Mains Daily Question
March 13, 2024
Q1. Both domestic and international factors contributed to the resurgence of revolutionary activities in India after 1920. Elucidate. (10M, 150W)
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Approach to the answer: The question talks about the revolutionary/militant nationalist activities after 1920. How domestic and international factors led to its resurgence. It asks about resurgence as by the end of World War I, the revolutionary activities almost vanished due to counter-measures by the British. Here we must list all domestic and international factors which aided in the rebirth of revolutionary activities.
Introduction: We can introduce the answer by defining who were revolutionary nationalists? Or by stating the environmental context (sudden withdrawal of Non-cooperation movement) leading to rebirth of revolutionary activities.
Body: The directive used in the question is elucidated, so we must list down the factors responsible for resurgence of revolutionary activities with examples/facts. There are two major dimensions in the question I.e., domestic and international factors responsible for resurgence of revolutionary activities. We need to mention them separately.
Conclusion: We can conclude by either summarizing the arguments of the body section or stating the impact these revolutionary activities had on the overall freedom struggle. |
Answer:
The revolutionaries were leaders with the belief that the conventional political movement (passive resistance) would not achieve nationalist aims, thus they advocated violent means. However, they were subjected to severe repression during the First World War and their movement declined after 1918 (end of World War I).
Major Domestic Factors aiding in Resurgence of Revolutionary Activities:
- Passage of Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms: In early 1920, many revolutionaries were released by the government under a general amnesty to create a harmonious environment for the Montford (Montagu-Chelmsford) Reforms to work.
- Failure of Non-Cooperation Movement: Post withdrawal of the Non-Cooperation Movement, revolutionaries began to question the basic strategy of nationalist leadership and its emphasis on non-violence and began to look for alternatives (mostly radical means).
- For instance, nearly all revolutionary leaders (such as Jogesh Chandra Chatterjee, Surya Sen, Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, Chandrasekhar Azad, Shiv Verma, Bhagwaticharan Vohra, Jaidev Kapur and Jatin Das) participated in the Non-Cooperation Movement.
- Inability of Existing Leadership to Inspire: The younger nationalists were not attracted to the parliamentary work of the Swarajists or to the patient constructive work of the No-changers, they were drawn to the idea that violent methods alone would free India. Thus, revolutionary activity was revived.
- Revolutionary Press and Journals: Journals publishing memoirs and articles extolling the self-sacrifice of revolutionaries and banned novels inspired a sense of revolutionary nationalism which was never seen before.
- For example, important journals of the period were Atmasakti, Sarathi and Bijoli whereas government banned revolutionary novels were Bandi Jiwan by Sachin Sanyal and Pather Dabi by Sharatchandra Chatterjee.
International Factors aiding in Resurgence of Revolutionary Activities:
- Revolution in Europe: The period of late 1910s and early 1920s saw many revolutions in Europe which inspired the revolutionaries in India.
- For instance, In Bulgaria, many troops mutinied, and the Bulgarian Tsar stepped down, similarly, mass strikes and mutinies occurred in Austria-Hungary, and the Habsburg monarchy collapsed.
- Russian Revolution: Russian Revolution (1917) and the success of the young Soviet state in consolidating itself made revolutionaries believe that mass scale violent movement is the way forward.
- Working-Class Movements: Upsurge of working-class trade unionism after World War I led the revolutionaries to harness the revolutionary potential of the new emergent class for nationalist revolution.
- Philosophy of Communism and Socialism: Newly sprouting communist groups with their emphasis on Marxism, socialism and the proletariat justified the methods of revolutionaries.
The revolutionaries of the 1920s, although, failed in their ultimate objective of overthrowing British yoke from India but nonetheless inspired and restored the pride of an entire generation thanks to their courage, sacrifice, patriotism and anti-imperialist ideology.
