The French Revolution (1789-1799) and the Idea of the Nation

OVERVIEW

• first clear expression of nationalism
• France in 1789: entire state under the rule of an absolute monarch.
  • The political changes during the French Revolution led to the transfer of power from the monarchy to a body of French citizens.
  • Proclamation: people would constitute the nation and shape its destiny
• Steps taken by revolutionaries to create a sense of collective identity amongst the French people:
  • La patrie (the fatherland) and le citoyen (the citizen): idea explaining the notion of a united community enjoying equal rights under a constitution.
  •  A new French flag, the Tricolour, replaced the former Royal Standard.
  • Estates-General was to be elected by a body of active citizens & renamed the National Assembly.
  • New hymns composed, oaths taken and martyrs commemorated.
  • A centralised administrative system was to formulate uniform laws for all citizens.
  • Internal customs duties and dues abolished.
  • A uniform system of weights and measures was adopted.
  • Regional dialects were discouraged.
  • Since French was spoken and written in Paris, it became the common language of the nation.

MOVEMENT SPREADS

• Belief of revolutionaries: the mission and the destiny of the French was to ‘liberate the peoples of Europe to become nations’.
• Movement travelled across Europe, students & members of educated middle class had set up Jacobin Clubs.
  • Their activities and campaigns welcomed the French armies which moved into Holland, Belgium, Switzerland and much of Italy in the 1790s.
  • These revolutionary wars meant French armies carrying the idea of nationalism abroad.

NAPOLEONIC REFORMS

• Napoleon took forward the reforms he had already introduced in France to new territories he conquered.
• Return to monarchy: Napoleon destroyed democracy in France.
• He inserted revolutionary principles in administration to make the entire system more rational and efficient.

REACTION TO NAPOLEON REFORMS

• In areas conquered, the reactions of the local populations to French rule were mixed.
• Initially, French armies were welcomed as mascots of liberty in some places like Holland and Switzerland, and in cities like Brussels, Mainz, Milan and Warsaw.
• It soon turned hostile, as the new administration did not bring political freedom. 

Chapter-1

The rise of Nationalism in Europe

1. The French Revolution and the idea of the Nation

The Rise of Nationalism in Europe –

With the French Revolution in 1789, France was the first country to introduce the concept of nationalism. France was previously a territorial state. That is, it was ruled by an absolute monarchy. The term absolute refers to a rule in which all power is concentrated in the hands of a ruler or monarch. The French Revolution introduced the concept of nation and nationalism to the country. The main goal was to create a nation in which there would be a united community with equal rights under a constitution.

For this purpose, the French revolutionaries instituted a variety of measures and practises aimed at instilling a sense of collective identity among French citizens. The following are some of the revolutionary measures:

• A new tricolour flag replaced the royal flag.
• The Estates-General were renamed the National Assembly after being elected by a body of active citizens.
• In the name of the nation, new hymns were written, oaths were taken, and martyrs were remembered.
• A centralised administrative system was established.
• It was decided to create uniform laws for all citizens.
• Internal customs duties and dues have been eliminated.
• A standardised system of weights and measures was established.
• French was regarded as the nation's common language.

Not only that, but the French revolutionaries made it their mission to spread the concept of nationalism and assist Europeans in their liberation from dictatorship.

Setting up of Jacobin Clubs

As word of the French Revolution spread throughout Europe, students and other members of the educated middle classes began forming Jacobin clubs. Jacobins were revolutionaries who sought to establish a republic in their country by overthrowing the King. In the 1790s, the activities and campaigns of these clubs enabled French armies to move into Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, and much of Italy.

Rule of Napoleon (1804-1815)

Napoleon was a French statesman and military leader who came to fame during the French Revolution. During the French Revolutionary War, he led numerous successful campaigns and conquered vast areas of Europe.

He introduced various reforms in the areas under his control. Napoleon, after taking power, destroyed democracy in France, but in the administrative field, he incorporated revolutionary principles to make the entire system more logical and efficient. One of the most significant reforms he instituted was the Civil Code of 1804 or the Napoleonic code. This code had the following characteristics:

• Equality before the law was established.
• Feudal system was abolished.
• The right to property was granted.
• All birth-based privileges were abolished.
• Serfdom and manorial dues were abolished.
• Transport and communication systems were improved

This code was introduced in Dutch Republic, Switzerland, Italy, and Germany. The newfound freedom pleased peasants, artisans, workers, and new businessmen. Businessmen and small-scale goods producers welcomed uniform laws, standardised weights and measures, and a common national currency because they facilitated the movement and exchange of goods and capital from one region to another.

Everything appeared to be fine at first. Many places welcomed French armies, including Holland, Switzerland, Brussels, Mainz, Milan, and Warsaw, but they soon became hostile to them as the French armies oppressed them. There were several other reasons for their dislike of the French army, which are as follows:

• Increased taxation and censorship
• Enlistment of common people in the French army under extreme stress in order to achieve the goal of conquering the rest of Europe, etc.

The Making of Nationalism in Europe

OVERVIEW

• Present day Germany, Italy & Switzerland: divided into kingdoms, duchies and cantons.
  • Rulers had their autonomous territories.
• Eastern and Central Europe were under autocratic monarchies.
  • People of diversity, didn’t seeing themselves as sharing a common identity or culture; spoke different languages & belonged to different ethnic groups.
• Demography of the Habsburg Empire, ruling over Austria-Hungary:
  • Alpine regions– Tyrol, Austria & Sudetenland, and Bohemia: aristocracy majorly German-speaking.
  • Italian-speaking provinces of Lombardy and Venetia.
  • In Hungary, half of the population spoke Magyar; the other half spoke a variety of dialects.
  • In Galicia, the aristocracy spoke Polish.
  • Peasant peoples had a big part in the population; Bohemians & Slovaks to the north, Slovenes in Carniola, Croats to the south, Roumans to the east in Transylvania.
• These differences did not promote a sense of political unity.
• The tie binding groups together: a common allegiance to the emperor.

  

• In Western and parts of Central Europe,
  • • • growth of industrial production and trade
      • the growth of towns
      • the emergence of commercial classes based on production for the market.
• Industrialization
  • • • in England: second half of the 18^th century
      • in France and parts of the German states: occurred during the 19^th century.
• Given industrialization, new social groups came up: a working-class population, and middle classes made up of industrialists, businessmen, professionals.
• In Central and Eastern Europe, these groups were smaller in number till late 19^th century.
• Among the educated-liberal middle classes that ideas of national unity gained popularity, after the abolition of aristocratic privileges.

Liberalism in the Economic Sphere

It meant freedom of markets and the abolition of state-imposed restrictions on the movement of goods and capital; a demand of the emerging middle-classes in 19^th century.

Obstacles to Liberalism in the Economic Sphere

• In the German-speaking region in early 19^th century, Napoleon’s administration had created a confederation of 39 states.
  • Each had its own currency, and weights and measures.
  • Duties were often levied according to the weight or measurement of the goods.
• As each region had its own weighing system, it involved time-consuming calculation.
  • These became obstacles to economic exchange and growth.
• New commercial classes argued for the creation of a unified economic territory for smooth functioning.
• In 1834, a customs union or zollverein was formed at the initiative of Prussia & joined by most of the German states.
  • It abolished tariff barriers
  • It reduced the number of currencies from over 3 to 2.
• Railway network created: mobility became easier; harnessed economic interests of national unification.

A wave of economic nationalism strengthened the wider nationalist sentiments growing at the time.

NEW IDEOlOGY: A New Conservatism after 1815

The TReaty of vienna of 1815

• Napoleon defeated in 1815, European governments then driven by conservatism.
• In 1815, representatives of the European powers – Britain, Russia, Prussia and Austria – who collectively defeated Napoleon, met at Vienna to draw up a settlement for Europe.
• Host of the Congress: Austrian Chancellor Duke Metternich. Delegates drew up the Treaty of Vienna of 1815.
  • Objective: undo most of the changes that had come about in Europe during the Napoleonic wars.
• The Bourbon dynasty, (deposed during the French Revolution), was restored to power.
  • France lost the territories it had captured under Napoleon.
• A series of states were set up on the boundaries of France to prevent French expansion in future.
  • The kingdom of the Netherlands, which included Belgium, set up in the north.
  • Genoa was added to Piedmont in the south.
• Prussia given important new territories on its western frontiers; Austria given control of northern Italy.
• The German confederation of 39 states that had been set up by Napoleon was left untouched.
• In the east, Russia was given part of Poland while Prussia was given a portion of Saxony.

• Main intention:
  • restore the monarchies that had been overthrown by Napoleon;
  • create a new conservative order in Europe.

The Revolutionaries

• During the years following 1815, the fear of repression drove many liberal-nationalists underground.
• Secret societies sprang up in many European states to train revolutionaries and spread their ideas.
• To be revolutionary meant a commitment to oppose monarchical forms that had been established after the Vienna Congress, and to fight for liberty and freedom.
  • Most of these revolutionaries also saw the creation of nation-states as a necessary part of this struggle for freedom.

2. The Making of Nationalism in Europe

The Rise of Nationalism in Europe- So, let's take a look at the birth of nationalism in Europe. But first, we must understand the composition of Europe, which was divided into various kingdoms, with the Dutchies and Cantons ruled by rulers with autonomous territories. There were also people who spoke different languages.Eastern and Central Europe were ruled by autocratic monarchies that lived a diverse population. Kingdoms, duchies, and cantons were established in Germany, Italy, and Switzerland. They were ruled by various rulers. Eastern and Central Europe were ruled by autocratic kingdoms that lived a diverse population. These individuals had nothing in common. They lacked a collective identity or a shared culture. They all spoke different languages and belonged to different ethnic groups.

For example, the Habsburg Empire, which ruled over Austria-Hungary, was made up of various regions and people. Alpine regions such as Tyrol, Austria, Sudetenland, and Bohemia were included. The aristocrats in these areas spoke German, but it also included Lombardy and Venetia, where people spoke Italian. In Hungary, on the other hand, half of the population spoke Magyar, while the other half spoke a variety of dialects. The aristocracy in Galicia spoke Polish. Even the peasants who lived in these areas belonged to various ethnic groups. For example, in the north, there were Bohemians and Slovaks, in Carniola, Croats in the south, and in Transylvania, there were Roumans.

So we can see that there was nothing in common between these groups. The only thing they had in common was their devotion to the common emperor. So the question here is, how did the concept of nationalism emerge in these parts?

To do so, we must first understand how society in these areas was divided and what issues the common people faced.

The Aristocracy and the New middle class

• The aristocracy was a wealthy class that dominated European society. This society's members shared a common way of life.
• They owned estates in the villages as well as large houses. They spoke French and had matrimonial alliances the majority of the time.
• This group, however, was small in size. Peasants make up the majority of the population.
• The western part of the land was farmed by tenants and small owners, whereas the eastern and central European parts were farmed by serfs.

Western and Central Europe experienced industrial growth during this time period. Many towns grew, and a group of commercial classes appeared on the scene.

• As a result, new social groups emerged during the nineteenth century.
• They were a working-class and middle-class population made up of industrialists, businessmen, and professionals.
• Among these educated, liberal middle-class groups, the idea of nationalism grew stronger.
• We have previously discussed how people in various parts of Europe desired Liberal nationalism in their countries.

The question then becomes, what exactly do we mean by Liberal Nationalism?

What did Liberal Nationalism stand for?

Rise of Nationalism in Europe – During the early nineteenth century, Europeans were closely associated with the concepts of nationalism and liberalism. The term "liberalism" comes from the Latin word "liber," which means "freedom." In Europe, the new middle class saw liberalism as individual liberty and equality before the law.

• They were all united in their support for the people's elected government.
• Since the French Revolution, the term liberalism has taken on a new meaning, signalling the end of autocracy and clerical privileges.
• It also referred to the creation of a constitution and the formation of a government through the use of parliament.
• The right to property was also emphasised by nineteenth-century liberals.
• Even though people were granted equality before the law, the right to vote or suffrage was not granted to all citizens equally.
• Even in France, when the French Revolution occurred and people were granted the right to equality before the law, not everyone had the right to vote.
• Only men with property were eligible to vote.
• Men without property and women were barred from participating. Only for a short time under the Jacobins did all adult men, with or without property, have the right to vote.

Later, when Napoleon came to power and implemented the Napoleonic code in 1804, the right to suffrage was restricted to a few members of society. Women were considered minors under this code because they were subject to the authority of their fathers and husbands. As a result, they had no right to vote.

 As a result, various movements led by women and non-property men demanding equal political rights arose. Liberalism, from the point of view of business, meant market freedom and the elimination of various types of taxes on the movement of goods and capital.

• The new middle classes made a strong demand for market freedom and the removal of state-imposed restrictions.
• To understand this, consider German-speaking regions in the first half of the nineteenth century.
• During the first half of the nineteenth century, this region was home to approximately 39 princely states.
• Each state had its own currency, as well as its own weights and measures. In 1833, a trader travelling from Hamburg to Nuremberg to sell his goods had to pay a 5% customs duty at 11 customs barriers.
• Duties were levied according to the weight or measurement of the goods. Because each region had different weights and measures, calculating the duty took a long time.

For example, the cloth was measured in Elle, which varied by region. The tax was lower in Frankfurt because the Elle was lower, whereas the tax was higher in Nuremberg because the Elle was higher compared to other regions. All of this prompted the various business classes to call for the establishment of a unified economic territory. So that goods, people, and capital can move freely from one region to another. As a result of this demand, a customs union, or zollverein, is formed. Prussia was the first to call for Zollverein.

Later, German states joined Prussia in making the same demand. Tariff barriers were eliminated, and the number of currencies was reduced from thirty to two.

• Railways were built to link economic interests to national unification.
• Economic nationalism also supported nationalist sentiments at the time.
• While so many changes were taking place in Europe, something else occurred that compelled governments to work toward the conservatism philosophy.
• Conservatism is a political philosophy that advocates for free enterprise, private ownership, and socially conservative ideas.
• What was the incident that gave rise to the conservatism philosophy?

The Rise of Nationalism in Europe –

Napoleon Bonaparte, who had previously seized control of much of Europe, was defeated in the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. The battle was fought between Napoleon and the armies of the United Kingdom and Prussia. As a result of Napoleon's defeat, European governments decided to establish a more conservative form of government. Conservatives believed that long-established traditional institutions of state and society, such as the monarchy, the Church, social hierarchies, and so on, should be preserved.

The majority of conservatives believed that modernization could strengthen traditional institutions such as the monarchy. They believed that the following changes could strengthen Europe's autocratic monarchies:

• Modern army
• Efficient bureaucracy
• Dynamic economy
• Abolition of feudalism and serfdom

As a result, in 1815, representatives from European powers such as Britain, Russia, Prussia, and Austria met in Vienna. The event became known as the Congress of Vienna. These were the powers that had defeated Napoleon collectively, and they met in Vienna to create a solution for Europe.

The Austrian Chancellor, Duke Metternich, hosted the congress. The delegates drafted the Treaty of Vienna of 1815, which reversed the majority of the changes that occurred in Europe during the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815).

The Congress of Vienna made the following significant decisions:

• The Bourbon dynasty was restored to power, and Louis XVIII was crowned King of France.
• France lost the territories it had gained during Napoleon's reign.
• To prevent future French expansion, a series of states were established along France's borders.

As a result of the new arrangement, some territorial changes occurred, such as the establishment of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which included Belgium, in the north, and the addition of Genoa to Piedmont in the south. Prussia was given significant new territories on its western borders, while Austria was given northern Italy. On the other hand, the German confederation of 39 states, established by Napoleon, was unaffected.

In the east, Russia received a portion of Poland, and Prussia received a portion of Saxony. The main goal of this arrangement was to restore the monarchies that Napoleon had taken over and to create a conservative form of rulership in Europe.

• The conservative regime established in 1815 was oppressive. They were extremely intolerant of criticism and disagreement.
• They began to put a stop to the anti-government activities.
• Censorship laws were even imposed on newspapers, books, plays, and songs that supported the French Revolution's idea of liberty and freedom.
• All of this, however, did not deter a number of liberal activists from criticising the new conservative rule and advocating for press freedom.

So, we now know that the conservatives restored monarchical rule in Europe, but did this stop revolutionaries from demanding liberty and nationalism? What actions did these revolutionaries take to secure their right to liberty? Let's check this.

The Rise of Nationalism in Europe – The Revolutionaries

Fear of repression from the ruling conservative class drove the liberal nationalists underground after 1815. They begin to form secret societies in various European countries.The primary goal of these societies was to spread the concept of liberty and nationalism.They were opposed to the monarchical form of government that resulted from the Vienna Congress. Many of them aimed to establish nation-states and saw it as an important part of their liberation struggle.

Giuseppe Mazzini was a member of one of these secret societies and a revolutionary. In 1807, he was born in Genoa.He became a member of the Carbonari, a secret society. In 1831, at the age of 24, he was exiled for attempting a revolution in Liguria.

Mazzini later established two more underground societies, Young Italy in Marseilles and Young Europe in Berne. This society's members were like-minded young men from Poland, France, Italy, and the German states. Mazzini did not want Italy to be a jumbled collection of small states and kingdoms.

• As a result, he made it his goal to unite Italy. In order to accomplish this, he begins the formation of secret societies in Germany, France, Switzerland, and Poland.
• Mazzini's non-stop opposition to monarchy and his vision of establishing democratic republics frightened many conservatives.
• Metternich once called him the "most dangerous enemy of our social order."

As a result, we now know that revolutionaries began their own efforts to end conservative rule. But what happened after that?

Following that was the period of the Revolution, during which various revolutionaries fought for their rights and attempted to break free from the clutches of the conservatives.

The Age of Revolutions: 1830-1848

• Conservative regimes tried to consolidate their power.
• Liberalism and nationalism were associated with revolution in many regions of Europe.
• These revolutions were led by the liberal-nationalists belonging to the educated middle-class elite, among whom were professors, schoolteachers, clerks and members of the commercial middle classes.

The First Upheaval: France, July 1830

• The Bourbon kings had been restored to power during the conservative reaction after 1815.
• They were now overthrown by liberal revolutionaries who installed a constitutional monarchy with Louis Philippe at its head.
• ‘When France sneezes,’ Klemens von Metternich once remarked, ‘the rest of Europe catches cold.’
• The July Revolution caused an uprising in Brussels, it led to Belgium separate itself from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Mobilization of Nationalist Feelings Among the Educated Elite in Europe: the Greek War of Independence

• Greece: part of the Ottoman Empire since the 15^th century.
• 1821: Growth of revolutionary nationalism in Europe led to a struggle for independence amongst the Greeks.
• Nationalists in Greece got support from other Greeks living in exile and also from many West Europeans who had sympathies for ancient Greek culture.
• Poets and artists lauded Greece as the cradle of European civilisation and mobilised public opinion to support its struggle against a Muslim empire.
• The English poet Lord Byron organised funds and later went to fight in the war, where he died of fever in 1824.
• The Treaty of Constantinople of 1832 recognised Greece as an independent nation.

The Romantic Imagination and National Feeling

• Culture- important role in creating the idea of the nation: art and poetry, stories and music helped express and shape nationalist feelings.
• Romanticism, a cultural movement focusing on emotions, intuition and mystical feelings.
• Their effort was to create a sense of a shared collective heritage, a common cultural past, as the basis of a nation, it sought to develop a particular form of nationalist sentiment.
• Romantic artists and poets generally criticised the glorification of reason and science.
• Some Romantics claimed that true German culture was discovered among the common people – das volk.
  • It was through folk songs, folk poetry and folk dances that the true spirit of the nation (volksgeist) was popularised.
  • Collecting and recording these forms of folk culture was essential to the project of nation-building.
• The emphasis on vernacular language & collection of local folklore:
  • to recover an ancient national spirit
  • to carry the modern nationalist message to large audiences who were mostly illiterate.
• Even though Poland no longer existed as an independent territory, national feelings were kept alive through music and language.
  • Karol Kurpinski, for example, celebrated the national struggle through his operas and music, turning folk dances like the polonaise and mazurka into nationalist symbols.

Language

• It played an important role in developing nationalist sentiments.
• After Russian occupation, the Polish language was forced out of schools & Russian was imposed everywhere.
• 1831: Armed rebellion against Russian rule took place which was ultimately crushed.
• Many members of the clergy in Poland began to use language as a weapon of national resistance.
• Polish was used for Church gatherings and all religious instruction.
  • A large number of priests and bishops were put in jail or sent to Siberia by the Russian authorities as punishment for their refusal to preach in Russian.
• The use of Polish came to be seen as a symbol of the struggle against Russian dominance.

Hunger, Hardship and Popular Revolt

• The 1830s: years of great economic hardship in Europe.
• The first half of 19^th century: enormous rise in population all over Europe.
• In most countries, there were more seekers of jobs than employment.
  • Population from rural areas migrated to the cities to live in overcrowded slums.
• Small producers in towns often faced stiff competition from imports of cheap machine-made goods from England, where industrialization was more advanced.
  • Specially in textile production, which was carried out mainly in homes or small workshops and was only partly mechanized.

case of 1848

• In the regions of Europe where the aristocracy still enjoyed power, peasants struggled under the burden of feudal dues and obligations.
• The rise of food prices or a year of bad harvest led to widespread pauperism in town and country.
• In 1848, Food shortages and widespread unemployment brought the population of Paris out on the roads. Barricades were erected and Louis Philippe was forced to flee.
• National Assembly proclaimed a Republic, granted suffrage to all adult males above 21, guaranteed the right to work.
• National workshops to provide employment were set up.
• Earlier, in 1845, weavers in Silesia had led a revolt against contractors who supplied them raw material and gave them orders for finished textiles but drastically reduced their payments.

1848: The Revolution of the Liberals

• A revolution led by the educated middle classes was underway.
• France in February 1848:
  • abdication of the monarch
  • a republic based on universal male suffrage proclaimed
• In other parts where independent nation-states did not exist (such as Germany, Italy, Poland, the Austro-Hungarian Empire), liberal middle class combined its demands for constitutionalism with national unification.
• They took advantage of the growing popular unrest to push their demands for the creation of a nation-state on parliamentary principles– a constitution, freedom of the press and freedom of association.

3. The Age of Revolutions: 1830-1848

Europe experienced great tension and unrest from 1830 to 1848. Conservatives were attempting to gain power on one side, while revolutionaries were working hard to bring liberalism and nationalism to Europe. Revolutionaries, primarily educated middle-class elites such as professors, school teachers, clerks, and members of the commercial middle classes, began revolutionary activities in many parts of Europe, including the Italian and German states, Ottoman Empire provinces, Ireland, and Poland.

In July 1830, the first such incident occurred in France. The Bourbon Kings were overthrew by liberal revolutionaries, and a constitutional monarchy with Louis Philippe as its head was established in their place. The July revolution sparked an uprising in Brussels, resulting in Belgium's separation from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands (Oct. 4 1830). The Greek war of independence was a major event that served to inculcate nationalist feelings among Europe's educated elite.

Since the 15th century, Greece has been ruled by the Ottoman Empire. Osman I, an Oghuz Turkish tribal leader, founded the Ottoman Empire at the end of the 13th century. Greece's independence struggle began in 1821. Other Greeks living in exile supported the nationalists in Greece. People from Western Europe who sympathised with Greek culture also came forward to lend their support. Various artists and writers also supported the Greeks in their fight against the Muslim empire.

Lord Byron, an English poet, not only organised funds for the Greek struggle, but also went to fight in the war, where he died of fever in 1824. Finally, in 1832, the Treaty of Constantinople was signed, recognising Greece as an independent nation.

As previously stated, various artists and poets participated in revolutionary activities to bring liberalism and nationalism to Europe, but what was their contribution and how is Romanticism related to it?

The Romantic Imagination and National Feeling

The concept of nationalism did not emerge solely as a result of wars and territorial expansion; culture also played an important role in raising awareness about the importance of nationalism.

• Several artists and poets used their poems, stories, and music to express and shape nationalist feelings.
• This cultural movement, led by poets, writers, and artists, became known as Romanticism.
• Reason and Science were criticized by Romantic artists and poets.
• They attempted to create a feeling of a shared collective heritage and common cultural past by focusing on emotions, intuitions, and mystical feelings.

Johann Gottfried Herder (1744–1803), a German Philosopher and Romantic, advocated for the discovery of true German culture among the common people. Folk songs, folk dances, and folk poetry, he claims, can popularise the true spirit of the nation. As a result, he emphasised the importance of collecting these forms of folk culture as essential for nation-building.

The emphasis on vernacular language and the collection of various folktales, folk poems, and so on served two functions. One goal was to resurrect an ancient national spirit, while another was to raise awareness of nationalism among illiterate citizens. In the case of Poland, this proved to be appropriate. Russia, Prussia, and Austria partitioned Poland at the end of the eighteenth century. Despite the fact that it did not remain an independent territory, artists such as Karol Kurpinski were able to keep national feelings alive in the hearts of ordinary people through their artwork.

• Through his operas and music, Karol used to celebrate the national struggle.
• As a result, folk dances such as polonaise and mazurka become nationalist symbols.
• One such attempt at collecting folk tales was made by the Grimm brothers, who travelled to various places and collected various folk tales.
• The Grimm brothers, who were active participants in the press freedom movement, saw French dominance as a threat to German culture.
• They believed that the folktales they collected could help to shape German national identity.

Not only did poems and stories play an important role in developing national sentiments in the people, but language also played an important role. When Russia occupied Poland, the Russian language was forcibly imposed in schools and churches. The use of the Polish language was prohibited. So, in 1831, there was an armed rebellion against Russian rule, which was crushed by Russian rule. Following this, many people, including the Polish clergy, began to use the Polish language as a weapon of resistance against the Russians. Polish became the language of all Church gatherings. As a result, a large number of priests and bishops were imprisoned. Russian authorities deported some of them to Siberia for failing to preach in Russian.

As a result, the use of the Polish language was viewed as an integral part of the revolutionary struggle against Russian dominance. Though the 1830s are remembered as a year of revolutionary attempts in Europe, they are also remembered for the hardships and hunger that struck the Europe. Let's take a closer look at this. Hunger, adversity, and popular revolt During the 1830s, Europe experienced severe economic hardship. Europe's population gradually increased during the first half of the nineteenth century. Unemployment has become a widespread issue in Europe.

People from rural areas began to migrate to cities in search of work. This also leads to the establishment of various slum areas in these cities. Different segments of society were experiencing difficulties; for example, small business owners, such as textile manufacturers, were subjected to intense market competition as a result of cheap goods imported from England. This was due to the fact that textile production was done at home or in small workshops that were not fully mechanised. England, on the other hand, was far more advanced in the use of machinery.

Peasants had to bear the burden of feudal dues in areas where aristocrats were still powerful. Not only that, but the rise in food prices worsened the situation. Food shortages and the growing problem of unemployment prompted peasant demonstrations in Paris in 1848. It resulted in the construction of barricades throughout the city, forcing Louis Philippe to flee.

A national assembly announced the Republic. It granted all males over the age of 21 the right to vote (suffrage) as well as the right to work. National workshops were established for this purpose in order to provide employment to the general public. Another uprising occurred in Silesia in 1845. Silesia's weavers revolted against the contractors. Contractors were the people who supplied raw materials to weavers so that they could be transformed into finished goods. These contractors' payments to the weavers were reduced to a very small amount. This decrease in pay was one of the causes of the revolt.

So, on June 4th, a large crowd of weavers marched to the contractor's house to demand a wage increase. The contractor treated them unfairly. As a result, the weavers forced their way into the contractor's home, where they destroyed and damaged almost everything. The contractor fled with his family to a nearby village, where he received no assistance. After a 24-hour break, he returned with an army, and eleven weavers were killed in the ensuing battle. We have previously read about the revolution carried out by peasants, weavers, and poets or artists. However, in addition to these groups, other groups had also begun a revolution in their own way. The educated middle classes of European countries were one such revolution.

As we all know, the French February revolution of 1848 resulted in the deposition of the monarch and the establishment of a republic with universal male suffrage. There were still many parts of Europe that had not yet been declared independent nation-states. Germany, Italy, Poland, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and so on were among them.

The liberal middle classes, which included both men and women, began to demand a constitution that included national unification. They demanded a parliamentary nation-state with a constitution, freedom of the press, and freedom of association. The educated middle classes of European countries were one such revolution. As we all know, the French February revolution of 1848 resulted in the deposition of the monarch and the establishment of a republic with universal male suffrage. There were still many parts of Europe that had not yet been declared independent nation-states. Germany, Italy, Poland, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and so on were among them. The liberal middle classes, which included both men and women, began to demand a constitution that included national unification. They demanded a parliamentary nation-state with a constitution, freedom of the press, and freedom of association.

In the German region, a group of political associations comprised of middle-class professionals, businessmen, and wealthy artisans met in Frankfurt and decided to vote for an all-German National Assembly. On May 18, 1848, 831 elected representatives gathered at St. Paul's Church to take their seats in the Frankfurt parliament. They had drafted a constitution for the German nation, which would be led by a monarch, according to the parliament. When the deputies offered the crown, subject to certain conditions, to Friedrich Wilhelm IV, King of Prussia, he not only rejected it, but also joined other monarchs in opposing the elected assembly. The parliament never paid attention to peasant demands, so it never received their support. Finally, with the assistance of troops, the assembly was forced to disband.

Even though everyone was fighting for liberalism and the right to vote, the issue of granting women political rights remained controversial. Women had actively participated in various revolutionary struggles. They had also formed political organisations, started newspapers, and taken part in political meetings and demonstrations. They were not, however, granted suffrage rights during the assembly's election. Even When the Frankfurt parliament met in the St. Paul church, women were only permitted to sit in the visitor's gallery as observers. Though conservative forces were able to suppress liberal movements in 1848, they realised that such revolutions could only be dealt with by making some concessions to the liberal-nationalist revolutionaries.

As a result, after 1848, the monarchs attempted to implement some measures that had already been implemented in Western Europe prior to 1815. This was the end of serfdom and bonded labour in the Habsburg dominions and Russia. In 1867, the Habsburg rulers also granted the Hungarians the right to self-government. All of these political changes were taking place in Europe at the same time. More events occurred that laid the foundation for the formation of Germany and Italy.

liberal Movements: the Making of Germany and Italy

Germany: Can the Army be the Architect of a Nation?

• After 1848, nationalism in Europe moved away from its association with democracy and revolution.
• Nationalist sentiments were often mobilized by conservatives for promoting state power and achieving political domination over Europe, like in the case where Germany and Italy unified as nation-states.
• Nationalist feelings were widespread among middle-class Germans, who in 1848 tried to unite the different regions of the German confederation into a nation-state, governed by an elected parliament.
• This liberal initiative to nation-building was, however, repressed by the combined forces of the monarchy and the military, supported by the large landowners (called Junkers) of Prussia.
• Then, Prussia took on the leadership of the movement for national unification. Its chief minister, Otto von Bismarck, was the architect of this process, carried out with the help of the Prussian army and bureaucracy.
• Three wars over seven years – with Austria, Denmark and France – ended in Prussian victory and completed the process of unification.
• In January 1871, Prussian king William I, was proclaimed German Emperor in a ceremony held at Versailles.
• In the morning of 18 January 1871, an assembly of the princes of German states, representatives of army, important Prussian ministers including chief minister Otto von Bismarck gathered in the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles to proclaim the new German Empire, headed by Kaiser William I of Prussia.
• The nation-building process in Germany had demonstrated the dominance of Prussian state power.
• The new state placed a strong emphasis on modernising currency, banking, legal & judicial systems in Germany.
• Prussian measures and practices often became a model for the rest of Germany.

Italy Unified

• Italy had a long history of political fragmentation. Italians were scattered over several dynastic states as well as the multi-national Habsburg Empire.
• During the middle of the 19^th century, Italy was divided into seven states, of which only one, Sardinia-Piedmont, was ruled by an Italian princely house.
• The north was under Austrian Habsburgs, the centre was ruled by the Pope and the southern regions were under the domination of the Bourbon kings of Spain.
• Even the Italian language had not acquired one common form and still had many regional and local variations.

The Efforts of Giuseppe Mazzini

The Case of Scotland

• The Act of Union (1707) between England and Scotland that resulted in the formation of the ‘United Kingdom of Great Britain’ meant, in effect, that England was able to impose its influence on Scotland.
• The British parliament was henceforth dominated by its English members. The growth of a British identity meant that Scotland’s distinctive culture and political institutions were systematically suppressed.
• The Catholic clans that inhabited the Scottish Highlands suffered terrible repression whenever they attempted to assert their independence.
• The Scottish Highlanders were forbidden to speak their Gaelic language or wear their national dress, and large numbers were forcibly driven out of their homeland.

The Case of Ireland

• Ireland was a country deeply divided between Catholics and Protestants.
• The English helped the Protestants of Ireland to establish their dominance over a largely Catholic country.
• Catholic revolts against British dominance were suppressed. After a failed revolt led by Wolfe Tone and his United Irishmen (1798), Ireland was forcibly incorporated into the United Kingdom in 1801.
• A new ‘British nation’ was forged through the propagation of a dominant English culture.
• The symbols of the new Britain – the British flag (Union Jack), the national anthem (God Save Our Noble King), the English language – were actively promoted and the older nations survived only as subordinate partners in this union.

4. The Making of Germany and Italy

Nationalism, which had risen prior to 1848, quickly moved away from its associations with democracy and revolution. Conservatives began to utilize nationalist sentiments in order to promote state power and achieve political dominance over Europe. As previously stated, there was widespread nationalist sentiment among middle-class Germans in 1848. They also attempted to establish Germany as a nation-state governed by an elected parliament. Despite the fact that their attempt was quashed by the combined forces of monarchy, a military supported by Prussian landowners known as 'Junkers,' Prussia rose to prominence as a powerful leader who unified Germany. Otto von Bismarck, the process's architect, unified Germany with the help of the military. So the question now is:

Germany- Can the Army be the Architect of a Nation?

We should talk about Otto von Bismarck to get a better understanding of this. Otto von Bismarck was the Prussian Prime Minister. His ultimate goal was to unite the German states into a powerful German Empire, with Prussia at its core. He was never a supporter of liberalism or democracy. He chose to unify Germany through military force. Bismarck, considered the architect of this process, enlisted the assistance of the Prussian army and bureaucracy. Three wars were fought over a seven-year period with Austria, Denmark, and France. These wars resulted in Prussia's victory and the unification of Germany. In a ceremony held at Versailles in January 1871, William I, the Prussian king, was proclaimed as the German Emperor.

So, on January 18, 1871, an assembly of German state princes, army representatives, and important Prussian ministers, including chief minister Otto von Bismarck, gathered in the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles and proclaimed Kaiser William I to be the German Empire. So, in the end, Germany's nation-building process demonstrated the dominance of Prussian state power. The new state placed a premium on the following:

• Currency modernization
• Banking
• Legal and Judicial systems in Germany

Prussian policies and practises were later adopted as a model by the rest of Germany.

So, we now know that Germany was unified as a result of a military expedition led by the powerful Prussia region. But how did Italy become one? Let's see how this goes.

The rise of Nationalism in europe – Italy Unified

When it comes to Italy, it is divided into several regions. Italians were scattered across several dynastic states and the multi-national Habsburg Empire. During the middle of the nineteenth century, Italy was divided into seven states. The northern regions were ruled by the Austrian Habsburgs, the centre by the Pope, and the southern regions by the Spanish Bourbon Kings. Only one, Sardinia-Piedmont, was administered by an Italian princely house. Furthermore, the Italian language was not standardised and had many regional and local variations.

As previously stated, Giuseppe Mazzini, one of Italy's great revolutionaries, attempted to unite the country during the 1830s. In order to achieve his objectives, he had also formed a secret society called Young Italy. However, the failure of the revolutionary uprisings in 1831 and 1848 placed the responsibility for Italy's unification on the shoulders of King Victor Emmanuel II, the ruler of Sardinia-Piedmont. This was to be accomplished through war. The region's elites favoured Italy's unification because it would provide them with economic prosperity as well as political dominance.

A chief minister, like in Germany, played an important role in Italy's unification. Here we are discussing Cavour, the Piedmont chief minister who led the movement to unite Italy's regions.

• He was neither a revolutionary nor a democrat. He was a wealthy and well-educated Elite who spoke French far better than Italian.
• Cavour's diplomacy skills were instrumental in allowing Sardinia-Piedmont and France to defeat Austrian forces in 1859.
• Aside from the regular troops, a large number of people volunteered to join Giuseppe Garibaldi's army.
• Giuseppe Garibaldi was an Italian general and nationalist who lived from 1807 to 1882. He was one of Italy's most celebrated freedom fighters.

He was also a member of Mazzini's Young Italy movement and took part in a Piedmont republican uprising in 1834. In 1860, Garibaldi led his volunteer forces into South Italy and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, where he was successful in gaining the support of the local peasants in order to dethrone the Spanish rulers (Bourbon). Victor Emmanuel II was proclaimed King of unified Italy in 1861. The illiterate Italian population, on the other hand, was unaware of the Liberal-nationalist ideology.

Though national unification occurred in various parts of Europe, the concept of the nation or the nation-state, as some scholars suggested, originated in Great Britain. Because the formation of Britain was not the result of a sudden revolution, the unification of Britain appears to be very strange.

The Strange Case of Britain

Britain's formation was the result of a lengthy process. Before the eighteenth century, Britain did not exist as a nation. It was an island populated by ethnic groups such as English, Welsh, Scots, and Irish. These groups each had their own culture and political traditions. As the English became more prosperous and powerful, they began to exert greater influence over the other nations on the island. After a conflict, the English parliament took power from the monarchy in 1688. Finally, a nation-state with England at its centre was formed. The act of union between England and Scotland was signed in 1707. As a result, the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain' was formed. England quickly asserted its dominance over Scotland. English members dominated the British parliament as well.

Later, as British power grew, the culture and political institutions of Scotland were suppressed. For example, the Scottish were forced not to speak Gaelic or wear their national dress, and a large number of highlanders were forced to leave their homeland. A similar storey can be found in Ireland. Catholics and Protestants were at odds in this country. England aided the Protestants in Ireland, resulting in Protestant dominance over Catholics. The British dominance suppressed the revolts led by Catholics. Wolf Tone was a leading Irish revolutionary who founded the 'United Irishmen.' He revolted against the English Supremacy, but the English suppressed the revolt in 1798.

Finally, Ireland was forcibly incorporated into the United Kingdom in 1801. A new British nation was formed, which was heavily influenced by English culture. The symbols of the new Britain were promoted, such as the British flag (union jack), the national anthem (God Save our Noble King), and the English language, while the older nations were left to survive as subordinates.

We have learned about the rise of nationalism in European countries, various attempts by revolutionaries to assert their right to liberty, the establishment of power by conservatives, and the unification of countries as a result of various wars. However, once a country achieved the status of a nation-state, the next thing that became important was how the country should be visualised. So, let's take a look at what was done in this case.

Visualizing the Nation

Marianne

In 19^th century France, she was christened Marianne, a popular Christian name, which underlined the idea of a people’s nation.

• Characteristics were drawn from those of Liberty and the Republic– the red cap, the tricolour, the cockade.
• Statues of Marianne were erected in public squares to remind the public of the national symbol of unity and to persuade them to identify with it.

• Postage stamps of 1850; Marianne representing the Republic of France.

• Marianne images were marked on coins and stamps.

Germania

Germania became the allegory of the German nation.

• In visual representations, Germania wears a crown of oak leaves, as the German oak stands for heroism.

Germania, Philip Veit, 1848.

The artist prepared this painting of Germania on a cotton banner, as it was meant to hang from the ceiling of the Church of St Paul where the Frankfurt parliament was convened in March 1848

Nationalism and Imperialism

• By the last quarter of the 19^th century, nationalism no longer retained its idealistic liberal-democratic sentiment of the first half of the century, but became a narrow creed with limited ends.
• During this period nationalist groups became increasingly intolerant of each other and ever ready to go to war.
• The major European powers manipulated the nationalist aspirations of the subject peoples in Europe to further their own imperialist aims.
• The most serious source of nationalist tension in Europe after 1871 was the area called the Balkans.
• The Balkans was a region of geographical and ethnic variation comprising modern-day Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Greece, Macedonia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia, Serbia and Montenegro whose inhabitants were broadly known as the Slavs.
• A large part of the Balkans was under the control of the Ottoman Empire. The spread of the ideas of romantic nationalism in the Balkans with the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire made this region very explosive.

• As the different Slavic nationalities struggled to define their identity and independence, the Balkan area became an area of intense conflict.
• The Balkan states were fiercely jealous of each other and each hoped to gain more territory at the expense of the others.
• Matters were further complicated because the Balkans also became the scene of big power rivalry.
• During this period, there was intense rivalry among the European powers over trade and colonies as well as naval and military might.
• These rivalries were very evident in the way the Balkan problem unfolded.
• Each power – Russia, Germany, England, Austro-Hungary – was keen on countering the hold of other powers over the Balkans, and extending its own control over the area.
• This led to a series of wars in the region and finally the First World War.

The Consequences

• Nationalism, aligned with imperialism, led Europe to disaster in 1914.
• But meanwhile, many countries in the world which had been colonised by the European powers in the nineteenth century began to oppose imperial domination.
• The anti-imperial movements that developed everywhere were nationalist, in the sense that they all struggled to form independent nation-states, and were inspired by a sense of collective national unity, forged in confrontation with imperialism.
• European ideas of nationalism were nowhere replicated, for people everywhere developed their own specific variety of nationalism.
• But the idea that societies should be organized into ‘nation-states’ came to be accepted as natural and universal.

5. Visualising the Nation

During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, artists attempted to give the nation a face. As a result, they began to portray it as a person, particularly a female figure. The female form chosen to personify the nation did not represent any specific woman in real life; rather, it was done to provide a rough idea of the nation in concrete form. Various artists' depictions of the female figure as a nation became an allegory (expressing an abstract idea in the form of a person or thing) of the nation.

All of this began during the French Revolution, when artists used female allegory to represent concepts such as Liberty, Justice, and the Republic. The artists used symbols or specific objects to represent these ideas. For example, the symbols used for the Liberty Bell include a red cap and a broken chain.

Justice is typically portrayed as a blindfolded woman carrying a pair of weighing scales.

As a result, artists in the nineteenth century created a variety of female allegories to represent the nation.

Marianne was the name given to the female figure used to describe the nation in France. She was designed with the characteristics of Liberty and the republic in mind, such as the red cap, tricolour, and cockade.

Marianne statues have been erected in a variety of public places. This was done to remind the public of the national unity symbol. Marianne images can be found on coins and stamps. Similarly, in Germany, the female figure used to represent Germany as a nation was known Germania. Germania is typically depicted wearing an oak-leaf crown, as the German oak represents heroism.

So we now know how countries became unified and became nation states, as well as how these states were personified through female figures. But the question here is whether they remained a liberal-democratic nation after becoming a nation state or changed into something else. Yes, after becoming nation states, countries began to expand their borders in order to increase their power and influence over other parts of the world. As a result, imperialism was born. So, what exactly is imperialism? This is what we will look into next.

6. Nationalism and Imperialism

A new political change was noticed in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Nationalism had lost its idealistic liberal-democratic sentiments of the first half of the twentieth century. During this time, nationalist groups became increasingly intolerant of one another and were constantly at odds. The major European powers attempted to exploit this in order to achieve their imperial goals. Imperialism is the policy of increasing a country's power and influence through the use of military forces or other means.

The Balkans emerged as the most desired area by Europeans to fulfil their imperialist goals. The Balkans were a geographical and ethnically diverse region that included modern-day Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Greece, Macedonia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Serbia, and Montenegro, and whose inhabitants were known as Slavs. The region controlled by the Ottoman Empire was known as the Balkans. The Ottoman Empire was the Empire from which Greece gained independence. The spread of the concept of romantic nationalism, combined with the fall of the Ottoman Empire, created a climate of high tension in the Balkan region.

• Despite its best efforts during the nineteenth century, the Ottoman Empire was unable to strengthen itself through modernization and internal reforms.
• The regions under its control that had European subjects began to separate away and form independent states.
• The Balkan people stressed independence on the grounds that they were once independent nationalities that had been taken over by foreign powers.
• As a result, rebellions begin to struggle for independence.

As various Slavic nationalities fought for independence, a conflict arose because the Balkan states were now interested in expanding their territorial limits. During this time, the situation became more tense as Balkan rivalries erupted on one side and Europeans entered the picture on the other. The European powers competed with one another to establish their trade and colonies in the Balkan region. Powers such as Russia, Germany, England, and Austro-Hungary were eager to assert their dominance over the Balkans. This resulted in a series of wars, culminating in the outbreak of the First World War.

The concept of nationalism, supported by imperialism, contributed to Europe's disaster in 1914. Throughout the nineteenth century, many colonised countries began to oppose imperialist rule. The anti-imperial movements grew up all over the world were nationalist in nature. It is because they were all struggling to establish independent nation-states and felt a sense of collective national unity. They had no intention of adhering to the concept of imperialism. People everywhere had their own concept of nationalism, so European ideas of nationalism were not seen being repeated anywhere. However, all of these events and processes resulted in the concept of organising societies into 'nation-states,' which was accepted as natural and universal.

• In colonies, the spread of modern nationalism is directly related to the anti-colonial movement.
  • Unity found through freedom struggles.
  • Oppression: a common tie
• Each class and group felt the effects of colonialism differently, they had different experiences, and their notions of freedom were sometimes different.
• The Congress, under Mahatma Gandhi tried to merge these groups together within one movement. But the unity did not emerge without conflict.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE YEAR 1919

After 1919, the national movement for independence spread to new areas, incorporated new social groups, and developed new modes of struggle.

the first world war

• A new economic and political situation.
• Huge increase in defense expenditure
  • financed by war loans and increasing taxes-
    • customs duties raised
    • income tax introduced
• Prices increased (doubling between 1913 and 1918)– extreme hardship for the common people.
• Villages told to supply soldiers.
  • forced recruitment: widespread anger
• In 1918-19 and 1920-21:
  • crops failed in many parts of India, resulting in acute shortages of food.
  • influenza epidemic hit the country.
    • As per the census of 1921: 12 to 13 million people died due to famines and the epidemic.

Mahatma Gandhi comes back

• Returned from South Africa to India in January 1915.
• He successfully organised satyagraha movements in various places.

The Rowlatt Act, 1919

• Gandhiji decided to launch a nationwide satyagraha against the proposed Rowlatt Act (1919).
• Rowlatt Act:
  • Excessive powers to government to repress political activities.
  • Allowed detention of political prisoners without trial for two years.
• It was speedily passed by the Imperial Legislative Council despite united opposition by the Indian members.
• Gandhiji wanted non-violent civil disobedience against such unjust laws, starting with a hartal on 6 April.
• Rallies organised in various cities, workers went on strike in railway workshops, and shops closed down.
• Alarmed by the upsurge, and scared that communication methods like railways and telegraph would be disrupted, the colonial administration decided to get hold of the nationalists.
  • Local leaders were picked up from Amritsar.
  • Mahatma Gandhi was barred from entering Delhi.
• 10 April: police in Amritsar fired upon a peaceful procession.
  • This provoked widespread attacks on banks, post offices and railway stations.
    • Martial law was imposed;
    • General Dyer took command.

Jallianwalla Bagh massacre

• April 13: a large crowd gathered in the enclosed ground of Jallianwalla Bagh.
  • Some came to protest against the government’s new repressive measures.
  • Others had come to attend the annual Baisakhi fair.
• Being from outside the city, many villagers unaware of the martial law that had been imposed.
• Dyer entered the area, blocked the exit points, and opened fire on the crowd, killing hundreds.
  • His object, as he declared later, was to ‘produce a moral effect’, to create in the minds of satyagrahis a feeling of terror and awe.
• News of Jallianwalla Bagh spread, crowds took to the streets in many north Indian towns.
  • Strikes & clashes with the police and attacks on government buildings.
  • The government responded with brutal repression, sought to humiliate and terrorise people:
    • satyagrahis forced to rub their noses on the ground, crawl on the streets, and do salaam (salute) to all sahibs
    • people were flogged and villages (around Gujranwala in Punjab, now in Pakistan) were bombed.
• Seeing violence spread, Mahatma Gandhi called off the movement.

Khilafat movement

• While the Rowlatt satyagraha had been a widespread movement, it was limited mostly to cities and towns.
• Mahatma Gandhi now felt the need to launch a more broad-based movement in India.
  • But bringing the Hindus and Muslims closer together was a necessity for that.
• One method: take up the Khilafat issue.
• World War I had ended with the defeat of Ottoman Turkey.
  • Rumours: a harsh peace treaty was going to be imposed on the Ottoman emperor – the spiritual head of the Islamic world (the Khalifa).
• March 1919, Bombay: Khilafat Committee formed to defend the Khalifa’s temporal powers.
  • Young generation of Muslim leaders like the brothers Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Ali, began discussing with Mahatma Gandhi about the possibility of a united mass action on the issue.
• Gandhiji saw this as an opportunity to include Muslims in a unified national movement.
• September 1920, Calcutta session of the Congress in: he convinced other leaders of the need to start a non-cooperation movement in support of Khilafat as well as for swaraj.

SATYAGRAHA

• 1917: Mahatma Gandhi had come from South Africa, after successfully fighting the racist regime with a novel method of mass agitation, called satyagraha.
• Persuade people (including the oppressors) to see the truth without violence.
  • By this struggle, truth was bound to ultimately triumph.
  • He believed that this dharma of non-violence could unite all Indians.
• In 1917:
  • Champaran, Bihar: he inspired the peasants to struggle against the oppressive plantation system.
  • He organized a satyagraha to support the peasants of the Kheda district of Gujarat.
    • affected by crop failure and a plague epidemic,
    • the peasants of Kheda could not pay the revenue,
    • they were demanding that revenue collection be relaxed.
• In Ahmedabad, 1918, Mahatma Gandhi organised a satyagraha movement amongst cotton mill workers.

Why Non-cooperation?

• Book: Hind Swaraj (1909), Mahatma Gandhi-
  • declared that British rule was established in India with the cooperation of Indians, and had survived only because of this cooperation.
  • If Indians refused to cooperate, British rule in India would collapse within a year, and swaraj would come.

Non-cooperation to become a movement: 

• Gandhiji proposed that the movement should unfold in stages:
  1. Surrender of titles that the government awarded.
  2. Boycott of civil services, army, police, courts and legislative councils, schools, and foreign goods.
  3. If the government used repression, a full civil disobedience campaign would be launched.
• Summer of 1920, Mahatma Gandhi & Shaukat Ali toured extensively to gain support for the movement.

Chapter-2

Nationalism in India

1.The First World War, Khilafat and Non- Cooperation

The national movement spread to new areas in the years following 1919. It began by involving new social groups and the development of new modes of struggle. So, what were these changes, and what effect did they have?

Let's talk about it.

During the First World War, defence spending had surged. To fund World War I, the British government imposed massive taxes and duties on Indians. During the war years (1913-1918), the prices of goods more than doubled, resulting in extreme hardship for the common people. Another source of the commoners' rage was the army's forceful recruitment of the villagers.

The situation worsened in 1918-1919 and 1920-21 as a result of crop failure in many parts of the country, leading to an increase in food prices. Later on, people were confronted with an influenza epidemic. According to the 1921 census, 12 to 13 million people died as a result of famines and epidemics. The people of India believed that once the war ended, their hardships would also end. That, however, never occurred. At this point, Mahatma Gandhi emerged as a new leader, proposing a new strategy for resisting British rule. His plan was to engage in Satyagraha. So, what exactly is Satyagraha? Let us talk about it.

The idea of Satyagraha

In January 1915, Mahatma Gandhi returned to India. He previously lived in South Africa, where he was successful in fighting the injustice of racial discrimination. He chose a new method of mass agitation, but in a peaceful manner, for this. This became known as Satyagraha. Satyagraha was based on a belief in the power of truth and the need to seek it. The main philosophy underlying the Satyagraha concept was that if the cause was just and the struggle was against injustice, there was no need to use physical force to fight the oppressor. The battle could be won through nonviolence by appealing to the oppressor's conscience. Even the oppressor was persuaded to see and accept the truth. Mahatma Gandhi believed that this nonviolent dharma could unite all Indians.

Following his arrival in India in 1915, Mahatma Gandhi successfully carried out satyagraha movements in various places. In 1917, he founded the Satyagraha movement in Champaran (Bihar) to fight for the rights of peasants who were being oppressed by indigo planters. Then, in 1918, he organised Satyagraha to aid the peasants of Gujarat's Kheda district. In Kheda, the government confiscated landowners' lands for nonpayment of taxes. The landowners, on the other hand, had already expressed their inability to pay due to crop failure caused by the famine. In 1918, he also launched a Satyagraha campaign against cotton mill workers.

Gandhiji, encouraged by his previous success, decided to launch a nationwide Satyagraha against the proposed Rowlatt Act of 1919. The question arose as to what Rowlatt's act was. The Rowlatt Act of 1919, on the other hand, allowed the British government to detain any political prisoner for a period of two years without trial. The Imperial Legislative Council rushed this act through despite opposition from Indian members. This act granted the British government vast powers to suppress political activity.

In response to such unjust laws, Mahatma Gandhi decided to launch a nonviolent civil disobedience movement. On April 6, he decided to start with a hartal. Rallies were held in various cities, and railway workshop workers went on strike. To suppress the upsurge, the British government decided to crack down on nationalists. The government began to pick up local leaders from Amritsar, and Mahatma Gandhi was denied entry into Delhi. The police opened fire on a peaceful procession in Amritsar on April 10th. This incited people to attack banks, post offices, and railway stations. The government declared martial law, which means that normal civilian functions would be under direct military control. The command was given to General Dyer.

On April 13, 1919, a large crowd gathered in the Jallianwala Bagh enclosed ground. Some had come to protest the government's new laws and policies, while others had come to attend the Baisakhi fair. Some of those who came to the fair were strangers who were unaware of the martial law that had been imposed in the area. Dyer barricaded the exit and opened fire on the people in the crowd. Hundreds of men and women, including children, were killed. Dyer later stated that his goal in carrying out the massacre was to inculcate fear in the minds of satyagrahis.

The news about Jallianwala Bagh quickly spread. In many North Indian towns, large crowds took to the streets. Strikes, protests, and clashes with police occurred. Even government buildings were targeted. The British government reacted in a ruthless manner to this. People were tortured both physically and mentally. Nationalists were humiliated by being forced to rub their noses on the ground, crawl through the streets, and salute all sahibs. Not only that, but people were flogged (beaten) and villages were bombed (in the vicinity of Gujranwala in Punjab, now in Pakistan). When he saw the violence spreading, Mahatma Gandhi called a halt to the movement.

Despite the fact that the Satyagraha was a widespread movement, it was limited to cities and towns. As a result, Mahatma Gandhi decided to launch a more widespread movement in India. At the same time, he considered bringing Hindus and Muslims together to make this movement more certain and realistic. In order to make it work, he decided to bring up the Khilafat issue. So, what exactly was the Khilafat movement?

The Ottoman emperor of Turkey was defeated by the British during World War I. He was referred to as the Khalifa, or spiritual leader of the Muslim world. The British forced Khalifa to sign a harsh peace treaty, according to reports. The Indian Muslims were enraged by this. In order to defend the Khalifa's temporal powers, Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Ali formed the Khilafat committee in Bombay in March 1919. Both brothers discussed the possibility of a united mass action on the issue with Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhiji saw it as an opportunity to unite Hindus and Muslims in a unified national movement. So, in the September 1920 session of Congress in Calcutta, he convinced other leaders to join him, and a non-cooperation movement was launched in support of Khilafat as well as Swaraj.

We have learned about Satyagraha up to this point. We learned how it was organised, as well as the concept of a non-cooperation movement in support of Khilafat and Swaraj (self government). But the question here is why Gandhiji chose non-cooperation. What was the goal of starting this movement? So, how about we check this?

Why Non-cooperation?

According to Mahatma Gandhi's famous book Hind Swaraj (1909), British rule came about as a result of Indian cooperation. He believed that if Indians refused to cooperate, British rule in India would end in a year and Swaraj would take its place. Gandhiji decided to work on the movement in stages in order to make it a reality. As a result, it was done as follows:

• Initially, the titles awarded by the British government were to be surrendered by the people.
• Civil services, the army, the police, the courts and legislative councils, schools, and foreign goods are all being boycotted.
• If the government used repression, a full-fledged civil disobedience campaign was to be launched.

Throughout the summer of 1920, Mahatma Gandhi and Shaukat Ali toured extensively to gain support for the movement.

On the other hand, some members of Congress were unwilling to support this movement. They were opposed to boycotting the council election scheduled for November 1920. The majority of them were afraid of any act of violence. As a result, there was a tussle among members of Congress between September and December. However, at the Nagpur session of Congress in December 1920, a compromise was reached, leading to the adoption of the non-cooperation movement. Though this movement began on a national level, those involved in it each had their own point of view.

DIFFERING STRANDS WITHIN THE MOVEMENT

• January 1921: The Non-Cooperation-Khilafat Movement begins.
  • Social groups participated in the movement with their own specific aspirations.

The Movement in the Towns

middle class in government institutuions

• Thousands of students left government-controlled schools and colleges, headmasters and teachers resigned, and lawyers gave up their legal practices.
• The council elections boycotted in most provinces.
  • Except Madras, where the Justice Party, the party of the non-Brahmans, felt that entering the council was one way of gaining some power – something that usually only Brahmans had access to.

middle class and the economic front

• Foreign goods were boycotted, liquor shops picketed, and foreign cloth burnt in huge bonfires.
• 1921-1922: Import of foreign cloth halved;
  • value dropped from Rs 102 crore to Rs 57 crore.
• In many places, merchants and traders refused to trade in foreign goods or finance foreign trade.
• Movement spreads:
  • people began discarding imported clothes
  • wearing only Indian manufactured items

• • production of Indian textile mills and handlooms went up.

slowdown in cities

• Khadi cloth often more expensive than mass-produced mill cloth; poor people could not afford to buy it.
• For the movement to be successful, alternative Indian institutions were needed in place of the British ones.
  • These were slow to come up.
  • Students and teachers resumed going to government schools
  • Lawyers joined back work in government courts.

Rebellion in the Countryside

Non-Cooperation drew into its fold the struggles of peasants and tribals which were developing in different parts in the years after the war.

• In Awadh, peasants led by Baba Ramchandra– a sanyasi who had been to Fiji as an indentured labourer.
• The movement: against talukdars & landlords demanding exorbitantly high rents and a variety of other cesses from peasants.
• Peasants had to do begar and work at landlords’ farms without any payment.
• Tenants: no security of tenure;
  • regularly evicted so they could acquire no right over the leased land.
• The peasant movement demanded:
  • reduction of revenue,
  • abolition of begar,
  • social boycott of oppressive landlords.
• Nai–dhobi bandhs organized by panchayats: deprived landlords of the services of barbers and washermen.
• June 1920: Jawaharlal Nehru went to villages in Awadh, talked to villagers to understand their grievances.
• October 1920: Oudh Kisan Sabha set up, headed by Jawaharlal Nehru, Baba Ramchandra and a few others.
  • Within a month, over 300 branches set up in the villages around the region.
  • When the Non-Cooperation Movement began the next year, the effort of the Congress was to integrate the Awadh peasant struggle into the wider struggle.

• • The peasant movement developed; yet Congress leadership discontented.
    • 1921: movement spreads; houses of talukdars & merchants attacked, bazaars looted, grain hoards taken over.
    • In many places, local leaders told peasants that Gandhiji had declared that no taxes were to be paid and land was to be redistributed among the poor.
    • The name of the Mahatma was being invoked to sanction all action and aspirations.

The tribal story

• Early 1920s, Gudem Hills, Andhra Pradesh: militant guerrilla movement spread in the– not a form of struggle that the Congress could approve.
• Hill people enraged: colonial government closed large forest areas, preventing people from entering the forests to graze their cattle, or collect fuelwood and fruits.
  • Their livelihoods affected.
  • They felt their traditional rights were being denied.
• Government forced them to contribute begar for road building, then the hill people revolted.
• Their leader: Alluri Sitaram Raju
  •  claimed he had a variety of special powers, he could:
    • make correct astrological predictions.
    • heal people.
    • survive bullet shots.
  • Rebels proclaimed Raju was an incarnation of God.
• Raju talked of the greatness of Mahatma Gandhi, said he was inspired by the Non-Cooperation Movement.
  • persuaded people to wear khadi and give up drinking.
  • yet he asserted that India could be liberated only by the use of force.
• The Gudem rebels attacked police stations, attempted to kill British officials and carried on guerrilla warfare for achieving swaraj.
• Raju was captured and executed in 1924, and over time became a folk hero.

Swaraj in the Plantations

• Freedom for plantation workers in Assam: the right to move freely in and out of the confined space in which they were enclosed, and retaining a link with their native village.
• Inland Emigration Act of 1859: plantation workers not permitted to leave the tea gardens without permission; rarely granted such permission.
• Non-Cooperation Movement:
  • thousands of workers defied the authorities;
  • left the plantations and headed home.
• Belief: Gandhi Raj was coming and everyone would be given land in their own villages.
• They were stranded on the way by a railway and steamer strike;
  • caught by the police and brutally beaten up.
• The visions of these movements: not defined by the Congress.
  • People interpreted the term swaraj in their own ways;

• • imagined it to be a time when all suffering and all troubles would be over.
• When the tribals chanted Gandhiji’s name and raised slogans demanding ‘Swatantra Bharat’, they were emotionally relating to an all-India agitation.

When they acted in the name of Mahatma Gandhi, or linked their movement to that of the Congress, they were identifying with a movement which went beyond the limits of their immediate locality.

• February 1922: Mahatma Gandhi decided to withdraw the Non-Cooperation Movement.
• Movement turning violent in many places, satyagrahis needed to be properly trained before they would be ready for mass struggles.

2. Differing Strands within the Movement

In January 1921, the non-cooperation-Khilafat movement began. Different social groups participated in this movement, but each had their own goals. Despite the fact that they all responded to Swaraj's call, their perspectives on Swaraj differed. So, we'll see how it differed now.

The Movement in the Towns

In towns, the movement began with the participation of the middle class. A large number of students dropped out of government-run schools and colleges. Teachers and principals resigned, and lawyers left their firms. Except for Madras, most provinces boycotted the council elections. The Madras Justice Party was a non-Brahmin party that participated in council elections as a means of gaining power that was generally reserved for Brahmins.

Soon after, a boycott of foreign goods was enacted, with liquor stores being picketed and foreign clothing being burned in bonfires. This had a negative economic impact on the British government. Between 1921 and 1922, the import of foreign cloth was cut in half. The company's value was reduced from Rs 102 crore to Rs 57 crore. Furthermore, merchants and traders refused to trade in foreign goods or finance foreign trade. With the spread of this movement, Indians began to wear clothing manufactured in India. This resulted in an increase in output from Indian textile mills and handlooms.However, this movement could not last for long due to a variety of factors, including:

• Khadi was an expensive cloth that was out of reach for the majority of households.
• Students who boycotted British institutes were unable to find a suitable substitute and thus returned to them.
• Likewise, teachers and lawyers returned to their jobs.

So much for the non-cooperation movement in cities, but what about in villages and the countryside? Let's look into this.

Rebellion in the Countryside

The anti-cooperation movement spread to villages as well. The peasants and tribes joined the fight as well. One such struggle was the Awadh peasant uprising led by Baba Ramchandra, a sanyasi. In Fiji, Baba Ramchandra worked as an indentured (bonded) labourer. He began a movement against talukdars and landlords who demanded high rents and various forms of cesses from peasants. Peasants were forced to work on landlord's farms for no pay, a practise known as 'begar.' The peasants had no claim to the leased land and were frequently evicted, so they had no security of tenure.

Ramchandra's peasant movement demanded a reduction in revenue and the abolition of begar. Panchayats organised nai- dhobi bandhs in some areas. It was a kind of strike by barbers and washermen to deprive landlords of basic services. Jawaharlal Nehru visited various villages in Awadh in 1920 to try to understand the problems of the peasants. He founded the Oudh Kisan Sabha in October 1920. Jawaharlal Nehru, Baba Ramchandra, and a few others headed over the Oudh Kisan Sabha. Soon, 300 branches were established in villages throughout the region. When Congress launched the non-cooperation movement in 1921, it also included the peasant struggle in the wider struggle. However, this movement later diverted off in a different direction, which the Congress found unacceptable. Peasants attacked the homes of talukdars and merchants as the movement spread. They looted the bazaars and stole the grains. It was soon discovered that in many places, local leaders had told peasants that Gandhiji had instructed them that no taxes would be paid and that land would be redistributed among the poor. In this case, Gandhi's name was falsely accused.

Gudem Hills in Andhra Pradesh was another case where Mahatma Gandhi's message and the concept of Swaraj were misunderstood. In the early 1920s, a militant Guerrilla movement spread here, which, once again, was not a form of struggle recognised by the Congress. The cause of this conflict was the colonial government's prevention law, which prohibited tribals from entering villages to collect fuel wood, fruits, or graze their cattle. Furthermore, the government forced them to work as beggars in order to build a road. Alluri Sitaram Raju, the leader of this tribal movement, declared himself to be a man endowed with superpowers capable of withstanding bullet shots. The tribals who were deeply moved by him and declared him to be God's incarnation.

Raju was greatly inspired by Mahatma Gandhi, so he persuaded the tribals to wear khadi and abstain from alcohol. On the other hand, he did not subscribe to the philosophy of peaceful protests. He believed that force, rather than nonviolence, could be used to liberate Indians. To achieve swaraj, the Guden rebels under him attacked police stations, attempted to kill Britishers, and used guerilla warfare techniques. Later, Raju was arrested by police and sentenced to death in 1924. He is still regarded as a folk hero.

As we have seen, everyone has their own interpretation of swaraj, and the Assam plantation workers had their own interpretation of swaraj and non-cooperation. So, what exactly was it? Let's see what happens.

Swaraj in the Plantations

The tea plantation workers had their own interpretation of Swaraj. For them, freedom meant being able to move freely in and out of their confined spaces. These workers were not permitted to leave the tea gardens without permission. This was due to the inland Emigration Act of 1859, which required them to follow this restriction rule. They believed that the non-cooperation movement was a sign of the Gandhi Raj, allowing them to be free and own land in their own villages. As a result, they left the tea gardens and returned to their homes. They were unable to do so, however, due to a railway and steamer strike. They were eventually arrested and beaten up by the police.

These groups' movements were not included in the Congress programme. They made up their own interpretations and imagined it to be the end of all their trials and tribulations. Even so, when tribals raised the Swatantra Bharat slogan and chanted Gandhiji's name, one could see a unified Indian agitation in them. When they identified with Gandhi's Congress movement, they were actually identifying with a movement that extended far beyond their own communities.

We now understand the non-cooperation movement and how it was perceived by various groups. Let's talk about the Civil Disobedience movement and how it got started.

CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE MOVEMENT

• Varied views within the Congress, some leaders tired of mass struggles.
  • C. R. Das and Motilal Nehru formed the Swaraj Party within the Congress to argue for a return to council politics.
    • wanted to participate in the provincial council elections, set up by the Government of India Act of 1919.
    • felt that it was important to oppose British policies within the councils, argue for reform and demonstrate that these councils were not truly democratic.
  • Younger leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas Chandra Bose supported more radical mass agitation and for full independence.
• Late 1920s:
  • The effect of the worldwide economic depression.
  • Agricultural prices began to fall from 1926 and collapsed after 1930.
    • demand for agricultural goods fell & exports declined,
    • peasants unable to sell their harvests and pay their revenue.
  • By 1930, the countryside was in turmoil.
• At the same time, the new Tory government in Britain constituted a Statutory Commission under Sir John Simon, in response to the nationalist movement.
• The commission: to look into the functioning of the constitutional system in India and suggest changes.
  • The problem: did not have a single Indian member. They were all British.

Simon Commission

• 1928: Simon Commission arrived in India.
  • greeted with the slogan ‘Go back Simon’.
  • All parties, including the Congress and the Muslim League, participated in the demonstrations.
• October 1929: The viceroy Lord Irwin gave compensation.
  • announced a vague offer of ‘dominion status’ for India in an unspecified future;
  • a Round Table Conference to discuss a future constitution.
    • Congress leaders weren’t satisfied.

• December 1929: Presidency of Jawaharlal Nehru- the Lahore Congress formalised the demand of ‘Purna Swaraj’ or full independence for India.
  • 26 January 1930 would be celebrated as the Independence Day, people were to take a pledge to struggle for complete independence.
    • the celebrations attracted very little attention.

The Salt March and the Civil Disobedience Movement

• 31 January 1930: he sent a letter to Viceroy Irwin stating eleven demands.
  • Some demands of general interest; others specific demands of different classes.
• The idea: make the demands wide-ranging-
  • all classes identify with them;
  • everyone could be brought together in a united campaign.
• The biggest demand: to abolish the salt tax.
• Salt: consumed by the rich and the poor alike, one of the most essential items of food. A powerful symbol.
• Gandhi’s declaration: The tax on salt and the government monopoly over its production, revealed the most oppressive face of British rule.
• Mahatma Gandhi’s letter: an ultimatum.
  • demands not fulfilled by 11 March: the Congress would launch a civil disobedience campaign.
• Irwin was unwilling to negotiate.
• Mahatma Gandhi started his famous salt march accompanied by 78 of his trusted volunteers.
  • The march over 240 miles, from Gandhiji’s ashram in Sabarmati to Dandi, a Gujarati coastal town.
  • The volunteers walked for 24 days, about 10 miles a day.
• Thousands came to hear Mahatma Gandhi wherever he stopped,
  • told them what he meant by swaraj;
  • urged them to peacefully defy the British.
• 6 April: he reached Dandi.
  • ceremonially violated the law by manufacturing salt by boiling sea water.
  • This marked the beginning of the Civil Disobedience Movement.

• People to break colonial laws, not only to refuse cooperation with the British, as they did in 1921-22.
• Thousands in different parts of the country broke the salt law, manufactured salt and demonstrated in front of government salt factories.
• The movement spread:
  • foreign cloth was boycotted,
  • liquor shops were picketed,
  • Peasants refused to pay revenue and chaukidari taxes,
  • village officials resigned,
  • in many places forest people violated forest laws
    • going into Reserved Forests to collect wood and graze cattle.
• The colonial government began arresting the Congress leaders one by one.
  • This led to violent clashes in many palaces.
• April 1930: Abdul Ghaffar Khan, a devout disciple of Mahatma Gandhi, arrested.
  • Crowds demonstrated in Peshawar, facing armored cars & police firing. Many were killed.
• May 1930: Mahatma Gandhi himself arrested.
  • Industrial workers in Sholapur attacked police posts, municipal buildings, lawcourts and railway stations all structures that symbolized British rule.
• A frightened government responded with a policy of brutal repression.
  • Peaceful satyagrahis attacked,
  • Women & children were beaten,
  • about 100,000 people were arrested.

• Mahatma Gandhi once again decided to call off the movement.
  • Entered into a pact with Irwin on 5 March 1931.
• Gandhi-Irwin Pact:
  • Gandhi consented to participate in a Round Table Conference in London (the Congress had boycotted the first Round Table Conference);
  • the government agreed to release the political prisoners.
• December 1931: Gandhiji went to London for the conference,
  • the negotiations broke down
  • he returned disappointed.
• Back in India, the government had begun a new cycle of repression.
  • Ghaffar Khan and Jawaharlal Nehru were both in jail;
  • The Congress had been declared illegal;
  •  A series of measures had been imposed to prevent meetings, demonstrations and boycotts.
• Mahatma Gandhi relaunched the Civil Disobedience Movement.
  • For over a year, the movement continued, but by 1934 it lost its momentum.

How Participants saw the Movement

Rich peasant communities of the Countryside

• Communities like the Patidars of Gujarat and the Jats of Uttar Pradesh.
• Active in the movement.
• commercial crop producers: they were hard hit by the trade depression and falling prices.
• They found it impossible to pay the government’s revenue demand.
  • refusal of government to reduce the demand led to widespread resentment.
• They became enthusiastic supporters of the Civil Disobedience Movement:
  • organised their communities,
  • at times forced reluctant members to participate in the boycott programmes.
• For them, swaraj was a struggle against high revenues.
• 1931: disappointed when the movement was called off without the revenue rates being revised.
• When the movement was restarted in 1932, many of them refused to participate.

The poorer peasantry

• A major interest: the lowering of the revenue demand.
• Another interest: the unpaid rent to the landlord to be remitted.
  • Many of them were small tenants cultivating land they had rented from landlords.
  • As the Depression continued & cash incomes dwindled, they found it difficult to pay their rent.
• They joined a variety of radical movements, often led by Socialists and Communists.
• Apprehensive of raising issues that might upset the rich peasants and landlords, the Congress was unwilling to support ‘no rent’ campaigns in most places.
• The relationship between the poor peasants and the Congress remained uncertain.

 Merchants and Businessmen

• World War I: Indian merchants and industrialists made huge profits and become powerful.
  • For business expansion: against colonial policies that restricted business activities.
  • Wanted protection against:
    • imports of foreign goods,
    • a rupee-sterling foreign exchange ratio to discourage imports.
• To promote business interests, formed organisations:
  • 1920: Indian Industrial and Commercial Congress
  • 1927: Federation of the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FICCI)
• Leaders of movements: prominent industrialists like Purshottamdas Thakurdas and G.D. Birla
  • they attacked colonial control over the Indian economy,
  • supported the Civil Disobedience Movement when it was first launched.
• They gave financial assistance and refused to buy or sell imported goods.
• Swaraj to most businessmen: when colonial restrictions on business would no longer exist and trade and industry would flourish without constraints.
• After the failure of the Round Table Conference, business groups not uniformly interested.
  • apprehensive of the spread of militant activities,
  • worried about prolonged disruption of business,
  • concerned about growing influence of socialism amongst the younger members of the Congress.

The industrial working classes

• did not participate in the Civil Disobedience Movement in large numbers, except in the Nagpur region.
• As the industrialists came closer to the Congress, workers stayed aloof.
• Some workers did participate in the Civil Disobedience Movement:
  • selectively adopted some of the ideas of the Gandhian programme;
  • boycott against low wages and poor working conditions.
• There were strikes by railway workers in 1930 and dockworkers in 1932.
• 1930:
  • workers in Chotanagpur tin mines wore Gandhi caps
  • participated in protest rallies and boycott campaigns.
• The Congress was reluctant to include workers’ demands as part of its program of struggle.
• This would alienate industrialists and divide the anti-imperial forces.

Women in civil disobedience movement

• Large-scale participation by women.
• During salt march, thousands of women came to listen to him.
  • They participated in protest marches
  • manufactured salt,
  • picketed foreign cloth and liquor shops.
  • Many went to jail.

Participamts:

• urban areas: women from high-caste families;
• rural areas: women from rich peasant households.
• Moved by Gandhiji’s call, they began to see service to the nation as a sacred duty of women.
• Increased public role did not imply any radical change in the position of women in society.
• Gandhiji’s belief: the duty of women to look after home and hearth, be good mothers and good wives.
• For a long time, the Congress was reluctant to allow women to hold any position of authority within the organisation. It was keen only on their symbolic presence.

The sidelined groups and the Civil Disobedience

Untouchables

• Around the 1930s: begun to call themselves ‘dalit’ or oppressed.
• Ignorance of the Congress: fear of offending the sanatanis, the conservative high-caste Hindus.
• Gandhi’s declaration: swaraj would not come if untouchability was not eliminated.
  • He called the ‘untouchables’ harijan, or the children of God
  • organised satyagraha to secure them:
    • entry into temples;
    • access to public wells, tanks, roads and schools.
  • Himself cleaned toilets to dignify the work of the bhangi (the sweepers)
  • persuaded upper castes to change their heart and give up ‘the sin of untouchability’.
• Many dalit leaders keen on a different political solution to the problems.
  • They began organising themselves and demanded:
    • reserved seats in educational institutions,
    • a separate electorate that would choose dalit members for legislative councils.
  • Their belief: Political empowerment would resolve the problems of their social disabilities.
• Dalit participation in the Civil Disobedience Movement was limited, particularly in the Maharashtra and Nagpur region where their organisation was quite strong.

Depressed Classes Association, 1930

• Dr B.R. Ambedkar: organised the dalits into the Depressed Classes Association in 1930.
  • He clashed with Gandhi at the 2^nd Round Table Conference by demanding separate electorates for dalits.
• British government accepted Ambedkar’s demand.
  • Gandhiji began a fast unto death.
    • Belief: separate electorates for dalits would slow down their integration into society.
• Ambedkar ultimately accepted Gandhiji’s position.
  • Its result: the Poona Pact of September 1932.
    • It gave the Depressed Classes (later to be known as the Schedule Castes) reserved seats in provincial and central legislative councils, but they were to be voted in by the general electorate.
• The dalit movement, however, continued to be apprehensive of the Congress led national movement.

Muslims and Muslim political organizations

• Decline of the Non-Cooperation-Khilafat movement: Muslims largely felt alienated from the Congress.
• Mid-1920s: Congress more visibly associated with openly Hindu religious nationalist groups like the Hindu Mahasabha.
• Relations of Hindus and Muslims worsening: each community organised religious processions with militancy, provoking Hindu-Muslim communal clashes and riots in various cities.
• Every riot deepened the distance between the two communities.
• The Congress and the Muslim League made efforts to renegotiate an alliance;
  • 1927: seemed that such a unity could be forged.

• Important differences: over the question of representation in the future assemblies to be elected.
• Muhammad Ali Jinnah, one of the leaders of the Muslim League, was willing to give up the demand for separate electorates, if:
  • Muslims were assured reserved seats in the Central Assembly;
  • Representation in proportion to population in Muslim-dominated provinces (Bengal and Punjab).
• All Parties Conference, 1928: Hope of resolving the issue lost when M.R. Jayakar of the Hindu Mahasabha strongly opposed efforts at compromise.
• Civil Disobedience Movement started: an atmosphere of suspicion and distrust between communities.
• Alienated from the Congress, large sections of Muslims could not respond to united struggle.
• Many Muslim leaders & intellectuals expressed their concern about the status of Muslims as a minority within India.
  • They feared that the culture and identity of minorities would be submerged under the domination of a Hindu majority.

3. Towards Civil Disobedience

As the non-cooperation movement became violent in many places, Gandhiji decided to withdraw the movement in February 1922. Before any kind of mass struggle, he felt there was a need for proper training of satyagrahis. On the other side of the Congress, there were some leaders who were opposed to any kind of mass struggle. They decided to take part in the provincial elections mandated by the Government of India Act of 1919. They believed that by opposing British policies within the councils, they could bring about reform while also demonstrating that these councils lacked true democracy.

C.R Das and Motilal Nehru were both in favour of resuming council politics. As a result, they established the Swaraj Party. However, young leaders such as Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas Chandra Bose emphasised more mass struggles that demonstrated Indians' agitation against the Britishers' oppressive policies and demanded full independence.

While there was internal debate and disagreement, there were only a few factors that led to a change in Indian politics in the late 1920s. Let us go over what it was.

The world was in the grip of an economic depression in the late 1920s. The price of agricultural goods fell, resulting in a drop in exports. Prices began to fall in 1926 and eventually collapsed after 1930. It was a difficult time for the peasants because they were not getting a fair price for their produce and thus could not pay their taxes. As a result, by 1930, rural areas were in a state of social unrest.

On the other hand, the new Tory (Conservative party) government in the United Kingdom established a commission headed by Sir John Simon. The commission was made up entirely of British members; there was no Indian representation. The commission's primary function was to investigate India's constitutional system and recommend reforms. The Indians were opposed because there were no Indians involved.

When the Simon Commission arrived in India, it was met with opposition from local population who greeted them with the slogan 'Simon Go Back.' Every political party, including Congress and the Muslim League, protested the Simon commission. Soon after, Britishers attempted to control the situation by attempting to re-establish Indian loyalty. So, in October 1929, Lord Irwin made the unreal promise of granting India "dominion status" in the distant future. He also proposed a round table conference to discuss a possible future constitution.

Soon, the moderates who proposed a constitutional system within the framework of British dominion lost ground, while radicals like Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas Chandra Bose made gains. Purna Swaraj's demand was heard at a Congress session in Lahore in December 1929, led by Jawaharlal Nehru. They decided to mark the 26th of January, 1930, as India's Independence Day. They also planned for the people to make a pledge to fight for complete independence. However, this celebration did not draw a large crowd. Mahatma Gandhi came to the conclusion that he needed to find a way to connect the concept of independence with important daily issues confronting ordinary people.

When Mahatma Gandhi decided to seek a new path, the civil disobedience movement was born. So, what was the civil disobedience movement, and why was Gandhiji's famous salt march carried out? Let's check this.

The Salt March and the Civil Disobedience Movement

Gandhiji's first thought was to bring people together. This could only be done if the problems of all social classes were taken into account. As a result, on January 31, 1930, Gandhiji sent a letter to Viceroy Irwin outlining the eleven demands. Some were of general interest, while others were specific demands of various classes ranging from industrialists to peasants. The main reason for including these groups' demands was to bring everyone together in a united campaign. The abolition of the salt tax was the most important demand of all. Gandhiji believed that salt, as an essential food item, is consumed by everyone, rich or poor. As a result, the salt tax and the government's monopoly on its production seemed unjust to him. This law, according to Mahatma Gandhi, was the most oppressive aspect of British rule.

In his letter, Mahatma Gandhi issued an ultimatum, stating that if the demands were not met by March 11th, the Congress would launch a civil disobedience movement. Lord Irwin did not consider it, and this resulted in the beginning of the non-cooperation movement, which began with Mahatma Gandhi's famous Salt March. As a result, on March 12th, Gandhiji began his famous salt march, accompanied by 78 of his trusted volunteers. From his ashram in Sabarmati to the Gujarati coastal town of Dandi, Gandhiji travelled 240 miles in 24 days. Thousands of people arrived to hear Gandhiji wherever he went. He explained his concept of swaraj to them and urged them to carry on the movement peacefully in order to defy the British. On April 6, Gandhiji arrived in Dandi and violated the salt law by boiling sea water.

The Dandi March was widely regarded as the start of the civil disobedience movement. However, the question of how it differed from the non-cooperation movement arises. The Civil Disobedience Movement differed in that people were not only asked to refuse to cooperate with the British government, but they were also asked to break British laws. As a result, the following actions were taken by various groups in India:

• Thousands of people violated the Salt Law in a variety of coastal areas. They made salt and staged a protest in front of government factories.
• Foreign clothing was completely boycotted.
• Picket lines formed outside liquor stores.
• Peasants begin to evade taxes. They stop to pay revenue and chaukidari taxes.
• Officials from the village resigned.
• By entering reserved areas to collect wood and graze cattle, forest laws were broken.

The developments that occurred as a result of the non-cooperation movement terrified the British government. To regulate in such activities, the government began arresting Congress leaders one by one. As a result, ferocious clashes erupted between the public and the police. In April 1930, Abdul Ghaffar Khan, a devout disciple of Mahatma Gandhi, was arrested by the police, resulting in a protest by angry crowds in Peshawar. The police opened fire on the demonstrators, killing many of them. After Mahatma Gandhi was arrested, industrial workers in Sholapur staged a violent protest. They targeted police stations, municipal buildings, courthouses, and train stations. In this case, we can say that they attempted to attack every symbol of British rule. As the government became alarmed by such incidents, it became brutal with the peaceful satyagrahis. Around 1 lakh people were arrested after the government began attacking even women and children.

As the situation worsened, Gandhiji decided to call a halt to the movement. On March 5, 1931, he made a pact with Irwin that became known as the Gandhi-Irwin Pact. Gandhiji agreed to participate in the round table conference as a result of this pact. The Congress boycotted the first round table conference in London, and the government agreed to release the political prisoners. Gandhiji travelled to London in December 1931 to attend a round table conference, but the conference was a failure, and Gandhiji returned home disappointed. When he arrived in India, he discovered that the government had implemented a new form of repression. Ghaffar Khan and Jawaharlal Nehru were both imprisoned. Congress was declared illegal, and the government imposed lots of new restrictions to prevent meetings, demonstrations, and boycotts.

Gandhiji launched the civil disobedience movement once more. It lasted about a year, but it quickly lost its strength. What were the reasons for the movement's downfall, and what were the participants' perceptions of the civil disobedience movement? Let's talk about it.

How Participants saw the Movement

To understand what motivated people to join the movement, we must first understand the various social groups that took part.

Let us look at the case of wealthy peasant communities in rural areas. Gujarat's Patidars and Uttar Pradesh's Jats were active participants in the movement. They were cash crop producers, so the drop in agricultural product prices had little impact on them. As their cash income dropped significantly, they found it difficult to pay their taxes to the government. As a result, their participation in the civil disobedience movement contributed to a reduction in government revenue. They began organising their communities in preparation for the civil disobedience movement. Even those who were hesitant were pressured into taking part. They were extremely disappointed, however, when the movement was called off in 1931 with no reduction in revenue. As a result, when the movement was revived in 1932, they refused to take part.

The poor peasants, on the other hand, who had small land holdings and were generally tenants, were severely impacted by the drop in food grain prices. They demanded that the revenue or rent they were required to pay be cancelled. They organised various radical movements under the banner of socialists or communists for this purpose. The Congress never supported these peasants because the party was unwilling to support 'no rent' campaigns for fear of upsetting the rich peasants and landlords. If we are to discuss the business classes and their relationship with the civil disobedience movement, we must first understand the condition of the business houses at the time.

During World War I, Indian businessmen and industrialists made huge profits and grew in power. This will be covered in greater detail later in Chapter 5. As they sought to expand their business, they began to retaliate against British policies that restricted growth. They had their own issues, such as business protection from outside competition, for which they demanded protection from imported goods. They also demanded a rupee-sterling foreign exchange ratio to discourage imports.

In order to demand their rights, industrialists formed the Indian Industrial and Commercial Congress in 1920 and the Federation of the Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FICCI) in 1927. Indian industrialists, led by Purshottamdas Thakurdas and G.D Birla, challenged British control of the Indian economy and supported the Civil Disobedience movement when it was launched for the first time. They not only took part in it by refusing to buy or sell imported goods, but they also financed it. For the majority of them, Swaraj meant a time when British business restrictions would be lifted and Indian trade and industry would flourish. When it was revealed that the round table conference had failed, business groups lost interest in the civil disobedience movement. They were concerned about the spread of any militant activities that could disrupt business, and they were also opposed to the growing socialism among the young members of Congress.

So far, we've learned about industrialists' participation and how they took a step back to join the movement, but what about industry workers?

The industrial workers, on the other hand, did not take part in this movement. Only in Nagpur did workers show any sign of dissatisfaction. They adopted Gandhi's programme of boycotting foreign goods as part of their own campaigns against low wages and an inadequate working environment. As a result, their struggle was for adequate wages and a pleasant working environment. As a result, railway workers went on strike in 1930, and dockworkers went on strike in 1932. Thousands of Chotanagpur tin mine workers dressed in Gandhi caps marched in rallies in 1930. However, in this case, Congress was uninterested in including worker demand. It did so in order to keep industrialists on their side so that the resistance to British rule did not drop.

Last but not least, women participated in the civil disobedience movement. Women had taken part in large numbers. Thousands of women attended Gandhiji's salt march to hear him speak. They marched in protest, made salt, and picketed liquor stores and foreign clothing stores. Many of them were even imprisoned. These women came from either high caste families in cities or wealthy peasant families in rural areas. All the women, inspired by Gandhiji, saw it as their sacred duty to participate in the national movement. Despite the fact that their social status did not improve as a result of their participation. Even the Congress was hesitant to incorporate women into their organisation.

So, we now know about the various groups' participation in the civil disobedience movement, as well as the reasons for their reluctance to continue with it. So, let us now check the limits of civil disobedience.

The Limits of Civil Disobedience

Despite the fact that various social groups had joined Congress in the Civil Disobedience movement, many people were unmoved by the abstract concept of swaraj. The untouchables were one such group. They began referring to themselves as Dalits, or oppressed, in the 1930s. Initially, Congress did not bring up Dalit issues. They did so because they did not want to offend the sanatanis, or high caste conservative Hindus. Mahatma Gandhi was the one who declared that in order to achieve independence, the untouchables must be included in the movement. He once stated that if untouchability was not abolished, the swaraj would not arrive for another hundred years. He referred to the 'untouchables' as harijans, or God's children.

Gandhiji led the Satyagraha in support of harijans in order to gain access to temples. He also fought for the harijans' basic rights, such as access to public wells, tanks, roads, and schools. Not only that, but he persuaded the upper castes to change their minds and abandon the evil of untouchability.

While all of these struggles for dalits were taking place. Some leaders from the dalit community began organising to address various issues that their communities were facing. They began by requesting reserved seats in educational institutions as well as a separate electorate to select dalit members for the legislative council. Political dalit leaders believed that if they were given political power, they would be able to solve their community's various problems. As a result, dalit participation in the civil disobedience movement was limited, especially in Maharashtra and Nagpur, where their organisations were quite strong.

There were times when dalit demands clashed with Swaraj's ideology. Dr. B.R Ambedkar's demand for separate electorates for dalits clashed with Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy at the second round table conference held in (7 Sep 1931-1 Dec 1931). When the British government agreed to Ambedkar's demand, Gandhiji began a death-defying fast. Separate electorates for dalits, according to Gandhiji, would affect the process of their integration into society. Finally, Ambedkar agreed to Gandhiji's position, resulting in the Poona Pact of September 1932. The Poona pact provided reserved seats for dalits or scheduled castes in provincial and central legislative councils, but only if they were voted in by the general electorate. Aside from dalits, Muslims later felt alienated from the Congress. They each had their own reasons for doing so.

Some Muslim political organisations in India were hesitant to participate in the civil disobedience movement. This was due to the non-cooperation-Khilafat movement's decline in the past. The majority of Muslims felt alienated from Congress. It was because, beginning in the mid-1920s, the Congress became more closely associated with Hindu religious nationalist organisations such as the Hindu Mahasabha. Hindu-Muslim relations were worsening on a daily basis. Each community began organising religious procession with zeal. All of this resulted in communal riots between Hindus and Muslims in various cities. Each riot widened the chasm between the two communities. While the disagreement between the communities widened, the Congress and the Muslim League attempted to form an alliance. During 1927, it appeared that such unity was possible, but the main reason for the disagreements was over representation in the future assemblies that were to be elected. Initially, one of the Muslim League's leaders, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, was willing to abandon the demand for separate Muslim electorates. He stated that Muslims be given reserved seats in the Central Assembly and representation in proportion to population in Muslim-majority provinces such as Bengal and Punjab. The Muslim League had hoped that this issue would be resolved at the 1928 All Parties Conference. However, due to the strong opposition of M.R. Jayakar of the Hindu Mahasabha, this issue was not resolved.

As a result, when the civil disobedience movement began in 1930, there was an atmosphere of distrust in the communities. Because the Muslims' demand was not accepted, large numbers of Muslims did not join movements in a united struggle. Many Muslim leaders and intellectuals were also concerned about Muslims' status as a minority within India. They were concerned that the Hindu majority would annihilate their culture and identity.

So we now know that various struggles were started by different groups with different mindsets. Later, all of these groups began to split apart for various reasons, but how did the concept of unity and nationalism emerge in such a situation? Let's talk about it.

Limitations of the Movement

• Spread of nationalism:
  • when people begin to believe that they are all part of the same nation
  • when they discover some unity that binds them together.
• Sense of collective belonging:
  • partly through the experience of united struggles.
  • Nationalism captured people’s imagination: History and fiction, folklore and songs, popular prints and symbols, all played a part in the making of nationalism.

The nation symbolized

• Creation of an image that people can identify the nation with.
• 20^th century: with the growth of nationalism, identity of India visually related to the image of Bharat Mata.
  • The first image was created by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay.
• 1870s: Chattopadhyay wrote ‘Vande Mataram’ as a hymn to the motherland.
  • Later, it was included in his novel Anandamath & widely sung during Swadeshi movement in Bengal.
• Moved by the Swadeshi movement, Abanindranath Tagore painted his famous image of Bharat Mata.
  • Mata is portrayed as an ascetic figure; she is calm, composed, divine and spiritual.

• In subsequent years, the image of Bharat Mata acquired many different forms.

• • Devotion to this mother figure came to be seen as evidence of one’s nationalism.
• Ideas of nationalism also developed via a movement to revive Indian folklore.
• Late-19^th-century:
  • nationalists recorded folk tales sung by bards;
  • they toured villages to gather folk songs & legends.
  • Their belief: the tales gave a true picture of traditional culture that had been damaged by external forces.
• Essential: preserve folk tradition to discover one’s national identity and restore a sense of pride in one’s past.
• Bengal: Rabindranath Tagore began collecting ballads, nursery rhymes and myths, and led the movement for folk revival.
• Madras: Natesa Sastri published a 4-volume collection of Tamil folk tales, The Folklore of Southern India.
  • He believed that folklore was national literature; it was ‘the most trustworthy manifestation of people’s real thoughts and characteristics’.

• As the national movement developed, nationalist leaders became aware of symbols in unifying people.
• Swadeshi movement in Bengal: a tricolour flag (red, green and yellow) was designed. It had:
  • 8 lotuses for 8 provinces of British India,
  • a crescent moon, representing Hindus and Muslims.
• By 1921, Gandhiji had designed the Swaraj flag.
  • It was a tricolour (red, green and white)
  • had a spinning wheel in the centre, representing the Gandhian ideal of self-help.
  • Carrying the flag, holding it aloft, during marches became a symbol of defiance.
• Another means of creating nationalism: reinterpretation of history.
• End of the 19^th century: many Indians feeling that to instill a sense of pride in the nation, Indian history had to be thought about differently.
• The British saw Indians as backward and primitive, incapable of governing themselves. In response, Indians began looking into the past to discover India’s great achievements.
• They wrote about the glorious developments in ancient times when art and architecture, science and mathematics, religion and culture, law and philosophy, crafts and trade had flourished.
  • This glorious time, in their view, was followed by a history of decline, when India was colonised.
• These nationalist histories urged the readers to take pride in India’s great achievements in the past and struggle to change the miserable conditions of life under British rule.

These efforts to unify people were not without problems. When the past being glorified was Hindu, when the images celebrated were drawn from Hindu iconography, then people of other communities felt left out.

Conclusion

• A growing anger brought together various groups of Indians into a common struggle for freedom in the first half of the 20^th century.
• The Congress, under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, tried to channel people’s grievances into organised movements for independence.
  • The nationalists tried to forge a national unity.
  • Diverse groups & classes participated in these movements with varied aspirations & expectations.
  • Wide-ranging grievances; freedom from colonial rule meant different things to different people.
• The Congress continuously attempted to resolve differences, and ensure that the demands of one group did not alienate another.
  • Led to unity within the movement often breaking down.
• The high points of Congress activity and nationalist unity were followed by phases of disunity and inner conflict between groups.
• In other words, what was emerging was a nation with many voices wanting freedom from colonial rule.

4. The Sense of Collective Belonging

Nationalism, as we know, spreads when people feel a sense of commonality with one another. This occurs when they believe they are from the same nation. However, the question of how people from different communities with different beliefs, languages, and cultures will come together to make the concept of nation a reality arises.

This sense of collective belonging arose for a variety of reasons, including their experience of united struggle or the variety of cultural processes through which nationalism captured people's imagination. History and fiction, folklore and folkdance, popular prints and symbols all play an important role in the formation of nationalism.

A nation's identity is typically represented by a figure or image. This aids in the creation of an image to which people can relate. As nationalism grew in our country in the twentieth century, the identity of Indians came to be visualised as Bharat Mata. To begin with, the image was created by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay in his poem 'Vande Matram.' In 1870, he wrote this poem as a hymn for his motherland. This poem was later included in his novel Anandmath and was widely sung during Bengal's Swadeshi movement. Abanindranath Tagore later painted an image of Bharat Mata. He portrayed her as an ascetic. She appears calm, divine, and spiritual.

The idea of nationalism developed not only through female depictions of India, but also through Indian folklore. Many nationalists began collecting various folk songs, folktales, and legends that were sung in villages across India in the late nineteenth century. They did this to preserve their folk tradition, which was the original culture of India that had been harmed by outsiders. Several prominent figures saw it as an urgent need to preserve folklore in order to restore pride in one's past. Rabindranath Tagore began collecting ballads, nursery rhymes, and myths in Bengal, and Natesa Sastri published the Folklore of Southern India, a massive four-volume collection of Tamil folk tales, in Madras. Both agreed that folklore is a true representation of the people's true thoughts and characteristics.

As the national movement progressed, various nationalist leaders chose symbols or icons to inculcate a sense of nationalism and unity among Indians. During the Swadeshi movement in Bengal, for example, a tricolour flag (red, green, and yellow) was designed. The flag featured eight lotuses, one for each of British India's eight provinces. It also featured a crescent moon to represent Hindus and Muslims. Gandhiji, too, designed a swaraj flag. His flag was also tricolour, with red, green, and white stripes and a spinning wheel in the centre. The spinning wheel symbolised Gandhi's ideal of self-help. Carrying a flag during a protest or march during those days symbolised resistance to British rule.

Another idea used to inculcate a sense of nationalism was our own past, or history. Many Indians began to believe that in order to instil a sense of pride in the nation, Indian history needed to be viewed differently. Because Britishers saw Indians as backward and incompetent to govern themselves, various writers began writing about the glorious Indian past. They wrote about historical developments in various fields such as architecture, science and mathematics, religion and culture, law and philosophy, crafts and trade, and so on. They described how our glorious past degraded with the arrival of colonial rule in our country.

The various efforts to bring people together were also linked to the controversies. This was due to the fact that when the past was glorified, it was associated with Hinduism, and the images were also drawn from Hindu iconography. As a result, people from other communities felt excluded.

Conclusion

So, in the end, we can say that growing resentment of the colonial government's oppressive rule was the primary motivator that brought all of India together to launch a common struggle for freedom in the first half of the twentieth century. The Congress, led by Mahatma Gandhi, attempted to channel people's problems into organised movements for independence. He attempted to forge national unity among Indians with the help of these movements, but as we have seen in the chapter, various groups joined the struggle with their own perceptions and aspirations, resulting in a situation of differences between these groups.Congress made several attempts to keep these groups together, but there were times when the differences became so terrific that Congress found it difficult to keep these groups together. So, in this case, we can say that it was a time when a new nation was emerging, with many people demanding independence from colonial rule.

The Pre-modern World

• Ancient times: travelers, traders, priests and pilgrims traveled for knowledge, opportunity and spiritual fulfillment, or to escape persecution.
  • carried goods, money, values, skills, ideas, inventions, and even germs and diseases.
• 3000 BCE: an active coastal trade linked the Indus valley civilizations with present-day West Asia.
• Cowries (seashells, then used as a form of currency) from the Maldives found in China and East Africa.
• The long-distance spread of disease-carrying germs can be traced since the 7^th century.
  • Y the 13^th century it had become an unmistakable link.

Silk Routes Link the World​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

• Before all this, Buddhism emerged from eastern India and spread in several directions through intersecting points on the silk routes.

Food Travels: Spaghetti and Potato

• Food: a contributor of long-distance cultural exchanges.
• Traders and travellers introduced new crops to the lands they travelled.
• Prepared foodstuff in distant parts of the world could share common origins.
• Spaghetti and noodles. Theories:
  • Noodles travelled west from China to become spaghetti.
  • Or Arab traders took pasta to fifth-century Sicily, an island now in Italy.
• Similar foods were also known in India and Japan.
• The truth about their origins may never be known.
• Many of the common foods were not known until about 5 centuries ago, such as:
  • potatoes,
  • soya,
  • groundnuts,
  • maize,
  • tomatoes,
  • chilies,
  • sweet potatoes, etc.
• These foods were introduced in Europe and Asia after Christopher Columbus accidentally discovered the vast continent later known as the Americas.
  • ‘America’ refers to North America, South America and the Caribbean.
• Many of our common foods came from America’s original inhabitants – the American Indians.
• Sometimes the new were lifegiving.
  • Europe: poor began to eat better and live longer with the introduction of the potato.
  • Ireland: poorest peasants became so dependent on potatoes that when disease destroyed the potato crop in the mid-1840s, hundreds of thousands died of starvation.

Chapter-3

The Making of a Global World‌

1. The Pre-modern World

Travelers, merchants, priests, and pilgrims used to travel long distances in search of knowledge, opportunity, and spiritual fulfilment. These people used to transport goods, money, values, skills, ideas, inventions, and, sometimes diseases. Not only that, but they brought different foods and cultural habits with them to different places, resulting in cultural diversity.

The movement of goods and people can be traced back to 3000 B.C., when the Indus Valley civilization established coastal trade links with modern-day West Asia. Cowries or seashells were the currency used to conduct trade activities at the time. Trade links exist between the Maldives and China, as well as between the Maldives and East Africa. Disease spread can even be traced back to the seventh century. So we now know that people, their skills, diseases, and many other things were moved from one location to another for various reasons, resulting in the establishment of various trade links. Now we'll talk about the silk routes that connected the world.

Silk Routes Link the World

The silk routes are an excellent example of pre-modern trade and cultural connections between different parts of the world. Historians have discovered numerous silk routes both on land and at sea. These routes connected vast regions of Asia, Europe, and Northern Africa. These routes are thought to have existed before the Christian era and flourished until the fifteenth century. Not only silk, but also Chinese pottery, followed the same route. Similarly, textiles and spices from India and Southeast Asia were distributed to various parts of the world. In exchange, valuable metals such as gold and silver shifted from Europe to Asia.

Cultural exchange occurred in the same way that trade did. Various Christian, Muslim, and Buddhist preachers travelled to various parts of Asia and spread their message. As trade and culture moved from one place to another, so did food.

Food Travels: Spaghetti and Potato

Food is another good example of cultural exchange. New crops were introduced to various places by traders and travellers. The origins of various food items from around the world can sometimes be traced back to a common ancestor. As an example, consider spaghetti and noodles. The noodles, according to popular belief, travelled from China to the west and became spaghetti. Some even claim that the Arabs brought pasta to Sicily (an Italian island).

Not only specific foods, but also common foods such as potatoes, soya, groundnuts, maize, tomatoes, chilies, and sweet potatoes were introduced in Europe and Asia after Christopher Columbus' discovery. These foods were only introduced to Europe and Asia after Christopher Columbus accidentally discovered the vast continent that would later be known as the Americas. As a result, we can say that the majority of our common foods originated with America's original inhabitants, the American Indians.

Because potatoes are inexpensive, they have become a staple food for Europe's poor. Ireland's poorest peasants became so reliant on them that when the crop failed in the mid-1840s, the majority of them died. Diseases were also spread as a result of the crisscrossing of various cultures and people. As a result, we can say that the premodern world witnessed the transfer of various elements of human society, which also resulted in conquests and the flourishing of trades.

Conquest, Disease and Trades

During the sixteenth century, European sailors discovered a sea route to Asia and later crossed the western ocean to reach America. Prior to this, the Indian Ocean was a well-known trading centre for many centuries. The Indian subcontinent was a hub for the exchange of goods, people, knowledge, customs, and so on. Later, the arrival of Europeans resulted in a flow of all of these things towards Europe. For millions of years, America was unknown to the rest of the world. Its discovery in the sixteenth century triggered the start of trade in its minerals and crops.

Valuable metals, particularly silver from mines in modern-day Peru and Mexico, increased Europe's wealth, allowing it to finance its trade with Asia. Rumors and imaginations spread as these expeditions gained popularity in order to explore more trade and wealth centres. As a result, many expeditions set out in the seventeenth century in search of El Dorado, the fabled city of gold.

Soon after, various powers, such as the Portuguese and the Spanish, began colonising America in order to expand their trade and wealth. However, conquering was not always accomplished through the use of arms and ammunition, but also through the spread of disease. Yes, in the context of Spanish conquerors who brought smallpox germs with them to America. The indigenous peoples were not immune to deadly diseases. This resulted in the deaths of a large number of Native Americans and the establishment of Spanish control over the area.

Poverty and hunger were common problems in Europe until the nineteenth century. Not only that, but cities became overcrowded, and deadly diseases spread. Religious conflicts arose, and people were persecuted. Several people emigrated from Europe to America. During the eighteenth century, African slaves were captured and sold into European markets to work on sugar and cotton plantations.

When it comes to China and India in the eighteenth century, both were the richest countries in the world. They were the leading countries in Asian trade, but it is also said that during the fifteenth century, China restricted its overseas trade, causing its importance in the trade world to decline. America gradually gained a significant position in the trade market, causing the centre of global trade to shift westward. Europe quickly rose to become the global trade hub. So, now that we've learned about the pre-modern era when trades began across continents, let's look at what new changes occurred in the nineteenth century.

TOWARDS THE 19^TH CENTUARY

• 16^th century: European sailors found a sea route to Asia & crossed the western ocean to America.
• The Indian Ocean: route for bustling trade, with goods, people, knowledge, customs, etc.
  • The Indian subcontinent: central to these flows and a crucial point in their networks.
  • The entry of the Europeans: expanded some of these flows towards Europe.
• America: previously isolated from regular contact with the rest of the world for millions of years.
  • from 16^th century: its vast lands and crops and minerals began to transform trade and lives.
• Precious metals, particularly silver, from mines located in present-day Peru and Mexico also enhanced Europe’s wealth and financed its trade with Asia.
• Legends spread in 17^th-century Europe about South America’s fabled wealth.
  • Expeditions set off in search of El Dorado, the fabled city of gold.
• mid-16^th century: The Portuguese and Spanish conquest and colonisation of America was under way.
• European conquest of Spain:

• advantage of superior firepower.
• most powerful weapon of the conquerors: germs like smallpox that they carried on their person.
• Because of their long isolation, America’s original inhabitants had no immunity against these diseases that came from Europe.
• Smallpox: a deadly killer.
• Once introduced, it spread deep into the continent, ahead even of any Europeans reaching there.
• It killed and decimated whole communities, paving the way for conquest.
• Diseases could not be turned against the conquerors, since they were mostly immune.
• Until the 19^th century: poverty and hunger common in Europe.
  • Cities were crowded and deadly diseases were widespread.
  • Religious conflicts common, religious dissenters persecuted.
• Thousands therefore fled Europe for America.
• By 18^th century: plantations, worked by African slaves, were growing cotton & sugar for European markets.
• 18^th century: China and India were among the world’s richest countries.
  • also pre-eminent in Asian trade.
• From the 15^th century, China is said to have restricted overseas contacts and retreated into isolation.
• China’s reduced role and rising importance of the Americas moved the centre of world trade westwards.
  • Europe emerged as the centre of world trade.

A prospective buyer carefully inspecting slaves lined up before the auction. You can see two children along with four women and seven men in top hats and suit waiting to be sold. To attract buyers, slaves were often dressed in their best clothes.

• 19^th century: Economic, political, social, cultural and technological factors interacted in complex ways to transform societies and reshape external relations.
• Economists identify three types of movement or ‘flows’ within international economic exchanges:
  1. The flow of trade, which in the 19^th century referred largely to trade in goods (eg, cloth or wheat).
  2. The flow of labour: the migration of people in search of employment.
  3. The movement of capital for short-term or long-term investments over long distances.
• All three flows were closely interwoven and affected peoples’ lives deeply than ever before.
• The interconnections could sometimes be broken.
  • for example, labour migration was often more restricted than goods or capital flows.

COLONIALISM IN THE 19^TH CENTUARY

food and Economy

• There were changes in pattern of food production and consumption in industrial Europe.
• Previously, countries liked to be self-sufficient in food.
• 19^th-century Britain: self-sufficiency in food meant lower living standards and social conflict.
  • Population growth from the late 18^th century: increased demand for food grains.
• Urban centres expanded & industry grew: demand for agricultural goods rose, pushing up food grain prices.
• Corn Laws : Under pressure from landed groups, the government restricted the import of corn.
  • Unhappy with high food prices, industrialists & urban dwellers forced abolition of the Corn Laws.
• Corn Laws scrapped: food import into Britain cheaper than producing it within the country.
• British agriculture was unable to compete with imports.
  • Vast areas of land were left uncultivated,
  • thousands of men and women were thrown out of work.
  • They flocked to the cities or migrated overseas.
• As food prices fell, consumption in Britain rose.
• From mid-19^th century, faster industrial growth in Britain led to higher incomes, and so, more food imports.
  • Eastern Europe, Russia, America and Australia: lands cleared and food production expanded to meet the British demand.
• Railways were needed to link the agricultural regions to the ports.
  • New harbours had to be built and old ones expanded to ship the new cargoes.
• People had to settle on the lands to bring them under cultivation.
  • homes and settlements had to be built.
• All these activities in turn required capital and labour.
  • Capital flowed from financial centres such as London.
• More labour demand in places where labour was in short supply:
  • America and Australia led to more migration.
  • Nearly 50 million people emigrated from Europe to America and Australia.
• All over the world: some 150 million estimated migrations in search of a better future.

• 1890: a global agricultural economy had taken shape.
  • Accompanied by complex changes in:
    • labour movement patterns,
    • capital flows,
    • ecologies,
    • technology.
• Food was transported by specially built railway and ships which were manned by low-paid workers from southern Europe, Asia, Africa and the Caribbean.
• West Punjab: British Indian government built a network of irrigation canals to transform semi-desert wastes into fertile agricultural lands that could grow wheat and cotton for export.
• The Canal Colonies: areas irrigated by the new canals.
  • Established using peasants from other parts of Punjab.
• The infrastructure applicable for cotton, rubber, etc too. Items of British requirement.
• 1820-1914: rapid regional specialisation in the production of commodities developed.
  • world trade is estimated to have multiplied 25 to 40 times.
• Nearly 60% of this trade comprised ‘primary products’ – that is, agricultural products such as wheat and cotton, and minerals such as coal.

Role of Technology

• Technological advances: often the result of larger social, political and economic factors.
• Colonisation: stimulated new investments and improvements in transport-
  • faster railways,
  • lighter wagons,
  • larger ships
    • helped move food more cheaply and quickly from faraway farms to final markets.

The trade in meat

• Till 1870s: animals shipped live from America to Europe, slaughtered when they arrived there.
  • Live animals took up a lot of ship space.
  • Many also died in voyage, fell ill, lost weight, or became unfit to eat.
• Meat: an expensive luxury beyond the reach of the European poor.
  • High prices kept demand and production down.
• Development of a new technology: refrigerated ships.
  • enabled the transport of perishable foods over long distances.
• Animals slaughtered at the starting point (America, Australia, New Zealand), then transported to Europe as frozen meat.
• This reduced shipping costs and lowered meat prices.
• Many could now add meat (and butter and eggs) to their diet, other than the potatoes and bread.
• Better living conditions promoted social peace within the country and support for imperialism abroad.

Cattle were traded at fairs, brought by farmers for sale. One of the oldest livestock markets in London was at Smithfield. In the mid-19^th century a huge poultry and meat market was established near the railway line connecting Smithfield to all the meat-supplying centres of the country.

Late nineteenth-century Colonialism

• Trade flourished and markets expanded in the late 19^th century.
•  Darker side to this process:
  • In parts of the world, closer relationship with world economy meant loss of freedom & livelihoods.
  • Late 19^th-century European conquests produced many painful economic, social and ecological changes through which the colonised societies were brought into the world economy.

• Map of Africa: some countries’ borders run straight, as if drawn using a ruler.
  • This was almost how rival European powers in Africa drew up the borders demarcating their respective territories.
  • In 1885, the big European powers met in Berlin to complete the carving up of Africa between them.
• Britain and France made vast additions to their overseas territories.
  • Belgium and Germany became new colonial powers.
  • The US became a colonial power in late 1890s by taking over some colonies earlier held by Spain.

GLOBAL SYSTEM

Rinderpest- a fast-spreading disease of cattle plague

Rinderpest, or the Cattle Plague

• 1890s, Africa: rinderpest has a terrifying impact on people’s livelihoods and the local economy.
• A case of widespread European imperial impact on colonised societies.
  • Even a cattle disease reshaped lives of thousands of people & their relations with rest of the world.
• Historically, Africa: abundant land and a relatively small population.
  • For centuries, land and livestock sustained African livelihoods.
  • People rarely worked for a wage.
• Late 19^th-century Africa: few consumer goods that wages could buy.
• Europeans were attracted to Africa due to its vast resources of land and minerals.
• They came to Africa to establish plantations & mines to produce crops & minerals for export to Europe.
  • Unexpected problem: a shortage of labour willing to work for wages.
• Employers used many methods to recruit and retain labour:
  • Heavy taxes imposed: could be paid only by working for wages on plantations and mines.
  • Inheritance laws changed: only one member of a family allowed to inherit land.
    • The result: peasants displaced from land, they were pushed into the labour market.
• Mineworkers: confined in compounds and not allowed to move about freely.
• Late 1880s, Africa: Rinderpest arrived.
• It was carried by infected cattle imported from British Asia to feed Italian soldiers invading Eritrea, East Africa.
  • Entered Africa in the east.
  • It moved west ‘like forest fire’, reaching Africa’s Atlantic coast in 1892.
  • It reached the Cape (Africa’s southernmost tip) five years later.
  • Rinderpest killed 90% of the cattle.
• The loss of cattle destroyed African livelihoods.
• Planters, mine owners and colonial governments monopolised what scarce cattle resources remained, to strengthen their power and to force Africans into the labour market.
• Control over the scarce resource of cattle enabled European colonisers to conquer and subdue Africa.

Similar stories can be told about the impact of Western conquest on other parts of the 19^th-century world.

Crossing the Wilge river was the quickest method of transport to the gold fields of Transvaal. After the discovery of gold in Witwatersrand, Europeans rushed to the region despite their fear of disease and death, and the difficulties of the journey. By the 1890s, South Africa contributed over 20% of the world gold production.

Indentured Labour Migration from India

• Indentured labour migration from India: illustration of the two-sided nature of the 19^th-century.

• Hundreds of thousands of Indian and Chinese labourers went to work on plantations, in mines, and in road and railway construction projects around the world.
• Most Indian indentured workers came from the present-day regions of eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, central India and the dry districts of Tamil Nadu.
• Mid-19^th century: these regions experienced many changes:
  • cottage industries declined,
  • land rents rose,
  • lands were cleared for mines and plantations.

• All this affected the lives of the poor: they failed to pay their rents, became deeply indebted and were forced to migrate in search of work.
• The main destinations of Indian indentured migrants:
  • the Caribbean islands (mainly Trinidad, Guyana and Surinam),
  • Mauritius,
  • Fiji,
  • Closer home, Tamil migrants went to Ceylon and Malaya.
• Indentured workers also recruited for tea plantations in Assam.
• Recruitment: done by agents engaged by employers and paid a small commission.
• Agreement of migrants: working in hope of escaping poverty or oppression in their home villages.
• Agents also tempted the prospective migrants by providing false information about:
  • final destinations,
  • modes of travel,
  • the nature of the work,
  • living and working conditions.

• Often migrants were not even told that they would go on a long sea travel.
  • Sometimes agents even forcibly abducted less willing migrants.
• Indenture has been described as a ‘new system of slavery’.
• On arrival at the plantations, living and working conditions were harsh, with few legal rights.
• Workers discovered their own ways of surviving:
  • Many of them escaped into the wilds, though if caught they faced severe punishment.
  • Others developed new forms of self-expression, blending different cultural forms.
• These forms of cultural fusion are part of the making of the global world, where things from different places get mixed, lose their original characteristics and become something entirely new.

• End of the contract:
  • Most indentured workers stayed on,
  • Some returned to their new homes after a while in India.
• Consequently, there are large communities of people of Indian descent in these countries.

• 1900s: India’s nationalist leaders opposed the system of indentured labour migration as abusive and cruel.
  • It was abolished in 1921.
• For a number of decades afterwards, descendants of Indian indentured workers, often thought of as ‘coolies’, remained an uneasy minority in the Caribbean islands.
  • Some of Naipaul’s early novels capture their sense of loss and alienation.

Indian Entrepreneurs Abroad

• Growing food and other crops for the world market required capital.
  • Large plantations could borrow it from banks and markets.
• Capital for small peasants: Indian banker.
• Shikaripuri Shroffs and Nattukottai Chettiars were amongst the many groups of bankers and traders who financed export agriculture in Central and Southeast Asia.
  • They used either their own funds or those borrowed from European banks.
• They had a sophisticated system to transfer money over large distances.
  • They developed indigenous forms of corporate organisation.
• Indian traders and moneylenders followed European colonisers into Africa.
• Hyderabadi Sindhi traders ventured beyond European colonies.
  • From the 1860s they established flourishing emporia at busy ports worldwide.
  • They sold local and imported curios to tourists whose numbers were beginning to swell.

Indian Trade, Colonialism and the Global System

• Fine cottons produced in India were exported to Europe.
• Industrialisation: British cotton manufacture began to expand.
  • Industrialists pressurised government to restrict cotton imports and protect local industries.
• Tariffs were imposed on cloth imports into Britain.
  • The inflow of fine Indian cotton began to decline.
• Early 19^th century: British manufacturers also began to seek overseas markets for their cloth.

• Indian textiles faced stiff competition in other international markets.
• Exports from India: steady decline of the share of cotton textiles- from 30% around 1800 to 15% by 1815.
  • 1870s: it had dropped to below 3%.
• While exports of manufactures declined rapidly, export of raw materials increased equally fast.
• 1812 and 1871: share of raw cotton exports rose from 5% to 35%.
  • Indigo used for dyeing cloth: another important export for many decades.
• 1820s: Opium shipments to China grew rapidly to become (for a while) India’s single largest export.

• Britain grew opium in India and exported it to China and.
  • With the money earned from this sale, it financed its tea and other imports from China.
• Over the 19^th century, British manufactures flooded the Indian market.
  • Food grain & raw material exports from India to Britain and the rest of the world increased.
  • The value of British exports to India was much higher than the value of British imports from India.
• Britain had a ‘trade surplus’ with India.
  • They used it to balance its trade deficits with other countries, i.e., with countries from which Britain was importing more than it was selling to.
• Multilateral settlement system: a country’s deficit with another settled by its surplus with a third country.
• By helping Britain balance its deficits, India played a crucial role in the late-19^th-century world economy.
• Britain’s trade surplus in India also helped pay the so-called ‘home charges’ that included:
  • private remittances home by British officials and traders,
  • interest payments on India’s external debt,
  • pensions of British officials in India.

2. The Nineteenth Century (1815-1914)

Various economic, political, social, and cultural factors influenced the evolution of societies and their external relations during the nineteenth century. Three types of flow between international economies were observed in the nineteenth century. They were as follows:

• Goods trading
• Labor migration, or the movement of people looking for work.
• Capital migration, or the movement of capital for short and long-term investments over long distances.

These three flows were interconnected in a way that had a greater impact on people's lives than before. These interconnections were occasionally disrupted; for example, labour migration was generally limited in comparison to capital flows. These flows helped to shape the global economy. But how did this happen? Let's talk about it.

A World Economy Takes Shape

First and foremost, let's talk about food. Food grain demand increased in Britain during the eighteenth century. Because of Britain's large population, this was the case. As cities grew and the industrial sector expanded, the demand for food grains increased, as did the price of food grains. Due to pressure from various landed groups, the British government imposed import restrictions on goods. These laws became known as the Corn Laws. This resulted in an increase in food prices. Because of this, industrialists and city people forced the government to repeal the Corn Laws.

As a result, the Corn Laws were repealed by the British government. This resulted in the importation of cheap corn into the country, creating stiff competition for corn growers. Soon after, it was discovered that the lands had been left uncultivated because growing corn in Britain was no longer a profitable business. Laborers were laid off. As a result, these people were forced to relocate to cities or to different countries in search of work.

Later, food prices fell, and consumption increased in the United Kingdom. Rapid industrial growth increased Britain's income beginning in the mid-nineteenth century. As a result, Britain can now import more food.

Food was being grown all over the world, including in Eastern Europe, Russia, America, and Australia, with the goal of exporting it to the United Kingdom.

Not only were the lands cleared, but railway lines and new harbours were built to connect the agricultural regions. People soon had to settle on lands in order to cultivate them. As a result, the need for building houses and settlements arose. This necessitated a significant amount of funding and labour. This resulted in a flow of capital from London and an increase in labour supply in America and Austraila.

In the nineteenth century, such a situation resulted in the migration of approximately 50 million people from Europe to America and Australia. It is estimated that approximately 150 million people around the world have left their homes in search of a better future. As a result, by 1890, a global agricultural economy had emerged. It was accompanied by various patterns of labour movement, capital flows, ecologies, and technology. As a result, food no longer came from a nearby village or town, but from a great distance away. Agricultural workers began to work on the land, and all agricultural regions were linked by railways, ports, and so on. Ships transporting food grains were generally manned by low-wage workers from southern Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean.

All of these changes were also observed, but only on a smaller scale, in the west Punjab. The canal system was built by the British government to convert a semi-desert area into fertile land. It was done in order to grow cotton and wheat for export. Cotton and rubber were also grown for use by Britain, in addition to food. The production of these items grew rapidly. Between 1820 and 1914, global trade was estimated to have multiplied by a factor of 25 to 40. Around 60% of trade was made up of primary products, such as wheat and cotton, as well as minerals such as coal. We now understand the role of agricultural products in shaping the global economy. Let us discuss the role of technology in shaping the world economy that we see today.

Role of Technology

Technology is critical to the global economy's expansion. The invention of railways, steamships, and the telegraph played a significant role in transforming the world in the nineteenth century. Technology progressed as a result of various social, political, and economic factors. For example, the colonisation of various European powers increased the demand for improved transportation, such as faster railways, larger ships, and so on, as this would allow for the quick and inexpensive movement of agricultural products to distant places.

One of the best examples of this interconnected process is the meat trade. Previously, the animals were shipped from America to Europe alive. For the most part, this was not a profitable venture for the following reasons:

• Previously, livestock took up more space.
• The majority of them died, became ill, or were infected with diseases, rendering them unfit for consumption.
• As a result, the price of meat has risen.

Meat consumption by the poor was nearly impossible during those times. With the introduction of ships equipped with refrigerators, this problem was quickly solved. It had the following advantages.

• Because the meat could be shipped in large quantities, transportation costs could be reduced.
• It was now possible to handle the perishable meat for a longer period of time.
• The price of meat fell, allowing the poor to consume meat as part of their daily diet.

So, we can say that the nineteenth century saw the exchange of goods, capital, and labour, and that all of these exchanges were facilitated by technological advancements. However, as the world shrank as a result of improved transportation, imperialism grew during this period. Various European powers were establishing colonies in various countries to serve their businesses in their home countries. Let's see how this goes.

Late nineteenth–century Colonialism

Trade flourished and markets expanded during the nineteenth century. This period, however, is remembered not only for the expansion of trade and economic prosperity, but also for the darker side of this process. In many parts of the world, the growth and expansion of trade has resulted in some negative consequences, such as the loss of freedoms and livelihoods. This was due to the fact that during this century, Europeans gained control of various territories around the world and established colonies.

After gaining control of Africa, the European powers delineated their respective territories in 1885. They met in Berlin to complete the process of dividing Africa between them.In the late nineteenth century, Britain and France were the ones who had established control over vast overseas territories. As the new colonial powers, Belgium and Germany rose to prominence. Later, in 1890, the United States became a colonial power by gaining control of the territories held by Spain. The European powers' colonisation had a negative impact on the lives of the people who lived in these colonies. So, how did their lives change? Let's look into this.

Rinderpest or the Cattle Plague

As previously stated, colonial rule had an impact on the lives of the various people who lived in these colonies. But the question is, how does this happen, and what is this Rinderpest we're talking about? Rinderpest was a cattle disease that spread in Africa in the 1890s, having a significant impact on the lives and livelihoods of Africans. To understand this, we must first understand Africa prior to colonisation. Historically, Africa had vast swaths of land and a small population. For centuries, the African people were reliant on agriculture and livestock. None of them had ever worked for wages because their needs were met by the land and livestock. As a result, when Europeans arrived in Africa, they were unable to find labourers because no one was willing to work for wages.

So, in order to attract labourers, they began using coercive methods such as raising taxes that could only be paid if Africans worked for wages. Later, land ownership rights were restricted to only one member, forcing other members into the labour market. Mineworkers were not allowed to move freely and were kept confined in the compounds. While all of this was going on, the cattle plague, also known as the Rinderpest, arrived in Africa in the 1880s. It arrived with the infected cattle imported from British Asia to feed the Italian troops invading Eritrea in East Africa. In 1892, the Rinderpest disease quickly spread from east to west and then to the Atlantic coast. Five years later, it arrived at the Cape. Rinderpest is thought to have killed 90 percent of the cattle.

Because the loss of cattle destroyed Africans' livelihoods, there was an increase in the supply of wage labourers for planters, mine owners, and colonial governments, who could now monopolise the scarce cattle resource to strengthen their power. Similar incidents occurred in other parts of the world conquered by Western countries.

Indentured Labor Migration from India

The storey of indentured or bonded labour is also a good example of the two-sided nature of the nineteenth-century world. On the one hand, it depicts rapidly growing economies, while on the other, it depicts widespread misery. Some became wealthier, while others became poorer; there was technological advancement in some areas and new forms of coercion in others. During the nineteenth century, a large number of Indian and Chinese labourers travelled around the world to work on plantations, mines, rail and road construction projects, and so on. The Indian indentured labourers were hired under contracts that required them to return to India after five years on the employers' plantation.

The majority of these workers came from areas such as east Uttar Pradesh, Central India, Bihar, and Tamil Nadu's dry districts. People in these areas were forced to work as indentured slaves for a variety of reasons, including:

• Cottage industries are on the decline.
• Land rents are increasing.
• The majority of the land was cleared for mines and plantations.

All of the aforementioned factors had such a negative impact on people's lives that they became deeply indebted and were forced to leave their homes in search of work. The Caribbean islands of Trinidad, Guyana, and Surinam, as well as Mauritius and Fiji, were popular destinations for Indian indentured migrants. Tamil migrants typically chose nearby destinations such as Ceylon and Malaya. They were also occasionally recruited for tea plantations in Assam.

Generally, the recruitment was handled by a variety of agents who were paid a commission for their efforts. These agents attempted to entice the workers by showing them fictitious dreams of good working conditions and high pay. As a result, the workers saw these jobs as a way out of poverty and misery. However, they were generally unaware of the harsh working conditions and low wages in these workplaces. In some cases, these agents abducted workers and forced them to work.

Because life in these places was harsh and difficult, the workers developed their own methods of survival. Some of them managed to flee these places. Those who were caught received harsh punishment. Others chose to become a part of the new culture that had emerged in these places. For example, in Trinidad, the annual Muharram procession began to attract people of all races and religions. Similarly, Rastafarianism, a protest religion, is said to reflect cultural ties with Indian migrants to the Caribbean. Not only that, but Trinidad and Guyana's popular chutney music is another creative contemporary expression of the post-indenture experience.

Because of this mingling of cultures, indentured workers stayed in these new places even after their contracts expired. Some of the other workers did return to India, but only for a short time before departing for their new homes. That is why we continue to find people of Indian origin living in these areas. Despite the fact that they had begun to associate with the new culture, they were still aware that their lives were fraught with difficulties. As a result, in order to protect the rights of such workers, Indian nationalist leaders began to criticise the indentured labour migration system as abusive and cruel.

So far, we know that colonisation resulted in the introduction of the concept of indentured labour, which forced workers to relocate to distant places in search of work. People moved not only because of indentured contracts, but also because they wanted to invest in the flourishing trade markets in order to make a fortune. So, who exactly were they? They were known as the Indian Entrepreneurs.

Indian Entrepreneurs Abroad

As previously stated, various countries were growing food and crops for export, but this required capital. Banks and markets could lend to large plantations, but what about the poor peasants?

These peasants previously borrowed money from Indian bankers. Shikaripuri Shroffs and Nattukottai Chettiars were important bankers or money lenders who provided funds for Central and Southeast Asian export agriculture. They provided funds that were either their own or borrowed from European banks. They developed indigenous forms of corporate organisation and had a sophisticated system for transferring money over long distances. Indian traders accompanied European colonisers into Africa. Hyderabadi Sindhi traders outpaced European colonies. With the development of safe and comfortable passenger vessels, Indian traders were able to set up shop in busy ports around the world, selling local and imported goods to tourists and others.

So we now know about colonialism, the flourishing of world trade under it, the hardships endured by the people, and how Indian traders and moneylenders began to benefit from it. Following that, we will discuss the Indian trade in relation to colonialism and global trade.

Indian Trade, Colonialism and the Global System

Historically, fine Indian cotton was in high demand in Europe, but as technology and industries advanced, British cotton production began to expand. Because British industrialists were facing stiff competition from Indian cotton, the government was forced to impose restrictions on cotton imports into the country. This resulted in a decrease in Indian cotton exports.

Beginning in the early nineteenth century, British traders began exporting their goods to various countries. As there were no taxes for British producers, this made it difficult for Indian textiles or cotton producers to compete. This resulted in a decrease in the Indian textile's trade share. For example, in 1800, Indian cotton had a 30 percent share of the trade market, but by 1815, it had dropped to 15 percent. By the 1870s, this proportion had fallen below 3%.

When India's export of finished goods was declining, it also saw an increase in raw material exports. As a result, the share of raw cotton exports increased from 5% to 35% between 1812 and 1871. Another such product that was exported for many decades was indigo, which was used to dye cloth. In 1820, opium exports to China increased dramatically. In order to earn money, Britain grows opium in India and exports it to China. This money was then used to buy tea and other Chinese goods.

The British were importing products from India at a low cost and exporting finished products at a high cost in the nineteenth century, which was a new observation. Thus, Britain had a trade surplus, which means that its income exceeded its expenses. As a result, Britain began to use this surplus to offset its trade deficit with other countries. Britain's trade surplus also aided in the repayment of other expenses such as remittances, debts, and pensions. So, we now understand how global trade evolved and took on a new form. It took on a new shape as a result of its association with forced labour and colonialization. However, this quickly led to a war between various economies, as everyone now wants to earn more and have a larger share of global trade. Such conflicts led to World War I. So, how does it affect the entire world? Let's check this.

The Inter-war Economy: Production and Consumption

Wartime Transformations

• World War I (1914-18): mainly fought in Europe. Impact felt around the world.
• World experienced widespread economic and political instability.
• World War I: fought between two power blocs:
  • Allies– Britain, France and Russia (later joined by the US);
  • Central Powers– Germany, Austria-Hungary and Ottoman Turkey.
• War starts: August 1914.
  • Many governments thought it would be over by Christmas.
  • It lasted more than four years.
• The fighting harnessed the powers of modern industry to inflict greatest destruction on their enemies.
  • This was thus the first modern industrial war.

Workers in a munition factory during the First World War.
Production of armaments increased rapidly to meet war demands.

• Workers in a munition factory during the First World War.
  Production of armaments increased rapidly to meet war demands.

  It saw the use of:
  • machine guns,
  • tanks,
  • aircraft,
  • chemical weapons, etc. on a massive scale.
• Millions of soldiers recruited from around the world and moved to the frontlines on large ships and trains.
• Death: 9 million. Destruction: 20 million injured.
  • These numbers unthinkable without use of industrial arms.
• Most of the killed and maimed were men of working age.
  • These reduced the able-bodied workforce in Europe.
• With fewer numbers within the family, household incomes declined after the war.

• During the war, industries were restructured to produce war-related goods.
  • Societies reorganised for war: men went to battle, women undertook jobs that previously men did.
• The war led to the snapping of economic links between some of the world’s largest economic powers.
• Britain borrowed large sums of money from US banks as well as the US public.
  • The war transformed the US from being an international debtor to an international creditor.
• At the war’s end, the US and its citizens owned more overseas assets than foreign governments and citizens owned in the US.

Post-war Recovery

Britain

• Post-war economic recovery: difficult.
• Britain in the pre-war period: the world’s leading economy.
• While Britain was preoccupied with war: industries developed in India and Japan.
• Britain after the war, found it difficult to:
  • recapture its dominance in the Indian market,
  •  compete with Japan internationally.
• To finance war expenditures Britain had borrowed from the US.
  • End of the war: Britain burdened with huge external debts.
• The war had led to an economic boom: a large increase in demand, production and employment.
  • War boom ended: production contracted and unemployment increased.
• Government reduced war expenditures.
  • Led to huge job losses: In 1921, 1 in every 5 British workers was out of work.

Agricultural economies: Wheat producers

• Before the war, eastern Europe: major supplier of wheat in the world market.
• Supply disrupted during the war: wheat production in Canada, America and Australia expanded.
• War over: production in eastern Europe revived and led to spike in wheat output.
  • Grain prices fell,
  • rural incomes declined,
  • farmers fell deeper into debt.

Rise of Mass Production and Consumption

• After a brief economic trouble post-war, the US economy resumed its strong growth in the early 1920s.
• 1920s, Important feature of the US economy: mass production.
• The move towards mass production: late 19^th century.
  • 1920s: it became a characteristic feature of industrial production.

Car manufacturer Henry Ford: well-known pioneer of mass production

• Result: Ford’s cars came off the assembly line at 3-minute intervals, a much faster speed.
  • The T-Model Ford was the world’s first mass-produced car.
• Workers at Ford factory: unable to cope with stress of working on assembly lines where they couldn’t control the work pace.
  • They quit in large numbers.
  • Ford doubled the daily wage to $5 in January 1914.
  • He banned trade unions from operating in his plants.
• Recovery of the high wage:
  • Repeatedly sped up the production line;
  • Forced workers to work ever harder.
• He soon described his decision to double the wage as the ‘best cost-cutting decision’ he had ever made.
• Fordist industrial practices soon spread in the US.
  • They were widely copied in Europe in the 1920s.
  • Mass production lowered costs & prices of engineered goods.
• Higher wages: more workers could afford to purchase durable consumer goods such as cars.
• Car production in the US: rose from 2 million in 1919 to more than 5 million in 1929.

There was a spurt in purchase of refrigerators, washing machines, radios, gramophones, through a system of ‘hire purchase’.

• Most parts of the world experienced huge declines in production, employment, incomes and trade.
• The exact timing and impact of the depression varied across countries.
  1. Agricultural regions and communities were the worst affected.
     1. fall in agricultural prices greater & more prolonged than the prices of industrial goods.
• The cause of depression: a combination of several factors;
• Agricultural overproduction
  1. Made worse by falling agricultural prices: prices slumped, agricultural incomes declined.
  2. Farmers tried to expand production & bring a larger volume to the market to maintain the overall income.
  3. This worsened the excess supply in the market, pushing down prices even further.
  4. Farm produce rotted for a lack of buyers.

• Mid-1920s: many countries financed their investments through loans from the US. ​​​​​​​

1. 1. often extremely easy to raise loans in the US when all was good,
   2. US overseas lenders panicked at the first sign of trouble.
   3. First half of 1928: US overseas loans valued over $1 billion.
      1. A year later it was one quarter of that amount. Countries that depended crucially on US loans now faced an acute crisis.
      2. Withdrawal of US loans affected much of the rest of the world, in different ways.
      3. Europe: led to the failure of some major banks & the collapse of currencies like British pound sterling.
      4. Latin America and elsewhere: intensified the slump in agricultural & raw material prices.

• 1. The US attempt to protect its economy in the depression by doubling import duties dealt another severe blow to world trade.
  2. The US: the industrial country most severely affected by the depression.
     1. Fall in prices and the prospect of a depression: US banks also slashed domestic lending & called back loans.
     2. Farms could not sell their harvests, households were ruined, and businesses collapsed.
     3. Faced with falling incomes, many households in the US could not repay what they had borrowed, and were forced to give up their homes, cars and other consumer durables.
     4. The consumerist prosperity of the 1920s disappeared.
     5. Unemployment rose: people went long distances looking for any work they could find.
  3. The US banking system itself collapsed.
     1. Unable to recover investments, collect loans and repay depositors, thousands of banks went bankrupt and were forced to close.
     2. By 1933: over 4,000 banks closed.
     3. 1929-1932: about 110,000 companies had collapsed.
     4. By 1935: a modest economic recovery underway in most industrial countries.
• The Great Depression’s wider effects on society, politics and international relations, and on peoples’ minds, proved more enduring.