India
Indian National Congress
- Dedicated to the fight against British rule
- Founded in 1885 - Originally Hindus and Muslims worked with Britain to bring self-rule to India - After the Great War (WWI) the congress perused this goal in opposition of the British - The Muslim League, created in 1906 was another major movement for national liberation - Both dedicated to achieving independence |
India and the Great War (WWI)
- Large numbers of Indians, Hindu and Muslim, helped the British.
- The war led to diminished supply of goods and food and Indians began to blame the Britsh - Nationalist were inspired from Washington D.C. and Str. Petersburg - Britain responded with a number of limiting measures that spurred a wave of violence and panic throughout India |
Mohandas K. Gandhi
- Gandhi was born in 1869 and was brought up in a Hindu household
- Gandhi left home in 1888 to study law in London - He accepted a job in South Africa in an Indian firm and began organizing the local Indian community against a system of segregation that made Indians second-class citizens - During his 25 years in South Africa, Gandhi embraced a moral philosophy of tolerance and nonviolence (Ahimsa) - He developed a technique of passive resistance know as Satyagraha (“truth and firmness”) - His belief of simple living led him to renounce material possessions, dress as a peasant, and become a vegetarian - He renounced sex and gave himself a daily salt water enema |
Gandhi's return to India
- Gandhi returned to India in 1915 and became active in Indian polotics
- He transformed the Indian national congress from a group of anglicized men, in to an effective power of Indian nationalism - His unique of spiritual intensity and political activism appealed to a huge range of the Indian population - He quickly became known as a politician and a spiritual leader - He was their Mahatma, or “great soul” - He fought very hard to eradicate the caste system |
Mass Movements
- Under the leadership of Gandhi, the congress launched two mass movements: the Non-Cooperation Movement of 1920-1922 and the Civil Disobedience movement of 1930.
- He called the Indian people to boycott British goods and return to homemade clothing - He disagreed with those who wanted India to industrialize - He wanted his people to boycott British institutions in India, like schools, offices, an courts - In 1919, 379 people were killed by British troops because of these protests |
The India Act
- After the failed movements for self-rule, the British offered a compromise
- The British parliament enacted the Government of India Act - This gave India the institutions of a self-governing state - In return Britain received an executive arm in the government - The system failed because of India’s 600 princes and their refusal in cooperation - Muslims feared Hindus would dominate government - Instead, a brilliant lawyer from the Muslim League proposed two states, one of which would be the “land of the pure,” or Pakistan, and the other India. - Society in India was split between Hindus and Muslims |
A video explaining Gandhi's ideals and his belief that non-violence is the way to live.