Quit India to Independence 1935-1947
NCERT Class 8 - Our Pasts III • NCERT Class 12 - Themes in Indian History Part III, Chapter 14
Quit India to Independence 1935-1947
The last phase ran from the Government of India Act 1935 to the transfer of power on 15 August 1947. It included the largest spontaneous uprising of the freedom struggle, the armed challenge of the Indian National Army, and the partition of the country.
From 1935 to the war
- The Government of India Act 1935 introduced provincial autonomy, a federal scheme that never came into force, and extended separate electorates. It remains the single largest source of provisions later carried into the Constitution.
- In the 1937 elections the Congress won most provinces and formed ministries, which resigned in 1939 when India was declared a belligerent in the Second World War without consulting Indian opinion.
- Subhas Chandra Bose, elected Congress president in 1938 and again in 1939, resigned after differences with Gandhi and formed the Forward Bloc.
- The August Offer of 1940 and the Cripps Mission of 1942 both failed; Cripps offered dominion status after the war, which Gandhi is said to have described as a post-dated cheque.
Quit India Movement
- The Congress passed the Quit India resolution at Bombay on 8 August 1942, and Gandhi gave the call "Do or Die".
- Almost the entire leadership was arrested within hours, so the movement was carried on without central direction by students, peasants and local workers.
- Parallel governments were set up at Ballia, Tamluk in Midnapur and Satara.
- In Bihar, communications were cut across large districts and Jayaprakash Narayan escaped from Hazaribagh jail to organise underground resistance; Usha Mehta ran a secret Congress radio in Bombay.
- It was the most spontaneous and widespread of all the movements and was suppressed with great severity, but it convinced the British that holding India after the war would be impossible.
The Indian National Army
- The idea of an army from Indian prisoners of war was begun by Mohan Singh and Rash Behari Bose in south-east Asia.
- Subhas Chandra Bose escaped from India, reached Germany and then south-east Asia, took charge of the Azad Hind Fauj in 1943 and formed the Provisional Government of Free India at Singapore.
- The INA included the Rani of Jhansi regiment of women soldiers under Captain Lakshmi Sahgal, and its slogans were Jai Hind and Dilli Chalo.
- The INA trials at the Red Fort in 1945-46 produced enormous public sympathy, cutting across community lines, and the Royal Indian Navy mutiny of February 1946 showed that the loyalty of the armed forces could no longer be assumed.
Independence and partition
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| March 1946 | Cabinet Mission arrives with a three-tier federal plan |
| 16 August 1946 | Direct Action Day, followed by widespread communal violence |
| September 1946 | Interim Government formed under Jawaharlal Nehru |
| 3 June 1947 | Mountbatten Plan announces partition |
| 18 July 1947 | Indian Independence Act passed by the British Parliament |
| 15 August 1947 | Transfer of power; India becomes independent |
- The Cabinet Mission rejected the demand for a separate state but proposed a loose federation with grouping of provinces; its acceptance broke down over interpretation.
- The Radcliffe Line divided Punjab and Bengal, and the boundary award was published after independence.
- Partition was accompanied by the largest recorded migration of people and by enormous loss of life.
- Gandhi spent independence day in Calcutta working to stop communal violence rather than attending the celebrations in Delhi.
हिंदी संकेत: भारत छोड़ो प्रस्ताव 8 अगस्त 1942 को बंबई में पारित हुआ और नारा था करो या मरो। नेताओं की तत्काल गिरफ्तारी के कारण यह आंदोलन बिना केंद्रीय नेतृत्व के चला।
Exam me kaise aata hai
Factual questions ask the date of the Quit India resolution, where parallel governments were set up, and who formed the Azad Hind government. Match-the-following links date with event. Application questions ask why the INA trials and the naval mutiny mattered even though both failed militarily.
UPSC / State PSC ke liye
For the transfer of power, keep three strands together - the pressure of mass movements, the collapse of confidence in the loyalty of the armed forces after the INA trials and the naval mutiny, and Britain's post-war financial exhaustion. Any answer that uses only one of these is incomplete.
Yahan confuse hote hain
✗ Quit India was launched on 9 August 1942 | ✓ The resolution was passed on 8 August; arrests and the movement followed from 9 August
✗ The Cripps Mission offered immediate independence | ✓ It offered dominion status after the war
✗ Bose founded the INA | ✓ The INA was begun by Mohan Singh and Rash Behari Bose; Bose took charge of it in 1943
Ek nazar me
- Government of India Act 1935 gave provincial autonomy; Congress ministries resigned in 1939.
- August Offer 1940 and Cripps Mission 1942 both failed.
- Quit India resolution on 8 August 1942 with the call Do or Die; leaders arrested at once.
- Parallel governments at Ballia, Tamluk and Satara; Jayaprakash Narayan led underground work in Bihar.
- Bose led the Azad Hind Fauj from 1943 and formed a provisional government at Singapore.
- INA trials of 1945-46 and the naval mutiny of 1946 shook British confidence.
- Mountbatten Plan on 3 June 1947; independence and partition on 15 August 1947.
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