Nationalist Movernent 1905-1918
GROWTH OF MILITANT NATIONALISM
- It found expression in the movement against the partition of Bengal in 1905
- · Recognition of the True Nature of British Rule
- · India economically, that is, to enrich England at the cost of India.
- · They realised that India could make little progress in the economic
field unless llritish imperialism was replaced by a government
controlled and run by the Indian people
In 1904
, the Indian Official Secrets Act was passed restricting
the freedom of the press
The Natu brothers were deported in 1897
without being tried;
In the same year,
Lokamanya Tilak and other newspaper editors were
Lokamanya Tilak and other newspaper editors were
sentenced to long terms of imprisonment for arousing the people against
the foreign government
The Indian Universities Act of 1904
· nationalists an attempt to
bring Indian universities under tighter official control and to check the
growth of higher education
Existence of a Militant Nationalist School of Thought
This school was represented
by leaders like Rajnarain Bose and Ashwini Kumar Dutt in Bengal and
Vishnu Shastri Chiplunkar in Maharashtra.
- The most outstanding
representative of this school was Bal Gangadhar Tilak later popularly
known as Lokamanya Tilak. .
Bal Gangadhar Tilak
.
He helped to found during the 1880's the New
English School
, wluch later became the Fergusson College
, wluch later became the Fergusson College
, and the newspapers
the Mahratta (in English)
and the Kesari (in Marathi).
.
1893, he started using the traditional rchgious
Ganpati festival to propagate nationalist ideas through songs and
speeches, and
in 1895 he started the Shivaji festival to stimulate nat10nalism
among young Maharashtrians by holding up the example of Shivaji for
emulation
1. The most outstanding
2. leaders of militant, apart from Lokamanya Tilak,
3. were Bipm
4. Chandra Pal, Aurobindo Ghose, a
5. nd Lala Lajpat Rai
.
THE PARTITION OF BENGAL
Thus the conditions for the emergence of militant nationalism 'bad
developed when in 1905 the partition of Bengal was announced and the
Indian national movement entered its second stage.
On 20 July 1905,
Lord Curzon issued an order dividing the province of Bengal into two
parts: Eastern Bengal and Assam with a population of31 millions, and
the rest of Bengal with a population of 54 millions, of whom 18 millions
were Bengalis and 36 millions Biharies and orisss
The Anti-Partition Movement or the Swadesbi and Boycott Movement
national leadership
of Bengal and not of any one section of the movement. Its most
prominent leaders at the ihitial stage were moderate leaders like Sumndranath
Banerjea and Krisftna Kumar Mitra
The Anti-Partition Movement was initiated on POBRabindranath Tagore
BANDA Mataram which
overnight became the national song of Bengal
and which was ~oon to
and which was ~oon to
become the theme song of the national movement
In the afternoon,
there was a great demonstration when the veteran
there was a great demonstration when the veteran
leader Anandamohan Bose laid the foundation of a Federation Hall to
mark the indestructible unity of Bengal. He addressed a crowd o{ over
50,000 and the meeting passed a resolution pledging to do their utmost
The Swadeshi and Boycott
Acharya P.C. Ray
organised his famous Bengal Chemical Swadeshi
organised his famous Bengal Chemical Swadeshi
Stores. Even the great poet Rabindranath Tagore helped to open l\
Swadesbi store.
Education. National educational institutions
Ø
l literary, technical,
l literary, technical,
or physical educat,ion was imparted were opened by nationalists who
regarded the existing system of education as denationalising and, in any
case, inadequate
On 15 August 1906, a National Council of Education
was set up.
Ø A National College with Aurobindo Ghose as principal was
started in Calcutta
.
.
All-India Aspect of the Movement
The leading role in spreading the Swadeshi movement to the rest of the
country was played by Tilak.
Earlier, in 1907, Lala Lajpat
Rai and Ajit Singh had been deported following riots in the canal colo!lies
of the Punjab. In 1908,
the great Tilak was again arrested and given the
savage sentence of 6 years' imprisonment. Chidambaram Pillai in
Madras and Harisltrvottam ,Rao and others in Andhra were put behind
Growth of Revolatlonary terrrisorisim
The most famous of these was the Anushilan
Samiti whose Dacca section alone had 500 branches. Soon terrorist
societies
became active in tb~'rest of the country also. They became so
bold as to throw a bomb at the Viceroy,
Lord Hardinge, while he was
riding on an elephant in a state procession at Delhi. 'rhe Viceroy was
wounded
In London the
lead was taken by Shyamji Krishn.avarma, V.D. Savarlcar, and Har Dayal,
wh:ile in Europe Madam Cama and Ajit Singh were tne prominent leaders
NATIONALIST MOVEMENT 1905-1918
At its session of 1905,
Gokhale, the
Gokhale, the
President of the Congress, roundly condemned the Partition as well as
the reactionary regime of Curzon.
The National Congress also supported
The National Congress also supported
the Swadeshi and Boycott movement of Bengal.
The split between the two came at the Surat
session of the National Congress in December 1907
To placate the moderate nationalists
Morley-Minto Reforms (1909)
it announced constitutional concessions through the lrldian Councils
Act of 1909 which are known as' the Morley-Minto Reforms of 1909
In 1911
, tlte Government also announced the cancellation of the partition
of Beirgal
. Western and eastern Bengals were to be reunite.
. Western and eastern Bengals were to be reunite.
new ptovince consisting of Bihar and Orissa was to be created
- increased the .number of elected membe~s
in the Imperial Legislative Council and the provincial councils.
- most 'of the elected members were elected indirectly,
by the provincial
council
- i Imperial Council and by municipal committees
and district boards in the case of provincial councils
- . Some of the elected
seats wete reserved for landlordi and British capitalists in India
instance,
of the 68 members of the Imperial Legislative Council
, 36 were
of the 68 members of the Imperial Legislative Council
, 36 were
officials and
5 were nomi~ated non-officials.
Of the 27 elected members,
5 were nomi~ated non-officials.
Of the 27 elected members,
6 were to represent the big landlords
and
2 the British capitalists.
and
2 the British capitalists.
1. The Reforms also introducrd the system of separate electorates under
which all Muslims were grouped in 'separate constituencies from which
Muslims alone could be elected
'THE MUSLIM LEAGUIE AND THE GROWTH OF COMMUNALISM
Te All India Muslim Le11gue was found~ under the
leader~
2. the Aga Khan
, the Nawab of Dacca,
and Nawab Mohsin-ul-Mul
k
k
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
and who
propagated his rationalist and nationalist ideas in his newspaper
AlHilal
he brought qut in 1912 at the age
In the beginning, the Indian nationalist leaders, including Lokamahya
Tilak, who had been released in June 1914,
The Home Rule Leagues
Therefore, two Home Rule Leagues
were started in 1915-16,
one under the of Lokamanya Tilak
and the other under ihe leadership of Annie Besant, and S. Subramaniya
Iyer.
The Ghadarites
also contacted Indian
soldiers in the Far East, South-East Asia and all over India and persuaded
several regiments to rebel.
Ftnally, 21 February 1915 was fixed as the
Ftnally, 21 February 1915 was fixed as the
date for an armed revolt in the Punjab
Lucknow Session of the Congress ( 1916
And in July 1918 the Montague-Chelmsford Reforms
were announced.
