CLASS X Chapter - 2 The Nationalist Movement in Indo-China : HISTORY (2013-14) TERM II Q1. Name the countries which constitute Indo-china. Ans.1 Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Q2. Why the French thought colonies necessary? Ans. 1. Colonies were considered essential to supply natural resources and other essential goods. 2. Like other western nations, France also thought it was the mission of the advanced European countries to bring the benefits of civilization to backward peoples. Q3.How did French develop their colonies? Or Why did French begin by building canals and draining land in the Mekong Delta? Ans. 1. The French began building canals and draining lands in the Mekong Delta to increase cultivation. Their purpose behind was to export rice & earn profit. 2. The vast system of irrigation works-canals and earthworks built mainly with forced labour increased rice production. This was followed by infrastructure projects to help transport goods for trade, move military garrisons and control the entire region Q4. What was meant by civilizing mission of the colonies? Ans.4 French colonization was not based only on economic exploitation. It was also driven by the idea of a 'civilizing mission'. 1. Like the British in India, the French claimed that they were bringing modern civilization to the Vietnamese. They took for granted that Europe had developed the most advanced civilization. 2. So, it became the duty of Europeans to introduce these modern ideas to the colony even if this meant destroying local culture, religions and tradition because these were seen as outdated and prevented modern development. Q5. What were the fears of the French regarding education? Ans. 1.Education was seen as one way to civilize the 'native' but in order to educate the Vietnamese, the French had to solve. a question" How far the Vietnamese should be educated'? 2. The French needed an educated local labour force but they feared that education might create problems. 3. They feared that educated Vietnamese would question colonial domination/rule/control. 4. French citizens living in Vietnam began fearing that they might lose their jobs as teachers, shopkeepers or policeman if the Vietnamese got educated. 4) The scholar Noam Chomsky called the war 'the greatest threat to peace, to the national self determination, and to international cooperation.' 5) The widespread questioning of government policy strengthened moves to negotiate an end to the war. A peace settlement was signed in Paris in January 1974. This ended conflict with the US but fighting between the Saigon regime and the NLF (National Liberation Front) continued. 6) The NLF occupied the presidential palace on Saigon on 30th April 1975 and unified Vietnam. Q6.What were the two broad opinions on the question of the use of French language in Vietnam among the policy-makers? Ans. 1. Some policy makers emphasized the n ed to use the French language as the medium of instruction. By learning the language, they felt, the Vietnamese would be introduced to e culture and civilization of France. This would tie them with European France. 2. The educated people in Vietnam would respect French sentiments and ideals, see the superiority of French culture, and work for the French. Other policy makers were opposed to French being the only medium of instruction. 1. They 5uggested that Vietnamese be taught in lower classes and French in the higher classes.. 2. The few who learnt French and acquired French culture were to be rewarded with French citizenship. Q7. Explain: "Only one third of the students in Vietnam would pass the school-leaving examination" Ans. Only the Vietnamese from the elite class which was a small section of the population could enroll in the schools and only a few among those admitted ultimately pass the school leaving examination because of a deliberate policy of failing students particularly in the final year, so that they could not qualify for the better paid jobs. Q8, How did the school text books glorified the French and justified colonial rule? Ans. 1) The Vietnamese were represented as primitive and backward. 2) They were capable of manual labour but not of intellectual reflection. 3) They could work in the fields but not rule themselves. 4) They were skilled copyist but not creative. 5) The school children were told that only French rule could ensure peace in Vietnam Q9. Describe the ideas behind the Tonkin free school. To what extent was it a typical example of colonial ideas in Vietnam? Ans. 1). The Tonkin free school was started in 1907 to provide a western style education. 2. Education included classes in Science, Hygiene and French. . 3. The school's approach to what it means to be 'modern' is a good example of the thinking prevalent at that time. 4. The school encouraged the adoption of western styles such as having short hair-cut. Q10. How the schools did became an important place for political and cultural battle under French rule in Vietnam? What were the fears of Vietnamese intellectuals? 1. The French wanted to strengthen their rule in Vietnam through the control of education. They tried to change the values, norms and thinking of the people, to make them believe in the superiority of French civilization and the inferiority of the Vietnamese. 2. Fears of Vietnamese intellectuals a) Vietnam was losing not only the control over its territory but its very identity and its own culture. Customers were being devalued and the people were developing a master slave mentality. . b) The Battle against French colonial education became part of the larger battle against colonialism and for independence. Q11. Mention how health and hygiene became one of the ways to fight against colonialism. Ans: 1. When the French set about creating a modern Vietnam, they decided to rebuild Hanoi. In 1903, the modern part of Hanoi was struck by bubonic plague. 2. To stem Rat invasion, a rat hunt was started in 1902.The French hired Vietnam workers and paid them for each rat they caught. Rats began to be caught in thousands. 3. On 30 May, for' instance 20,000 were caught put still there seemed to be no end. For the Vietnamese the rat hunt seemed to provide an early lesson i n the success of collective bargaining. 4. Those who did the dirty work of entering sewers found that if they came together they could negotiate a higher bounty. 5 .They also discovered innovative ways to profit from the situation. The bounty was paid when a tail was given as proof that a rat has been killed. So the rat catchers took to just clipping the tails and releasing the rats so that the process could be repeated, over again Q12. What was the role of religious groups in the development of anti-colonial feeling in Vietnam? Ans. Vietnamese Religious Beliefs Vietnam's religious beliefs were a mixture of Buddhism, Confucianism and local practices. Christianity; introduced by French missionaries was tolerant .of this easy going attitude and viewed the Vietnamese tendency to believe in the supernatural as something to be corrected. Scholars Revolt From the 18th century many religious movements were hostile to the western presence. An early movemet against French control and the spread of Christianity; was the scholars revolt in 1868. General Uprising This revolt was led by officials at the Imperial Court angered by the spread of Comand French power. They led a general uprising in Ngu An and Ha Tien provinces where over a thousand Catholics were killed. The movement was crushed. Hao Hao Movement Another movement, known as Hao Hao, was launched by Huynh Phu So. Though the French declared him mad, put him in mental asylm and sent many. of his followers in the concentration camps, they could not crush the sentiments and the patriotic feelings of the nationalists. Q13. What was Phan Chu Trinh's objective for Vietnam?. How were his ideas different from those of Phan Boi Chau? What did they share in common? Ans. Both Phan Chu Trinh and Phan Boi Chau were great nationalists of Vietnam. Both had the same objective to establish democratic republic in Vietnam. 1. Phan Boi Chau: He was a great nationalist He was educated in the Confucian tradition. He became a major figure in the anti-colonial resistance from the time he formed the evolutionary 1 Society (Duty Tan Hoi) with Prince Cuong De as the head. H e was of the opinion that the monarchy should be used and should not be abolished. 2. Phan Chu Trinh : He strongly differed with Phan Boi Chau. He was intensely hostile to the monarchy and opposed to the idea of resisting the French with the help of the court His desire was to establish democratic republic influenced by the democratic ideals of the west he did not want a wholesale rejection of western civilization. He accepted the French revolutionary ideal, of liberty but charged the French for not abiding by the ideal. .He demanded that French set up legal and educational institutions and develop agriculture and industries. Q14. Write short note on Go East Movement'. Ans. In the first decade of the 20th century a 'Go East Movement' became popular. In 1907-08 some 300 Vietnamese students went to acquire modern education. 1. Fr many of them the pr any-objective was to drive out the French from Vietnam, overthrow the puppet emperor: and reestablish the Nguyen dynasty removed by the French 2. These nationalists looked for foreign arms and help. They appealed to the Japanese for help. 3. Japan had modernized itself and had resisted colonization by the west 4. Vietnamese students established a branch of the Restoration Society in Tokyo but after 1908, the Japanese Ministry stopped them to do so. Many, including Phan Boi Chau, wee deported and forced to seek exile in China and Thailand. Q15. Discuss the influence of china on Vietnam's culture and life. Ans.Vietnam was linked to China. By the meantime Silk Route brought in goods, people and ideas. 1. In ancient times many people in Vietnam lived under the shadow of the powerful empire of China. Even when Vietnam was made independent country, its rulers continued to maintain the Chinese system of government as well as Chinese culture. 2. Many preachers of Confucianism visited from time to time and converted many Vietnamese to their religion. 3. The imperialist powers constructed trans-Indo china rail and road network which brought the two people closure to each other. Q16. What was the impact of the Great Depressions of the 1930s on Vietnam? Ans. The Great Depression of 1930s had a profound impact on Vietnam. 1) The prices of rubber and rice fell, leading to rising rural debts, unemployment and rural uprising, such as the provinces of NghaAn and He Tinh. 2) These provinces were among the poorest, had an old radical tradition, and have been called the electrical fuses of Vietnam when the system was under pressure they were the first to blow. Q17. How was the Indo-Chinese community party established? Ans. In February 1930, Ho Chi Minh brought together competing nationalist groups to establish the Vietnamese communist party. [Vietnam Cong San Dang] later renamed the Indo-China Communist Party. He was inspired by the militant demonstrations of the European Communist parties. Q18. What were the challenges faced, by the New Republic of Vietnam? Ans: (a) The French tried to regain control by using the emperor Bao Dai, as their puppet faced with the French offensive. The Vietminh were forced to retreat to the hills. After eight years of fighting the French were defeated in 1954 at Dien Bien Phu. (b) In the peace negotiations in Geneva that followed the French defeat, the Vietnamese were persuaded to accept the division of the country. North and South were split. Ho Chi Minh and the communist took power in the North while Bao Dai's regime was put in power in the South. c. This division set in motion a series of events that turned Vietnam into a battle field bringing death and destruction to its people as well as the environment. d. The Baa Dai regime was soon overthrown by a coup led by Ngo Dinh Diem. He built a repressive and authoritarian government. Q19. Explain the causes of the U-S involvement in the war in Vietnam. Ans. (a) The USA was haunted by the fear of the spread of communism which to her was a potent danger to the capitalist world. USA was ready t9 fight against communism in any part of the world. So when communism raised in Vietnam, USA entered the war (b) so the war grew out of a fear among US policy planners that the victory .of Ho chi Minh Government would start a power domino effect and communist govt. would be established in other countries of the W9rld. They underestimated the of a small country to fight the most technologically advanced country: Q20. What role did the US media and films play during the US Vietnam war? Ans. The US media and films played a major role in both supporting as well as criticizing the war. 1) Hollywood made films in support of the war, such as John's Wayne's Green Berets (1968). This has been cited by many as an example of an unthinking propaganda film that was responsible for motivating many young men to die in the war. 2) Other films were more critical as they tried to understand the reason for this war. John Ford coppolo's Apocalypse Now (1979) reflected the moral confusion that he war had caused in the U.S. Q21. What effect did the involvement of US in the war have on life within the US itself? Ans. The effect of the war was felt within the US as well. Many were against the government for getting involved in a war as they saw as indefensible. When the youth were drafted for the war, the anger spread. Compulsory service in the armed forces [however could be waived for universities graduates]. This meant that many of those sent to fight did not belong to the privileged elite but were minorities and children of working class families. The US media and films played a major role in supporting as well as criticizing for the war. Q22. Write short note on the evaluation of the Vietnamese war against the US from the point of a porter on the Ho Chi- Minh trail. Ans. The US - Vietnamese war (165-75) was one of the most disastrous for both the countries as regard, money, men and materials. The US bombers destroyed the villages of Vietnamese and killed them in thousands. But with the spirit of nationalism the Vietnamese fought bravely against the mighty and super power of the world. They sacrificed their homes and family and lived under horrifying conditions and fought for independence. The porters too, played a crucial role in fighting against the most technologically advanced country in the world. They used the Ho Chi Minh trait - the immense network of roads and footpaths most heroically. The trail had support bases and hospital along the way. Supplies were transported and carried by porters, who were mostly women. These porters carried about 25 kilos on their backs or about 70 kilos on their bicycles. The US regularly bombed the trail trying to disrupt supplies, but efforts to destroy this important supply line by intensive bombing failed because they were rebuilt very quickly. Most of the trail was outside Vietnam neighboring Loos and Cambodia with branches lines extending into South Vietnam. Q23. What was the role of women in the anti-imperial struggle in Vietnam. Compare this. Ans. WOMEN AS WARRIORS In the 1960, photographs in magazines and journals showed women as brave fighters. There were picture of women militia shooting down planes. They were portrayed as brave and dedicated 1) Nguyen Thin Xvan for instance, was reputed to have shot down a jet with just twenty bullets. 2) As casualties in the war increased in 1960s women were urged to join the struggle in large numbers. 3) Many women responded and joined the resistance movement. They helped in nursing the wounded, constructing underground rooms and tunnels and fighting the enemy. Along the Ho Chi Minh trail young volunteers kept open 2195 km of strategic roads and guarded 2500 key points. They built six air strips, neutralized tens of thousands of bombs, transported cargo and shot down 15 planes. COMPARISON BETWEEN VIETNAMESE WOMEN & INDIAN The Vietnamese women displayed great- heroism and patriotism in their fight against imperialist power. But Indian women equally proved their bravery against British rule. Rani Laxmi Bai, Vijaya Laxmi Pandit, Aruna Asif Ali, Smt. Indira Gandhi, Sarojini Naidu, Kamla Nehru and many others whose names cannot be forgotten and who adorn the pages of the history' of national struggle for independence. Rani Gaidilu at the very young age of 13 raised revolt against the British rule but was captured in 1932 and remained in jail up to 1947.Women participated in protest marches, manufactured salt, picketed foreign cloth and went to jail. Q24. Write short note on the end of US-Vietnam war. Or How did the war came to an end? Or Why it is called as first television war? Ans. The long war created strong reactions even within the US. It was clear that the US had failed to achieve its objectives. The Vietnamese resistance had been crushed, the support of the Vietnamese people for US action had not been won. 1) In the meantime, thousands of young US soldiers had lost their lives, and countless Vietnamese civilians had been killed. 2) This was war that has been called the first television war. Battle scenes were shown on the daily news programs. 3) Many became disillusioned with what the US was doing and writers such as Mary McCarthy, and actors like Jane Fonda even visited North Vietnam and praised their heroic defense of the country. 4) The scholar Noam Chomsky called the war 'the greatest threat to peace, to the national self determination, and to international cooperation. 5) The widespread questioning of government policy strengthened moves to negotiate an end to the war. A peace settlement was signed in Paris in January 1974. This ended conflict with the US but fighting between the Saigon regime and the NLF (National Liberation Front) continued. 6) The NLF occupied the presidential palace on Saigon on 30th April 1975 and unified Vietnam Q25. Write a short note on Huynh Phu so or Hao Hao movement. Ans. Hao Hao movement began in 1939 and gained great popularity in the fertile Mekong delta area. It drew on religious ideas popular in anti French uprisings of the 19th century. 1) Huynh Phu So was the founder of Hao movement He performed miracles and helped the poor. His criticism against useless expenditure had a wide appeal. He also opposed the sale of brides, gambling and the use of alcohol and opium. 2) The French tried to suppress the movement inspired by Huynh Phu So. They declared him mad, called him the mad bonze, and put him in a mental asylum. Interestingly, the doctor who, had to prove him became his follower, and finally in 1941. Eve n the French doctor declared that he was sane. The French authorities exiled him to Laos and sent many of his followers to concentration camps. NATIONALISM IN INDIA SUBJECT: HISTORY CLASS X (2013-14) ANNUAL EXAM : TERM 2 Q.1.How did the First World War impact the social, political and economic life in India? Answer: The war created a new political and economic situation. (i) It led to huge increase in defense expenditure which was financed by war loans and increasing taxes. (ii)Through the war years prices increased-doubling between 1913 and 1918-leading to extreme hardship for common people. (iii)Villages were called upon to supply soldiers and the forced recruitment in rural areas caused widespread anger. (iv)In 1918-1920 and 1920-21, crops failed in many parts of India resulting in acute shortages of food. This was accompanied by influenza epidemic. Q.2.What was Gandhi’s idea of Satyagraha? ..Satyagraha was Gandhi’s novel method of mass agitation Answer: (i) The idea emphasized the power of truth and the need to search for truth. (ii)Without seeking vengeance or being aggressive, a satyagrahi could win the battle through non-violence. (iii)This could be done by appealing to the conscience of the oppressor. Q.3.Discuss the satyagraha movements launched by Gandhi after arriving in India. Answer: (i)In 1916,he travelled to Champaran in Bihar to inspire the peasants to struggle against the oppressive plantation system. (ii)In 1917,he organised a satyagraha to support the peasants of Kheda district of Gujarat. Affected by crop failure and a plague epidemic ,the peasants of Kheda could not pay the revenue and were demanding that the revenue collection be relaxed. (iii)In 1918,Gandhi went to Ahmedabad to organise a satyagraha movement amongst cotton mill workers. Q.4.What was the Rowlatt Act?How did the Indians show their disapproval towards the Act? Answer: This Act had been passed through the Imperial Legislative Council. It gave the government enormous powers to repress political activities and allowed detention of political prisoners without trial for two years. (i) Rallies were organized in various cities, workers went on strike in railway workshops, and shops closed down. (ii)The British took action by picking up local leaders from Amritsar and Mahatma Gandhi was barred from entering Delhi (iii)On 10th April,the police in Amritsar fired upon a peaceful procession provoking widespread attacks on banks,post offices and railway stations. (iv)Martial law was imposed and General Dyer took command. Q.5.Write a note on the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre. Answer: On 13th April 1919 the infamous Jallianwala Bagh incident took place.A large crowd gathered in the ground of the Jallianwala Bagh.Some came to protest against the govt’s new repressive measures whle others came to attend the annual Baisakhi fair. Many people were unaware of the Martial law that had been imposed.General Dyer entered the area,blocked the exit points and opened fire on the crowd,killing hundreds.As the news of the incident spread,crowds took to streets in many north Indian towns.There were strikes,clashes with the police and attacks on govt buildings.The govt.responded with brutal repression,seeking to humiliate and terrorise people. Q.6.How did Gandhi merge the Khilafat issue with the Non-cooperation movement? Answer: After the Jallianwala Bagh incident ,Mahatma Gandhi felt the need to launch a more broad based movement in India. (i)The first world war had ended with the defeat of Ottoman Turkey and there were rumors that a harsh peace treaty was going to be imposed on the Ottoman emperor. (ii)To defend the Khalifa’s temporal powers,a Khilafat Committee was formed in Bombay in March 1919. iii)A young generation of Muslim leaders like Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Ali, began discussing with Mahatma Gandhi about the possibility of a united mass action on the issue. (iv)At the Calcutta session of Congress in September 1920,he convinced the other leaders of the need to start a non-cooperation movement in support of Khilafat as well as for Swaraj. Q.7.How did Gandhi conceive of the idea of a non-cooperation movement? Answer:Gandhi proposed that the movement should unfold in stages. (i) It should begin with the surrender of titles that the govt.awarded, and a boycott of civil services,army.police courts and legislative councils and foreign goods. ( ii) Then,in case the govt.used repression,a full civil disobedience campaign would be launched. (iii)However,many within the congress were reluctant to boycott the council elections cheduled for November 1920, and they feared that the movement might lead to popular violence. iv)Finally,at the Congress session at Nagpur in December 1920,the Non-cooperation movement programme was adopted. Q.8.Discuss the growth and progress of the Non0cooperation movement in the towns. Answer: The movement started with middle-class participation in cities. (i)Thousands of students left govt-controlled schools and colleges,headmasters and teachers resigned and their lawyers gave up their legal practices. (ii).The council elections were boycotted in most provinces except Madras. iii) Foreign goods were boycotted, liquor shops picketed,and foreign cloth burnt in huge bonfires. The import of foreign cloth halved between 1921 and 1922. (iv) In many places merchants and traders refused to trade in foreign goods or finance foreign trade. As the boycott movement spread, and people began discarding imported clothes and wearing only Indian ones, production of Indian textile mills and handlooms went up. v) But this movement in the cities gradually slowed down for a variety of reasons. Khadi cloth was often more expensive than massproduced mill cloth and poor people could not afford to buy it. (vi) For the movement to be successful, alternative Indian institutions had to be set up so that they could be used in place of the British ones. These were slow to come up. So students and teachers began trickling back to government schools and lawyers joined back work in govt. courts. Q.9.Discuss the non-cooperation movement led by Baba Ramchandra in Awadh. Answer: In Awadh, peasants were led by Baba Ramchandra – a sanyasi who had earlier been to Fiji as an indentured labourer (i)The movement here was against talukdars and landlords who demanded from peasant’s exorbitantly high rents and a variety of other cesses. Peasants had to do begar and work at landlords’ farms without any payment. (ii) The peasant movement demanded reduction of revenue, abolition of begar, and social boycott of oppressive landlords. In many places nai – dhobi bandhs were organised by panchayats to deprive landlords of the services of even barbers and washermen. (iii) Many branches of the Oudh Kisan Sabha were set up in the villages near Awadh. (iv) As the movement spread in 1921, the houses of talukdars and merchants were attacked, bazaars were looted, and grain hoards were 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. Q.10.Discuss the movement that spread in the Gudem hills of Andhra. Answer: In the Gudem Hills of Andhra Pradesh, for instance, a militant guerrilla movement spread in the early 1920s. (i) The colonial government had closed large forest areas, preventing people from entering the forests to graze their cattle, or to collect fuel wood and fruits. (ii) Not only were their livelihoods affected but they felt that their traditional rights were being denied. When the government began forcing them to contribute beggar for road building, the hill people revolted. (iii) Alluri Sitaram Raju led the people. He claimed that he had a variety of special powers: he could make correct astrological predictions and heal people, and he could survive even bullet shots. (iv)He persuaded people to wear khadi and give up drinking.But at the same time he asserted that India could be liberated only by the use of force, not non-violence. The Gudem rebels attacked police stations, attempted to kill British officials and carried on guerrilla warfare for achieving swaraj. Q.11How did the plantation workers associate themselves with the idea of Swaraj? Answer: Under the Inland Emigration Act of 1859, plantation workers were not permitted to leave the tea gardens without permission, and in fact they were rarely given such permission. (i) When they heard of the Non-Cooperation Movement, thousands of workers defied the authorities, left the plantations and headed home. They believed that Gandhi Raj was coming and everyone would be given land in their own villages. (ii) They, however, never reached their destination. Stranded on the way by a railway and steamer strike, they were caught by the police and brutally beaten up. (iii) They interpreted the term swaraj in their own ways, imagining it to be a time when all suffering and all troubles would be over. (iv)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. Q.12.Why did Mahatma Gandhi decide to withdraw the Non Cooperation Movement? Answer: (i)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. (ii) Within the Congress,some leaders 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. Q.13.Write a note on the Simon Commission. Answer: The. the new Tory government in Britain constituted a Statutory Commission under Sir John Simon. Set up in response to the nationalist movement, the commission was to look into the functioning of the constitutional system in India and suggest changes. The problem was that the commission did not have a single Indian member. They were all British.When the Simon Commission arrived in India in 1928, it was greeted with the slogan ‘Go back Simon’. All parties, including the Congress and the Muslim League, participated in the demonstrations. In an effort to win them over, the viceroy, Lord Irwin, announced in October 1929, a vague offer of ‘dominion status’ for India in an unspecified future, and a Round Table Conference to discuss a future constitution. This did not satisfy the Congress leaders. In December 1929, under the presidency of Jawaharlal Nehru, the Lahore Congress formalised the demand of ‘Purna Swaraj’ or full independence for India. It was declared that 26 January 1930, would be celebrated as the Independence Day when people were to take a pledge to struggle for complete independence. But the celebrations attracted very little attention. Q.14.Why did Mahatma Gandhi decide to launch the Salt March? Answer: Mahatma Gandhi found in salt a powerful symbol that could unite the nation. On 31 January 1930, he sent a letter to Viceroy Irwin stating eleven demands. (i)The most stirring of all was the demand to abolish the salt tax. Salt was something consumed by the rich and the poor alike, and it was one of the most essential items of food. The tax on salt and the government monopoly over its production, Mahatma Gandhi declared, revealed the most oppressive face of British rule. (ii) Mahatma Gandhi started his famous salt march accompanied by 78 of his trusted volunteers. The march was over 240 miles, from Gandhiji’s ashram in Sabarmati to the Gujarati coastal town of Dandi. (iii) On 6 April he reached Dandi, and ceremonially violated the law, manufacturing salt by boiling sea water.This marked the beginning of the Civil Disobedience Movement. Q.15.How was the Civil Disobedience Movement different from the Non-cooperation Movement? Answer: (1)People were now asked not only to refuse cooperation with the British, as they had done in 1921-22, but also to break colonial laws. (ii) Thousands in different parts of the country broke the salt law, manufactured salt and demonstrated in front of government salt factories. (iii)As the movement spread, foreign cloth was boycotted, and liquor shops were picketed. Peasants refused to pay revenue and chaukidari taxes, village officials resigned, and in many places forest people violated forest laws – going into Reserved Forests to collect wood and graze cattle. Q.16. How did people belonging to different communities, regions or language groups develop a sense of collective belonging? Answer: .The sense of collective belonging came partly through the experience of united struggles. History and fiction, folklore and songs, popular prints and symbols, all playeda part in the making of nationalism. i)It was in the twentieth century, with the growth of nationalism, that the identity of India came to be visually associated with the image of Bharat Mata. (ii) The image was first created by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. In the 1870s he wrote ‘Vande Mataram’ as a hymn to the motherland. Later it was included in his novel Anandamath and widely sung during the Swadeshi movement in Bengal. Moved by the Swadeshi movement, Abanindranath Tagore painted his famous image of Bharat Mata (iii)In this painting Bharat Mata is portrayed as an ascetic figure; she is calm, composed, divine and spiritual. (iv)Ideas of nationalism also developed through a movement to revive Indian folklore. In late-nineteenth-century India, nationalists began recording folk tales sung by bards and they toured villages to gather folk songs and legends. v) It was essential to preserve this folk tradition in order to discover one’s national identity restore a sense of pride in one’s past. (vi) During the Swadeshi movement in Bengal, a tricolour flag (red, green and yellow) was designed. It had eight lotuses representing eight provinces of British India, and a crescent moon, representing Hindus and Muslims. (vii)Another means of creating a feeling of nationalism was through reinterpretation of history. By the end of the nineteenth century many Indians began feeling that to instill a of pride in the nation, Indian history had to be thought about differently. (viii)The British saw Indians as backward and primitive, incapable of governing themselves. (ix)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, wasfollowed by a history of decline, when India was colonised. (x)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. Q.17.Discuss the growth and progress of the Civil Disobedience Movement in the countryside. Answer: countryside, rich peasant communities – like the Patidars of Gujarat and the Jats of Uttar Pradesh – were active in the movement. (i) Being producers of commercial crops, they were very hard hit by the trade depression and falling prices. As their cash income disappeared, they found it impossible to pay the government’s revenue demand. (ii) And the refusal of the government to reduce the revenue demand led to widespread resentment. (iii)These rich peasants became enthusiastic supporters of the Civil Disobedience Movement, organizing their communities, and at times forcing reluctant members, to participate in the boycott program. (iv) For them the fight for swaraj was a struggle against high revenues. But they were deeply disappointed when the movement was called off in 1931 without the revenue rates being revised. Q.18.What was the role of yhe poor peasantry in the Civil Disobedience movement? Answer: The poorer peasantries were not just interested in the lowering of the revenue demand. Many of them were small tenants cultivating land they had rented from landlords. (i) As the Depression continued and cash incomes dwindled, the small tenants found it difficult to pay their rent. (ii)They wanted the unpaid rent to the landlord to be remitted. (iii)They joined a variety of radical movements, often led by Socialists and Communists. (iv) Apprehensive of raising issues that might upset the rich peasants and landlords, the Congress was unwilling to support ‘no rent’ campaigns in most places. So the relationship between the poor peasants and the Congress remained uncertain. Q.19.How did the business class relate itself to the Civil Disobedience Movement? Answer: During the First World War, Indian merchants and industrialists had made huge profits and become powerful. Keen on expanding their business, they now reacted against colonial policies that restricted business activities. (i)They wanted protection against imports of foreign goods, and a rupee-sterling foreign exchange ratio that would discourage imports. (ii)To organize business interests, they formed the Indian Industrial and Commercial Congress in 1920 and the Federation of the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FICCI) in 1927. iii)Led by prominent industrialists like Purshottamdas Thakurdas and G. D. Birla, the industrialists attacked colonial control over the Indian economy, and supported the Civil Disobedience Movement when it was first launched. (iv)They gave financial assistance and refused to buy or sell imported goods. (v) Most businessmen came to see swaraj as a time when colonial restrictions on business would no longer exist and trade and industry would flourish without constraints. (vi)But after the failure of the Round Table Conference, business groups were no longer uniformly enthusiastic. They were apprehensive of the spread of militant activities, and worried about prolonged disruption of business. Q.20.Discuss the participation of industrial working class in the Civil Disobedience movement. Answer: The industrial working classes did not participate in the Civil Disobedience Movement in large numbers, except in the Nagpur region. (i) Some workers did participate in the Civil Disobedience Movement, selectively adopting some of the ideas of the Gandhian programme, like boycott of foreign goods, as part of their own movements against low wages and poor working conditions. (ii) There were strikes by railway workers in 1930 and dockworkers in 1932. (iii)In 1930 thousands of workers in Chotanagpur tin mines wore Gandhi caps and participated in protest rallies and boycott campaigns. (iv) But the Congress was reluctant to include workers’ demands as part of its programme of struggle. It felt that this would alienate industrialists and divide the antiimperial forces. Q.21. Discuss the participation of women in the Civil Disobedience Movement. Answer: Women participated in large numbers in this movement. (i)During Gandhiji’s salt march, thousands of women came out of their homes to listen to him. (ii)They participated in protest marches, manufactured salt, and picketed foreign cloth and liquor shops. (iii) Many went to jail. In urban areas these women were from high-caste families; in rural areas they came from rich peasant households. (iv) Moved by Gandhiji’s call, they began to see service to the nation as a sacred duty of women. Yet, this increased public role did not necessarily mean any radical change in the way the position of women was visualised. (v) Gandhiji was convinced that it was the duty of women to look after home and hearth, be good mothers and good wives. (vi)And for a long time the Congress was reluctant to allow women to hold any position of authority within the organisation. Q.22.Discuss the limits of the Civil Disobedience Movement. Answer: Not all social groups were moved by the abstract concept of swaraj.One such group was the nation’s ‘untouchables’, who from around the 1930s had begun to call themselves dalit or oppressed. (i) Many dalit leaders began organising themselves, demanding reserved seats in educational institutions, and a separate electorate that would choose dalit members for legislative councils. (ii)Political empowerment, they believed, would resolve the problems of their social disabilities. (iii)Dalit participation in the Civil Disobedience Movement was therefore limited, particularly in the Maharashtra and Nagpur region where their organisation was quite strong. (iv) Dr.B.R.Ambedkar demanded separate electorates for dalits.The Poona Pact of 1932 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. (v)The dalit movement, however, continued to be apprehensive of the Congressled national movement. (vi) Some of the Muslim political organisations in India were also lukewarm in their response to the Civil Disobedience Movement. (vii) After the decline of the Non-Cooperation-Khilafat movement, a large section of Muslims felt alienated from the Congress. (viii)When the Civil Disobedience Movement started large sections of Muslims could not respond to the call for a united struggle. (ix) Many Muslim leaders and intellectuals expressed their concern about the status of Muslims as a minority within India. (x) They feared that the culture and identity of minorities would be submerged under the domination of a Hindu majority. |
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