Chapter 30: Striving for Independence
India: Early 20th century
• 1900-1941, India’s population
increased dramatically
• Environmental pressure,
deforestation-declining farm land
• Society divided into classes:
peasants, wealthy property
owners, urban craftspeople,
traders, workers
• Many languages; English common
medium of communication of
Western-educated middle class
• Majority practiced Hinduism
• Muslims about one-quarter of
population-majority in northwest
& in eastern Bengal
British Rule & Indian Nationalism
• Colonial India ruled by viceroy &
administered by Indian Civil
Service
• Technology mitigated dangers of
industrialization
– suppressed development of
radical politics
– maximized benefit to Britain &
Civil Service
• At turn of century, most Indians
accepted British rule, but racism
& discrimination inspired
Hindus to establish Indian
National Congress -1885
• Muslims, fearful of Hindu
dominance & encouraged by
Britain founded All-India Muslim
League in 1906
• Two independence movements
British Rule & 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
• Vague promises of selfgovernment
• Turning Point-Amritsar
Massacre
• British general ordered
troops to fire into a crowd
of 10,000 demonstrators
Mahatma Gandhi & Militant Nonviolence
• English educated
lawyer-practiced in
South Africa
• Returned to India
& joined Indian
National Congress
• Political ideas
included ahimsa
(nonviolence) &
satyagraha (search
for truth)
• Moved political
efforts from elite
to 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 war effort,
• Indian National Congress
opposed war
• Minority joined Japanese
side
Partition & Independence
• In 1940, Muslim League’s
leader Muhammad Ali Jinnah,
demanded country for Muslims
• After World War II, Britain’s
new Labour Party government
prepared for independence
• Plan was rushed through
before full compromise
reached
• Mutual animosity between
Indian National Congress &
Muslim League led to partition
of India into two states: India &
Pakistan
• Violence & massive disruption
followed as Hindus left
predominantly Muslim areas &
Muslims left predominantly
Hindu areas
• Hundreds of thousands died
Colonial Africa: Economic & Social Changes,
1900-1945
• Outside Algeria, Kenya, S. Africa,
few Europeans lived in Africa
• exported raw materials-few
Africans benefitted
• 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 colonial era,
many Africans turned to
Christianity or Islam
• Contrast between
Western liberal ideas &
realities of racial
discrimination
contributed to rise of
nationalism
Background to Revolution: Mexico in 1910
• Independence-1821- society
deeply divided-few wealthymost poor peasants
• Most good land owned by
wealthy & US companies
• Corruption, bribery rampant
• In 1910, General Porfirio Diaz
ruled for 34 years
• Mexico City modernized
showplace
• brought wealth to few
businessmen
• discrimination against
nonwhite majority
• average Mexican’s standard of
living declined
Revolution/Civil War in Mexico, 1911–1920
• Mexican Revolution
haphazard social revolution
• Leaders represented
different segments of
society
• Madero overthrew Diaz in
1911, then he was
overthrown by Huerta in
1913
• Constitutionalists Carranza
& Obregon led disaffected
middle class & industrial
workers
• Organized armies that
overthrew Huerta in 1914
Mexican Revolution: Civil War
• Emiliano Zapata led peasant
revolt
• Pancho Villa organized army
in N. Mexico
• Neither able to lead
national revolution
• Zapata defeated & killed by
Constitutionalists-1919
• Villa assassinated- 1923
Revolution/Civil War in Mexico, 1911–1920
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Constitutionalists took over after years of
fighting, 2 million casualties; tremendous
damage
Passed agrarian reforms-proposed social
programs-appealed to workers & middle class
Revolution lost momentum in 1920s
1928, National Revolutionary Party founded
Cardenas, removed generals from
government, redistributed land, replaced
church-run schools w/ government schools,
expropriated foreign-owned oil companies
When Cardenas’s term ended in 1940,
Mexico still land of poor farmers-small
industrial base
Revolution established stable political system,
tamed military & Catholic Church; laid
foundation for later industrialization
sparked new creativity in arts
Transformation of Argentina
• At end of 19th c., railroads &
refrigerators allowed
Argentina to become major
exporter of meat
• Pampas-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 & Argentina, to 1929
• Brazil’s elite coffee & cacao planters & rubber exporters
resembled Argentine elite
– lavish lifestyles
– allowed British to build railroads, harbors
– imported all manufactured goods
• Both had small but outspoken middle classes-demanded share in
government-looked to Europe as 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
• intro of new technologies left them dependent on advanced
industrial countries
• Aviation & radio introduced during 1920s; European & U.S.
companies dominated both sectors
The Depression & Vargas Regime in Brazil
• Depression significant turning point
• exports plummeted & economies
collapsed, Argentina & Brazil, turned to
authoritarian regimes
• 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, deforestation
• reforms benefited urban workers-did
nothing to help landless peasants
• Economic recovery unequally distributed
• 1938, Vargas staged second coup,
abolished constitution, made Brazil fascist
state & created precedence of political
violence
• Overthrown in military coup in 1954
Argentina After 1930
• Depression hurt Argentina-political
consequences delayed for years
• 1930, General Jose Uriburu
overthrew popularly elected
president & initiated thirteen years
of rule by generals & oligarquia
• 1943, Colonel Juan Peron led
another coup-modeled government
on Germany’s Nazi regime
• As World War II turned against
Nazis, Peron & wife Eva Peron
appealed to urban workers
• Created new base of supportallowed Peron to win presidency &
established populist dictatorship
• Sponsored rapid industrializationspent lavishly on social welfare
projects
• Peron unable to create stable
government-after his wife died in
1952-overthrown in military coup
Conclusion:
Politics & Economics under Imperialism
• Peoples of sub-Saharan Africa & India remained
under colonial rule after war
• Elites worked toward independence-ordinary people
wanted social justice
• Though politically independent, Mexico, Argentina,
& Brazil economically tied to industrializing nations
• Argentina & Brazil moved toward economic
independence but fell victim to social unrest,
militarism & dictatorship
Conclusion: Problems of Independence
• India gained
independence, but torn
apart by ethnic conflict
• Desire for independence
did not always unite
people against colonial
rulers because of social,
ethnic, & religious
divisions within their
populations