Why did opposition to British rule in India grow in the years
1919 – 1933?
In 1919 as the war ended expectations of the Indians began to be crushed by the
attitude of the British and this created more disappointment amongst Indians and
many now began to oppose the British rule of India and felt it was time for the
British to leave India and began demanding for Home Rule.
Unrest amongst Indians increased and made it harder for the British to control India
so they decided to investigate and report on the situation of India and later the
passed the report to the Rowlatt Acts which e xtended the Defence of India Act into
peacetime. The Rowlatt Acts were a serious mistake and a major turning point in
the movement for Home Rule. They proved that the promises made by the Montagu
Declaration and the Government of India Act meant nothing. T he Acts suggested
that the British were not going to give away control of India. This changed the way
the campaigns for Home Rule were carried out and led to the emergence of
Gandhi who influenced Congress to take a more non violent civil disobedience and
made a stand against the British authorities. Gandhi began a Satyagraha campaign
which included non violence and non co -operation with the British. Although his
followers misunderstood his ideas and began rioting and protests, especially in
Punjab.
In 1919 near the Golden Temple at the Jallianwala Bagh a large crowd gathered
together for an illegal meeting to protest against the British. General Dyer marched
in and ordered his troops to open fire at the unarmed crowd killing 379 people
and over 1200 casual ties. The Amritsar Massacre had a dramatic impact and
change to view of most Indians forever. It increased opposition rapidly and
showed that the British were ready to use any methods to suppress opposition.
This led to the Government of India Act in 1919 which gave Indians a majority of
the seats in the Provincial Councils and half of the members of the Viceroys
Council were Indians. The Indians were now given limited control on the
education public health and agricultural sectors while the British would s till control
the really important sectors such as Defence, Taxation and Foreign Affairs. This
system of power sharing was called Dyarchy. The control of India was still very
limited as the British still controlled the finances which made it harder for the
Indians to make any radical steps with their new power. Indians still felt this was
nowhere enough of what they deserved as now they wanted Home Rule.
Congress immediately started a campaign against the new laws and they began
to gain major support and st arted multiple peaceful protests against the British.
The Government of India Act was criticised for only giving 2.8 percent of the
Indians could vote. The Provincial Assemblies soon found out that they did not
have enough money to perform their duties. Co ngress did not accept this Act
and this was a major problem because Congress had now become a national
movement and the British in future needed permission of Congress if they decided
to make any radical changes to the way India governs itself. Gandhi emerged at
this time and began to lead peaceful protests. Congress demanded Home rule and
Swaraj (Self control and Self rule). He gathered support and became very popular
as he began to involve the lower caste and poorly educated Indians into the
Congress
Movement for the first time. Gandhi organised a massive non co -operation
campaign as Congress members started to boycott British goods and adopted a
policy of swadeshi which meant buying Indian goods and encourage Indians to
make their own. Gandhi suspended hi s campaign when some of his followers
attacked and killed policemen. Although Gandhi was arrested for two years until he
was released and he went to live at an ashram and remained absent from Indian
politics. He encouraged people to spin their own cotton a s this was illegal because
the British laws stated that raw cotton must be sent to Britain to be spun.
The Simon Commission was set up in 1927 to review the workings of the Montagu
Chelmsford Reforms. The report recommended a federal India with each province to
have its own government and no changes to the central government. This led to
mass protests and increased opposition and Congress members boycotted all its
meetings. A new constitution was drawn up and Dominion status was demanded by
1929. Only the Untouchables co-operated with the Simon Commission as they
thought they would get a better place in Indian society.
Gandhiˇs most radical protest was the Salt March where he marched from his
ashram to Dandi, where he marched to the coast and made salt whic h was illegal
under the British laws. These encouraged thousands to make their own salt and the
British arrested 60,000 members of Congress. The intention of the protest was to
make India ungovernable for the British. The unrest in India led to the Round T
able Conferences in London to discuss the possible Independence of India which
included the representation of the political parties and Gandhi was the sole
representation of Congress. The Round Table Conference discussed the possible
ways in which India could be granted Independence but no further steps were
taken. Many Indians were disappointed when Gandhi returned with no
Independence, the protest had been called off and Jinnah began to lose faith in
Congress. By this stage Home rule was not what the Indi ans wanted; they began to
demand for full Independence. As the third Round Table Conference again resulted
in no further steps the opposition grew with frustration and began to get bigger.
I think that the opposition in India grew because the demands of In dians
increased rapidly but the British were always one step behind and did not offer
more to the Indians at the right time therefore the opposition increasingly got
frustrated with the British. The British also did not make themselves look good
because of the Amritsar Massacre and arresting 60,000 Congress members. The
Rowlatt Acts also increased anger amongst Indians along with the growing
concerns of the recession in the early 1920ˇs.