India’s Road to Freedom How and Why They Got Their Independence

The British Take Over  The start of what became British India was done by the British East India Company which began trading with India in the  By the 1850’s the East Indian Company ruled most of India for Britain.  The population of India in the 20th century was about 300 million and most of them where ruled by only a few thousand British officials.

Building Tensions  Since India was under British rule the people of India did not have any say in government and thus they were suppressed and made into second class citizens.  As British power was consolidated in the 19th century, many changes took place which deeply affected the social and economic structure of India.

Modernization  The gradual destruction of the Indian textile industry to the advantage of British cloth manufacturers destroyed the economic base in the Indian villages.  But under British rule India also got many of the modern western artifacts such as, “railroads, harbors, modern cities, and cotton and steel mills, as well as an active and worldly middle class. (Bulliet p. 838)

Movement Towards Independence  The movement towards India’s independence began as soon as the British took power in the middle of the eighteenth century, and it was started not by the Indians, but by the British themselves because they came to India to make money, not get new land.  To the East India Company, governing Indian was not something that they wanted to do, because in order to govern India it would cost them more money.

Increase of the Middle Class  The British began to lose their grip on India as a colony due to the increase of the middle class, which was now more educated and aware of the injustice that went on all over the world and in their homeland.  Hindu middle class citizens founded a political organization called Indian National Congress, which tried petitioning the government countless times for access to higher administrative positions and for a voice in government.

World War I  During World War I, India supported the British with more than 1.2 million troops, and millions more willingly gave money and supplies.  By the 1920’s, the British reluctantly began to give power to the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League. They handed over control of national areas such as education, the economy, and public works.  They also began to let more and more Indians into civil service.

World War II  India began to industrialize during the first and second World Wars.  It was greatly divided by World War II because most Indian soldiers felt like they were fighting to defend their nation, not to support the British Empire.  As in World War I, India put in millions of people to fight the war but some were so anti-British that they joined the Japanese side.

British Relinquishes Power  After WWII ended, “Britain’s new Labor Party government prepared for Indian independence, but deep suspicions between Hindus and Muslims complicated the process.” (Bulliet p. 844)  By early 1947 the Indian National Congress had agreed to separate India in to two states one being ruled by the Hindus and the other by Muslims.

New India and Pakistan  On August 15 British India became new India and Pakistan.  The celebration of independence was ruined by bitter religious fighting between the Muslims and the Hindus which still continues today.

Conclusion  The road that India took to get its independence shows how nations and its people change in order to adjust to the world and make things at home as just and favorable as possible, even if it means separating their nation in half to do it.  The Indian people involved during their independence movement suffered a great deal in order to have their freedom, although it took two World Wars for them to get enough momentum to win their independence.

Bibliography  Bulliet, Richard W. The Earth and Its Peoples: A Global History, Tihird Edition. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin,  Read, Anthony. The Proudest Day: India’s Long Road To Independence. New York, London: W. W. Norton & Company  Visram, Rozina. Women in India and Pakistan: The Struggle from independence from British Rule. New York, NY: Cambridge press 1992.