World History

DecolonizationinAsiaSpring22.pptx

I. India: Decolonization

British colony since 1760s

Rule by Viceroy and Council; grinding poverty

Late 19th Century: growth of educated, Indian middle-class, commitment to nationalism

1885: Indian National Congress forms; led by Hindu intellectuals and reformers; self-rule and democratic reforms

Muslim League: forms in 1906; advance political causes of Muslim minority; eventual call for separate Muslim state

How to weld together an independent India?

II. World War I as Catalyst

Indians fought for British; massive casualties and injury to Indian economy (inflation)

Stokes resentment; self-determination denied

British promise gradual self-rule

Amristar Massacre: April 1919; peaceful protest of 10,000 Indians; British army opens fire; 376 killed, thousands wounded

Galvanizes Indian resistance to British rule

A Leader Emerges

Mohandas Gandhi: born 1869,English educated; lead civil rights efforts in South Africa; emerges as leader after Amristar Massacre

Non-violence and civil disobedience

Refuse to pay taxes, vote, obey unjust laws

Employ fasts: sacrifice, suffering for good end

Mass appeal: humble, simple, modest

Revolution from elite to masses

Focus on religion worried Muslims

III. Changes in WWII Era

British remain intransigent on independence

Constitution of 1935: elected legislature to “assist” Governor; great power in Governor

Gandhi accepts compromise; Jawaharlal Nehru refuses

Indian National Congress: full independence now; boycott World War II

Muslim League: separate Muslim state

1945: Labour Party controls British government; grant independence

Britain: weakened, drain on resources, no will

Independence at Last!

1947: British withdraws; India partitioned

Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan

Population transfer: 12 million people migrate; hundreds of thousands die; no plan in place

Independence and democracy, but…poverty; illiteracy; huge, heterogenous population

IV. Decolonization In Asia: Comparing China and India

Both: huge populations; poor, peasant societies; foreign control; nationalism and modernization (foreign ideas) as goals

India: religious and liberal leaders; religious divisions; non-violent movement; democratic result

China: radical vs. liberals; war and violent revolution; communist dictatorship