Gandhi Wartime India

8/14/2019 Gandhi Wartime India

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GANDHIGANDHIGANDHIGANDHI

Wartime India


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Hundreds of thousands of Indian soldiers served during World War I.

After the war ended, Indians expected recognition of their desire for

independence, but instead they experienced the Rowlett Acts and the

Amritsar Massacre.


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World War II lasted from 1939 to 1945. During this period:

Millions of Indian soldiers served with the British forces.

Tens of thousands of other Indian soldiers joined the Indian National

Army, allied with Japan.

.

The Indian National Congress endorsed Gandhis Quit India campaign.

Most of the important Congress leaders spent the wartime years in jail.


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Indian volunteers also served at Dunkirk, in North Africa and in the Italiancampaign.


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Devastating defeats came at the hands of the Japanese in Singapore and

Burma. Many Indian soldiers became prisoners of war and British military

prestige was seriously damaged.


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Using the propaganda advantage of their victory, the Japanese recruited

Indian prisoners of war into an Indian National Army to fight alongside

the Japanese and free India from the British.


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Subhas Chandra Bose, who objected to Congress non-violent approach,

went to Germany where he tried to form a Free India Legion to work with the

Germans to invade India.


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When Bose was disappointed by

the lack of German support, the

Japanese invited him to Burma,

where he took over command of

the Indian National Army.


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When the Japanese attempted to invade India in the spring of 1944, Indian

troops fought on both sides. The invasion was not successful.


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In September 1939 when

World War II started,

Viceroy Linlithgow had

immediately declared

India at war withGermany, with no prior

consultations with the

Indians.


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Indian National Congress leaders met with Linlithgow but were unable

to agree to support the war effort. That fall, Congress members

resigned from the provincial governments.


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In his comments in 1940, Gandhi told the British to practice non violence.


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I do not want Britain to be defeated, nor do I want her to be

victorious in a trial of brute strength. I hope you do not wish to

enter into such an undignified competition with the Nazis. I wantyou to fight Nazism without arms or, if I am to retain the military

terminology, with non-violent arms. I would like you to lay down the

arms as being useless for saving you or humanity. You will invite

err er an gnor usso n o a e w a ey wan o e

countries you call your possession. Let them take possession of your

beautiful island. You will give all these, but neither your souls nor

your minds.


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Faced with the lack of

Indian National Congress,the British sent Sir

Stafford Cripps to try to

negotiate an

understanding about

Indias status after thewar.

This mission was not

successful.


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The English were struggling

for survival. Churchill was

especially opposed to

concessions to the Indians.

I have not become the

Kings First Minister in

order to preside over theliquidation of the British

Empire.


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Gandhi advocated a wartime campaign of

civil disobedience.

The result was the Quit India resolution.


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On July 14th 1942, the Congress Working Committee approved theresolution which declared "the immediate ending of the British rule in

India is an urgent necessity both for the sake of India and for the

success of the cause of United Nations."

And it declared that free India "will assure the success by throwinghis great resources in the struggle for freedom and against the

aggression of Nazism, Facism and imperialism".


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The resolution was formally adopted in August 1942. The immediate

result was an outbreak of demonstrations and riots.


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British authorities,

with the support of the

Indian police, cracked

down forcefully.


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This period has been

depicted in the

television series The

Jewel in the Crown,

based on The Raj

Quartette novels by

Paul Scott.


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The British arrested Gandhi, Nehru, Patel and many other Congress

leaders, who then spent most of the war years in prison.

During this period Gandhis wife Kasturbai died.


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Indias new viceroy, General Wavell [center], was focused on the war

with Japan. The Moslems, who had rejected the Quit India campaign,

continued to work with Indias wartime government.


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Partly caused by wartime conditions, the Bengal famine of 1943 took 2.5-3

million Indian lives and further reduced confidence in British administration.


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