Decolonization
Ch 34
India
Section 1
Congress Party
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Who: Hindus & Muslims
What: India’s national political party
Where: India
When: 1940s
Why: India had 350mill Hindus & 150 mill
Muslims; most of Congress party were Hindu,
but some Muslim; advocated for
independence against GB & fought for Indian
interests
Mohandas Gandhi
• Who: leader of the Congress party
• What: launched the 1st nonviolent campaign for
independence
• Where: India
• When: 1920s
• Why: his ideas inspired Indians of all ethnic,
religious backgrounds to achieve independence;
he puts the thoughts of independence in Indians’
heads; a Hindu who doesn’t like his peacefulness
b.n Hindus & Muslims extremist assassinated him
in 1948
1. What were the major concerns of
the Muslim league?
• They thought that the mainly Hindu Congress
party looked out primarily for Hindu interests,
not Muslim interests
• Wanted to ensure a safe & secure region for
Muslims
Muslim League
• Who: Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Indian Muslims
• What: an organization founded to help protect
Muslim interests; rival group to the Congress
party
• When: 1906
• Where: India
• Why: they felt the Congress party only looked out
for the Hindus; they stated they would never
accept independence if it meant rule by the
Hindu-dominated Congress party
2. What problems had to be resolved
in the months prior to independence?
• Division of India- who should be in power?
How should we divide the land? Where would
ppl go and how would the gov’t be run?
Partition
• Who: British officials, Muslims & Hindus
• What: the term given to the division of India
into 2 separate Hindu and Muslim nations
• Where: India & Pakistan
• When: 1946
• Why: British officials were convinced that
partition was the only way to ensure a safe
region; the NW & Eastern regions of India
where most Muslims lived = Pakistan
3. What were the terms of the cease
fire?
• 1/3 of Kashmir under Pakistan control & the
rest under Indian control
4. How did Nehru contribute to India’s
modernization?
• He led new independent nations in neutral
alliances
• He industrialized
• Pushed for social reform
• Expanded human & women’s rights
Jawaharlal Nehru
• Who: Prime Minister
• What: the independent nation of India’s first Prime
Minister
• Where: India
When: 1947-1964
• Why: he was one of Gandhi’s devoted followers;
he led other newly independent nations of the
world in following an alliance of countries that
were neutral in the Cold War; he pushed for
industrialization & sponsored social reforms; he
tried to elevate the lower castes; his death left the
Congress party w. no strong leader= divisions in
India
5. What events led to the creation of
Bangladesh?
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E. Pakistan was hit by huge tidal wave
W. Pakistan didn’t transfer aid quickly enough
Demonstrations broke outCivil war in Pakistan
2 separate nations
6. What major problem did Indira
Gandhi face?
• Disarming the Tamil rebels
• Challenges from Sikh extremists that wanted
to be an independent state
Indira Gandhi
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Who: Nehru’s daughter, Prime minister
What: took control of India after her father died
Where: India
When:1966-1984
Why: she faced many threats from Sikh
extremists & other political factions throughout
India; sent Indian troops to overrun Golden
Temple= killed 500 sikhs & destroyed sacred
property = assassinated by Sikhs in 1984
7. What was the cause of turmoil in Sri
Lanka?
• Group of militant Tamils fought for their own
country of Tamil
Benizir Bhutto
• Who: Bhutto’s daughter; Prime minister
• What: took over Pakistan after her father was
executed
• Where: Pakistan
• When: 1970s- 1996
• Why: she was removed from office by a
military coup = the military rules Pakistan =
continues to struggle w. challenges from
Muslim militants & ongoing disputes w. India
Southeast Asia
Section 2
Bell Act
• Who: Americans & Filipinos
• What: established free trade b.n US & the
Philippines
• Where: Philippines
• When: 1960s
• Why: this est. & had to be passed b4 the US
would pay the $620million in war damages it
promised to the Philippines; Filipinos were
worried that this would allow US to exploit their
resources- but they passed it anyway
a. Why did the Filipinos object to this
act?
• Filipinos were worried that this would allow
US to exploit their resources
b. Why did they agree to sign it?
• To have free trade w. the US & get the $$ the
US promised them
Why did the US demand a long lease
on it’s military and naval bases in the
Philippines?
• To maintain military presence in Asia w. the
start of the Cold War
• To get valuable resources
Ferdinand Marcos
• Who: President of the Philippines
• What: President who imposed an authoritarian
regime & stole billions of $$ from Philippines
• Where: Philippines
• When: 1965-1986
• Why: stoles millions of $$ from public treasury;
limited to 8 years of presidential office but
imposed a law to keep power; an election brought
Corazon Aquino who challenged him- he refused to
acknowledge her victory = the public overthrew
him =he fled to Hawaii & died
3. Why does the Philippines restrict
the Pres. To a single term?
• To prevent the abuse of power that occurred
under Marcos’ rule
Corazon Aquino
• Who: Benigno Aquino’s widow, opponent to Marcos
• What: challenged Marcos to presidency of Philippines
& won
• Where: Philippines
• When: 1986
• Why: she won the presidency decisively- Marcos
refused to acknowledge it- he made a law to stay in
power = ppl were mad = kicked him out & made her
president; promised a more open & democratic form
of gov’t; ratified a new constitution; ended the lease
on US bases thru negotiation
4 A. What role did General Ne Win
play in Burmese history?
• Set up a military gov’t w. a goal to make a
socialist state
4B. What role did National League for
Democracy play in Burmese history?
• They won 80% of the seats in the 1990
election- but the military gov’t denies it
• = the military gov’t stayed in charge in Burma
Aung San Suu Kyi
• Who: daughter of Aung San, leader of National
League for Democracy
• What: was active in Nat’l League for Democracy
• When: 1988-2003
• Where: Burma, Southeast Asia
• Why: for her pro-Democracy activities she was
put on house arrest 2 separate times = left many
Burmese residents doubting whether their
country will ever accept democracy; military gov’t
remained
5A. What’s the current political status
of Singapore?
• Independent city-state
5B. What’s the current political status
of Malaya? Sarawak & Sabah?
• United into a federation of what’s called
“Malaysia”
Sukarno
• Who: Indonesian President
• What: led the effort to establishing an independent
Indonesia
• Where: Indonesia
• When: 1949
• Why: he proclaimed Indonesia’s independence
from Netherlands & named himself president; a
guerilla army backed him up; the Dutch attempted
to regain control but after losing support of the US
the Dutch gave Indonesia it’s independence
Suharto
• Who: General Suharto
• What: sought power for himself, began a bloodbath in
which 500,000 to 1 mill Indonesians were killed
• Where: Indonesia
• When: 1965-1998
• Why: named President in 1967; turned Indonesia into a
police state; heavily criticized; little tolerance for
religious freedoms; bribery & corruptioncommonplace; economy improved for awhile BUT
gov’t repression & economic crisis = forced him to step
down= then they moved towards Democracy
6. What factors finally forced Suharto
to step down?
• Growing unrest over both Gov’t repression &
a crippling Economic crisis