Between Anti-fascism And The Maintenance Of Colonial Rule

Based on the multilateral documents of Britain,the United States,India and China,this paper systematically examines the historical process of Britain's response to the Indian National Independence Movement during the Indian National Independence Movement during the period from September 3,1939,when Britain declared war on behalf of India against Nazi Germany,which triggered fierce opposition from Indian nationalists and sectarians,to November 14,1942,when Britain basically put an end to the all-India violent movement caused by the arrest of the leaders of Congress.The purpose of this paper is to reveal the trade-offs between advantages and disadvantages of Britain's pursuit of conflicting war objectives under the extremely severe war situation and the chain reactions caused by the anti-fascist war,then it reveals the impact of the anti-fascist war on British Indian colonial rule and the basic historical facts of Britain's response to India's demands for national independence in this special period.,as well as Britain's will,objectives,means and far-reaching impact to cope with this shock.The full text is divided into four chapters to discuss the internal logic of Britain's response to India's national independence appeal.The main points and conclusions of each chapter are summarized as follows:The first chapter mainly discusses the process of Britain's response to the conflict between Britain and India,which was triggered by the declaration of war on behalf of India on September 3,1939 and its entry into the international horizon during Chiang Kai-shek's visit to India in February 1942.While Britain declared war on Germany on September 3,1939,Governor-General and Viceroy of India The Marquess of Linlithgow followed the practice of World War I and declared war on behalf of India directly without the consent of the Indian Legislative Council,which aroused strong dissatisfaction among Indian nationalists.The radical left wing represented by the Communist Party of India,influenced by the Soviet Union and the Communist International's understanding of the nature of war,believed that Britain was engaged in imperialist war,actively opposed war,and sought to overthrow British colonial rule in order to achieve Indian national independence.Indian National Congress drew lessons from its unconditional support for Britain during World War I which ended in nothing,and asked Britain to clarify its war objectives in exchange for India's support for Britain's participation in the war by promising India's independence.The Muslim League had also offered its own conditions to support Britain's participation in the war: to treat Muslims fairly in the provinces under the ruling Congress Party.The British adopted the strategy of delaying repression and disintegration of Indian national independence.On the one hand,the British and Indian colonial authorities responded to the political demands of the Indian nationalists represented by the Congress Party “nominal”.On the other hand,resolutely suppressed the demonstrations and resistance of the left-wing radical groups in India,and appropriately tended to the political interests of Indian minority groups such as the Muslim League,but on the issue of whether India could be granted independence“mum”.Even when the Pacific War broke out and Britain's position in the Far East was in jeopardy,Britain firmly refused Indian National Congress' s attempt to declare a cessation of the disobedience movement in exchange for Britain's recognition of India's independence.At the same time,with the rapid deterioration of the war situation and the gradual formation of the anti-fascist alliance,the British-Indian conflict closely related to India's defense and anti-fascist war objectives and the legitimacy of British colonial rule over India have aroused the concern of the allies.On the one hand,Britain hoped to use the influence of its allies to appeal India to support India's war efforts,On the other hand,was wary of any foreign intervention that may touch the sensitive nerves of the British colonial rule.With regard to the application of the principle of national self-determination in the Atlantic Charter to India and the identity of India as a signatory of the United Nations Declaration,although Britain had to accept it in principle because of the reality of the anti-fascist war,its adherence to the principle of national self-determination did not apply to India and would not easily give up its actual control over India.On the issue of Chiang Kai-shek's visit to India,the British side not only welcomed Chiang Kai-shek's visit to India to appeal for India's support for the British war efforts,but also tabooed Chiang Kai-shek's interference in Indian affairs,especially feared that Chiang Kai-shek would unauthorized contact with the leaders of Indian National Congress,boost the anti-British morale and influence of Indian National Congress,and break India's political balance.British diplomacy should,to a considerable extent,influence the development of Chiang's visit to India in the direction expected by the British side,minimized the possible adverse effects on Britain caused by Chiang's visit to India.Chapter two systematically analyzes the process of the British government sending Cripps to India for negotiation and its failure due to the war situation and internal and external pressure.The pressure of international public opinion after Chiang Kai-shek's visit to India and the persuasion of American President Roosevelt prompted Churchill' s government to make a decision to send Cripps to India for negotiations.After his arrival in India on March 23,Cripps negotiated with Governor Linlithgow and his Executive Committee members,political parties and sectarian leaders of India successively.Linlithgo resolutely opposed the total Indianization of the Governor's Executive Committee,and Weville,the commander-in-chief of the British and Indian army,also objected it for fear that the declaration on India's future constitution would affect the effectiveness of minority soldiers in Punjab province.The Congress Party attached particular importance to the transfer of power during the transitional period and hoped to control the Indian Ministry of Defence,while Cripps believed that it can only be controlled by the British government at this particular time.The Sikhs,representatives of the maharajahs of the Indian states,and leaders of the Ramadan Hindu Lance all modified the plan from the perspective of the interests of their respective groups.When the Congress Party and the British-Indian colonial authorities came to a deadlock on the issue of defense control,Colonel Johnson,the representative of the American Military Technical Assistance Mission to India,mediated among Congress Party representatives Azad,Nehru and Cripps,and proposed a compromise plan on the issue of India's defence rights,which resolved the deadlock of the negotiations for a time.But because of Linlithgow's uncompromising stance on the issue of transferring “India's defense right”,the Congress Party finally rejected the new plan,and Britain recalled Cripps,declaring the the complete failure of the Cripps Negotiations.Chapter three systematically examines the reactions of the parties concerned and the British response after the failure of the Cripps negotiations.After the termination of Cripps' s mission,Gandhi gradually sprouted the idea of "Quit India" with the support of Indian National Congress,which eventually got the approval of the Congress and became Indian National Congress' s action program.China,the United States and the international community have always intervened because of their worries about the failure of the Cripps negotiations and the subsequent development of the Indian situation.The British side closed followed the movement of Indian National Congress.On the one hand,it adopted the strategy of combining continuous "wait-and-see" with the collapse of the counter-revolutionary system,and on the other hand,it plotted to suppress it.The British side not only closed monitored and evaluated the possible counter-measures taken by Indian National Congress after the failure of the negotiations,but also seized the opportunity of Indian National Congress' s convening of the draft "Quit India" at the end of April and the beginning of May to launch a public opinion counter-reaction against the decision-making mistakes made by the US and other Indian garrisons,resulting in Indian National Congress falling into the blame of international public opinion,including the United States.Although Nehru tried to "clarify" the facts,it had little effect.After the Congress Party passed the “Quit India” resolution at its working meeting on July 14,the British and Indian authorities intensified their efforts to suppress the plot and decided to immediately carry out the arrest of the leaders of the Congress Party once the Congress Party Committee of India adopted the “Quit India” plan on August 7.In order to coordinate this action,the British and Indian colonial authorities carefully selected to announce the draft of “Quit India” movement adopted by the Congress Party at its May Conference on August 5,before the National Congress of India held on August 7,which put the Congress Party in a passive position.Not only did Britain settle the criticism of Britain by the allies after Cripps' failure in India and the fear that India might erupt a large-scale British-Indian conflict,in order to ensure that the action is infallible,but it also sent a note to the United States and China on the eve of August 9,informing them of their repressive preparations,to seek the understanding and support of the allies in dealing with the Indian issue.Chapter IV mainly discusses the British response after the secret arrest of the Congress Party leaders by the British and Indian authorities on August 9,which triggered the riots all over India.In terms of maintaining India's internal stability,the British and Indian authorities should not only suppress the riots such as arson,strikes,demonstrations and destruction of public facilities,but also deal with the pressure from four aspects: public criticism,appeals for peace talks and mediation,raising demands of the Muslim League and Gandhi's possible hunger strike death.Chiang kai-shek hoped to send letters to Gandhi and Nehru who were arrested,and sent Wellington Koo to test the attitude of the British.After being rejected,Chiang kai-shek hoped to persuade Churchill through Roosevelt,but Churchill in turn hoped Roosevelt to persuade Chiang kai-shek.When Roosevelt failed to persuade Chiang Kai-shek,Churchill rejected Chiang Kai-shek directly.Roosevelt played a "link adjustment" role between Churchill and Chiang Kai-shek.Although Britain won the initial victory in the public opinion war with Indian National Congress in the last stage,which made the public opinion,including the United States,generally condemned the "Quit India" campaign planned by Indian nationalists as a hindrance to the efforts of anti-fascist joint operations,the situation in India was unstable with the spread of riots throughout India,and the British high-profile propaganda of "no" on the Indian issue.The "compromise" policy reversed American public opinion,condemned the British colonial policy,and forced Roosevelt to mediate the Anglo-Indian conflict.Therefore,in order to gain the understanding and support of its allies,Britain has to launch a diplomatic offensive to enable the new delegates to understand the complexity of the situation in India from the British perspective by asking the United States to send a new high-level representative to India,thereby eliminating the misunderstanding of the British and Indian authorities by the high-level American and public opinion,and stopping the intervention of the United States in the internal problems of British India.With the British and Indian authorities basically quelling the riots in the whole India in October and the final confirmation of the new high-level representative in India on November 14,the Indian National Independence Movement fell into a low ebb.This paper holds that although the Britain successfully dealt with the fierce national independence demands of India in the early years of the anti-fascist war and basically stabilized the political situation in India,the root causes of the conflict between Britain and India have not been solved,and the demands for national independence have only been temporarily suppressed,but have not been eliminated.Britain's "wedge" between Indian National Congress and the Muslim League was beneficial for Britain to maintain the colonial rule in India in a short time,but it also blocked the way out of the Indian issue through the tripartite peaceful consultation,laying the groundwork for the final Indian partition.The process of Britain's response to India's national independence during the war also weakened and disintegrated the confidence and ability of British rulers,exposed the fact that the British Empire was on the decline.Especially,the nature of the "Quit India" Movement broke out rapidly because of the secret arrest of the leader of Indian National Congress and turned to violence,which made the British rulers deeply anxious and uneasy,and realized that the fighting power of the Indian nationalists should not be underestimated.This laid the groundwork for Britain's determination to "withdraw" rapidly from India after the end of World War II,which had a far-reaching political impact on India's decolonization and independence.