India

By the end of the 19th century, the Western-educated minority of the colonized in India and the Philippines had been organized politically for decades. Their counterparts in Burma and the Netherlands and the Indies were also beginning to form associations to give voices to their political concerns. Because of India�s size and pivotal role it played in the British Empire, the India nationalist challenge and the European retreat were followed in many countries. The national congress party led the Indians to independence and governed through most of the postcolonial era. It grew out regional associations of western-educated Indians that were originally more like study clubs than political organizations. Associations were centered in cities such as Bombay, Poona, Calcutta, and Madra. The congress party that Indian leaders formed in 1885 had been blesses with a number of British officials. The officials viewed this as a forum through which the opinions of educated Indians could be made known to the government thereby heading off potential discontent and political protest. The congress organization had no mass base and very few ongoing staff members or full-time politicians who could sustain lobbying efforts on issues raised at the annual meetings. Some of the members of the congress party voiced concern for the growing poverty of the Indian masses and the drain of wealth to Great Britain. However, the congress party�s debates and petitions to the government were dominated by elite-centric issues such as the removal of barriers to Indian employment in the colonial bureaucracy and increased Indian representation in all-Indian and local legislative bodies. Most of the members were firmly loyal to the British rulers and confident that when their grievances were made known to the government they would be remedied. Many Indians were increasingly troubled by growing virulence of British racism. They were convinced that it had much to do with their poor salaries and limited opportunities for advanced positions in the colonial administration. At the annual meetings, members of Congress were now able to converse and write in common English language. The Indians shared grievances. Many had similar educational and class backgrounds.

By the later years of the 19th century, the western-educated elites had begun to grope for causes that would draw a larger segment of Indian population into their growing nationalist economy. More than a century of British rule had generated in many areas of India and the social and economic disruptions and the sort of discontent that produced substantial numbers of recruits for the national campaigns. Indian businessmen, many whom would become major financial backer of the Congress party, were angered by the favoritism that the British rulers showed to British investors in establishing trade policies in India. Indian political leaders increasingly stressed these inequalities and the more general loss to the Indian people resulting from what they termed the �drain� of Indian resources that a price has to be paid for the peace under the colonial rule. Though the British rebuttal was that a price had to be paid for the peace and good government that had come with the colonial rule, nationalist thinkers pointed out that the cost was too high. A large portion of the government of India�s budget went to cover the expenses of a huge army that mainly fought wars elsewhere in the British Empire. The Indian people also paid for the generous salaries and pensions of British administrators, who occupied positions that the Indians were qualified to assume.

Rise of Militant Nationalism
 * Some issues that Indian nationalist leaders stressed in the early attempts to build a mass base which had a great appeal to divout Hindus. This was particularly true of campaigns for the protection of cows which had a sense of sacredness for the Hindu people. However these religious oriented causes often strongly alienated by the adherents of other faiths especially the Muslims. Not only did the Muslims eat beef and thus slaughter cattle, but they made up nearly one fourth of the population of the Indian empire.
 * B.G. Tilak- an Indian leader who was a little concerned with the split. He believed since Hindus made up the largest portion of India's total population nationalism should be built to the appeals of the HIndu religion.
 * Tilak worked to promote the restoration and revival of what he believed were the main Hindu idealisms. He opposed women's education and raising the very low marriage age for women. He turned festivals for Hindu gods into occasions for mass political demonstrations. He also sought to persuade Indian people to refuse to serve in the colonial administration and the growing military.
 * He demanded full independence from the British with no deals or delays and threatened violent rebellion of the British failed to comply. The main major to the British in India came from Hindu communalists who advocated the violent overthrow of the colonial regime.
 * However, unlike Tilak and his followers those who jpoined the terrorist movement favored Clandestine operations over mass demonstrations.
 * The congress party began secret underground societies. These were lead by qual-religious guru-style leaders who exorted them to build their physiques with western-style calistethics and learn how to use firearms and bombs.
 * Tilaks removal and the repression campaigns against terrorists strengthened the power of the moderate leaders in the Congress oarty.
 * The Marley-Minto reforms of 1909 provided educated Indians who considerably expanded oppurtuniites both to vote for and seve on the local and all-Indian legislative councils.

Emergence of Gandhi
 * Indian princes offered substantial war loans; Indian soldiers bore the brunt war effort in East Africa and the Middle East.
 * Wartime inflation had adversely affected virtually all segments of the Indian population. Indian peasants were angered at the ceilings set on the market of their produce despite the rising costs.
 * After the end of the war in 1918 moderate Indian politicians were frustrated by the British refusal to honor wartime promises.
 * Montagu-Chelmstrom reforms of 1919.
 * Rowlatt Act which had placed severe restrictions on key Indian civil rights such as freedom of the press. Mohandas Gandhi emerged as a new leader who soon forged this localized protest into a sustained all-Indian campaign against the policies of the colonial overlords.
 * The most important was the protest that was being worked on for a decade. It is difficult to seperate Gandhi's approach to mass protest. He possessed an inner confidence and sense of moral purpose that sustained followers and wore down advisories.
 * It is difficult to seperate Gandhi's approach to mass protest from

Notes from Class: Unfair treatment by the British Indian poverrty and food shortages led to World War I WWI: soldiers, money-why? Indian exposure to Western Education: Self determination. British venged on promises- WWI

National Congress: High ranking in Raj educated elite

Nationalists with Talik
 * Drastic
 * Aggressive
 * Alienated moderates
 * Mass following

Leader Analysis Sheet


 * Name of Leader: Mohandas Gandhi ||
 * Lifespan: 2 October 1869 - 30 January 1948 || Title: Bapu ||
 * Country/region: India || Years in Power: 1921-1948 ||
 * Political, Social, & Economic Conditions Prior to Leaders Gaining Power


 * India was a small colony controlled by Great Britain. ||
 * Ideology, Motivation, Goals:


 * Civil disobedience.
 * He wanted to bring India to a state of power that was free from the British in a way that was civil rather than seeing any bloodshed.
 * Rowlatt Act
 * Indian National Congress (He later went on the become the leader of the congress in 1921) ||
 * Significant Actions & events During Term of Power


 * Quiet Indian Movement (1942)
 * Satyagraha- his advocacy of peaceful boycotts, strikes, noncooperation and mass demonstrations ||
 * Short-Term effects:

Peaceful riots rather than bloody wars surrounded India. || Long-Term Effects started the basis for Indian culture since being freed from the British ||

Before developing connections between Nationalism and identity brainstorm answers to the following questions.

What is an Identity Identity is unique to every individual It is way to be able to differntiate between individuals How are our identities formed Identities are formed through heredity and family ties How does our identity influence the way we see ourselves and others Identity influences the way people see themselves and others, because every one is different meaning that no two people can be the same and have the same characteristics What is conformity The act of matching attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors to what individuals perceive is normal of their society or social group How does a society decide who belongs and who does not Religious beliefs. Individuality How do our attitudes and beliefs influence our thinking People like to feel a sense of belonging What does it mean to belong to a group To be connected to others who share common interests beliefs How is membership defined and by whom is membership defined Membership is defined by what people believe and who people know and get along with in life

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