The Making of National Movement: 1870s-1947 Summary Class 8 NCERT Summary Chapter 6

The Emergence of Nationalism

• India was the people of India where all the people irrespective of class, colour, caste, creed, language, or gender resides.
• The British were exercising control over the resources of India.
• The political associations were started forming after 1850, especially those that came into being in the 1870s and 1880s.
• The important ones were the Poona Sarvajanik Sabha, the Indian Association, the Madras Mahajan Sabha, the Bombay Presidency Association, and of course the Indian National Congress.
• The Arms Act was passed in 1878, disallowing Indians from possessing arms. 
• In the same year the Vernacular Press Act was also enacted in an effort to silence those who were critical of the government.
• The Indian National Congress was established when 72 delegates from all over the country met at Bombay in December 1885.
  • The early leadership – Dadabhai Naoroji, Pherozeshah Mehta, Badruddin Tyabji, W.C. Bonnerji, Surendranath Banerji, Romesh Chandra Dutt, S. Subramania Iyer, among others – was largely from Bombay and Calcutta.

A nation in the making

• In its first twenty years, the Congress was “moderate” in aims and methods.
• It called for Indians to hold higher government positions.
  • To achieve this, it demanded that civil service examinations be held in India.
• The early Congress also tackled various economic issues.

“Freedom is our birthright”

• By the 1890s many Indians began to raise questions about the political style of the Congress. 
• In Bengal, Maharashtra and Punjab, leaders such as Bepin Chandra Pal, Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Lala Lajpat Rai started exploring more radical objectives and methods.
• Tilak raised the slogan, “Freedom is my birthright and I shall have it!”
• In 1905 Viceroy Curzon partitioned Bengal.
  • The partition of Bengal infuriated people all over India.
• The Swadeshi movement sought to oppose British rule and encourage the ideas of self-help, swadeshi enterprise, national education, and use of Indian languages.
• The Congress split in 1907 however the two groups reunited in December 1915.
• In 1916, the Congress and the Muslim League signed the historic Lucknow Pact.

The Growth of Mass Nationalism

• The First World War altered the economic and political situation in India.
• The government increased taxes on individual incomes and business profits.
• Increased military expenditure and the demands for war supplies led to a sharp rise in prices.
• Gandhiji arrived in India in 1915 from South Africa is well known for leading successful movement against racist regimes.

The Rowlatt Satyagraha

• In 1919 Gandhiji gave a call for a satyagraha against the Rowlatt Act passed by British that curbed freedom of expression and strengthened police powers.
• The Rowlatt Satyagraha turned out to be the first all-India struggle against the British government.
• In April 1919, there were a number of demonstrations and hartals in the country and the government used brutal measures to suppress them.
• The Jallianwala Bagh atrocities, administered by General Dyer in Amritsar on Baisakhi day (13 April), were a part of this repression.

Khilafat agitation and the Non-Cooperation Movement

• The leaders of the Khilafat agitation, Mohammad Ali and Shaukat Ali initiated a full-fledged Non-Cooperation Movement.
• Gandhiji supported their call and urged the Congress to campaign against Jallianwala massacre, the Khilafat wrong and demand swaraj.
• The Non-Cooperation Movement gained momentum through 1921-22.
• Thousands of students left government- controlled schools and colleges.
• British titles were surrendered and legislatures boycotted.

People’s initiatives

• Different classes and groups, interpreting Gandhiji’s call in their own manner.
• In Kheda, Gujarat, Patidar peasants organised non-violent 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”.
• In Sind (now in Pakistan), Muslim traders and peasants were very enthusiastic about the Khilafat call.
• In Bengal too, 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.
• In Assam, tea garden labourers demanded a big increase in their wages.

The happenings of 1922-1929

• Mahatma Gandhi abruptly called off the Non-Cooperation Movement when in February 1922 when a crowd of peasants set fire to a police station in Chauri Chaura.
• Two important developments of the mid-1920s were the formation of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a Hindu organisation, and the Communist Party of India.
• The decade closed with the Congress resolving to fight for Purna Swaraj (complete independence) in 1929 under the presidentship of Jawaharlal Nehru.

The March to Dandi

• In 1930, Gandhiji announced his plan to lead a march to defy the salt law, which allowed the government to control the production and sale of salt.
• Mahatma Gandhi and other leaders believed it was unfair to tax salt, as it is a vital part of everyone's diet. The Salt March connected the overall wish for freedom with a common issue, helping to bring together different groups in society.
• Gandhi and his supporters walked more than 240 miles from Sabarmati to the coastal town of Dandi, where they broke the law by collecting natural salt from the shore and boiling seawater to make salt.
• The united efforts of the Indian people led to the Government of India Act of 1935, which allowed for provincial autonomy and set the stage for elections to provincial legislatures in 1937.
• In September 1939, the Second World War began, while the Congress was still in charge of the provinces.

Quit India and Later

• Mahatma Gandhi decided to start the 'Quit India' movement against the British during the Second World War. He urged the British to leave India immediately and called on people to "do or die" in their non-violent struggle against British rule.
• Gandhi and several other leaders were arrested quickly, but the movement grew, drawing in farmers and young people who left their studies to join. Across the nation, government buildings were attacked, and in many places, people set up their own local governments.
• The British response was harsh. By the end of 1943, more than 90,000 people had been arrested, and about 1,000 were killed due to police violence.

Towards Independence and Partition

• In 1940, the Muslim League passed a resolution demanding “Independent States” for Muslims in the north-western and eastern parts of India. Notably, this resolution did not mention partition or Pakistan, which is important for understanding the League's stance.
• In 1937, the Congress party turned down the League’s request to form a joint Congress-League government in the United Provinces, which added to the League's dissatisfaction.
• After the war ended in 1945, the British began talks with the Congress, the League, and themselves about India's independence. A British cabinet mission came to Delhi in March 1946 to look into the demand for Pakistan and propose a political setup for a free India.
• The discussions failed because the League believed it was the only representative of India's Muslims.
• The Congress performed well in the general constituencies, but the League continued to succeed in the seats reserved for Muslims, pushing its demand for “Pakistan.”
• Following the failure of the Cabinet Mission, the Muslim League announced mass protests to support its demand for Pakistan.
• On 16 August 1946, the League declared “Direct Action Day.” Riots erupted in Calcutta that lasted for several days.
• By March 1947, violence spread throughout northern India, causing millions to flee their homes.
• Partition meant significant changes for India, leading to the birth of a new nation – Pakistan.