The Indian National Movement (1885-1916) PDF

# The Indian National Movement (1885-1916) ## Phases * **Early Nationalist Phase** * **People** - they were the moderates. * Middle class, educated intellectuals. * Dadabhai Naoroji * Gopal Krishna Gokhale * Surendranath Banerjee * **Beliefs** * The...

# The Indian National Movement (1885-1916) ## Phases * **Early Nationalist Phase** * **People** - they were the moderates. * Middle class, educated intellectuals. * Dadabhai Naoroji * Gopal Krishna Gokhale * Surendranath Banerjee * **Beliefs** * They believed that British rule was a blessing and they believed that they were not fit to govern themselves. * They believed that the British had a good sense of justice and fair play. * They believed the British could be convinced to make the right decisions and pursue necessary reforms. * **Objectives** * They wanted more participation in the government. * They eventually self-government. * **Methods** * They presented their grievances to the government to make necessary reforms for the government. * They had peaceful methods. * Spread political awareness to national unity. * They also sent delegates over to Britain to persuade them. * **Demands** * They wanted reforms and laws for the welfare of the Indian people and were convinced the British would grant them if they believed they were reasonable and just. * **Contributions** * Hisorians believed that they had little to no contribution at all since they didn't reach their objectives. However, they eventually became the foundation for the national movement eventually. * **Assertive Nationalist Phase** * **People** - They were called radicals. * Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Lala Lajpat Rai, Bipin Chandra Pal, Aurobindo Ghosh * **Beliefs** * No belief in the British's sense of fair play and justice. * No faith in the British rule not introducing reforms for Indian welfare. * They believed British rule was a curse. * Their intention clashed with the British. * India could not progress under their rule. * They were not allowed to go to self-government. (Swaraj) * **Objectives** * Goal was "Swaraj" (immediate freedom) but the British would strive to guide them. * **Methods** * ACTIVE OPPOSITION to the government. A political anti-government agitation with a support of the Congress, got transformed from a platform for national movement to a fight against British rule. * **The 1905 Partition of Bengal** * Bengal had been separated based on the British's policy. * In actuality, this was a move to deflect the Muslims & Hindus which would weaken their unity and then weaken the Hindhu Muslim Azad-Political gap between moderates. * The Radicals, as a response, adopted the methods of swadeshi (use of only locally made goods) and told to boycott all British goods. * **The 1907 Surat Split** * The Bengal Partition briefly brought unity between the Moderates & Radicals, with moderates even supporting more methods. * Then there was a rift created between the two wings. * In the Surat Session (­1907), the Congress expelled all the Radicals. Then they worked as their own group separately, and then joined in 1916. * The British then crushed the Swadeshi movement. Tilak (Radical) was sentenced to six years imprisonment. * **The Muslim League (1906)** * **Intro** * Leader: Nawab Salimullah Khan. * When: December 1906. * Where: Dacca (Present day Dhaka) * Prominent Members: * Aga Khan * Mohammad Ali Jinnah (a prominent Congress Leader) joined in 1913. * They supported the partition of Bengal. * They wanted a political platform for high-class Muslims. * They demanded special safeguards for Muslims in government service. * They appealed to the Viceroy in 1906 for separate electorates, basically requesting that Muslim voters would nominate Muslim representatives. * This sounded the death knell for national unity. * This was where the India would start to pant, as the British continued to govern India while ignoring the demands from the people. * **Objectives** * Promote loyalty to the British crown amongst Muslims. * Promote & protect the rights of Muslims. * Prevent feelings of hostility to other communities. * **The First World War & India (1914-18)** * Indians and the nationalist leaders gave a lot of support, even went over two billion pounds were given to the British. * The British declared they were fighting for a world safe for democracy and self-government. Then they said that it was a war against the Ughtans, which they continued to ignore. * As the war continued, they continued to ignore the requests and demands of the nationalists. Tilak (released in 1914) believed the British wouldn't do anything which was important for them. * The Congress hall moderates who knew they had lost respect for and became inactive. Tilak realized here comes something. * **The Home Rule Leagues (1­916)** * One by Annie Besant and one by Tilak. * Their main aim was to achieve self-government after the war. * The both of them travelled all over India and spread the movement which became very popular. * **The Lucknow Session (1916)** * The Lucknow pact brought together Hindus and Muslims, the Radicals and Moderates together. * **Hindu-Muslim Unity:** * Muslims turned their pro-British attitude to an anti-British attitude. * Muslim nationalists like Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Maulana Muhammad Ali and Maulana Shaukat Ali (The Ali brothers) told the British that the real enemy was British imperialism. * Thus, the Congress & the Muslim League signed the Lucknow pact in 1916 to allow for joint schemes of political interests in India under this pact, they jointly put forward a demand for Dominion Status. * **Moderate-Radical Unity:** * The Signing of this Pact also made the Moderates & Radicals hand a secret session (last one was in Surat Split, 1907). * They agreed they had to put up a united front against British rule. ## _The End_