INDIA 1914-1991

1. INDIA 1914-1991 Pg. 782 – 799

2. Terms Gandhi’s methods of resistance: • Satyagraha – “truth force” Gandhi’s promotion of non-violent mass demonstration through which they would make the oppressors realize their own immorality and right the wrongs they had perpetrated. • Ahisma – Non-violence in the face of attack. • Civil disobedience – as the name states, breaking unjust laws peacefully and accepting the consequences including jail and beatings. • Ashram – commune like headquarters. • Swadeshi – “Of one’s own country” a Hindi word that served as the slogan in the boycott of foreign goods in India, also part of the protest against Britain’s partition of Bengal in 1905. • Dalit – “Of one’s own country,” a Hindi slogan word in the boycott against foreign goods.

3. People • Mohandas K. Gandhi • Both Political and Spiritual leader in India. • Leader of the Indian National Congress in the 1920s. • Lead Indian people in a peaceful revolution against British colonization. • Did not like an untouchable class. • Wanted appropriate technology. • Salt Marches. • Comparable to Mao, but not communist or Chinese or violent. • Muslim critics thought he was too Hindu, left-wing critics thought he was too revisionist. • Jawaharlal Nehru • Prime Minister of India from 1947 to 1964 • Often seen as Gandhi’s second. • Worked towards neutrality toward major powers. • Began industrialization of India, wanted India to industrialize.

4. People Continued • Indira Gandhi • Prime Minister after Nehru’s death in 1964. • Tested India’s first atomic bomb in 1974 • Supported the Bangladesh movement for Independence from East Pakistan. • Fought poverty with socialist policies. • Was expected to be a puppet by those who put her in office. • Some felt her changes undermined democracy; she asked the pres. To declare an emergency that allowed her to regain some political power. • Gandhi then jailed opposition leaders and forcibly sterilized quotas of people, also limited the press and freedom of speech. • She had gone too far however, and was kicked out to avoid a dictatorship. • Voted back into power again in 1980. • Very popular with foreign leaders and played both sides of Cold War. • Led Green Revolution and tried to control population growth.

5. Events • 1885 Indian National Congress established by British. • British troops shot at protesters of the Rowlatt Acts, suppressing freedom of press and rights to assembly, killing 379 Indians and wounding 1,100. • Convinces everyone that the British need to go. • Indian independence from Britain, 1947. • Split of Pakistan and Kashmir from India as well. • 1955 Hindu Marriage Act • Gave Hindu women the right of divorce and raised the marriage age to 15. • Was restricted to Hindu women so as not to offend any Muslims or other people. • 1966 Hindu Succession Act • Gives daughters equal rights with sons in inheriting their father’s property.

6. Changes (in lieu of actual events) • From a colony of Britain to a One Party Democracy • With Socialist policy. • Hindu Majority with large Muslim minority, causes much tension. • Tensions with Pakistan after receiving independence all at once. • From exploited and dependent on Britain to moderately urban and industrialized nation with the means to feed itself (Green Revolution). • A lot of urbanization seen. • Rural areas still in poverty, but the richer parts are competitive with the rest of the world. • Overpopulation also a problem.

7. END. It’s over.