Chapter 15 : UNIT 7: Era of Mass Nationalism Begins (1919-39) Chapter 15: Emergence of Gandhi

UNIT 7: Era of Mass Nationalism Begins (1919-39)

Chapter 15: Emergence of Gandhi

Why Nationalist Resurgence Now

After the First World War, conditions in India and influences from abroad created a situation ready for a national upsurge against foreign rule, leading to a broad-based popular struggle with the emergence of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.

Post-War Economic Hardships

India contributed men and money to the British war efforts, funded by taxing Indians. Post-war, all sections experienced hardships:

• Industry: An increase in prices followed by a recession and increased foreign investment brought industries to the brink of closure. They demanded protection against imports and government aid.
• Workers and artisans: Faced unemployment and bore the brunt of high prices.
• Peasantry: Faced high taxation and poverty; waited for a lead to protest.
• Soldiers: Returned from battlefields abroad sharing their experiences with rural folk; surprised to return to an impoverished country with less liberty than before.
• Educated urban classes: Faced unemployment and suffered from an acute awareness of British racism.

Expectations of Political Gains for Cooperation in the War

• Gandhi and most nationalists had extended cooperation to the British war effort.
• A huge number of Indian troops sacrificed their lives.
• High expectations of political gains from the British government contributed to a charged atmosphere.

Nationalist Disillusionment with Imperialism Worldwide

• During the war, Allied powers promised colonies democracy and self-determination to rally support, while both sides used propaganda to expose each other's uncivilised colonial records.
• The Paris Peace Conference (1919-20) and other peace treaties revealed imperialist powers had no intention of loosening their hold; instead, they divided the colonies of vanquished powers among themselves.
• This eroded the myth of the cultural and military superiority of the whites.
• Result: Resurgence of militant nationalist activity throughout Asia and Africa (in Turkey, Egypt, Ireland, Iran, Afghanistan, Burma, Malaya, the Philippines, Indonesia, Indo-China, China, and Korea).

Impact of the Russian Revolution (November 7, 1917)

• The Bolshevik Party of workers overthrew the Czarist regime and founded the first socialist state, the Soviet Union, under Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (Lenin).
• The Soviet Union unilaterally renounced Czarist imperialist rights in…