Overview of Nationalism in India

• In Europe, nationalism led to the formation of nation-states and new identities.
• In India, nationalism grew through the anti-colonial struggle.
• Colonial oppression created a sense of unity among people.
• Different social groups had different ideas of freedom.
• The Congress under Mahatma Gandhi tried to unite people through mass movements.

Forced Recruitment is a process by which the colonial state forced people to join the army.

• After 1919, the national movement spread to new areas and groups.
• The First World War caused heavy taxes, rising prices, and hardship.
• Forced recruitment from villages created anger among rural people.
• Crop failures and influenza (1918–1921) caused massive loss of life.
• Continued suffering led to new leadership and new methods of struggle.

• Mahatma Gandhi returned to India in January 1915 and introduced the idea of satyagraha.
• Satyagraha was based on truth, non-violence, and moral force, not physical violence.
• Gandhi believed that non-violence could unite all Indians against injustice.
• In 1917, Gandhi organised a satyagraha in Champaran for peasants against plantation oppression.
• In 1917, he led a satyagraha in Kheda to support peasants unable to pay revenue.
• In 1918, Gandhi organised a satyagraha among Ahmedabad mill workers.

• In 1919, the British government passed the Rowlatt Act, allowing detention without trial.
• Mahatma Gandhi started a nationwide satyagraha against the Act with a hartal on 6 April 1919.
• The British government responded with repression, arresting leaders and imposing martial law in Amritsar.
• On 13 April 1919, the Jallianwalla Bagh massacre took place, where General Dyer ordered firing on a peaceful crowd.
• Brutal repression followed across North India, forcing Gandhi to withdraw the movement.
• To unite Hindus and Muslims, Gandhi supported the Khilafat issue, leading to the Non-Cooperation Movement in 1920.

Boycott is the refusal to deal and associate with people, or participate in activities, or buy and use things; usually a form of protest.

• In Hind Swaraj (1909), Gandhi said British rule survived due to Indian cooperation.
• He believed non-cooperation would end British rule and bring swaraj.
• The movement began with a boycott of titles, institutions, and foreign goods.
• In 1920, Gandhi and Shaukat Ali mobilised mass support.
• The Non-Cooperation Movement was approved in December 1920 at Nagpur.

• The Non-Cooperation–Khilafat Movement began in January 1921.
• Middle-class people in towns led the movement by boycotting schools, courts, and elections.
• Foreign goods and cloth were boycotted, and Indian cloth was promoted.
• The use of Indian textiles increased due to the boycott.
• The movement in cities slowed because khadi was costly, and alternatives were limited.

• In February 1922, Mahatma Gandhi withdrew the Non-Cooperation Movement due to rising violence.
• Some Congress leaders formed the Swaraj Party to participate in council elections under the Government of India Act, 1919.
• The economic depression (1926–1930) caused falling agricultural prices and peasant unrest.
• The Simon Commission (1928) had no Indian members and was opposed with the slogan “Go Back Simon”.
• In December 1929, the Lahore Congress under Jawaharlal Nehru demanded Purna Swaraj.
• 26 January 1930 was declared Independence Day, marking the shift towards the Civil Disobedience Movement.

• In January 1930, Mahatma Gandhi chose salt as a symbol to unite Indians against British rule.
• The Salt March (12 March–6 April 1930) was led by Gandhi from Sabarmati to Dandi, where he broke the salt law.
• This marked the beginning of the Civil Disobedience Movement, where people openly broke colonial laws.
• People boycotted foreign cloth, picketed liquor shops, and peasants refused to pay taxes.
• The British government responded with mass arrests and repression, imprisoning about 100,000 people.
• The movement was temporarily suspended after the Gandhi-Irwin Pact (5 March 1931) and lost momentum by 1934.

• Rich peasants supported the Civil Disobedience Movement to protest against high land revenue during the economic depression.
• They withdrew support after 1931 when revenue demands were not reduced.
• Poor peasants wanted rent remission and joined radical movements, but Congress did not fully support them.
• Business classes supported the movement to oppose colonial restrictions and promote Indian trade and industry.
• Industrialists later became cautious due to fear of strikes and socialist influence.
• Industrial workers participated only in limited numbers and focused on issues like low wages and poor conditions.
• Women participated actively in protests and picketing, but were not given leadership roles in the Congress.

• Dalits did not participate widely in the Civil Disobedience Movement.
• Mahatma Gandhi opposed untouchability but did not support separate electorates for Dalits.
• The Poona Pact of 1932 gave reserved seats to Dalits within a joint electorate.
• Many Muslims were hesitant to join the movement because of growing communal tensions.
• Failed talks between the Congress and the Muslim League increased mistrust.
• In 1930, Muhammad Iqbal supported separate electorates to protect Muslim interests.

• Nationalism grew when people developed a sense of collective belonging through shared struggles and culture.
• History, folklore, songs, symbols, and popular prints helped spread nationalist ideas.
• The image of Bharat Mata became a powerful symbol of Indian nationalism in the twentieth century.
• ‘Vande Mataram’, written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, inspired national pride during the Swadeshi movement.
• Nationalists revived folk traditions to rediscover India’s cultural identity and past glory.
• National flags, such as the Swaraj flag with the spinning wheel, became symbols of unity and resistance.
• Glorifying a mainly Hindu past sometimes excluded other communities, creating limits to national unity.

• In the early twentieth century, growing anger against British rule united different Indian groups in the freedom struggle.
• Under Mahatma Gandhi, the Congress organised mass movements to build national unity, though different groups had different goals.
• Internal differences often caused phases of disunity and conflict within the national movement.
• In 1942, the Congress passed the Quit India Resolution, demanding immediate British withdrawal from India.
• The Quit India Movement (1942) became a mass struggle with the slogan “Do or Die”, despite severe British repression.