WAR - Anti-Colonial Movements (Lesson)

Anti-Colonial Movements

Many of those without power in the world were native populations living under colonial rule—and a lot of that colonial rule came from Great Britain. There was a saying that the "sun never sets on the British Empire." Have a look at the map below and you can see why...

Nations highlighted in burgundy were nations controlled by Great Britain. In fact, following World War I Great Britain controlled roughly one-quarter of the planet and started to call itself the "British Commonwealth of Nations." For loyalty to Great Britain during the war, "the Commonwealth" gave Canada, Australia and New Zealand their independence. But these were "white settler colonies." Great Britain made no such concession for its other colonies (who were also loyal to and fought alongside Great Britain during the war.) Therefore, the other colonies saw an increase in nationalist and anti-colonial movements.

India

India's anti-colonial movement was very sophisticated. In the previous century, the Indian National Congress formed to formally address colonial concerns on the behalf of Indians. At the beginning of the 20^th Century, the Muslim Indian population formed a Muslim League to specifically address colonial issues related to the large Muslim population in India. During World War I, over a million Indians fought in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa on behalf of the Allied Powers. But very little changed for the average Indian living in the British Raj—their political rights and economic opportunities continued to be severely limited and often their protests resulted in further British suppression and violence.

The Indian anti-colonial movement received a boost, though, with the return of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi in 1915 CE. Gandhi earlier left India to study law in Great Britain and to work on the legal behalf of Indian immigrants in South Africa. When he returned home to India, he immediately joined in the anti-colonial movement, rising up within its ranks to eventually lead the movement altogether. Known as "Mahatma," or "Great Souled One," Gandhi lived up to his name by modeling a form of protest known as satyagraha —"non-violent resistance." Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, Gandhi encouraged his fellow Indians to boycott British goods and schools, withhold taxes from a government that did not allow them representation, and refuse to cooperate with local British officials. In his call for satyagraha, he (a Hindu) reached across religious lines and made alliances with Muslim Indians to coordinate protests. In his call for satyagraha, he reached across caste lines to transform the Indian National Congress from an elite organization to one for the masses. In his call for satyagraha, he used symbols (like his homespun attire) to pump up Indian pride and nationalism. In his call for satyagraha, he personally modeled the form of defiance he encouraged others to practice. The result—a mass mobilization of Indians participating in satyagraha.

And there you have an example of non-violent resistance, Gandhi-style. He believed that the only reason Great Britain was able to administer the British Raj in India was through Indian cooperation. Therefore, he decided it was time for all Indians—Hindu/Muslim, High Caste/Low Caste—to stop cooperating with the colonial government. Millions joined him in strikes and boycotts, and were easily recognizable as they increasingly snubbed the purchase of imported cloth to wear clothing made of indigenous cloth.

Other anti-colonial movements joined Gandhi's satyagraha—

• Jawaharlal Nehru (the inspiration for the Nehru Jacket—look it up!) pushed for Indians to embrace science and technology in the hopes that India's development as a modern nation would end the British Raj.
• Muhammad Ali Jinnah led the Muslim League. He disagreed with Gandhi's refusal to cooperate with the British government; instead, he believed that India's independence would come from politicians working through constitutional channels.
• Indian women formed the All-India Women's Conference in 1927 that endorsed suffrage and legislative seats for women.
• A spectrum of political parties (ranging from radical to moderate and including a Communist one) formed to push for a wide scope of reforms (ranging from the end of the British Raj and Indian self-governance to the continuance of the British Raj with more rights for Indians.)

The British Raj passed the Government of India Act of 1935. This new constitution granted more political independence at the provincial level and allowed for more Indians to vote raising the percentage of Indians eligible to vote to 10%, but it included wording that allowed the British government to revoke any legislation of which it did not approve. (So, India was still not independent. But this last British Raj constitution illustrated that the anti-colonial movements were having an effect.)

 

Egypt

If you will remember, the British occupation of Egypt predated the fall of the Ottoman Empire when Great Britain moved in during the late 1800s to "handle" the Suez Canal. During the dismantling of the Ottoman Empire at the Paris Peace Conference, an Egyptian delegation arrived in Paris to press for the creation of an independent Egypt. The delegation's leader was Sa'd Zaghlul—a moderate Egyptian nationalist noted for his good working relationship with the British and the Egyptians. But his determination to end the British protectorate over Egypt soured his standing among the British. Instead of granting the delegation's request, British officials arrested Zaghlul. Then they exiled him after he refused to end his nationalist pursuits.

[Interesting Side Note: The British exiled Zaghlul to the Seychelles (an island off the east coast of Africa.) This was apparently a popular move for the British in their handling of anti-colonial leaders. Throughout the decades, the British exiled lots of people to this tropical paradise including sultans, priests, kings, princes, queens...]

The absence of Zaghlul's moderate presence in Egypt led to revolts as rural rebels declared their local independence and destroyed symbols of British authority (rail lines, telegraph wires...) So, in 1922, the British announced that Egypt was an independent nation but that it would continue to be the home for British soldiers. Zaghlul's political party, the Wafd, successfully got elected to power but never was able to exercise it as the independence the British granted included their meddling in Egyptian politics.

During the Great Depression, the newly independent nation of Egypt experienced similar events as happened in Europe but was prevented from succumbing to more radical politics (as occurred in Italy and Germany) due to the British military presence. However, the fascist group "Young Egypt" won the hearts of many and a new group formed known as the Muslim Brotherhood. The Muslim Brotherhood promoted a return to traditional Muslim values and decried anything colonial, British or West. Within decades, it had millions of members.

 

China

China was never formally colonized by Great Britain (or anyone else, for that matter) but foreigners within China had a great deal of power at the expense of Chinese sovereignty—so that's why we will look at their story during the 1920s and 1930s in this section.

During the Paris Peace Conference, China learned that Japan would take over the previously German concession areas of China that included the region of Shandong (the birthplace of Confucius.) In response, thousands of student demonstrators marched in Beijing on May 4, 1919 in protest to the Treaty of Versailles. The May Fourth Movement sprung out of this protest and marked a huge upswing in Chinese nationalism. Dr. Sun Yat-sen (still president of the Guomindang political party) looked to these students as inspiration. In 1923, he made an alliance with the USSR (the enemy of Japan) and started admitting Chinese communists as members of the Guomindang. When he died, a new political leader—Chiang Kai-shek—stepped in to oversee the Guomindang in 1926 CE. Under his administration, the Guomindang led a somewhat successful campaign to reunify all of China militarily, set up a new national government in Nanjing, ended the alliance with the USSR as well as communist membership in the Guomindang (Chiang Kai-shek did not trust communists,) and worked through diplomatic channels to have Chinese concessions revamped. In the process, Chiang Kai-shek started a civil war within China between his nationalist party and Chinese communists.

As China entered the 1930s, multiple forces were at work within China attempting to direct its future...

Rise of Japanese Militarism	European Concession Rights	Nationalists vs Communists
Within Japan, Militarism was the belief that Japan's national interests could be achieved through its military. As the list of possible locations for Japanese imperialism shrank due to previous colonization and the League of Nation's Mandate System, China presented itself as a rather large and potential target for Japanese imperialism. Plus, Japan already had the concession rights to the Shandong Peninsula. Then, in 1931, Japan seized Manchuria from the Chinese in the "Manchurian Incident."	European nationals living within their Chinese concession areas were not bound to Chinese laws. And each concession area had different and specific laws that applied only within its borders. This allowed for a certain amount of legal and criminal problems for the Chinese government as warlords could conduct illegal business or activities in one concession area and then avoid arrest by relocating to another concession area. The concession rights greatly inhibited China's ability to act as a sovereign nation.	The Guomindang started the New Life Movement in the 1930s as a means of returning China to traditional Confucian values and practices. It included the implementation of a lot of moral codes in the legal system (dress codes for women, abolition of spitting/urinating/smoking in public, and a prohibition on casual sex.) Its intent was to erase the Western influences on Chinese culture that the nationalists blamed for the floundering of China as a nation. But the movement never really caught on among the rural peasants who were more interested in what the communists promised for the future of China. From 1927 to 1937, the struggle between the two perspectives played out in the Chinese Civil War.

 

 

 

Recap Section

Complete the activity below to review what you've learned.

 

 

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