1. India’s Road to Independence

2. The Indian Nationalist Movement
Since 1885, the Indian National Congress was dedicated to gaining India’s independence.
Nationalism grew after WWI as British began limiting Indian rights. They took away freedom of the press and banned all public gatherings.
British officials sometimes reacted harshly. In 1919, 10,000 peaceful Indians rebelled by meeting at Amritsar.

3. The Indian Nationalist Movement
British ordered an open fire, killing 379 which led to an increased distrust and a louder call for independence.  “Amritsar Massacre”

4. The Indian Nationalist Movement
Mohandas Gandhi, emerged as the leader of the Indian National Congress. An Indian lawyer who had been educated in England, developed a large following among India’s peasants.
His use of nonviolent methods and
passive resistance eventually
demonstrated to the British the futility
of denying Indians their freedom.

5. India’s Struggle for Independence
Non-Violence
Gandhi was a pacifist and opposed the use of violence to settle disputes. He developed the policy of non-violent passive resistance in which Indians passively suffered British beatings and violence without fighting back.

6. India’s Struggle for Independence
Civil Disobedience
Gandhi urged Indians to disobey unjust British laws. In 1930, he led a Salt March to protest a British salt tax. Gandhi’s followers also conducted fasts and refused to work for the British. As a result, Indians were jailed in ever-increasing numbers.

8. India’s Struggle for Independence
Civil Disobedience
Gandhi used nonviolent resistance (satyagraha – a truthful force) salt is need salt to replace what’s lost in heat. He and 50,000 Indians were arrested. This increased world support for the Indians, even people in Britain began to question whether or not they should keep India.  British use guns and clubs 

10. India’s Struggle for Independence
Cottage Industries
Gandhi encouraged Indians to boycott (refuse to buy) British-made cotton goods, and to buy only cotton goods that were homespun in India. Gandhi hoped to rebuild India’s cottage industries as a way to raise living standards.

11. India’s Struggle for Independence
Homespun – Cottage Industry

12. India’s Struggle for Independence
Indian leaders had hoped for independence shortly after WWI, but were disappointed by continued British opposition. When WWII broke out, Gandhi refused to support Britain but many Indian soldiers fought on the British side against Germany and Japan. After WWII Britain was far too weak to continue to resist Indian demands for freedom. Finally, in 1947, Britain grants India it’s independence as British oppose keeping overseas colonies.

13. India’s Independence
Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister, celebrated Independence Day with an impassioned speech, full of hope for India’s future. Independence brought some difficult problems.

14. India’s Independence Economic Policies
Jawaharlal Nehru, was the leader of India for 17 years. He wanted a casteless society which was secular where the country would not have an official religion. Nehru, set up schools and worked on economic development by setting up Five Year Plans designed to improve the nation over a five-year period. In the areas of Agriculture, industry and social welfare.

15. India’s Independence Economic Policies
Almost 80% of Indian people are farmers yet India had a serious food problem. Why?
Indian farms are small (less than 5 acres)
Indians continue to farm like their ancestors-(traditional) simple tools, inefficient methods
Crops are destroyed by diseases and pests.

16. India’s Independence Economic Policies
Today many can feed their own and have extra left over to sell-due to the Green Revolution- new types of wheat and rice were produced which grew faster, and new fertilizers were introduced.
There were many drawbacks, because it helped only farmers who only grew wheat and rice. The fertilizer and irrigation systems were very expensive
Handout -Green Revolution

17. India’s Independence Economic Policies
Land distribution was a problem, few owned large farms, millions owned small farms, and peasants, the landless, worked as tenant farmers. They would rent land from large landowners and pay them a portion of their crops.

18. India’s Independence Economic Policies
The government decides to redistribute land, so they began a program of land reform.
laws were passed to limit the size of farms
they sold the surplus land to tenant farmers
-tenant farmers didn’t have to pay more than
¼ of their crops as rent. Very little success-Why? -landowners had political power and blocked enforcement of laws and most tenant farmers didn’t have the money to buy the surplus land

19. India’s Independence Economic Policies
Industry- today India has a mixed economy-an economy in which some industries are owned by the government and some are owned by private citizens
There are 3 major forms of industrial organizations:
-Cottage industries
-Small businesses
-Large businesses

20. India’s Independence Economic Policies
Cottage Industries- a system under which family members use their own equipment to produce goods in their homes-found mostly in villages and it adds to their farm income.
-weave silk and cotton by hand instead of by machine they also produce pottery, jewelry, leather goods, etc.

21. India’s Independence Economic Policies
Small Industries are factories with less than 100 workers that uses simple machinery
-They make goods such as cardboard boxes, matches, shoes, carpets, etc.
-To help these small business, the government. has set up institutions where small business owners can learn about management, sales, etc.

22. India’s Independence Economic Policies
Large Industries- some owned by the govt., some owned by private investors
-Govt. industries include mining, air and rail transport, nuclear energy, etc.
-Private industries include aluminum, chemicals, fertilizers, etc.
To try and encourage new private businesses the government has given up most business control to allow the private investors more opportunities.

23. India’s Independence Education Policies
Education is not available to everyone. There aren’t enough schools, books or teachers. Education is mostly for the rich and those of a higher caste.
Although education has improved since independence-10% could read and write, now 71% are literate. Still most poor students have to leave school to work in the fields or in the cottage industry.

24. India’s Partitioning 1947
One reason for the British delay in granting independence to India was widespread fear of violence between its large Hindus and Muslim population. Muslim leader, led by Mohammed Ali Jinnah, told the British they wanted their own Muslim state.

25. India’s Partitioning 1947
Muhammad Ali Jinnah 1st Governor-General of Pakistan

26. Partition of India, 1947

27. India’s Partitioning 1947 Muslim and Hindu Conflicts'
Hindus were the majority, and Muslims were the minority. The Muslim League had been demanding a Muslim state. Because there were large Muslim populations to the east and west, Pakistan became a divided nation, separated by Hindu India and almost a thousand miles.

28. India’s Partitioning 1947 Muslim and Hindu Conflicts'
The partition, or division, of India did not bring peace. Independence set off mass migrations of millions of Muslims fleeing India to Pakistan. Millions of Hindus fled Pakistan to India. 5 Million migrated and millions were killed crossing the borders. Gandhi tried to bring peace, but a Hindu fanatic assassinated him. 

29. India’s Partitioning 1947 Muslim and Hindu Conflicts'
Gandhi was killed in 1948 by a fellow Hindu who felt that Gandhi had betrayed his people. Gandhi had been calling for Peace and reconciliation (restore friendly relations) between Hindus and Muslims.  

30. Indian Government and Foreign Policy
India is the world’s largest democracy, with a federal system of government and powers divided between a strong central government and smaller local governments. India was led by members of the Nehru family for 40 years after independence.

31. Indian Government and Foreign Policy
Ethnic and religious conflicts have made democracy difficult for India. After Nehru’s death, his daughter, Indira Gandhi, became prime minister in She was assassinated in Her son Rajiv Gandhi, became prime minister and was assassinated in 1991.

32. Indira Gandhi
Rajiv Gandhi

33. Indian Government and Foreign Policy
Nonalignment – During the cold war, India followed a policy of nonalignment instituted by Jawaharlal Nehru, allowing India to accept help from both capitalist and socialist nations.

35. Social Change in India
The Caste System – The caste system has been a part of Indian life for more than 2,000 years. In the 1900s the system underwent change.
Gandhi campaigned to end the harsh treatment of the caste called Untouchables (harijans)

36. Social Change in India
The Indian constitution of 1950 banned discrimination against Untouchables
The government set aside jobs and places in universities for Untouchables