India, Chapter 2, Part 3 The effects of the war on British rule Flashcards
(37 cards)
What signigicant declaration happened in 1917?
The Montau Declaration
What led to the Declaration?
- By 1917, it was clear to the British that they needed to respond to both the Indian war effort and the new nationalist unity.
- They knew that if they wanted to postpone actual political concessions until after the war, it needed to make a statement to counter the home rule movemet and the Lucknow Pact.
What was the Declaration?
The Declaration implicitly committed the British government to grant some form of self-government to India but there was no time scale implying that Britain was in no hurry.
It ended by stating that Montagu would visit India to take soundings.
What was the basis of the Declaration
The 1918 Montagu-Chelmsford Report
What was the Montagu-Chelmsford Report?
Edwin Montagu, Secretary of State, announced a new objective to set off on a massive tour of India to consult politicians and public opinion.
His findings were published in the 1918 Montagu-Chelmsford report
During this time, he was alarmed to find that the British administration of India was both slow and complex with a tendency to stifle innovation and oppose radical reform.
What Acts were passed in 1919?
The Rowlatt Acts
What were they?
- The Act enabled the powers of the Defense of India Act to be invoked if it was judged that anarchist conditions were developing.
- Judge S.A.T Rowlatt wrote a report on the dangers of, ‘sedition’ in India and how the Raj should face up to the problem.
What 5 powers were included in the Rowlatt Acts?
1) Unlimited detention without trial
2) Trial without jury
3) The use of evidence illegal in peacetime
4) Censorship
5) House arrest of suspects
What was the reaction of Montagu and Chelsmford to the Acts?
- Montagu and Chelmsford stated their reluctance as it was extremely offensive but felt it was necessary given the nature of the threat.
How many memberds of the Indian Legislative Council opposed the measure?
22/22 – all of them, nevertheless, they were outvoted by the appointed officials and became law in March 1919.
What was Jinnah’s and his colleagues reaction to the Act?
Jinnah and his colleagues resigned from the Council and Jinnah wrote a furious letter to Chelmsford in which he accused the administration of the Raj of being neither responsible to the people nor in touch with Indian public opinion.
What was Gandhi’s reaction ?
- Gandi declared it a betrayal of wartime support by Indians and declared a national hartal on the 6 April 1919.
What were the consequences of the rowlatt acts?
- The Act destroyed any small hope that the 1919 reforms had been a step in the right direction.
Clearly, the British were still going to rely on coercion rather than debate and concessions.
- Opposition spread, particularly in the Punjab (north-west) where many Hartals were arranged in the spring of 1919. Violence, marches and rioting by the Hartals.
What major event happened in 1919
Amritsar Massacre
Who was responsible for Amritsar?
General Dyer
What insighted the incident?
Dyer banned all public meetings and arrested local politicians
Dyer’s ban was defied by a public meeting in the Jallianwala Bagh meeting
He was determined not to repeat the error of the 1857 mutiny by letting events get out of control and was even more determined to teach the Punjabis a lesson.
What happened during the massacre
Between 10,000-20,000 Punjabis were crammed when Dyer arrived. He had an armoured car with a machine gun on top.
The Massacre:
Dyer’s troops ran in without warning and started firing. There were only 3-4 narrow exits and panic ensued causing people to run and crush together
Dyer directed the fire to the thickest troops and used over 1600 bullets and only stopped when ammunition ran out.
He confirmed that he would have continued with more.
What were the casualties?
379 people were killed within minutes and 1,200 were wounded.
The following days after Amritsar, how did Dyer continue to punish Indians?
Dyer imposed martial law and humiliating punishments.
Public floggings were held of Indians suspected, but not convicted of violence
In the street when an Englishwomen had been attacks, India’s were forced to crawl.
What was the response from the public to Dyer’s actions?
The Public supported him
Dyer maintained that the situation was on the verge of complete mob challenge to the British authority in India and a threat to the lives of Europeans.
The House of Lords passed a vote of thanks to Dyer’s actions and a public subscription raised thousands of pounds in reward.
What was the Hunter Inquiry?
The Inquiry identified that the Rowlatt Act was the main thing responsible for creating the feeling against the government which promoted serious disorder in the Punjab.
Who did the majority of the report blame?
The majority report held Dyer responsible but only censured him (a formal reprimand.
Who did the minority report blame?
The minority report of the 3 Indian members of the inquiry blamed martial law for the agitation and compares Dyer’s actions to the brutality of the Germans during the war.
What other addictional causes of incident did the Inquiry blame. Name 3/9 minimum
1) Arrest of Gandhi and general unrest
2) Home Rule Activity
3) Restrictions resulting from the Defence of India Act
4) Press Criticism
5) False rumours
6) Passive resistance
7) Satyagraha
8) Peace terms with Turkey
9) High prices
