British India 1885-1918 History of India 1947-1966






British India 1919-1947



In 1919 British troops under General Dyer opened fire at an illegal, yet unarmed assembly at Amritsar, killing hundreds and wounding over a thousand, among them women and children. The AMRITSAR MASSACRE was a turning point in Indian history, as the CONGRESS PARTY raised her political goal from home rule, as previously demanded, to full independence. The British administration, being criticized not only in India, but also by the international and even the British press, began to realize that her days in India were limited.
MOHANDAS K. GANDHI emerged as the unelected, yet unchallenged leader of the Indian independence movement. He pursued a strategy of NON-VIOLENT NON-COOPERATION. By declaring a national day of prayer and fasting, he brought economic life all over India to a standstill; by challenging the salt monopoly he proved to the world that British rule over India was based on arbitrary injustice. Gandhi repeatedly spent time in British jails.
In 1936, MOHAMMAD ALI JINNAH left the Congress Party, reorganizing the MUSLIM LEAGUE and campaigning for an independent Muslim state of PAKISTAN.
In 1937 CEYLON, BURMA and the British protectorates on the Persian Gulf were administratively separated from British India.
During World War II, Mohandas K. Gandhi advocated a policy of interrupting the campaign for independence and not interfering in the British war effort. Another Congress politician, SUBHASH CHANDRA BOSE, chose to seek for German assistance. He founded the AZAD HIND LEGION; a small number of Indians fought as volunteers in the German Wehrmacht.
Many Indians, most notably Nepal's Gurkha Regiments, fought on the British side during the war. Japanese forces occupied Burma and the ANDAMAN and NICOBAR ISLANDS in 1942; India's easternmost provinces saw the stationing of troops. In October 1945 in Japanese-occupied Singapore, a PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT OF FREE INDIA was proclaimed, in charge only over the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Eastern India (Assam) functioned as the base of the FLYING TIGERS, pilots who supplied the Nationalist Chinese government in Chungking.
After World War II, the British administration organized the handover of sovereignty to the governments of India and Pakistan; INDEPENDENCE was declared in August 1947.

The Indian Olympic Association was formed in 1927, and recognized by IOC as India's NOC in the same year.






EXTERNAL
FILES 		Articles National Olympic Committee, from Wikipedia
Biography of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, from Asia Source
Biography of Subhash Chandra Bose, from Itihaas
Amritsar Massacre, from forgotten history, from Victorian Web (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
India 1945-1948, from Britain's Small Wars
India in World War II, from World War II Multimedia Database
DOCUMENTS Flag of Azad Hind, from FOTW
Indian Cinderellas - Azad Hind Issues, by Andrew Freeston (stamps intended for the use by the Indian volunteers, but never used)
Winston Churchill - Amritsar Massacre Speech - July 8th 1920, House of Commons, posted by Lachlan Cranswick
Text Issued by the Government of India of the Original "Quit India" Resolution Drafted by Mohandas K. Gandhi and Rejected by the All-India Congress Working Committee in Favor of the Modified Version Submitted by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. 1942, from PHA
Estimates of Death Tolls in Indian Resistance to British Rule, posted by Matthew White, scroll down
REFERENCE IHS : International Historical Statistics : Africa, Asia & Oceania 1750-2000, edited by B.R. Mitchell, Basingstoke : Palgrave MacMillan 4th ed. 2003
Mr. Gandhi pp.364-389, Beginnings in India pp.390-410, A Word About Religion pp.411-428, Jawaharlal Nehru pp.429-446, The Congress Structure pp.447-462, The World of Great Princes pp.463-482, Aga Khan, Moslems and Others pp.483-491, British Rule in India pp.492-506, The Far Frontiers pp.507-523, in : John Gunther, Inside Asia, 1942 War Edition, NY : Harper & Brothers (1938) 1942
The Indian Empire, in : Jasper H. Stembridge, The Oxford War Atlas Volume II, 1 September 1941 to 1 January 1943, Oxford : UP 1943 [G]
Article : India, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1944 pp.349-351, 1945 pp.356-358, 1946 pp.385-387, 1947 pp.400-402, 1948 pp.383-386 [G]
Article : India and Dependencies, in : Statesman's Yearbook 1919 pp.117-165, 1924 pp.120-164, 1925 pp.122-160, 1926 pp.111-170, 1928 pp.113-144, 1929 pp.112-171, 1932 pp.113-174, 1937 pp.120-153, 1943 pp.107-178 [G]
Article : India, British, in : Americana Annual 1927 pp.429-433, 1928 pp.381-385, 1930 pp.391-394, 1931 pp.390-396, 1932 pp.351-355, 1933 pp.383-387, 1934 pp.300-303, 1935 pp.357-359, 1936 pp.355-359, 1937 pp.347-349, 1938 pp.334-337, 1939 pp.370-372, 1940 pp.377-381, 1943 pp.357-364, 1944 pp.333-337 [G]
Article : India, in : Americana Annual 1945 pp.353-358, 1946 pp.359-365, 1947 pp.337-342 [G]
Article : India, in : New International Year Book 1919 pp.340-345, 1920 pp.337-340, 1921 pp.341-346, 1923 pp.345-351, 1925 pp.326-329, 1928 pp.345-348, 1930 pp.363-369, 1932 pp.373-378, 1933 pp.356-360, 1934 pp.306-309, 1935 pp.318-321, 1938 pp.330-334, 1939 pp.357-360, Events of 1940 pp.349-352, 1941 pp.278-281, 1942 pp.316-323, 1943 pp.277-282, 1944 pp.288-293, 1945 pp.268-271 [G]
Article : India, in : Funk & Wagnall's New Standard Encyclopedia Year Book 1932 pp.310-313, 1933 pp.269-271, 1934 pp.286-289, 1935 pp.281-283, 1936 pp.252-255, 1937 pp.258-261, 1938 pp.264-266, 1939 pp.288-292, 1940 pp.300-302, 1941 pp.252-254, 1942 pp.224-228, 1943 pp.227-230, 1944 pp.151-152, 1946 pp.216-219 [G]



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted on May 23rd 2002, last revised on June 17th 2008

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