These notes cover the challenges to British rule in India, the Middle East and Ireland between . It explores how united Indian nationalism was and the extent to which African nationalism was a threat to the empire between 1914-47. They are for the new a level specification and are to an A*standard.
Section 3: Imperialism Challenged Chapter 18: Relations with Indigenous People
Chapter 18: Relations with Indigenous People
To what extent were the British in control of their subjects in their empire in the
years 1914-47?
How did indigenous peoples respond to imperial rule 1914-47?
India
• Conflict during and in the aftermath of the war
• Mainstream political leadership in India was overwhelmingly loyal
• There were anti-British outbursts in Bengal and Punjab
• The expatriate Indian population, particularly in the USA, Canada and Germany, headed by the Ghadar Party,
tried to encourage uprisings in India, with Irish Republican, German and Turkish help
• There were a number of failed attempts to provoke a mutiny in the British Indian Army e.g. the 1915 Ghadar
Conspiracy and the Singapore Mutiny (a 7-day mutiny of Indian sepoys against the British in Singapore)
• The 1919 Government of Indian act failed to satisfy nationalist demands which provoked further protest. These
uprisings led to recommendations for the 1919 Rowlatt Acts which allowed political cases to be tried without
juries and provided for the internment of suspects without trial
• The conflict came to a head in the 1919 Amritsar (or Jallianwallah Bagh) massacre in Punjab, after rioting had
bought British deaths and the near breakdown of civil order in the region
• British army troops, commanded by Reginald Dyer, fire upon a crowd who had gathered to protest against the
arrest of 2 nationalist leaders as well as Sikh pilgrims who had gathered in the public gardens of Jallianwallah
Bagh, adjacent to a sacred site in order to celebrate the Sikh New Year
• The British government claimed that 379 were killed and 1200 wounded but the Indian National Congress
claimed that 1000 died and over 1500 were wounded
• The massacre provoked a huge reaction. Indian Congress politicians claimed that it showed that Britain no
longer possessed any moral authority to rule. It also galvanised Gandhi’s non-co-operation movement o 1920-
22
• There was further conflict with the Chauri Chaura incident of 1922 in the Gorakhpur district of the United
Province. Violence erupted among a large group of protestors participating in the Non-Cooperation Movement
and the police opened fire. The demonstrators attacked and set fire to a police station, and 3 civilians and 23
policemen were killed. The Indian National Congress called for an end to the Non-Cooperation movement on
the national level as a direct result of the incident
• Discontent continued to simmer for the next 25 years with outbreaks of conflict and protest erupting but thanks
to Gandhi’s belief in non-violence, the conflict was probably less bloody
• The emergence of the Muslim league in the 1930s brought a new and increasingly militant element into the
struggle
• Non-violent campaigns were relatively easily contained (hence the failure of Gandhi’s 1942 ‘Quit India’
campaign which failed because of the heavy-handed suppression, its weak coordination and the lack of a clear-
cut programme)
• A wave of violence spread through the country as Hindus and Muslims fought or ascendancy after WW2 and
rejected the British offer of Dominion status
• India finally received independence in 1947 amidst scenes of mounting communal violence. 400 000 died
during the conflict that had led to partition
The Middle East
• In Egypt, there was a countrywide revolution by Egyptians and Sudanese against the British occupation in
1919, after the British exiled the nationalist leader Saad Zaghloul and other members of his party
• There was widespread civil disobedience, rioting, demonstrations and strikes encompassing all classes of
society
• There were attacks on military bases, civilian facilities and personnel, in which Egyptian villages were burnt
and railways destroyed
• At least 800 Egyptians were killed and 1600 wounded
• Following the ‘Milner report’, Egypt was granted independence in 1922, but relations remained strained
• Britain refused to recognise full Egyptian sovereignty over Sudan or to withdraw all its forces
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