WSC and India

• WSC: 'The country was the 'jewel in the crown' of the British Empire and that it had to be protected in order to keep it maintained'
• WSC knew how Britain had benefitted from its economic exploitation of the country
• Nationalism had been growing with protests becoming increasingly common and sometimes violent leading to events such as the Amritsar Massacre in 1919
• WSC took for granted that Britain'S greatness was bound with its imperial status
• British rule was coming under pressure during the 1920s & 1930s from an Indian population who wanted self-governance and representation
• WSC knew how Britain had benefitted from its economic exploitation of the country
• WSC took for granted that Britain's greatness was bound with its imperial status
• WSC's view of "the natives"


  Extremely paternalistic and condescending, believed Britain had been a force for good and prevented the domination of the Hindu elites over the large number of Indian Muslims
• WSC saw an end of what he saw as barbaric practices such as sati (widows throwing themselves on top of their husbands' pyres), allowing economic and social progress
• WSC believed India having more freedoms


  Would lead to conflict between the Hindu and Muslim populations
• The pressure came from the discontented poor and the wealthy, well-educated, middle-class Indians who were being led by Mahatma Gandhi
• In the late 1920s, the British Labour government under Ramsey MacDonald, was committed to negotiating with Indian nationalists especially after Gandhi's protest on the salt tax in 1930
• Viceroy Lord Irwin officially publicly endorsed India being granted Dominion status the first ever non-white colony
• Gandhi was released from prison in India to attend the Roundtable Conferences in London (1930 & 1931)
• Gandhi was warmly welcomed by the working class and there were often crowds of people who were eager to see him in places such as Tottenham
• In 1931, a coalition known as the 'National Government' was formed leading to the India Bill in 1935 which took effect in 1937 providing India with more federal freedoms
• WSC was excluded from the National Government due to his vehement opposition and his views on India
• His damming remarks calling Gandhi a 'fakir caused immediate uproar and outrage particularly in India which exasperated the government as it was made during the Conferences
• Indian nationalists condemned WSC


  It served to further alienate the educated middle-class
• WSC's bitter attacks against government ministers on India reform threatened to shatter the party causing a loss of trust in the party's leadership


  1934
• WSC was denounced by PM Stanley Baldwin (1935-7)


  His aggressive speechmaking compared unfavourably with Baldwin's calm and measured style
• Many Tories resented WSC


  His struggle against the India Act divided the party and threatened their grip on power
• WSC was associated with and supported racist organisations


  It isolated him from moderate Tories
• WSC's actions


  Reduced any realistic chance of him regaining high office again
• During WWII


  WSC conceded far more than many expected during negotiations to ensure Indian support
• Later


  WSC supported Indian independence in 1947