India in the Modern World
Professor Baxter
9/25/02

It took India almost 60 years to gain independence from the British Empire. From its beginnings in the 1880s to India’s independence in 1947 numerous peoples, events and factors contributed to the final product. However it was the effects of World War I that helped to catalyze a disjointed and unorganized independence movement into a coordinated effort that could make a serious push for Indian Independence. Through a new sense of Indian nationalism and British mismanagement World War One’s effects finally put all the pieces in place for Indian Independence.
With Germany’s invasion of Belgium in 1914 Great Britain declared war on Germany. This brought her entire empire including India into the fight against the Triple Alliance. The world war would help to bring together the diverse
Indian populations. When Lord Hardinge informed the Indians that they were at war with Germany in August of 1914 the Indian response was surprising to both the Germans and the British.
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Not only was there almost total support from the
Indian population for the war but they also contributed a huge amount of men, material, and money to the war effort. The Germans were expecting the Indian people to be troublesome to the British which would help to keep troops in India that could otherwise be sent to the frontlines. This was not the case. 1,440,437
Indians volunteered to serve in the war losing 62,056 in battle. 265 million pounds was contributed to the British war coffers.
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As Fred B. Fisher says:
Her industries leaped into unprecedented activity, to supply khaki, tents, blankets, shoes and munitions for the armies of the empire. Her farmers had to make ten seeds grow where one grew before, to produce the needed cotton, jute, wheat and foodstuffs .
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1 Anthony Read and David Fisher. The Proudest Day: India’s Long Road to Independence. New York,
New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc, 1997. p 114.
2 Anthony Read and David Fisher. The Proudest Day. p 115.
3 Fred B. Fisher. India’s Silent Revolution. New York: Macmillan, 1919. p 4.
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India was pouring her heart and soul into the war. Yet this surprising support of the
British Empire was not just out of the goodness of the Indian’s hearts. Since the Indians were fighting in the trenches alongside other members of the British Empire many felt that at the conclusion of the war they to should be granted some of the rights of those citizens. They believed that by giving Indian blood and material in support of the war effort Britain would repay them after the war with new freedoms and maybe
Independence. This would not be the case. However from this large outpouring of support came a new spirit of togetherness. For the first time both Hindus and Muslims were cooperating. On December 31 st
, 1915 both the Indian National Congress and the
Muslim League met in Bombay within walking distance of each other. This was done so that delegates could attend both meetings. Again in 1916 both groups held their meetings near each other and this time at a joint session they produced the Lucknow pact calling for the achievement of self-government.
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The pact called for enlarged legislative councils, membership in the viceroy’s council, the costs of the India office taken over by
Britain, and Indians being placed on equal footings with regards to status and rights within the British Empire as everyone else in the Empire.
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This was a new sign of cooperation between the two factions, brought about due in large part to the nationalism stemming from the war.
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Indians were uniting under a common banner.
British mismanagement of the Indian calls for reform during and directly after
World War I would seriously fuel the Indian Independence Movement. The British offered up vague promises of reform and self government during the war in exchange for
4 Robert Hardgrave and Stanley Kochanek. India Government and Politics in a Developing Nation.
Orlando, Florida: Harcourt Brace & Company, 2000. p 43.
5 Anthony Read and David Fisher. The Proudest Day. P 130.
6 Anthony Read and David Fisher. The Proudest Day. P 121-122.
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the sacrifice of the Indian people. Yet when the reforms came they fell far short of Indian expectations and helped to promote Indian anger. Edwin Montagu in 1917 stated a new government policy of increasing association of Indians in every branch of the administration and the gradual development of self-governing institutions with a view to the progressive realization of responsible government in India as an integral part of the British Empire .
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Yet it would still take two more years before this statement would be supported with a new reform. In 1919 the Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms were passed.
They called for increased Indian participation in two newly formed legislative bodies. However these bodies could only recommend to the viceroy. They carried no real active power. Indian response to the Montagu-Chelmsford
Reforms was mixed. It failed however to take the necessary steps towards independence that Indians were hoping for and so didn’t curtail any Indian efforts for Independence. The final British botch up to come out of World War I was the
Rowlatt Act. The act called for an extension of the war time restrictions of the
Defence of India Act of 1915. It allowed for suspected terrorists to be arrested, detained, interned, and expelled all without any type of judicial cause.
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Indians were furious about the bill. Demonstrations, riots, and strikes broke out through out the country when this bill was passed. One prominent Indian said
The fundamental principles of justice have been uprooted and the constitutional rights of the people have been violated at a time when there is no real danger to the state, by an overfretful and incompetent bureaucracy which is neither responsible to the people nor in touch with real public opinion… In my opinion, a
Government that passes or sanctions such a law in times of peace forfeits its claim to be called a civilized Government and I hope
7 Robert Hardgrave and Stanley Kochanek. India. P 43.
8 Anthony Read and David Fisher. The Proudest Day. P 138.
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that the Secretary of State for India, Mr. Montagu, will advise His
Majesty to signify his disallowance to the Black Act.” 9
Yet the Rowlatt Act was never used by the British. It sat on the books for the required three years and then expired. The damage was still done though. The repercussions of this act echoed on until Indian Independence. These acts allowed Gandhi to finally rise to the head of the Indian Independence Movement.
Gandhi first practiced his satyagrahins that would earn him his reputation in response to the Rowlatt Act. Gandhi stated in response to the Rowlatt Act,
“cooperation in any shape or form with this satanic government is sinful.” 10
The act had provided an opportunity for an inspiring leader to rise to power. A leader who would lead India to her Independence in 1947.
World War I marked a turning point in the fight for Indian Independence.
Before the war India had never seen her peoples united like they would be during the war. The war proved that India could work together to fight for her
Independence. World War I also provided a catalyst for Independence with misdirected British reforms. The reforms would help to galvanize Indians towards Independence and allow Gandhi to rise to the leadership of the
Independence movement.
9 Anthony Read and David Fisher. The Proudest Day. P 139
10 Robert Hardgrave and Stanley Kochanek. India. P 44.
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.
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Hardgrave, Robert L. and Stanley A. Kochanek. India Government and Politics in a Developing Nation. Orlando, Florida: Harcourt Brace & Company,
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“India.” Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2002. © 1997-2002 Microsoft
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