The Indian Independence MovementNathan B. GilsonSouthwest Middle School

East India Trading Company• British control of India began in 1612

• India was the place Columbus was trying to establish a faster sea-route to in the late 1400’s– Indian spices were in high demand in Europe

• East India Trading company controlled a lot of India from 1612-1858.– Was a private business with extreme power and influence

in the British government at the time.

– East India Trading Company had also exerted great influence over the development of the British Sugar colonies of the Carribean.

Rebellions• The Indian people had long

resented foreign rule in their country, and there are many examples of rebellions against foreign powers

• In 1857, there was a large rebellion against the EITC, which resulted in the British military stopping the rebellion and taking over control of the company– India became an official colony

of Great Britain, and a part of the British Empire.

British Imperial Rule• British employed an indirect rule system

• Under the British control of India, many political organizations began to emerge in India– Indian National Congress—initially represented the elite class

of society who were doing very well under British Rule, had attended British Universities, and passed laws that were not controversial and didn’t represent most of Indian people’s interests.

– Was a growing influence of Islam, particularly in Western India (what is today modern Pakistan) that strongly disagreed with the mainstream Indian National Congress.

Effects of WW1 on India• 1.3 million soldiers and workers were

sent by India to help support the British in WW1– Spanish Flu epidemic strongly impacted India

– Heavy taxes caused high inflation rates

– Supplies sent by the Indians led to wide-spread hardships on the common people.

• British rulers, fearing disloyalty, cracked down on small crimes and any anti-British sentiment extremely hard.– Had opposite effect, and many loyal groups

(including INC) began to openly discuss Indian Independence.

The Rowlatt Acts• A series of laws passed to give

the British leadership authority to put any person suspected of anti-governmental actions in prison for up to 2 years without a trial.

• Passed in 1919, was the first time that Mohandas Gandhi came back to India and began to work closely with the Indian Independence Movement.

Mohandas Gandhi

• Trained as a lawyer in British Universities

• Began civil rights advocacy in South Africa– Many Indian immigrants had been brought to the British colony of

South Africa and were being abused.

– Gandhi realized that in order to be effective as a leader of a civil rights group, he needed to be able to relate to the group, so be voluntarily began to live extremely simply

– Also began to practice the act of Civil Disobedience

– Ignoring or not following laws considered unfair or unjust in non-violent ways

Jallianwala Bagh Massacre• Inspired by Gandhi and others,

over 15,000 people gathered in a city called Jallianwala Bagh to protest the government.– Such assemblies were illegal, but

according to the ideas of civil disobedience, the people did not have to listen to unfair rules

• A British officer ordered his soldiers to fire into the crowd with absolutely no provocation. – Killed at least 379 people (Indian

estimates as high as almost 1,500)

– Officer was forced to retire, but regarded a hero in Britain.

Non-Cooperation Movements• Gandhi influenced the leadership of the Indian National Congress

and began to encourage Indian citizens to:– Buy local Indian goods (many times illegally)

– Refuse to pay taxes

– Resign from any British government position

– Boycott British law and educational institutions

• Gandhi called for an end to the movement when a mob violently protested and killed several police officers

• Gandhi was sentenced to 6 years in prison for encouraging rebellion against the British government (served 2 years)– Upon release, Gandhi began to work within Indian Society to bring equality to

all Indians (particularly the untouchables)

Salt Marches• In 1930, Gandhi decided to try

again to lead the Indian Independence movement with his salt march.– Marched to the sea with thousands of

followers over 24 days, giving speeches and finally illegally making salt from sea-water to avoid paying British taxes.

– About 100,000 people were arrested due to these marches.

• Gandhi spent another year in prison, tried to negotiate more self-rule in India, but when that failed, he resumed his civil disobedience movement.

World War 2• India strongly supported Britain in WW2 (about 2,500,000 troops)

• Many leaders of the Indian Independence Movement wanted to capitalize on Britain’s focus on Hitler to revolt, but Gandhi temporarily suspended his civil disobedience movement because he didn’t want to ruin England.

• Many leaders split off from Gandhi during this time, and British leadership had an extremely difficult time effectively running the colony.

Independence• India was granted full

independence in 1947.– Pakistan also granted independence

at the same time

• Fighting between Muslim groups in Pakistan and Indian Hindus over the Kashmir Region between the two countries started almost immediately.– Over the following years, both sides

would commit mass genocide against the other group.

– It is while protesting the violence that the Hindu Indians were committing against the Pakistani’s that Gandhi was assassinated by an Indian who strongly opposed his policies.

Pakistan-India• These two nations, both created from one

colony by the British government in 1947, have been fighting with each other in several (4 total) wars (most recent in 1999.)– All but one of the wars is for possession of the

Kashmir Region located between both countries

• Both nations possess nuclear weapons. India has agreed to only use theirs if Pakistan were to use nuclear weapons first, but Pakistan has a policy of using them in the case of a successful Indian offensive (as in 1971 when almost ½ of the Pakistani army was destroyed).