3.5.1

Ireland & India 1914-1947

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Relations Between Britain and Ireland, 1914-1947

Britain’s failure to address issues that had arisen before 1914 meant that the nationalist movement in Ireland grew in strength.

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Civil war in Ireland

  • By 1914, Ireland was close to civil war.
    • The six Protestant counties in the north were 'Ulster Volunteers'. They wanted to remain part of the United Kingdom.
  • The majority of Irish people who lived in the south were Catholic, Republican, and Nationalist. They wanted Ireland to become an independent country. The rebels in the south were called National Volunteers.
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Sinn Fein and the Irish Republican Army (IRA)

  • In 1914, Parliament legislated to pause Home Rule discussions until after the end of World War One.
  • However, in 1916, the Easter Rising occurred in Dublin. Led by Sinn Fein, Irish rebels began attacking the British Army. 66 Irish rebels and 143 British troops were killed in the fighting.
  • The city of Dublin was shelled in response to the rebellion.
  • 66 people were executed and thousands arrested for the uprising.
  • Kitchen (1996) says the savagery in putting down the rebellion meant that "Home Rule was no longer acceptable to Irish nationalists".
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The 1918 elections

  • In 1918, Sinn Fein won the majority of Irish seats and established an Irish Assembly.
  • They declared that Ireland was its own republic.
  • In response, Britain sent in ‘Black and Tans’, constables recruited to oppose the IRA to support the Royal Irish Constabulary.
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The Anglo-Irish Treaty

  • In 1921, the Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed, naming the 'Irish Free State' as a British dominion.
  • The Unionist Protestant counties rejected the dominion.
  • The Catholic Separatists in the south wanted independence, not the status of a dominion.
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Ireland as a republic

  • In 1937, Eire was set up as a full Republic. Eire was neutral in World War 2 and did not fight alongside Britain.
  • By 1948, the Republic of Ireland existed as a fully separate state from the rest of Britain.

Relations Between Britain and India, 1914-1947

Britain’s failure to address issues that had arisen before 1914 meant that the nationalist movement in India grew in strength.

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The Indian Congress Movement

  • After WW1, the Indian Congress Movement grew, spreading a nationalist Indian message.
  • However, progress was complicated by the differing focuses and worldviews of key figures in the movement.
    • Mohandas 'Mahatma' Gandhi focused on agriculture and the rural population.
    • Jawaharlal Nehru (who would become India's first Prime Minister) focused on modernisation and industrialisation.
    • Subhas Chandra Bose was a more radical figure. In 1943, Bose joined the Indian National Army fighting alongside the Japanese against the British in World War Two.
    • Muhammad Ali Jinnah was a Muslim leader of the movement who supported an independent Pakistan.
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The carrot and stick method

  • In 1919, the British adopted a ‘carrot and stick’ approach.
    • As carrots, they tried to introduce more empowering legislation, such as the Government of India Act and the Rowlatt Act.
  • To nationalists, these were token efforts that failed to make any real changes for people. The initiatives didn't do provide a real democracy or move the focus in India towards the wellbeing of Indian people.
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Repression and massacre in India

  • In 1919, the British were responsible for the Amritsar massacre.
    • General Dyer ordered the British army to open fire on a crowd made up partly of nationalists, but also of Sikh pilgrims in a public square in the Punjab region. This killed 379 people in response to the attack of a missionary and murder of a few local people.
    • These actions forced many to challenge Britain’s moral authority in India as the response seemed disproportionate.
  • The massacre galvanised anti-British sentiment.
  • Dyer was removed from the Army, but in London, Dyer was supported by many politicians in the House of Lords and House of Commons.
  • Edwin Montagu called the massacre "terrorism, racial humiliation, and frightfulness".
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The Indian independence movement

  • The Amritsar massacre seemed to undermine the idea of the dyarchy and joint governance, with external British-controlled forces killing 379 local people.
  • Between 1920 and 1922, Gandhi's non-cooperation movement gained momentum in the aftermath of this incident.
  • In 1942, the Quit India campaign was launched and Cripps' offer for India to become a dominion was rejected by the INC.
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Indian independence and the creation of Pakistan

  • In 1947, Viceroy Mountbatten confirmed India's independence as a separate state.
  • At the same time, Pakistan was created. Muhammad Ali Jinnah led the Muslim League in India and India was split into the mainly Hindu India and the mainly Muslim Pakistan.
  • Abbas (2018) says 'apart from rivalry with India, Islam was the only binding factor' in Pakistan.
  • On the partition, Pakistan had few well-trained officials, got 1/3 of the Indian army, and 17% of Indian tax revenue. There had been no all-Muslim regiments in the army, so Pakistan was weak.
  • Abbas argues that this division laid the foundations for border disputes and animosity over Kashmir, Bangladesh, and Pakistan & India's development of nuclear weapons.

Jump to other topics

1High Water Mark of the British Empire, 1857-1914

2Imperial Consolidation & Liberal Rule, 1890-1914

3Imperialism Challenged, 1914-1967

4The Wind of Change, 1947-1967

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