Give some reasons for growth Mass Nationalism under British rule
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The Making of the National Movement: 1870s-1947
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The Growth of Mass Nationalism
The growth of mass nationalism began to take place after 1919. Peasants, tribals, students, and women became involved in the struggle against the British rule.
The First World War altered the economic and political situation in India. It led to a huge rise in the defence expenditure of the Government of India. The government in turn increased taxes on individual incomes and business profits. Increased military expenditure and the demands for war supplies led to a sharp rise in prices which created great difficulties for the common people. On the other hand, business groups reaped fabulous profits from the war.
The war also lead the British to expand their army. Villages were pressurised to supply soldiers for an alien cause. A large number of soldiers were sent to serve abroad. Many returned after the war with an understanding of the ways in which imperialist powers were exploiting the peoples of Asia and Africa and with a desire to oppose colonial rule in India.
In 1917, there was a revolution in Russia. News about peasants’ and workers’ struggles and ideas of socialism circulated widely, inspiring Indian nationalists.
The Advent of Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi emerged as a leader.
He led to local movements in Champaran, Kheda, and Ahmedabad in which he got immense success.
The Rowlatt Satyagraha
In 1919, Gandhi started Satyagraha Movement against the Rowlatt Act that the British had just passed.
In April 1919, there were a number of demonstrations and hartals in the country against this Act.
The Jallianwala Bagh atrocities in Amritsar were a part of this suppression.
During the Rowlatt Satyagraha the participants tried to ensure that Hindus and Muslims were united in the fight against British rule.
Khilafat Agitation And The Non-Cooperation Movement
In the year 1920, the British did another wrong known as Khilafat wrong. The British imposed a harsh treaty on the Turkish Sultan also known as Khalifa.
This enraged the Muslim and Khalifa agitation started under the leadership of Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Ali.
Gandhiji supported their call and urged the congress to campaign against Jallianwala massacre, Khilafat wrong and demand swaraj.
The Non-Cooperation Movement gained momentum through 1921-22. Thousands of students left government controlled schools and colleges. Many lawyers such as Motilal Nehru, C.R. Das, C. Rajagopalachari, and Asaf Ali gave up their practices. British titles were surrendered and legislatures boycotted.
The imports of foreign cloth fell dramatically between 1920 and 1922. Large parts of the country were on the brink of a formidable revolt.
People's Initiatives
In many cases people resisted British rule non-violently. In others, different classes and groups, interpreting Gandhiji’s call in their own manner, protested in ways that were not in accordance with his ideas.
In Kheda, Gujarat, Patidar peasants organised nonviolent campaigns against the high land revenue demand of the British. In coastal Andhra and interior Tamil Nadu, liquor shops were picketed. In the Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, tribals and poor peasants staged a number of “forest satyagrahas”, sometimes sending their cattle into forests without paying grazing fee.
In Bengal, the Khilafat-Non-Cooperation alliance gave enormous communal unity and strength to the national movement.
In Punjab, the Akali agitation of the Sikhs sought to remove corrupt mahants – supported by the British – from their gurdwaras.
In Assam, tea garden labourers, demanded a big increase in their wages and some of they left the British-owned plantations.
The People's Mahatma
Gandhiji wished to build class unity, not class conflict.
Using Gandhiji’s name, tribals and peasants undertook actions that did not conform to Gandhian ideals.
The Happenings of 1922-1929
During the year 1921-22, the non-cooperation movement gained momentum because it got a wide support. It was abruptly called off by Mahatma Gandhi when in February 1922 a crowd of peasants set fire to a police station in Chauri Chaura. Twenty two policemen were killed on that day. It hurt Mahatma Gandhi because he had never thought that people would go violent.
Other leaders such as Chitta Ranjan Das and Motilal Nehru argued that the party should fight elections to the councils and enter them in order to influence government policies. Through sincere social work in villages in the mid-1920s, the Gandhians were able to extend their support base. This proved to be very useful in launching the Civil Disobedience movement in 1930.
Two important developments of the mid-1920s were the formation of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), and the Communist Party of India.
The Congress now resolved to fight for ‘Purna Swaraj’ in 1929 under the presidentship of Jawaharlal Nehru.