In
1914 India had a population of over 320 million. The British king,
George V, was Emperor of India, ruling through an appointed viceroy
based in New Delhi. The viceroy appointed his own cabinet from about
6,500 British officials. The 1909 India Act allowed Indians a share
in the work of the legislative councils.
The Indian Army
was reorganized by Lord Kitchener while
he was commander-in-chief in India (1902-09). Kitchener established
an army of 10 divisions (155,000) backed by an internal security force
of some 80,000 troops. About a quarter of the infantry and cavalry
troops and almost all artillery personnel in the army were British.
Two divisions and a cavalry brigade of the
Indian Army was sent to the Western
Front in September 1914. Of the 70,000 sent to France, 5,500 were
killed and well over 16,000 wounded. As a result of a suggestion made
by King George V, the Royal
Pavilion in Brighton was converted
into a hospital for wounded Indian soldiers. It has been claimed that
several soldiers been brought in unconscious, woke up in the Banqueting
Room, and thought they had died and were in Paradise.
As well as the Western Front the Indian
Army was also sent to Mesopotamia,
Gallipoli, Palestine,
East Africa and Egypt.
By November 1918 the army contained 573,000 men and more than 1.3
men served during wartime, of whom about 72,000 men were killed.
In
1935 the British government passed the India Act that proposed the
transformation of India into eleven provincial states.. The legislation
also gave greater authority to the provincial assemblies to establish
governments for questions falling within their own region.
The
mainly Hindu supported Congress Party had considerable success in
the elections of 1936. This concerned the Muslim minority that made
up one fifth of the total population. The Muslim League now became
a separatist party that demanded the partition of India.
The Congress
Party was highly critical of British foreign policy in the
1930s. They accused the British government of being sympathetic to
fascism after its
policy of appeasement towards Adolf Hitler.
When Neville Chamberlain signed the
Munich Agreement with Hitler in 1938,
Mahatma Gandhi
wrote: "Europe has sold her soul for the sake of a 'seven days'
earthly existence. The peace that Europe gained at Munich is a triumph
of violence."
The Congress Party was completely opposed to the policies of fascism
but they were furious when the Viceroy of India declared war on Nazi
Germany without consulting them first. With this decision, the
Viceroy made it clear that India was subservient to the British government.
Party leaders
offered to support the British government they were willing to issue
a statement that this was a war in favour of democracy throughout
the world and not just Europe. When Britain declined this offer, all
members of the party resigned from office. Many of these posts were
filled by the Muslim League, thus creating even more conflict between
the two religious groups.
On
the outbreak of the Second World War the Indian
Army numbered 160,000 men. The army had no tanks or heavy field
artillery and had very little air support. Over the next five years
a total of two million served in the army and took part in the campaigns
in North Africa, Italy
and Burma.
Some political
figures demanded a massive civil disobedience campaign during the
war. The leaders of the Congress Party were in a difficult position.
They wanted to make use of Britain's weakness, but did not want to
do anything that would help a German victory. A compromise was drawn
up where people would be selected to commit individual acts of civil
disobedience. These people were arrested and placed in prison without
trial. By May, 1941, over 2,500 people had been arrested.
In 1942, Japan was able
to take control of Malaya, Singapore
and Hong Kong. It appeared possible
that Japan would soon be launching an invasion
of India. Stafford Cripps, a socialist
and supporter of Indian Independence, was sent by Winston
Churchill to meet the Congress leaders. In exchange for their
support, the British government offered reform of the role of the
Viceroy and a commitment that India would be granted dominion status
once the war with Germany was over.
After their
experiences of the First World War Congress
leaders were unwilling to comply with the government demands in return
for the promise of a reward in the distant future. Although the Congress
leaders liked Stafford Cripps, they did
not trust Winston Churchill, who had
been one of the strongest opponents of Indian Independence during
the 1920s and 30s. He was particularly hostile to Gandhi whom he described
as a "nauseating, seditious Middle Temple lawyer... posing as
a fakir (holy man)".
In August
1942, the Congress Party endorsed a new Quit India
campaign. Mahatma Gandhi
was chosen to organize the campaign. Within hours of the announcement,
Gandhi and his fellow leaders were arrested and put in prison. Here
they stayed without trial for the next two years.
During
the war Subhas Chandra Bose
formed a Indian National Army to fight against the British. Drawn
mainly from soldiers of the Indian
Army
that
were captured by the Japanese Army in
the early stages of the war. About 7,000 of these soldiers fought
under Bose against the British Army
at
Imphal and Kohima.
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Last updated: 16th December, 2001
(1)
Mahatma
Gandhi, Harijan (18th August,
1940)
I believe all war to be wholly wrong. But if we scrutinize the motives
of two warring parties, we may find one to be in the right and the
other in the wrong. For instance, if A wishes to seize B's country,
B is obviously the wronged one. Both fight with arms. I do not believe
in violent warfare but all the same B, whose cause is just, deserves
my moral help and blessings.
(2)
George Orwell, BBC radio broadcast (20th
December 1941)
The
Japanese successes are still very serious for us. At present the pressure
of Japanese troops has died down in Malaya, where heavy casualties
have been inflicted upon them. Large Indian reinforcements have been
landed in Rangoon. The Governor of Hong Kong states that heavy fighting
is in progress, on the island itself.
In all this we must remember
that the Japanese power, though great, can only aim at a rapid outright
victory. The three Axis powers together can produce 60 million tons
of steel every year, whereas the USA alone can produce about 88 million.
This in itself is not a striking difference.
But Japan cannot send help to Germany, and Germany cannot
send help to Japan. For the Japanese only produce 7 million tons
of steel a year. For steel, as for many other things, they must depend
on the stores they have ready.
If the Japanese seem to
be making a wild attempt, we must remember
that many of them think it their duty to their Emperor, who is
their God, to conquer the whole world. This is not a new idea in Japan.
Hideyoshi when he died in 1598 was trying to conquer the whole
world known to him, and he knew about India and Persia. It was
because he failed that Japan closed the country to all foreigners.
In January of this year,
to take a recent example, a manifesto appeared in
the Japanese press signed by Japanese Admirals and Generals stating
that it was Japan's mission to set Burma and India free. Japan was
of course to do this by conquering them. What it would be like to
be free under the
heel of Japan the Chinese can tell us, and the Koreans.
(3)
Mahatma
Gandhi, interviewed by Louis Fischer
(June, 1942)
The cry of "Quit India" has arisen from a realization of
the fact that if India is to shoulder the burden of representing or
fighting for the cause of mankind, she must have the glow of freedom
now. Has a freezing man ever been warmed by the promise of the warmth
of the sunshine coming at some future date? If the British wish to
document their right to win the war and make the world better, they
must purify themselves by surrendering power in India. We are asked
to fight for democracy in Germany, Italy and Japan. How can we when
we haven't got it ourselves? I do not want Japan to win. I do not
want the Axis to win. But I am sure that Britain cannot win unless
the Indian people become free. Britain is weaker and Britain is morally
indefensible while she rules India.
(4)
F. C. Hart worked for the Indian Special Branch and was interviewed
about his work in 1975.
On one occasion in Patna
City a number of women laid themselves down on the ground right across
the street and held up all the traffic. When the Superintendent of
Police arrived on the scene he was at first
nonplussed. If they had been men he would have sent in policemen to
lift them out bodily, but he dare not do it with women. So he thought
for a bit and then he called for fire hoses and with the hoses they
sprayed these women who were lying on the ground. They only wore very
thin saris and, of course, when the water got on them all their figures
could be seen. The constables started cracking dirty jokes and immediately
the women got up and ran.
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