Second World War and Nationalistic Response

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  • September 1, 1939, Germany attacked Poland - the action that led to the Second World War.
  • September 3, 1939, Britain declared war against Germany & British Government of India declared India’s support for the war without consulting Indian opinion.
Congress Offer to Viceroy
  • Indian offer to cooperate in the war effort had two basic conditions:
    • After the war, a constituent assembly should be convened to determine political structure of a free India.
    • Immediately, some form of a genuinely responsible government should be established at the Centre.
  • Offer rejected by Viceroy Linlithgow.
CWC Meeting at Wardha
Gandhi
  • Sympathy for Britain, total dislike of the fascist ideology & unconditional support to the Allied powers.
  • Clear distinction between the democratic nations of western Europe and the totalitarian Nazis and fascists.
  • Not willing to embarrass the British government during the war.
Subhas Bose, Acharya Narendra Dev and Jayaprakash Narayan
  • No sympathy for either side in the war.
  • Thought ideal time to launch a civil disobedience movement.
Jawaharlal Nehru
  • Not ready to accept the opinion of either Gandhi or of the socialists.
  • Believed that justice was on the side of Britain, France and Poland, but he also believed that Britain and France were imperialist powers.
  • Advocated no Indian participation till India itself was free.
  • No advantage was to be taken of Britain’s difficulty by starting an immediate civil disobedience movement
  • Gandhi decided to go with Nehru’s position.
The CWC resolution
  1. India could not be party to a war being fought, on the face of it, for democratic freedom, while that freedom was being denied to India.
  2. If Britain was fighting for democracy and freedom, it should be proved by ending imperialism in its colonies and establishing full democracy in India.
  3. Government should declare its war aims soon and, also, as to how the principles of democracy were to be applied to India after the war.
Government Attitude and Congress Ministries’ Resignation.
  • Government’s response was entirely negative.
  • Use the Muslim League and the princes against the Congress.
Government’s Hidden Agenda
  • “to take advantage of the war to regain the lost ground from the Congress” by provoking the Congress into a confrontation with the government and then using the extraordinary situation to acquire draconian power.
  • In May 1940, a top secret Draft Revolutionary Movement Ordinance had been prepared, aimed at launching crippling pre-emptive strikes on the Congress.
  • Win an unusual amount of liberal and leftist sympathy all over the world by painting an aggressive Congress as being pro-Japan and pro-Germany.
  • Branded the Congress as a purely Hindu organisation.
  • Clear that the British government had no intention of loosening its hold, during or after the war, and was willing to treat the Congress as an enemy
Congress Ministries Decide to Resign
October 23, 1939, the CWC meeting
  • Rejected the viceregal statement as a reiteration of the old imperialist policy.
  • Decided not to support the war.
  • Called upon the Congress ministries to resign in the provinces.
Debate on the Question of Immediate Mass Satyagraha
  • After Linlithgow’s statement, discuss on mass struggle began once again.
  • Gandhi and his supporters were not in favour of an immediate struggle.
    • Allied cause was just.
    • Lack of Hindu-Muslim unity, result in communal riots.
    • Congress organisation was in shambles.
    • Atmosphere was not conducive for a mass struggle.
    • Masses were not ready for a struggle.
  • Carrying on political work among the masses & negotiating till all possibilities of a negotiated settlement were exhausted.
  • January 1940, Linlithgow stated, "Dominion status of Westminster variety, after the war, is the goal of British policy in India".
  • Allahabad in November 1939, India’s independence and of the right of Indians to frame their constitution through a constituent assembly should be recognised and that it was only through such a constituent assembly that communal and other problems could be tackled.
Ramgarh session,
  • All agreed that a battle must be waged but there was disagreement over the form.
  • Gandhi was in favour of continued cooperation at the provincial level Offer the British moral support during the war but on a non-violent basis.
  • Jawaharlal Nehru reiterated that complete independence for India must be a precondition for Congress support to the British war effort.
  • Subhash Bose continued with his strong militant stand of direct action against the colonial government forcing it to agree to the grant of freedom.
  • Indian freedom could not be in the form of dominion or any other status within the imperial structure.
Pakistan Resolution—Lahore (March 1940)
  • Independent states in which constituent units shall be autonomous and sovereign and adequate safeguards to Muslims where they are in minority.

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