Indian Nationalism vs. British Imperialism
before World War II
OUTLINE:
I.
II.
III.
IV.
Indian Nationalism
Mahatma Gandhi
Amritsar Massacre
1935 Gov’t of India Act
Indian Nationalism before WWII
•Early 20th c., people in India wanted independence from Great
Britain b/c of exploitation by Brits.
•2 nationalist groups formed to fight for independence=
•Muslim League (Muslim)
•Indian Nat’l Congress (Hindu)
•Religious difference were finally not as big as desire to kick GB out
Amritsar Massacre (spark that began Nat’l movement in India)
•People were peacefully protesting in Punjab against the Rowlatt Act
in 1919 (said GB could jail protesters for 2 yrs. w/o trial)
•British military fired on unarmed crowd killing & wounding 100s
•Hindu & Muslims throughout India began to demand independence
forcefully
Mohandas K. Gandhi (“Mahatma”)
•Political & spiritual leader of Indian nationalism —respected by
Hindu & Muslim alike
•Born in India, went to South Africa to practice law
•Encountered major discrimination b/c he was not white (not
black either…)
•1906—14 led protests in South Africa against discrimination
and was jailed, beaten etc (but did not fight back)
Gandhi’s Way: Non-violent Resistance
•Satyagraha = passive, non-violent resistance to un-just laws
& ideas. Requires cooperation of many people
•It is a means to achieve goals against great odds w/o
resorting to losing “moral high ground”
•Works b/c massive resistance of many can not be ignored
Satyagraha in India
•Ppl followed Gandhi’s lead of
non- violent civil disobedience to
achieve ind. Led to:
•Econ. probs for GB b/c ppl
wouldn’t work or buy British goods
•Pol. probs b/c of bad publicity (esp.
during Gandhi’s hunger strikes)
Example: Salt March 1930
•people stopped buying salt from GB & protested by walking to
ocean to make their own salt
•GB reacted violently to non-violence = more bad publicity
1935 Government of India Act
•GB gave India limited independence b/c peaceful nationalism (&
Gandhi) couldn’t be ignored.
• Self-gov’t at local level but GB still controlled national gov’t
•Created more division between Hindus & Muslims b/c they
competed for control of local gov’t—differences began to be HUGE
problems