Chapter 30 Striving for
Independence
Indian Independence Movement
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Between 1900-1941, India’s
population increased dramatically
brought environmental pressure,
deforestation, and a declining
amount of farm land per family
society was divided into many
classes: peasants, wealthy property
owners, and urban craftspeople,
traders, and workers
many languages; English became the
common medium of communication
of the Western-educated middle class
majority practiced Hinduism
Muslims about one-quarter of the
population - a majority in the
northwest and in eastern Bengal
British Rule and Indian Nationalism
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Colonial India was ruled by a viceroy
and administered by the Indian Civil
Service
introduction of technology was
managed to mitigate the dangers of
industrialization, prevent the
development of radical politics, and
maximize the benefits to Britain and
Civil Service
At turn of the century, most Indians
accepted British rule, but racism and
discrimination inspired a group of
Hindus to establish the Indian
National Congress in 1885
Muslims, fearful of Hindu dominance,
founded the All-India Muslim League
in 1906, thus giving India not one,
but two independence movements
British Rule and Indian Nationalism
• British resisted India’s efforts
to industrialize
• India’s first steel mill
established in 1911
• symbol of national pride
• 1918-1919, tensions increased
between Brits & Indians
• a too-vague promise of selfgovernment
• Amritsar Massacre-British
general ordered troops to fire
into a crowd of 10,000
demonstrators
Mahatma Gandhi & Militant Nonviolence
• Gandhi-English-educated
lawyer who practiced in
South Africa then
returned to India & joined
Indian National Congress
• His political ideas
included ahimsa
(nonviolence) &
satyagraha (search for
truth)
• Moved political efforts
from elite to the masses
India Moves Toward Independence
• In 1920s, Indians controlled
education, economy, & public
works
• business people looked to
Gandhi’s successor Jawaharlal
Nehru (1889–1964)—for
leadership
• World War II divided the
Indian people; Indians
contributed heavily to the war
effort, but the Indian National
Congress opposed the war,
and a minority of Indians
joined the Japanese side
Partition and Independence
• In 1940, Muslim League’s leader
Muhammad Ali Jinnah demanded
that Muslims be given own
country
• After World War II, Britain’s new
Labour Party government
prepared for independence
• mutual animosity between Indian
National Congress & Muslim
League led to partition of India
into two states: India and
Pakistan
• Violence & massive disruption
followed as Hindus left
predominantly Muslim areas and
Muslims left predominantly
Hindu areas
Sub-Saharan Africa, 1900–1945
Colonial Africa: Economic & Social Changes
• Outside Algeria, Kenya, and South
Africa, few Europeans lived in
Africa
• Africa was exporter of raw
materials that brought benefit to
Europeans but few Africans
• Africans forced to work in
European-owned mines &
plantations under harsh
conditions for little or no pay
• Colonialism provided little
modern health care
• colonial policies worsened public
health, undermined African
family, & gave rise to large cities
& racial discrimination.
Religious & Political Changes
• During the colonial period,
many Africans turned toward
Christianity or Islam
• Missionaries introduced
Christianity (except in
Ethiopia, where it was
indigenous)
• Islam spread through the
influence and example of
African traders
• Contrast between liberal
ideas imparted by Western
education & realities of racial
discrimination contributed to
rise of nationalism
Background to Revolution: Mexico in 1910
• Upon independence in 1821,
Mexican society was deeply
divided- a few wealthy families
and majority of poor peasants
• Concentration of land ownership
increased after independence
• In 1910, General Porfirio Diaz had
ruled for thirty-four years
• Mexico City was a modernized
showplace
• brought wealth to a small
number of businessmen
• discrimination against the
nonwhite majority & average
Mexican’s standard of living
declined
Revolution and Civil War in Mexico, 1911–1920
• Mexican Revolution was
haphazard social revolution
• leaders represented
different segments of
society
• Madero overthrew Diaz in
1911, was then overthrown
by Huerta in 1913
• Constitutionalists Carranza
& Obregon led disaffected
middle class & industrial
workers
• they organized armies that
overthrew Huerta in 1914
Mexican Revolution
• Zapata led a peasant
revolt
• Pancho Villa organized an
army in northern Mexico
• Neither able to lead a
national revolution
• Zapata defeated & killed
by Constitutionalists in
1919
• Villa was assassinated in
1923
Revolution and Civil War in Mexico, 1911–1920
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Constitutionalists took over Mexico after years
of fighting, 2 million casualties, & tremendous
damage
adopted agrarian reforms – proposed social
programs designed to appeal to workers &
middle class
Mexican Revolution lost momentum in the
1920s
In 1928, National Revolutionary Party founded
Cardenas, removed generals from government,
redistributed land, replaced church-run schools
with government schools, and expropriated the
foreign-owned oil companies that had
dominated Mexico’s petroleum industry
When Cardenas’s term ended in 1940, Mexico
was still a land of poor farmers with a small
industrial base
Mexican Revolution had established a stable
political system, tamed the military and Catholic
Church, & laid foundations for the later
industrialization of Mexico
Revolution sparked new creativity in the arts
Transformation of Argentina
• At end of 19th century,
railroads & refrigerators
allowed Argentina to become
major exporter of meat
• Pampas transformed into great
producer of meat & wheat
• Government represented
interests of oligarquia, small
group of wealthy landowners
• Only cared about farming
• Foreign companies, built
railroads, processing plants, &
public utilities
• Exported agricultural goods
• Imported manufactured goods
Brazil and Argentina, to 1929
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Brazil’s elite coffee and cacao planters & rubber
exporters resembled the Argentine elite
– used their wealth to support a lavish lifestyle;
– allowed the British to build railroads, harbors, and
other infrastructure
– imported all manufactured goods
Both Argentina & Brazil had small but outspoken middle
classes that demanded a share in government and
looked to Europe as a model
Disruption of European industry & world trade in World
War I weakened land-owning classes in Argentina &
Brazil
Urban middle class & wealthy landowners shared power
at expense of landless peasants & urban workers
During 1920s, peace & high prices for agricultural
exports allowed both Argentina & Brazil to industrialize
introduction of new technologies left them again
dependent on the advanced industrial countries
Aviation & radio communications introduced during
1920s, but European & U.S. companies dominated both
sectors
The Depression and the Vargas Regime in Brazil
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The Depression hit Latin America very hardmarks a significant turning point for the region
As value of exports plummeted & economies
collapsed, Argentina & Brazil, turned to
authoritarian regimes
In Brazil, Vargas staged a coup & followed a
policy that increased import duties & promoted
national firms & state-owned enterprises
Industrialization brought usual environmental
consequences: mines, urbanization, slums,
conversion of scrubland to pasture, &
deforestation
Vargas instituted reforms that benefited urban
workers-did nothing to help the landless
peasants
economic recovery was unequally distributed
In 1938, Vargas staged a second coup, abolished
constitution, made Brazil a fascist state, &
created precedence of political violence
He was overthrown in a military coup in 1954
Argentina After 1930
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Economically, Depression hurt Argentina almost
as badly as Brazil, but the political consequences
were delayed for years
In 1930, General Jose Uriburu overthrew the
popularly elected president & initiated thirteen
years of rule by generals and oligarquia
In 1943, Colonel Juan Peron led another coup &
established government that modeled itself on
Germany’s Nazi regime.
As World War II turned against Nazis, Peron &
his wife Eva Duarte Peron appealed to urban
workers
created new base of support- allowed Peron to
win presidency in 1946 & establish populist
dictatorship
Peron’s government sponsored rapid
industrialization-spent lavishly on social welfare
projects, depleting capital that Argentina had
earned during the war
Peron unable to create stable government, &
soon after his wife died in 1952, he was
overthrown in a military coup
Conclusion
Politics and Economics under Imperialism
• The peoples of sub-Saharan Africa and India
remained under colonial rule after the war.
• Elites worked toward independence while ordinary
people wanted social justice
• Though politically independent, Mexico, Argentina,
and Brazil were economically tied to industrializing
nations.
• Argentina and Brazil moved toward economic
independence but fell victim to social unrest,
militarism, and dictatorship in the process.
Conclusion:
The Problems of Independence
• India gained
independence from
colonial rule, but was
torn apart by ethnic
conflict
• The desire for
independence did not
always unite people
against colonial rulers
because of the social,
ethnic, and religious
divisions within their
populations