The Indian National Movement During World War II

The years between 1939 and 1942 were among the most turbulent in India’s freedom struggle. As World War II engulfed the globe, the Indian National Congress faced a critical dilemma: how to respond to a war they hadn’t consented to, while navigating deep internal divisions and an unyielding colonial administration. This period witnessed the resignation of Congress ministries, the failure of the Cripps Mission, and the dramatic Japanese advances that shattered long-held assumptions about British military supremacy.

The flawed foundation: Congress and the Government of India Act 1935 🔗

The Government of India Act 1935 was the longest piece of legislation ever passed by the British Parliament, containing 451 clauses and 15 schedules. While it introduced provincial autonomy and expanded the electorate to approximately 30 million people, the Congress viewed it with deep suspicion.

The Act proposed an All-India Federation that would unite British Indian provinces with princely states under a central government. Congress leaders saw this arrangement as fundamentally problematic. The Congress condemned the Act as a “slave constitution” designed to perpetuate British economic control over India. Jawaharlal Nehru famously described it as “a machine with strong brakes but no engine.”

Why the federation failed 🔗

The proposed federation never materialized for several reasons. The princely states were given the choice to join or remain independent, and many rulers feared that accession would undermine their internal authority. Scholars like Robin Jeffrey and Ian Copland have noted that the federation was designed to give disproportionate weight to conservative princely states, effectively creating a counterbalance to the democratically elected representatives from British India.

The Congress rejected the federal provisions partly because they weighted representation in favor of minority elements and princely states, which Congress viewed as undemocratic. The Congress demanded instead the convening of a Constituent Assembly elected on the basis of adult franchise to frame a constitution for an independent India.

A house divided: internal Congress conflicts 🔗

The late 1930s exposed deep ideological fissures within the Congress. Three distinct factions competed for influence: the Gandhian leadership advocating non-violent gradualism, militant nationalists seeking immediate confrontation with the British, and a growing left wing pushing for socialist transformation alongside independence.

The Bose-Gandhi rift 🔗

The most dramatic manifestation of these divisions came in the clash between Subhas Chandra Bose and Mahatma Gandhi. At the 1939 Congress presidential election, Bose sought re-election advocating for a more militant approach. Gandhi supported Pattabhi Sitaramayya, but Bose won by 1,580 votes to 1,377.

Gandhi publicly stated that Sitaramayya’s defeat was his own defeat. The Tripuri Congress session in March 1939 became the battleground for this conflict. Bose believed that India was internally ripe for a revolution and that the coming international crisis would provide an unprecedented opportunity for achieving independence.

However, the Gandhi-led faction controlled the Congress Working Committee. As historian Sugato Bose, noted in his book His Majesty’s Opponent, Subhas was comprehensively outmaneuvered by Gandhi in Congress politics during the spring of 1939. Unable to form a working committee, Bose resigned as Congress President in April 1939 and subsequently formed the Forward Bloc in May 1939 to unite left-wing forces.

Differing approaches to war 🔗

These internal divisions extended to attitudes toward the war and military recruitment. The Gandhian faction remained committed to non-violence even in wartime, while Bose and others saw the war as an opportunity to leverage India’s strategic importance for immediate independence. The left wing, meanwhile, initially opposed the “imperialist war” but shifted position after Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941.

The breaking point: Congress ministries resign 🔗

On 3 September 1939, Viceroy Lord Linlithgow declared India at war with Nazi Germany immediately after Britain’s declaration. This unilateral action, taken without consulting the elected provincial legislatures or Indian leaders, proved to be a decisive turning point.

The Congress Working Committee suggested it would cooperate if a central Indian national government were formed and a commitment were made to India’s independence after the war. However, the Viceroy could only offer to form a consultative committee with merely advisory functions. This inadequate response left Congress with no choice.

On 22 October 1939, all Congress ministries were called upon to tender their resignations. The Muslim League under Muhammad Ali Jinnah celebrated 22 December 1939 as a “Day of Deliverance” from Congress rule, a move that deepened communal divisions.

Gandhi’s strategic restraint: individual satyagraha 🔗

After the Congress ministries resigned, there was considerable pressure for an immediate mass civil disobedience movement. However, Gandhi resisted this approach. He believed the masses were not ready for struggle and feared a mass movement might turn violent, embarrassing Britain during its wartime difficulties in a manner he considered inappropriate.

Instead, Gandhi launched the Individual Satyagraha in 1940. This limited form of protest aimed to affirm the right of free speech rather than seek immediate independence. Selected individuals, starting with Vinoba Bhave, would publicly make anti-war statements and court arrest. The aims were threefold: to demonstrate that nationalist patience was not due to weakness, to express that Indians made no distinction between Nazism and British autocracy, and to keep the nationalist spirit alive without precipitating a violent confrontation.

The myth shattered: Japanese advances in Asia 🔗

The war situation in Asia changed dramatically in early 1942. The fall of Singapore on 15 February 1942 represented what Winston Churchill called the worst disaster in British military history. Approximately 80,000 British, Indian, and Australian troops surrendered to a smaller Japanese force.

Rangoon fell on 8 March 1942, and by June, the Japanese had driven British and Indian forces entirely out of Burma. The early successes of the Axis powers severely damaged the myth of British invincibility. The British retreat demonstrated a vulnerability that transformed Indian political calculations.

Political ferment and rising impatience 🔗

The Japanese advances created unprecedented political ferment in India. Around 40,000 Indian soldiers captured at Singapore joined the Indian National Army under Subhas Chandra Bose’s eventual leadership. The threat of Japanese invasion of India itself was now real.

Within Congress, there was growing impatience, particularly among youth and radical elements who favored more aggressive action. The belief that Britain was weak and vulnerable provided what seemed like a strategic opportunity. The war had also devastated the Indian economy, causing massive inflation and food shortages that would culminate in the catastrophic Bengal Famine of 1943.

The Cripps Mission: a failed gambit 🔗

Facing mounting pressure from the United States and other allies, Britain dispatched the Cripps Mission to India in March 1942. Led by Sir Stafford Cripps, a Labour Party member sympathetic to Indian aspirations, the mission aimed to secure Indian cooperation for the war effort.

The proposals offered full dominion status after the war, with the right to secede from the Commonwealth. A Constituent Assembly would draft a new constitution. However, the offer contained provisions that proved unacceptable to Congress: any province could opt out of the future Indian Union, defense would remain under British control, and there was no plan for immediate transfer of power.

Why the mission failed 🔗

Congress demanded the immediate establishment of a national government responsible to the Central Legislative Assembly with full control over civil administration. Gandhi famously dismissed the Cripps proposals as a post-dated cheque drawn on a crashing bank, emphasizing their lack of immediate value.

Historian R.J. Moore has documented how the mission was undermined from within. Messages between Viceroy Linlithgow and Secretary of State Leo Amery reveal that both opposed the mission and deliberately undercut Cripps. Churchill himself had long opposed Indian self-rule and viewed the mission primarily as a public relations exercise for American consumption.

The Congress Working Committee officially rejected the Cripps proposals on 7 April 1942. The Muslim League also rejected them because they did not explicitly guarantee a separate Muslim state. Following this failure, the stage was set for the Quit India Movement that would erupt in August 1942.

The path to confrontation 🔗

The period from 1939 to 1942 demonstrated the impossibility of reconciling British wartime imperatives with Indian aspirations for freedom. The rejection of the 1935 Act’s federal scheme, internal Congress divisions, the resignation of provincial ministries, the shattering of British prestige by Japanese victories, and the failure of the Cripps Mission all contributed to an atmosphere of crisis.

By mid-1942, even moderate Congress leaders had concluded that negotiations with Britain were futile. The path now led inexorably toward the Quit India Movement-the most massive upheaval India had witnessed since 1857.

What do you think? How might Indian history have unfolded differently if the Cripps Mission had succeeded? Could the internal divisions within Congress between Gandhian and militant approaches have been bridged under different circumstances?

References

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_India_Act_1935
2. https://www.constitutionofindia.net/historical-constitution/government-of-india-act-1935/
3. https://www.insightsonindia.com/modern-indian-history/national-movement-1919-1939/government-of-india-act-1935/
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subhas_Chandra_Bose
5. https://pwonlyias.com/udaan/congress-crisis-gandhi-vs-bose/
6. https://uppcsmagazine.com/the-forward-bloc-formation-ideology-and-legacy/
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1937_Indian_provincial_elections
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_of_Deliverance_(India)
9. https://selfstudyhistory.com/2015/01/29/cripps-mission-the-quit-india-movement-the-wavell-plan-the-cabinet-mission/
10. https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/britains-war-in-east-asia-during-the-second-world-war
11. https://www.cheggindia.com/general-knowledge/quit-india-movement/
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cripps_Mission
13. https://vajiramandravi.com/upsc-exam/cripps-mission/
14. https://testbook.com/ias-preparation/ncert-cripps-mission