Question

How can the first world war assist in the growth of nationalism in india?

Answer 1

From a high-level view, the two World Wars essentially broke the British Empire. The first World War made the Empire unaffordable, both politically and economically. As much as Great Britain was receiving in natural resources from its colonial holdings, it required almost as much outlay to keep the colonies. After the second World War, Great Britain was so economically depleted that they had to essentially rely on American aid and loans to continue the Empire until they finally spun most of their holdings off. The British Empire really reached its peak before the Boer War, and the Boer War essentially marked the turning point of an empire of growth to an empire in decline.

One could also argue that improvements in shipping and communications aided as much as the world wars. I say this because when shipping improvements can bring product to market (from India to the U.K.) in a fraction of the time, scarcity is diminished. If demand can be met consistently, supply has the potential to rise, thus lowering costs, especially of perishable goods. Once coal- and oil-fired boilers made high-speed shipping and passenger travel not only more available, but also more affordable, while the cost of military personnel and hardware stays high, the costs of defending and maintaining the Empire increase.

Those are merely the external factors. I unfortunately am not from either the U.K. or the Commonwealth (I grew up in the United States), and so I have limited insight into earlier periods of Indian history. But the end of the 19th century saw the global rise of nationalist and political movements, and with the Irish rebellion of 1916, WW1, and Hindu revolts during the early period of the 20th century, British attention was pulled in multiple directions, and its hold on those territories were diminished as a result.

Answer 2

After the conclusion of first World War, there were reports about that a harsh peace settlement was forced on the Khalifa. Muslims seemed very bothered by this act of Britishers. They desired to protest against it. Gandhi Ji saw this as an event to associate Muslims with Hindus. He originated khilafat campaign to attack Britishers with the unity of both Muslims and Hindus.This provided a tremendous addition to the extension of nationalism in India.