Towards Civil Disobedience - Chapter 2 Nationalism in India Class 10 History
You will read here about Towards Civil Disobedience topic which is a part of Chapter 2 Nationalism in India Class 10 History will useful in getting a solid understanding of the various concepts embedded. Through topic explain a student will be able to frame good answers in the examinations. You will be able to understand the subject in a more advanced way and also in a simpler way.
| Study Material for Class 10 History Chapter 2 Nationalism in India |
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Towards Civil Disobedience - Chapter 2 Nationalism in India Class 10 History
• In February 1922, Mahatma Gandhi decided to withdraw the Non-Cooperation Movement. He felt the movement was turning violent in many places and satyagrahis needed to be properly trained before they would be ready for mass struggles.
• Many leader within the Congress were by now tired of mass struggles and wanted to participate in elections to the provincial councils that had been set up by the Government of India Act of 1919.
→ They felt that it was important to oppose British policies within the councils, argue for reform and also demonstrate that these councils were not truly democratic.
→ C. R. Das and Motilal Nehru formed the Swaraj Party within the Congress to argue for a return to council politics. But younger leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas Chandra Bose wanted more radical mass agitation and demanded full independence.
• On the evening of March 10, 1922, Gandhi was arrested from Sabarmati Ashram and was sentenced to six years imprisonment and with the arrest of Gandhi, the non cooperation movement came to a virtual end.
• In such a situation, two factors again shaped Indian politics:
→ The Worldwide Economic Depression
→ Arrival of Simon Commission
The Worldwide Economic Depression
• Agricultural prices began to fall from 1926 and collapsed after 1930. As the demand for agricultural goods fell and exports declined, peasants found it difficult to sell their harvests and pay their revenue. By 1930, the countryside was in turmoil.
Arrival of Simon Commission
• Simon Commission was constituted by the Tory government of Britain under pressure of mass movements in India under Sir John Simon. It sought to look into the demands of the nationalists and suggest changes in the constitutional structure of India. The Commission arrived in India in 1928.
• The problem was that the commission did not have a single Indian member. They were all British. Therefore, Congress and the Muslim League participated in the demonstrations and greeted the commission with black flags and slogans such as “Go back Simon”.
• In October 1929, to control the protest, the viceroy, Lord Irwin, announced in October 1929 an offer of ‘dominion status’ for India and a Round Table Conference to discuss a future constitution.
• Parties like Indian National Congress, the Hindu Mahasabha, the Independent Party, the All India Muslim League decided to boycott the Commission at every stage and in every form.
• The radicals within the Congress became more assertive and the liberals and moderates gradually lost their influence. In December, 1929, under the presidency of Jawaharlal Nehru, the Lahore session of Congress formalized the demand of “Purna Swaraj”.
→ It was declared that 26 January 1930, would be celebrated as the Independence Day. But the celebrations attracted very little attention. So Mahatma Gandhi had to find a way to relate this abstract idea of freedom to more concrete issues of everyday life.