Hist 4339

South Asian Nationalism in the 1930s and 1940s: The Run-Up to Partition

Major Nationalist Leaders

• Gandhi

• Jawaharlal Nehru: Gandhi protégé                 

◦ man of great charisma                        
◦ idealistic leader                                  

•Sardar Patel: Congress “Strong Man”

            ◦ pragmatist

            ◦ successful lawyer before INC work

• Muhammad Ali Jinnah: the “sole spokesman”

            ◦ like all of the major nationalist leaders,

a Br-trained lawyer

            ◦ left INC in 1920

◦ deeply Westernized

◦ returned to Indian politics in 1934, transforming Muslim League

Events of the 1930s and 1940s

• 1935 Government of India Act

• 1937 elections: INC takes power in most provinces

• 1939: leftist leader Subhas Chandra Bose driven out of Congress

• 1939: Br again declares war on India’s behalf

◦ INC resigns seats—a crucial mistake?

• 1940: Lahore Resolution (call for Pakistan)

• Bose forms Indian National Army                                                                              

• 1942: Cripps Mission fails

• 1942: Gandhi’s “Quit India” campaign

• 1945: Simla conference fails

• Post-WWII: Britain near bankruptcy

1946 Elections                                                                         

• Great ML improvement, interpreted as vote for Pakistan

◦ clearer definition: Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistan, NWFP, Bengal, Assam

• Congress also did well, maintained position that India should remain united

• British now eager to negotiate settlement that would allow decolonization

1946 Cabinet Mission and Second Simla Conference

• Members of British Cabinet sent to attempt to negotiate for unified India

• Proposed loose federal structure with weak center, largely autonomous provinces

• INC first approved, then rejected the plan

• Jinnah denounced INC “bad faith,” announced “bid goodbye to constitutional methods”

• ML declared “Direct Action Day” on Aug 16, 1946 (Great Calcutta Killing): 5000 dead