SST

• First revolt against the British Empire in India, known as the Sepoy Mutiny


  1857
• The 1857 revolt failed due to lack of coordination and planning of the revolutionaries
• The 1857 revolt remains the first ward of Indian independence
• The rise of nationalism in India was intricately linked with the opposition of colonialism, similar to Vietnam
• People in India realised they were experiencing a common suffering under the oppressive British colonial rule
• The First World War forced India to participate, and the British increased taxes on Indians to fund the war effort
• The increased taxes and forced recruitment of rural people into the army, combined with crop failures and famines, set the stage for the nationalist struggle in India
• Mahatma Gandhi emerged on the national scene


  January 1915
• Satyagraha


  Passive resistance used powerfully to appeal to the conscience of the oppressor
• Mahatma Gandhi successfully organised satyagraha movements in Champaran, Kheda, and Ahmedabad
• The success of satyagraha movements motivated Indians and paved the way for other nationalist movements
• The British proposed the Rowlatt Act in 1919 to curb political activities in the country
• Mahatma Gandhi's response to the Rowlatt Act


  1. Suggested a civil disobedience beginning with a hartal on 6th April 1919

  2. Followed by rallies, strikes by railway workers, and closing down of shops
• The day-to-day work across the country was brought to a grinding halt, threatening the British
• The Jallianwala Bagh massacre on 13th April 1919 was a brutal suppression of the nationalist movement by the British
• The satyagraha against the Rowlatt Act was successful but did not reach the masses in rural areas
• Mahatma Gandhi wanted a mass movement that would involve people from all religious communities across the country, paving the way for the non-cooperation movement
• The non-cooperation-Khilafat movement


  1. Began in full swing in 1921

  2. Diverse regional groups joined the movement to meet their specific objectives

  3. People responded wholeheartedly to the call of Swaraj

  4. Students, teachers, headmasters, and lawyers boycotted government institutions

  5. People picketed liquor shops and boycotted foreign goods and cloth
• The non-cooperation movement slowed down due to the lack of alternative to foreign cloth and the return of students and lawyers to their respective institutions
• The peasant movement in Awadh and the tribal rebellion in the Gudem Hills were part of the non-cooperation movement, but they interpreted the concept of Swaraj differently
• The plantation workers in Assam also interpreted the non-cooperation movement as a chance to break the rigid confinement of the plantations
• The non-cooperation movement developed a violent streak as it spread across the country, contrary to Mahatma Gandhi's ideals of non-violence
• The Chowri Chowra incident in 1922 shocked Mahatma Gandhi and led him to call off the non-cooperation movement
• The economic depression in the 1920s and the formation of the Simon Commission influenced the growth of the national movement
• The non-cooperation movement aimed at bringing the British government to a standstill by refusing to cooperate with them
• The civil disobedience movement was more assertive and aimed at non cooperation with the British as well as an open violation of oppressive British laws
• Under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, the civil disobedience movement spread across the country like wildfire
• Mahatma Gandhi encouraged people to fight for Swaraj and opposed the British rule in a non-violent manner
• The British government responded with the policy of brutal repression and arrested thousands of satyagraha and even attacked children and women
• Mahatma Gandhi decided to call off the civil disobedience movement in 1931 as he saw widespread violence
• The Gandhi-Irwin pact was signed on 5th March 1931, where Mahatma Gandhi agreed to participate in the roundtable conference in London
• When Mahatma Gandhi returned from London, he found that the repression of the British government had taken a new turn
• Mahatma Gandhi relaunched the civil disobedience movement, though not many people participated and the movement completely lost its momentum by 1934
• Groups that participated in the civil disobedience movement

  • Rich peasant communities
  • Poor peasantry
  • Business class
  • Young revolutionaries with radical socialist outlook
  • Industrial working class
  • Women
• The rich peasant communities were disappointed when the civil disobedience movement was abruptly called off by Mahatma Gandhi in 1931 without any revision of the revenue rates
• The poor peasants grappled with the problem of paying rent during the time of depression and wanted the Congress to help them in remitting their unpaid rent, but the Congress was uncertain about supporting them
• The business class had reaped huge profits during the First World War and now wanted to expand their business, but the stringent colonial laws were obstructing their way
• The young revolutionaries with the radical socialist outlook believed that non-violence was not the way to achieve freedom, and formed the Hindustan Socialist Republican Army (HSRA)
• The industrial working class did not respond to the civil disobedience movement in a big way, as the Congress did not want to include their demands in the movement
• Women wholeheartedly supported the protests, involved in picketing and boycotts, and also helped in manufacturing salt, but they did not hold any position of authority within the Congress