CHAPTER TWOThe Growth of Aggressive Nationalism-(At the Turn of the 20th century)
The three phases of Indian History;
1. 1885-1905-
Moderate phase (early moderates/nationalists)
2. 1905-1919-
Aggressive Nationalists (Extremist)
3. 1919-1947-
Gandhian Era/Gandhian leadership of national movement.
The Growth of Aggressive Nationalism/Extremists
The second phase of the Indian national
movement was known as the era of extremist nationalist because the leadership
was given by extremist leaders like
Lal,Bal and Pal.
Beliefs
of the Extremist Aggressive or Radical Nationalist
ü British rule in India was not a blessing but a
curse
ü Did not had faith in the British Justice or
rule
ü Believed that Indians will not develop under
the British Rule
Methods used
a.
Adopted
a radical methods
b.
Boycotted
foreign goods
c.
Swadeshi
movement
d.
National
Education
e.
Passive
resistance
Goals/Objectives-They wanted complete freedom/Swaraj/self
government from the British
Causes of the rise of Aggressive Nationalism:
1.Prayer
and Petition Proved Ineffective
Ø Moderate leaders like Surendranath Banerjee
and other Congress leaders followed a policy of prayer and petition which
failed to achieve any progress and frustrated the Indians.
Ø
They
had faith in the British government and believed in the British sense of
Justice which were not liked by many young people and have way for the rise of
extremism.
2.
Factional Quarrels between in’s and out’s of the congress
Ø
There
was a competition in the congress between the young and the old members
regarding the control of the Congress.
3.Discovery
of the India’s Past
Ø
There were
various socio- religious movements in India by Swami Vivekananda, Sister
Nivedata and Dayananda Saraswati which created a feeling of love for India’s
past
4.Inspired
by the writers
Ø Rabindranath Tagore wrote a Hymn called Bande
mataram which inspired the young generation with a true love for motherland
Ø
BankimChandra
Chatterjee’s Anandamath and Tagore’s Sadhana has founded the ground for the
rise of aggressive Nationalism.
5.Economic Factor
Ø The Tariff and Cotton Duties Act of 1894 and
1896 has ruined the Indian Textile Industries
Ø Poverty and Un- British rule in India by
Ddabhai Naoroji and Economic History of India by Ramesh Chandra Dutt has
exposed the economic exploitation in India.
Ø The famine of 1896-97 and 1899-1901 followed
by plague took millions of lives but government did not pay any attention which
annoyed the Indian’s.
Ø Thus, the radicals blamed the British
government for such economic crisis in India.
6.Influence of the International events
The following international events encouraged
Indians to fight against the British Rule.
a.
Egypt,
Turkey and Persia had sent British out of their territory
b.
Expulsion
of Italian forces by Abyssinia in 1896
c.
Japan’s
victory over Russia in 1905
7.Impact of Lord Curzon’s policy
Ø He was anti-Indian by nature and declared that
“Englishmen by birth are fit to rule India and not the Italian’s. God has
selected the Englishmen to rule India and giving them freedom is going against
the will of the god”
Ø He followed the following anti- Indian
policies
a.
He
passed the Official Secrets of 1899 which reduced the freedom of the people
b.
He
passed the Muncipal/ Calcutta Coorporation Act of 1899 which reduced the Indian
members in the Calcutta Corporation
c.
He
passed the Indian Universities Act of 1904 which empowered the government to
control all the universities
d.
He
partitioned Bengal in 1905
Ø
Such
repressive measures and anti – Indian policies irritated the Indian’s which
resulted in the growing of the Extremism.
Three Groups of Aggressive Nationalist
Maharastra
Group
|
Bal Gangadar Tilak
|
Bengal
Group
|
Bipin Chandra Pal
|
Punjab
Group
|
Lala Rajpur Rai
|
v This Trio of militant nationalism came to be
known as LAL, BAL and PAL in the Indian History
v The idea of extreme nationalism/ aggressive
Nationalism was founded by Bal Gangadhar Tilak
v Tilak gave a Clarion call swaraj is my birth
right and I shall have it and he explained that without swaraj, there won’t be
social reforms, no industrial development, no useful education and no national
unity.
v He also organized Ganapati and Shivaji
festival to create mass awareness and to fight in a mass to fulfill their
objective.
Contributions of Bal Gangadhar Tilak:
Ø He was born on July23, 1856 in a Maratha
Brahmin family at Ratnagiri and he was the first congress leader to get into
jail for the sake of the country
Ø He imparted cheap education to people.
Ø He started Deccan educational society and
Fergason College at Poona.
Ø He started journalism like Marathan (English)
and Kesari (Marathi).
Ø In 1897, he started Shivaji festival and
Ganapati to develop patriotic feelings among the people.
Ø He said “Swaraj is my birth right and I shall
have it”. So he demanded independent
from the British control.
Ø He was the first Congress leader to suffer
many times in prison for the country so Sir Valentine Chirol called him the ‘Father
of unrest in India’.
Ø Because of his patriotism, determination and
courage, he earned the title of Lokmanya (respected by the people).
Ø He opened a new chapter - the history of the
freedom movement in India.
Ø
They
advocated boycott of foreign goods, swadeshi, national education and passive resistance.
Impacts of Curzon’s Policy:
Ø Indian revolutionary increased in Maharashtra,
Punjab and Bengal.
Ø In this situation, Lord Curzon became the
Viceroy in India.
Ø He had no respect for the INC. Thus, he wanted to crush the Congress.
Ø Enemy developed between Curzon and the
educated middle class.
Ø Curzon passed the following Acts:
1) The
Municipality Act of 1899.
§ He reduced the members in Kolkata Corporation
on the complaint of delays of licenses and other facilities.
2) The
Universities Act of 1904.
o
He
reduced the number of Senate members mostly Indians in the pretext to rise the
education standard.
3) Partition
of Bengal.
§ Bengal consisted of Bihar, Orissa, and Assam.
§ The British authority in order to reduce the
size for easy administration, Assam was separated from Bengal in 1874.
§ The main reason behind the partition of Bengal
was to throttle the voice of the Indian Nationalist.
§ Most of the Curzon’s opponents in Bengal were
educated Hindus and Muslims were backward.
Reasons for the partition of Bengal-(Curzon )
ü To reduce the administrative burden
ü To develop Muslim at par with Hindus
ü To bring peace in the country
Motive behind the partition of Bengal
ü Bengali speaking people were the main threat
to the government
ü He wanted to apply the policy of divide and
rule since Bengali united were a real power
ü To weaken the united party
ü To crush the congress by separating Hindus and
Muslims
Cambridge view about Partition
Ø According to the Cambridge School, the
partition of the Bengal was for easy administration.
Ø But middle class Babus were insecure of losing
their jobs like clerical, teacher etc.
Ø Zamindars were scared of losing their lands.
Ø The lawyers of the Kolkata High Court feared
to lose their clients.
Ø The Kolkata newspaper owners had feared to
lose their customers.
Ø On the other hand, Cambridge view about the
partition of Bengal was not for easy administration only, their aim was to
crush the unity of Bengal politicians.
Ø Herbert Reshley, Curzon’s Home Secretary
wrote, “Bengal united is a force; Bengal divided will go in different ways. Our
principal motive is to weaken a united party against the government.
Ø Curzon used Muslim community, e.g. he
encouraged the Nawab of Decca to support this partition by offering him Rs. 14
lakh.
PATITION OF BENGAL (16TH OCTOBER, 1905)
Accordingly, in July 1905, Curzon announced his scheme of
partition of Bengal. Bengal was to be divided into two provinces- Eastern
Bengal joined with Assam. By this plan, the division of Dacca, Chittagon and
Rajshali, Hill Tripura, Malda and Assam were separated to form the new province
of Eastern Bengal and Assam.
Western Bengal was with Bihar and Orissa. Eastern Bengal was
dominated by Bengali Muslims and the western part was dominated by non-Bengali
population. So, in both the provinces, Bengali-Hindu became a minority. So,
Dacca was made the capital of Eastern Bengal. Curzon thus, wanted to make Dacca
a parallel political centre against
the nationalistically oriented Calcutta. Curzon knew very well that his
opponents in Bengal were mainly educated Hindus who were in an advantageous
position in the society. Curzon by taking away those territories where the
Muslims were dominant expected that the new province with Dacca as its capital
would invest the Muhammedans in Eastern Bengal with a unity which they had not
enjoyed since the days of the old Mussalman viceroys and kings. In this way,
Curzon played this game to cripple the educated middle class nationalists of
Bengal where 19 million Bengali speaking persons should be outnumbered by 35
million Hindi, Oriya and other language speaking people.
Consequently, Curzon announced the partition of Bengal on 16th
October, 1905. As a matter of fact, it was one of the most reactionary acts of
Lord Curzon, which was not only opposed everywhere but also assumed the form of
a widespread agitation, soon leading to anti-partition movement.
Anti-Partition
Movement:
1.
Moderate
Method
|
Initial Stage
|
2.
Boycott
Movement
|
Aggressive Methods
|
3.
Swadeshi
Movement
|
Aggressive Methods
|
1.Moderate Method-Initial Stage
ü 16th October,1905 was observed as
National Mourning Day because partition took place on 16th October
ü People walked out of their house and walked
bare foot on the open streets of Bengal
ü They sang famous song Amar sonar Rangla which
was composed by Rabindranath Tagore particularly for this occasion
ü They observed Raksha Bandhan Day as a sign of
brotherhood between Muslims and Hindus
ü Surendranath Banerjee called the partition as
a grave Disaster
ü The English papers like pioneer and the
statesmen were also against the partition
ü
When
these methods couldnot bring any changes, Krishna Kumar Mitra, editor of
Journal Sanjivini suggested the idea of Boycott and Swadeshi Movement on 13th
July,1905
2.Boycott Movement-Aggressive Method
ü The idea of boycott movement was adopted by
the congress leaders at town hall meeting on 7th August 1905
ü The Bengali students boycotted the schools,
colleges and jobs
ü They burnt the foreign goods on the streets on
Bengal
ü They burnt the foreign goods on the streets on
Bengal
ü Picketing (strike) was done in front of shops
selling foreign goods
ü
The
sale of Manchester goods declined drastically
3.Swadeshi Movement-Aggressive Method
ü It means self Reliance/atmasaki
ü The boycott was negative but the swadeshi was
a constructive aspect of the movements
ü All the Indians were made to use the
indigenous goods
ü Many Indian industries such as Calcutta
potteries, Bengal Chemical, Bengal lakshimi cotton mill, Swadeshi Banks and
insurance companies were established.
ü
As a
result of swadeshi, Bengal Techinical Institute, Bengal National College and
other schools were opened
Reaction of the government against boycott and Swadeshi Movement:
ü Government took strong action against those
agitators
ü Grants were withdrawn from the educational
institutions
ü Leaders were imprisoned and properties were
seized
ü Civil servants were terminated from the post
ü Fines were imposed and students were expelled.
*Split
in the Congress (1907):
Ø Both the moderate and the Aggressive
nationalist took part in Swadeshi Movement.
SLN
|
Moderates
|
Extremists
|
1.
|
Ø Moderate demanded self-government or
Swaraj like U.K or the Colonies.
|
Ø Extremists demanded complete autonomy
without British rule.
|
2.
|
Ø Moderate followed prayers and petitions.
|
Ø Extremists followed the idea of Passive
resistance.
|
3
|
Ø Wanted swaraj with the help of British
government
|
Ø Wanted swaraj without British Help
|
4
|
Ø Wanted Rash Behari Ghose as the congress
president
|
Ø Wanted Tilak as the Congress President
|
Consequences/Results of the Split:
Ø The Moderates and Aggressive Nationalists
split in the Surat Congress.
Ø Their split was a great calamity for the
nation because it was a great harm to the Congress and to the national
movement.
Ø Moderates were the brain and aggressive were
heart of the nation, so their joint action was important in the congress.
Ø When Aggressive came out, many Leaders came
out and Congress became weak.
Ø At their split, British became juvilant. For
example, Lord Minto told Morley that the Congress collapse was a great triumph
for us.
Ø Morley replied that the Extremist could have
captured the Congress.
Revolutionary Disposition
ü Government banned the shouting of Bande
Mataram in public places
ü Any civil servants took part in any agitation
were disqualified
ü Students who took part in the activities were
expelled
ü
In
april, 1906, congressmen were lathi charged for having a meeting and employed
Gurkha soldiers to disperse any movements against the government
Reaction of the public against the terror policy of the government
ü The yugantar group and anushilan samiti of
dacca started using against terror
ü In 1897, profulla chaki and khudiram bose, the
two chapekar brothers tried to kill British Magistrate kingsford but escaped
and therefore, profulla committed suicide and his brother was hanged
ü Aurobindo and his brother Barindra Kumar Ghose
started a bomb factory but was later discovered and were arrested by the police
ü
The
public prosecutor and police officres were also killed but finally Aurobindo
was released because of the request of C.R.Das
Reasons for the failure of those associations or movements
ü They could not mobilize the masses as it was
secret one
ü There was no base among the people
ü Moderates did not support as it was a violent
method
Achievement
ü The British were disturbed in India
ü Developed patriotic feelings among the Indians
ü
Khudiram
Bose has sacrificed his life for the country and it has become the theme of
folk songs in the country
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