2. Partition of Bengal (1905 -1912)
Bengal had been partitioned by the British in 1905 into a West Bengal (mostly Hindus) and into an East Bengal (mostly Muslims
Hindus were not happy with the partition, Muslims were pleased with it and caused them more loyalty towards the British
Partition ends in 1912 to please Hindu nationalists. Now Muslims are upset.
KEY POINT: British policy is short minded and geared towards satisfying British needs in the current moment.

3. World War 1 and India
When Britain declared war on Germany in 1914, India was informed that she now at war too
Indian nationalist politician were by and large loyalist and supportive of Britain in this hour of distress

5. Congress leaders anticipated that British victory would lead to independence for India.
Lord Hardinge, Viceroy (
Speaking in terms of Britain’s role in WW1…
“… As the triumph of right over might, of civilization over the military barbarism of Germany, of ordered freedom over military slavery, of everything that men held dear…”
This type of rhetoric emboldened Indian leaders to think freedom would result from their cooperation with the British in the war effort

6. Over 1 million Indian soldiers served in WW1
Over 1 million Indian soldiers served in WW1. Nearly half of these soldiers came from the Punjab region of India and many were Sikhs
An estimated 74,000 Indian soldiers died in WW1

7. Indian Bicycle Soldiers at Battle of Somme

8. Most Indian soldiers were illiterate (5% of Punjab was literate at this time)

11. French postcard

12. During the war, India sent abroad around 172,000 animals including horses, mules, camels and dairy cattle
According to the caption, this mule is taking a dust bath

13. Parisians surround and cheer Indian soldiers

14. Indian soldiers of the Islamic faith in prayer while on duty fighting the Ottoman Empire in Iraq.
Fighting the Ottoman’s tested the loyalty of many Indian Muslims who held allegiance to the caliph

16. Some military action took place in India and on her shipping lanes
Some military action took place in India and on her shipping lanes. This map shows the route of the German naval cruiser the SMS Emden on her commerce raiding operations
Bombardment of Madras had the effect of lowering Indian morale
As Germany had been India’s second largest trading partner, the war had bad effect on trade

17. Bal Gangadhar Tilak
Indian independence leader who believed strongly in self-rule and advocated use of force when necessary to achieve it
Opened the New English School with Chiplunkar
Tilak joined the INC in 1890 but was disillusioned with its more moderate approach
Tilak was a promoter of the Swadeshi and boycott movement following the partition of Bengal

18. In 1908, two Bengali youth attempted to assassinate a British chief magistrate and instead ended up killing two women traveling with him. Tilak wrote in support of the revolutionaries in his newspaper and as a result was sentenced to six years in a Burmese prison. After being sentenced he said in court…
“All that I wish to say is that, in spite of the verdict of the jury, I still maintain that I am innocent. There are higher powers that rule the destinies of men and nations; and I think, it may be the will of Providence that the cause I represent may be benefited more by my suffering than by my pen and tongue.”

19. Upon release from prison in 1914, Tilak took a more moderate approach and attempted to bring Gokhale and Gandhi’s soft faction and his own hot faction together for the cause of self rule.
Success was to be found in the 1916 Lucknow Pact, a new unity between the INC and Muslim League, moderates and radicals, which did the following:
Declared that half the members of the Executive Council were to be Indians
India Office expenses charged to the British instead of Indian taxpayers
In respect to Indians in South Africa and Canada that “Indians should be placed on a footing of equality in respect of status and rights of citizenship with other subjects of His Majesty the King throughout the empire”
That officer ranks in the military should be opened up to British officers.

20. Mohammad Ali Jinnah
The reunification of Hindus and Muslims in the 1916 Lucknow Pact was largely the work of Jinnah who had been a leader in the Muslim League

21. Rowlatt Acts
* British Secretary of State for India, Edwin Montagu, was in 1917 an advocate for Indian self rule. Speaking at the British Parliament, he said the following….
“The policy of his Majesty’s Government, with which the Government of India are in complete accord, is that of increasing association of Indians in every branch of the administration and the gradual development of self-governing institutions…”

22. Montagu travels all over India promoting this cause
Montagu travels all over India promoting this cause. However, the Viceroy Lord Chelmsford and the British government were not actually open to the concept of self-government for Indians
“New aspirations were awakened, new pride; new constituencies arose, and along with them, a new consciousness of India’s value to the survival of the Britain’s empire and an impatience to be free of imperial restraints” (297)
Returning Indian soldiers, a million of them, returned from overseas duty in Europe or Africa with their perspectives changed
However, “armistice brought to India not peace but the sword of continued repression” as found in the 1919 Rowlatt Acts

23. The Rowlatt Acts were passed in fear of nationalist and independence activity and included:
Any person suspected of terrorism could be incarcerated for up to two years without a trial
Arrests could occur without a warrant
Stricter controls on the press allowed
Accused were denied the right to know their accusers or to know evidence used in a trial
Anyone arrested upon release could not participate in political or educational activities
Indian nationalists protested across the country against the Rowlatt Acts, especially in the Punjab region where the army was called to action in April, 1919

24. Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, 1919
On April 13th, 1919 a crowd of non-violent protesters in Amristar were fired upon by the British Army under the command of Colonel Reginald Dyer
The death of men, women and children numbers from 379 – 1,500

25. Events of 1919 further radicalize the nationalist cause.
Dyer’s actions were praised by the governor of Punjab and by viceroy Chelmsford but at Montagu’s insistence he was relieved of command. He returned to a heroes welcome in England.
Motilal Nehru (PM Nehru’s father) presiding over the Amristar Congress said in December, 1919: “if our lives and honour are to remain at the mercy of an irresponsible executive and military, if the ordinary rights of human beings are denied to us, then all talk of reform is a mockery”
Events of 1919 further radicalize the nationalist cause.