unit 4 essay plans Flashcards
How accurate is it to say that the ‘Quit India’ campaign, launched by Congress in 1942, was the most important factor in the decision to grant India independence in 1947?
PARA 1 QUIT INDIA
yes:
-urged Indians to become their own leaders, mass imprisonment to overwhelm raj
-it was a direct challenge to the Raj, and would make any compromise difficult
-seen by the British as more of a challenge as they took pre-emptive action against the leaders, rather than reacting to events.
-riots, killings and attacks on europeans began, infrastructure needed to fight a Japanese invasion was destroyed. over 1000 died as a result of the Quit India campaign- again breached satyagraha non violence
No:
- Congress spent months arguing about the campaign giving raj time to prepare
-congress leadership arrested day after Quit India started. activists imprisoned, offices were raided etc
-nehru and most congress party members were arrested
PARA 2- VIOLENCE OF JINNAH AND MUSLIM LEAGUE
-Jinnah’s day of direct action in response to the may statememt rulted in thousands of deaths in the first 72 hours
-The willingness of leaders on both sides to use violence and accept the possibility of a large loss of life, e.g. Nehru’s refusal to compromise and Jinnah’s call for a day of Direct Action
-Gandhi refered to bloodbath and jinnah said its worth loss of muslim life
-The inability of Wavell to deal with the nascent civil war that he was facing. His fears of this led him to develop a secret evacuation plan for both the British army and British civilians in India
-The impact of communal violence in influencing the British government’s decision to bring forward the date of independence from June 1948 to August 1947.
-decision was ultimately made because of violence of civil war that jinnah declared, avoidance of violence
-communal violence escalated when mounbatten came to violence, not giving him much choice, not down to him but down to violence called by jinnah
-partition was his idea as declared in Lahore declaration
- Failure to reach agreement with Congress at the Simla Conference, 1945 showed even more need for partition
PARA 3 BRITISH SITUATION AND MOUNTBATTEN
yes:
-The role played by Mountbatten in negotiations and decision making, including his preferential treatment of Congress.(mountbatten declaration etc)
-economic state, could not invest in india
-boundary commission played huge role in partition
no:
-The desire of the Labour government to withdraw from India as soon as possible in order to avoid having to deal with India’s problems and to be able to rebuild Britain in the post-war era RESULT OF VIOLENCE BEING TOO MUCH
-mountbatten declaration (as a result of violence) however was the one calling legislative change
-however balkan plan was a result of hindu muslim violence
-india governed themselves in ww2 showing they were capable of self gov
How accurate is it to say that the Second World War was the most significant factor driving Indian nationalism in the years 1935-45?
SECOND WORLD WAR- YES HINDU NATIONALISM
-CONGRESS REACTION (defience)
-britain spent 1.5 million each year modernising army giving india self worth and sense of nationalism
-A second argument for why the Second World war was the most significant factor in driving Indian nationalism was that USA had put pressure on Britain in 1941 to let India have self-government or Independence as Roosevelt believed all people should have self- determination and dint want Russia or japan to take over. Lead to cripps mission
NO IDEATION OF MUSLIM PATITION
-muslim league happy congress. Inistries withdrew and increased the influence they had on politics (linlithgows meeting with jinnah)
-lahore declaration declared desire for partition- opposite of nationalism
-however agueably spiked due to congress’s reactin to ww1
BENGAL FAMINE
-gandhi and jinnah claimed it was result of inadeqacey of the british but it mainly erupted due to effects of ww2
‘The impact of communal violence after the Second World War was the most significant factor in the British decision to partition the Indian subcontinent in August 1947’. How far do you agree?
COMMUNAL VIOLENCE
-Gandhi Quit india campaign descended into violence
-jinnah direct action day in response to may statement lead to violence
-The willingness of leaders on both sides to use violence and accept the possibility of a large loss of life, e.g. Nehru’s refusal to compromise and Jinnah’s call for a day of Direct Action
-Gandhi refered to bloodbath and jinnah said its worth loss of muslim life
-Violence was so severe that wavell couldnt deal with it and planned evacuation of british
-communal violence in influencing the British government’s decision to bring forward the date of independence from June 1948 to August 1947.
-communal violence escalated when mounbatten came to violence, not giving him much choice, not down to him but down to violence called by jinnah
ROLE PLAYED BY MOUNTBATTEN
-The role played by Mountbatten in negotiations and decision making, including his preferential treatment of Congress.
-mountbatten declaration etc
-BALKAN PLAN
-boundy commission
HOWEVER AS A RESULT OF VIOLENCE
BRITISH SITUATION
–economic state, could not invest in india
-india governed themselves in ww2 showing they were capable of self gov
-The desire of the Labour government to withdraw from India as soon as possible in order to avoid having to deal with India’s problems and to be able to rebuild Britain in the post-war era RESULT OF VIOLENCE BEING TOO MUCH
How accurate is it to say that the decision to partition India in 1947 was made as a result of the actions taken in the post-war years by Mountbatten, rather than those taken by Jinnah?
MOUNTBATTEN
-mountbatten declaration (as a result of violence) however was the one calling legislative change
-decision to merge princely states in partition
-brought forward date of idependence (but as a result of violence created by jinnah)
-boundary commission played huge role in partition
-werakness of plan ba;kan and showing it to nehru
JINNAHS DIRECT ACTION
-decision was ultimately made because of violence of civil war that jinnah declared, avoidance of violence
-communal violence escalated when mounbatten came to violence, not giving him much choice, not down to him but down to violence called by jinnah
-led to equal violence from congress
JINNAHS IDEOLOGY
partition was his idea as declared in Lahore declaration
- Failure to reach agreement with Congress at the Simla Conference, 1945 showed even more need for partition
How far do you agree that the Second World War hindered rather than helped the advance of India towards Independence?
HINDER
-linlithgow breaching gov of india act 1935
-congress reaction to outbreak (how it hindered), gave britain more control as they had stepped down
-consequences of quit india (lots of congress put in prison)
HELPED- INTERNAL
-Congress’s reaction to linlithgow breaching gov of india act seperated them from muslim league more as a Jinnah saw this as an opportunity to push for partition
-sucess of quit india in gaining widespread support against colonial rule
HELPED- INTERNATIONAL
india’s disappointment in the atalantic charter not applying to them lead to Roosevelt pushing Churchill to give india dependence, resulting in Churchill sending in the cripps mission (progression)
-britains economic impact meant it had less means for controlling india as it had so much wartime debt (3 billion)
