooperation
- membership of the AICC was increased from 161 to 350 and seats were reallocated on a regional population basis.
- great emphasis was placed on recruiting women and from hitherto untapped groups like trade unions
- around 100 additional provincial committees and several hundred more local branches were set up
what was ‘back to basics’ and what did it consist of?
- Gandhi set up the All-India Spinners’ Association, with the intention of spreading the word about hand spinning and weaving as well as promoting the general cause of self-sufficiency
- Gandhi persuaded Congress to embark on campaigns of mass literacy and for the improvement of village sanitation
- Gandhi himself began to campaign more vigorously on behalf of the ‘Untouchables’ in order to enable them to enter fully into Indian society
who were the young hooligans?
bose, nehru and narayan
what did the YH want?
independence and they wanted it NOW. they did not agree/ and were impatient with Congress’ reluctance of not confronting the Raj. THEY DID NOT WANT DOMINION STATUS
what did the Nehru report suggest and recommend?
it recommended dominion status for India on the same terms as those laid down for white self-governing countries within the British Empire. It suggested that the princely states and British India were to be joined in a federation, there would be no further devolution of power.
how did hindus react to Nehru report?
they favoured it, the hindus were to be a permanent majority within central gov
