UPSC CORE GEOGRAPHY · NCERT · BIPAN CHANDRA CH 16-18: WWII + CRIPPS + QUIT INDIA + INA + MOUNTBATTEN + PARTITION
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How did WWII begin for India?
SEPTEMBER 1939 — Britain declared war on Germany; LORD LINLITHGOW (Viceroy) DECLARED INDIA ALSO AT WAR — without consulting Indian leaders or legislatures. CONGRESS PROVINCIAL MINISTRIES RESIGNED in OCTOBER 1939 (in 8 provinces) in protest. JINNAH celebrated this as "DELIVERANCE DAY"; Muslim League supported British war effort; HINDU MAHASABHA (V.D. Savarkar) also supported British. Congress was DIVIDED — Gandhi against war; Subhas Bose wanted to use British weakness; Nehru opposed Nazism but believed Indian must pay PRICE for cooperation.
AUGUST OFFER (1940)?
AUGUST 1940 — VICEROY LINLITHGOW offered: (i) DOMINION STATUS for India AFTER war; (ii) Indian Constituent Assembly to be set up post-war; (iii) ENLARGE Viceroy's Executive Council to include MORE Indians + Indian National Defence Council; (iv) NO transfer of power until "AGREEMENT among Indian communities" (i.e., Hindu-Muslim agreement) — gave LEAGUE effective veto. CONGRESS REJECTED — too vague + too distant. League + smaller groups responded mixed. Failed.
INDIVIDUAL SATYAGRAHA (1940-41)?
October 1940 — Gandhi launched INDIVIDUAL SATYAGRAHA to register Indian protest against war WITHOUT a mass movement (which might disrupt war effort + alienate British public sympathy). VINOBA BHAVE was the FIRST individual satyagrahi (October 1940 — arrested 21 Oct); JAWAHARLAL NEHRU was the SECOND (arrested Nov 1940). About 25,000 satyagrahis offered themselves for arrest. SLOGAN: "YA SARV-SHARANYA EKAANG NAR — One India: One leader" — kept the moral pressure on Britain.
CRIPPS MISSION (March-April 1942)?
After Japan entered war Dec 1941 + advanced through Burma to BENGAL frontier (FALL OF SINGAPORE 15 Feb 1942 — Britain's greatest military defeat ever), Britain DESPERATELY sought Indian cooperation. STAFFORD CRIPPS sent March 1942 with proposals: (i) DOMINION STATUS for India AFTER war (with right to secede); (ii) Constituent Assembly POST-WAR; (iii) PROVINCES + PRINCELY STATES could OPT OUT of any union; (iv) DURING war, defence + external affairs reserved for British. CONGRESS REJECTED (Gandhi called it "POST-DATED CHEQUE on a CRASHING BANK"); League rejected too. Failure of Cripps Mission led directly to QUIT INDIA.
CABINET MISSION 1946 — proposal?
3-MAN British Cabinet Mission (Pethick-Lawrence + Cripps + Alexander). Proposed: (i) FEDERATION of British India + Princely States; (ii) 3 GROUPS — A (Hindu-majority), B (NW Muslim), C (Bengal+Assam); (iii) Each Group could decide its own constitution before joining federation; (iv) WEAK CENTRE (only defence + foreign affairs + communications); (v) CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY to draft full constitution. Both INC + Muslim League initially ACCEPTED then BACKED OUT over interpretation of grouping. LAST chance to keep India united.
DIRECT ACTION + Calcutta killings 1946?
JINNAH called DIRECT ACTION on 16 AUG 1946 — to demonstrate Muslim STRENGTH. In CALCUTTA, 4 DAYS of communal violence — "GREAT CALCUTTA KILLINGS" — 5,000-10,000 dead, lakhs displaced. League-led Bengal premier H.S. SUHRAWARDY accused. Spread: NOAKHALI (Oct 1946 — Hindu massacres); BIHAR (Oct-Nov 1946 — Muslim retaliation); UP, Punjab attacks. CONGRESS realised PARTITION might be UNAVOIDABLE.
WHY did Gandhi launch Quit India 1942?
(i) Failure of CRIPPS MISSION made British promises seem worthless; (ii) JAPANESE military advance through Burma threatened India directly (Burma fell March 1942; Singapore Feb 1942); (iii) Gandhi feared Indians would be sandwiched between British + Japanese — needed clear stake; (iv) Indians needed RESPECT in their own land + opportunity to defend India themselves; (v) Bipan Chandra: Quit India was a BOLD GAMBLE — if British left, Indians would be forced to organise; if British stayed, India's anti-war + anti-British feeling would be cemented. Either way, OUTCOME was BETTER than continued passive cooperation.
GOWALIA TANK + "DO OR DIE" (8 August 1942)?
8 AUGUST 1942 — at GOWALIA TANK MAIDAN (Bombay, now August Kranti Maidan). Congress passed the QUIT INDIA RESOLUTION. Gandhi delivered his famous "DO OR DIE" speech: "Here is a mantra, a short one, that I give you. You may imprint it on your hearts and let every breath of yours give expression to it. The mantra is: 'DO OR DIE.' We shall either FREE INDIA or DIE in the attempt; we shall not LIVE TO SEE the perpetuation of our slavery." Marked the BEGINNING of the most important + violent phase of the freedom struggle.
OPERATION ZERO HOUR (9 August 1942)?
BRITISH RESPONSE was SWIFT + brutal. AT DAWN ON 9 AUGUST 1942 — British arrested ALL major Congress leaders: Gandhi (sent to AGA KHAN PALACE in Pune), Nehru + Patel + Azad + Kripalani (sent to AHMEDNAGAR FORT). 60,000 ARRESTS in the first weeks. Congress organisations DECLARED ILLEGAL. The MOVEMENT spread WITHOUT CENTRAL LEADERSHIP — became spontaneous mass uprising.
PARALLEL GOVERNMENTS during Quit India?
Several areas SET UP parallel governments during the brief windows when British control collapsed: (i) BALLIA (UP) — Chittu Pandey "Sher of Ballia" set up parallel govt for a few days; (ii) SATARA (Maharashtra) — "PRATI SARKAR" by Y.B. Chavan + NANA PATIL ran as parallel government 1943-46; (iii) MIDNAPORE (Bengal) — TAMRALIPTA JATIYA SARKAR by Sushil Kumar Dhara, Ajoy Mukherjee; (iv) TALCHER (Odisha) — independent for 5 YEARS until 1948. Showed Indian capacity for self-government even under hostile colonial conditions.
Key women + youth leaders during Quit India?
(i) USHA MEHTA — ran the secret CONGRESS RADIO from her Bombay home for 4 months (broadcast Quit India news + speeches); arrested December 1942; sentenced to 4 years. (ii) ARUNA ASAF ALI — at Bombay session, hoisted the Tricolour at Gowalia Tank Maidan after Gandhi's arrest; went UNDERGROUND for years; led continuous resistance. (iii) JAYAPRAKASH NARAYAN (JP) + RAM MANOHAR LOHIA — escaped from Hazaribagh jail; led socialist underground. (iv) RANI GAIDINLIU (already in jail since 1932 for Naga rebellion). (v) MATANGINI HAZRA — 73-year-old Bengali woman; killed at Tamluk holding the flag (Sept 1942).
Repression of Quit India?
SEVERE — by end of 1943: 90,000 arrested, ~1,000 killed in police firing, ~3,000 wounded. Crowds MACHINE-GUNNED FROM AIRPLANES (in many areas — first time in modern history). LEADERSHIP — leaders were KEPT in jail throughout the war (Gandhi released May 1944 after Kasturba died February 1944; Nehru released June 1945; others by August 1945). Bipan Chandra: "The BRITISH SUCCEEDED in suppressing the movement militarily; but they FAILED politically — Indian determination to be free was beyond doubt by 1944."
This topic is part of the NCERT UPSC Core History syllabus, drawn from the chapter Bipan Chandra Ch 16-18: WWII + Cripps + Quit India + INA + Mountbatten + Partition. Content is cross-referenced against the latest NCERT textbook editions + standard reference works.
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