Indian+Independence

Indian Independence:

**pg. 657-661 Notes:**

 * India: The Makings of the Nationalist Challenge to the British Raj:**
 * **MI: By the last years of the 19th century, the Western-educated minority of the colonized in India and the Philippines were giving voice to their political concerns** --> showed more signs of resistance because it had been colonized for longer time
 * Due to India's size and the pivotal role it played in the British Empire, Indian nationalist movement pioneer patterns of nationalist challenge and European retreat that were later followed in many other colonies
 * key themes: importance of charismatic leaders in the spread of anticolonial struggle to the peasant and urban masses, and a reliance on nonviolent forms of protest--> repeated again and again
 * **National Congress Party** led Indians to independence and governed through most of postcolonial era
 * stemmed from regional associations of Western-educated Indians that were more like study-clubs
 * such associations were centered in Bombay, Poona, Calcutta, Madras
 * the Congress Party from by Indian leaders in 1885 consisted of numerous high-ranking British officials
 * believed that the opinions of education Indians could be made known to the government --> heading off discontent and political protest
 * some members of party voiced concern for the growing poverty of the Indian masses and the drain of wealth from the subcontinent to Great Britain
 * removal of barriers to Indian employment in the colonial bureaucracy
 * increased Indian representation in all-Indian and local legislative bodies
 * Western-educated Indians believed they were met with British racism
 * thought to have been why they had poor salaries, limited opportunities for advancement in colonial administration
 * in annual meetings, members of Congress discovered no matter what area of India they originated from, they met similar outcomes
 * Indians shared similar grievances, similar educational and class backgrounds, and increasing contacts through the Congress party led to a growing sense of nationalism


 * Social Foundations of a Mass Movement:**
 * **MI: Discontent of Indians resulting from social and economic disruptions at the hands of British rule fueled Indian desire for independence.** Indians began to believe that they had no voice in order, leading to Indian desire for independence
 * discontent for British rule led to substantial numbers in recruits for nationalist campaigns
 * Indian businessmen were angered by the favoritism the British rulers showed to British investors in establishing trade policies in India
 * Indian political leaders stressed such inequities and the more general loss to the Indian people resulting from the "drain" of Indian resources under colonial rule
 * large portion of Indian government funds went towards expenses of the huge army that mainly fought wars elsewhere in British empire
 * Indians also paid for large salaries and pensions of British administrators, who occupied positions that Indians were qualified to assume
 * gov't bought goods manufactured in Great Britain
 * served to buttress British economy that was fast losing ground to the US and Germany
 * ensured that the classic colonial relationship b/t a manufacturing European colonizer and its raw-material producing overseas dependencies was maintained
 * needs of British home economy pushed Indian peasantry toward production of cash crops, such as cotton, jute, indigo
 * decline of food production played major role in regional famines that struck pre-WWI era
 * Radical Indian nationalists charged that British were indifferent to suffering caused by food shortages, outbreaks of epidemic disease
 * resulted in landlessness and chronic poverty


 * Rise of Militant Nationalism:**
 * **MI: Some of the issues that Indian nationalist leaders stressed in their early attempts to build a mass base had great appeals for devout Hindus.** Nationalism was based on Hindu beliefs
 * campaigns to protect cows, which have long had special status for Hindus in South Asia
 * religious-oriented causes often strongly alienated the adherents of other faiths, esp. Muslim


 * Some leaders, such as **B.G. Tilak**, was little concerned by the Hindu-Muslim split
 * believed that since Hindus made up the overwhelming majority of the Indian pop., nationalism should be built on appeals to Hindu religiosity
 * Tilak worked to promote restoration and revival of ancient traditions of Hinduism
 * opposed women education and raised very low marriage age for women
 * turned festivals for Hindu gods into political demonstrations
 * demanded boycott of British manufactured goods
 * sought to persuade Indians to refuse to serve in colonial administration and military
 * demanded full independence, w/ no deals or delays and threatened violent rebellion if British failed to comply
 * Tilak's promotion of a very reactionary sort of Hinduism offended and frightened moderate and progressive Hindus, Muslims, and followers of other religions, ie. Sikhs
 * British imprisoned him when finding his writings to underground organizations that advocated violent revolt
 * Other major threat to British in India pre-WWI came from Hindu communalists who advocated the violent overthrow of the colonial regime
 * favored clandestine movements over mass demonstrations
 * many young Bengalis were attracted to underground secret societies
 * led by quasi-religious guru-style leaders who exhorted them to build up their physiques with Western-style calisthenics and learn to use firearms and make bombs
 * British officials and government buildings were the major targets of terrorist assassination plots and sabotage
 * Western-educated Indian lawyers became the dominant force in nationalist politics
 * Gandhi, Jinnah, Nehru would provide many of the movement's key leaders throughout the struggle for independence
 * the approach of those who advocated a peaceful, constitutionalist route to decolonization was given added appeal by timely political concessions on part of the British
 * **Morley-Minto reforms** -1909- provided educated Indians with considerably expanded opportunities both to vote for and serve on local and all-Indian legislative councils


 * The Emergence of Gandhi and the Spread of the Nationalist Struggle:**
 * **MI: Mohandas Gandhi emerged as a new leader who turned localized protest into a sustained all-India campaign against policies of colonial overlords.**
 * in the months following the outbreak of WWI, Indians rallied to British defense
 * Indian princes offered much war loans; Indian soldiers bore brunt of the war effort in east Africa and Middle East
 * nationalist, such as Gandhi and Tilak toured India selling war bonds
 * wartime inflation affected all parts of Indian pop.
 * Indian peasants were angered by rise in market produce
 * upset by their inability to sell what they produced b/c of shipping shortages linked to the war
 * Indian laborers saw their low wages drop as prices rose
 * their bosses grew rich from profits earned in war productions
 * localities suffered from famines --> exacerbated by wartime transport shortages that impeded relief efforts
 * at the end of the war in 1918, moderate Indian politicians were frustrated by the British refusal to honor wartime promises
 * British officials promised, if support for war continued, they would move towards self-gov. w/in empire
 * raised Indian hopes in **Montagu-Chelmsford reforms** of 1919
 * increased the powers of Indian legislators at the all-India level and placed much of the provincial administration of India under their control
 * offset by the passage of the **Rowlatt Act**
 * placed severe restrictions on key Indian civil rights, such as freedom of press
 * such conditions fueled local protest during and immediately after the war
 * Monhandas Gandhi emerged as leader, forging localized protest into sustained all-India campaign against colonial overlords
 * Gandhi appealed to both the masses and Western-educated nationalist politicians in using:
 * strategy for protest that he worked out a decade earlier as the leader of a successful movement of resistance to restrictive laws imposed on Indian migrant community in south Africa
 * stressed nonviolent but aggressive protest tactics endeared him both moderates and to more radical elements w/in nationalist movement
 * advocated peaceful boycotts, strikes, noncooperation, and mass demonstrations = **satyagraha**, or truth force, weakened British control
 * combined the career of a Western-educated lawyer w/ attributes of a traditional Hindu ascetic and guru
 * under Gandhi's leadership, nationalist protest surged in India during 1920s and 1930s

**pg 722-723 Notes:**

 * The Winning of Independence in South and Southeast Asia**
 * **MI: After WWI, India won independece, when the subcontinent was split in two.**
 * India/ Pakistan
 * outbreak of WWI put an end to the accommodation b/t the Indian National Congress and the British leaders in the late 1930s
 * Congress leaders offered to support the Allies' war effort if the British would give them a significant share of power at an all-India level and commit themselves to Indian independence once the conflict was over
 * rejected by both viceroy in India and in Britain by Churchill
 * labor members of the coalition gov. indicated that they were willing to negotiate India's eventual independence
 * **Quit India Movement**- mass civil disobedience campaigns, beginning summer 1942
 * British responded with repression and mass arrests, and for the remainder of the war, Gandhi, Nehru, and other major Congress politicians were imprisoned
 * only the Communists, who were committed to the antifascist movement, rallied under British cause
 * **Muslim League**
 * under **Muhammad Ali Jinnah**, won much favor from British for its wartime support
 * as their demands for a separate Muslim state in the subcontinent hardened, the links b/t British and Jinnah and other League leaders became a key factor in struggle for decolonization in south Asia
 * 1945-1947= decolonization, British and key congress party politicians believed that bloodbath can only be averted through partition--> creation of two nations in the subcontinent: one secular, one Muslim
 * Muslim state--> Pakistan
 * Hindu state --> India
 * bloodbath occurred anyways, b/c of haste w/ with British withdrew forces from the deeply divided subcontinent
 * Vicious Hindu-Muslim and Muslim-Sikh communal rioting, neither women nor children spared --> after British withdrawal, terrorist attacks took place
 * may have totaled 10 million people dead
 * no longer a Gandhi to preach tolerance and communal coexistance
 * Jan. 30, 1948 - shot by Hindu fanatic
 * In granting independence to India, British removed the keystone from the arch on the empire that spanned 3 continents
 * Burma, Ceylon won their independence peacefully in the following years
 * India's independence and Gandhi's civil disobedience campaigns inspired successful struggles for independence in Ghana, Nigeria, and other African colonies

2.) Leadership Analysis of Gandhi



 * Name of Leader: Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi ||
 * Lifespan: Oct. 2, 1869 - Jan. 30, 1948 || Title: Mahatma Gandhi(Great Soul), Bapu(Father) ||
 * Country/region: India ( Porbandar, Bombay Presidency,British India) || Years in Power: ||
 * Political, Social, & Economic Conditions Prior to Leaders Gaining Power:
 * India was a British outpost:
 * set high taxes for Indians, with high prices on food supplies, while wages remained low
 * British hierarchy --> British officials took high-position jobs that most Indians were well-qualified for
 * Indians = low wages
 * limited international trade besides w/ Britain
 * large amounts of Indian revenue devoted to British war efforts that took place elsewhere
 * British promised self-government, if Indians rallied behind British in war, but this was never upheld by the British
 * Montagu-Chelmsford Reform gave Indians more power
 * Rowlatt Act offset this by severely limiting rights of Indians ||
 * Ideology, Motivation, Goals:
 * Gandhi appealed to both the masses and Western-educated nationalist politicians in using:
 * strategy for protest that he worked out a decade earlier as the leader of a successful movement of resistance to restrictive laws imposed on Indian migrant community in south Africa
 * stressed nonviolent but aggressive protest tactics endeared him both moderates and to more radical elements w/in nationalist movement
 * advocated peaceful boycotts, strikes, noncooperation, and mass demonstrations = **satyagraha**, or truth force, weakened British control


 * combined the career of a Western-educated lawyer w/ attributes of a traditional Hindu ascetic and guru

Sources:
 * under Gandhi's leadership, nationalist protest surged in India during 1920s and 1930s
 * promoted education (Nai Talim)
 * practiced celibacy --> philosophy of Brahmacharya — spiritual and practical purity — largely associated with celibacy and asceticism.
 * Gandhi earnestly believed that a person involved in public service should lead a simple life.
 * gave up Western clothing, which he associated with wealth and success
 * renounced Western lifestyle
 * Swaraj- Gandhi was a self-described philosophical anarchist, and his vision of India meant India without an underlying government.His idea was that true self-rule in a country means that every person rules his or herself and that there is no state which enforces laws upon the people.
 * believed that this could be achieved through nonviolent meditation ||
 * Significant Actions & events During Term of Power:
 * 1893- Gandhi traveled to South Africa to take a position as a legal consultant for an Indian trading and shipping company.
 * consisted of two British colonies — Cape and Natal — and two Dutch colonies — Transvaal and the Orange Free State
 * 1894 Gandhi worked with other Indian-rights activists in South Africa to create the Natal Indian Congress, an organization committed to giving Indians a collective voice in South African politics.
 * 1899- Gandhi organized an Indian Ambulance Corps at the beginning of the Boer War (1899-1902) to provide relief to injured British soldiers.
 * Gandhi established the Phoenix Settlement, where his followers and friends (both Indian and European) experimented with living in community.
 * This included a life devoted to vegetarianism, fasting, and alternative farming techniques.
 * 1920- Gandhi organized a massive boycott of British goods and taxes to protest Western materialism and the British economic exploitation of India.
 * Gandhi promoted locally produced goods over those imported from Britain.
 * 1930- In protest of the Salt Act (1882), which forbade Indians from making their own salt, Gandhi led a 200-mile march from his ashram in Ahmedabad to the coastal town of Dandi (also in Gujarat.)
 * 1932- Gandhi began his “fast until death” to protest the British proposal to create a separate electorate for the untouchable caste.
 * 1940- In response to British censorship, Gandhi launched another satyagraha campaign, resulting in the arrest of thousands of protesters.
 * 1942- Gandhi launched what became known as the “Quit India” movement. The Indian National Congress passed the “Quit India” resolution demanding that the British recognize Indian independence. ||
 * Short-Term effects:
 * Civil Disobedience/ ahimsa
 * inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. || Long-Term Effects:
 * Indian independence
 * advocated truth and for others to do the same
 * simplicity --> frugal lifestyle
 * self rule/ government --> swaraj ||
 * 1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohandas_Karamchand_Gandhi
 * 2) http://www.exeas.org/asian-revolutions/pdf/gandhi-timeline.pdf

An important theme in Indian independence is the idea of Identity. Different identities played a role in the British decision to partition India.
 * 3. Indian Identity **

Before developing connections between Nationalism and identity brainstorm answers to the following questions.


 *  What is an Identity?
 * An identity is a unique characteristic that distinguishes a certain group of people from another
 *  How are our identities formed?
 *  Identities are shaped by an individual's environment, experiences, actions, and influences.
 *  How does our identity influence the way we see ourselves and others?
 *  Our identity creates a certain bias and possibly even disdain for those different from our identity. We can either be accepting of other identities, or counter them and believe that our own characteristics are better. Our identity can alter our perceptions of others in either a negative or positive way, depending on preference.
 *  What is conformity?
 *  Conformity is behaving and acting in a manner that one considers "normal" or accepted within a certain group. It is essentially following what others do and have done.
 *  How does a society decide who belongs and who does not?
 *  Society judges whether one belongs, or not, based on shared characteristics or views. If one shares the same ideas and characteristics with the society, they are accepted.
 *  How do our attitudes and beliefs influence our thinking?
 * Our attitudes and beliefs guide us in determining what is best and what is desired. One will shape their goals based on their beliefs.
 *  What does it mean elong to a group?
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"> To belong in a group means that you share the same characteristics as the group. You share the same ideas with the group and they accept you because of your similarities.
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"> How is membership defined and by whom is membership defined?
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"> Membership of a group is defined by the creator. The creator will decide who is admitted or rejected, based on certain requirements, such as viewpoint, ideas, or characteristics.



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