RBSE Class 10 Social Science Notes History Chapter 2 Nationalism in India

These comprehensive RBSE Class 10 Social Science Notes History Chapter 2 Nationalism in India will give a brief overview of all the concepts.

RBSE Class 10 Social Science History Chapter 2 Nationalism in India

Summary

(1) First world war and Khilaft and Non-cooperation – In 1914, the first world war broke out. It led to a huge increase in defence expenditure which was financed by war loans and increasing taxes. Through the war years prices increased doubling between 1913 and 1918 leading to extreme hardship for the common people. The forced recruitment in rural areas caused widespread resentment. Due to the famines and the epidemic, 12 to 13 million people died.

(2) Satyagraha Movement – Gandhiji returned to India in Jan.1915 from South Africa. He organised successfully the Satyagraha movement in Champaran, Kheda and Ahmedabad.

(3) The Rowlatt Act – The British government passed the Rowlatt Act in 1919. It gave the government enormous powers to repress the political activities and allowed detention of political prisoners without trial for two years.

(4) Khilafat Movement – Gandhiji supported the Khilafat movement to bring the Hindus and Muslims together. He saw this as an opportunity to bring Muslims under the umbrella of a unified national movement.

(5) Gandhiji’s views in favour of Non-cooperation – Mahatma Gandhi declared that British rule was established in India with the cooperation of Indians, and had survived only because of this cooperation. If Indians refused to cooperate, British rule in India would collapse within a year, and Swaraj would come.

(6) Non-cooperation Movement – On 13th April, 1919 the Jallianwalla Bagh massacre took place. Hundreds of innocent persons were killed by the police. Gandhiji was shocked to see this massacre. The Khilafat movement gave Gandhiji an opportunity to start non-cooperation movement.

Gandhiji started non-cooperation movement in 1921. Thousands of students left government schools and colleges and the lawyers gave up their legal practices. Foreign goods were boycotted, liquor shops were picketed. Foreign cloth was burnt in huge bonfires. The peasant and the tribals also participated in the movement. In Feb.1922, Gandhiji decided to withdraw the non-cooperation movement due to the violent incident occurred in Chauri-Chaura.

(7) Simon Commission – In 1927, the British government setup a commission under John Simon. There were seven members of the commission who were all British. So the congress party decided to boycott the Simon Commission. When the Simon commission arrived in India in 1928, it was greeted with the slogan ‘Go back Simon’.

(8) Demand for Purna Swaraj – In December, 1929 under the Presidency of Jawahar Lai Nehru, the Lahore Congress formalised the demand of ‘Puma Swaraj’ full independence for India. It was declared that 26th January, 1930 would be celebrated as the Independence day.

(9) The Salt March and the Civil Disobedience Movement – Mahatma Gandhi found in salt a powerful symbol that could unite the nation. On 31st January, 1930, he sent a letter to Viceroy Erwin stating eleven demands. The most stirring of all was the demand to abolish the salt tax. But the British Government did not pay any attention to the demand of Gandhiji. So Gandhiji started his famous salt march on 12th March, 1930 accompanied 75 of his volunteers.

The March was over 240 miles, from Gandhiji’s Ashram in Sabarmati to the Gujarati coastal town of Dandi. On 6th April, Gandhiji reached Dandi and ceremonially violated the law manufacturing salt by boiling sea water. This marked the beginning of the Civil Disobedience Movement. Thousands of people broke the salt law. Foreign cloth was boycotted and liquor shops were picketed. The British Government adopted repressive policy to curb the movement and arrested about 1,00,000 peoples.

(10) Role of the different social groups in the Movement – Rich peasant communities supported the movement but when the movement was called off in 1931 without revenue rates being revised, they were deeply disappointed. So when the movement was restarted in 1932, many of them refused to participate. The industrialists supported the Civil Disobedience Movement and they gave financial assistance to the movement. Some workers participated in the movement. There were strikes by railway workers in 1930 and dockworkers in 1932. But the women participated in the movement in large numbers.

(11) Limitations of Civil Disobedience Movement – Gandhiji declared that swaraj would not come for a hundred years if untouchability was not eliminated. He organised satyagrah to get them entry into temples and access to public wells, tanks, roads and schools. Many dalit leaders demanded reserved seats in educational institutions and a separate electorates. Dalit participation in the Civil Disobedience Movement was therefore limited.

When the British Government conceded Dr: Ambedkar’s demand for separate electorates for dalits, Gandhiji began a fast unto death. At last the Poona Pact was signed between Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Ambedkar in September, 1932. Some of the Muslim political organisations in India did not show their enthusiasm in the movement.

(12) The Sense of Collective Belonging –

• The sense of collective belonging came partly through the experience of united struggles,
• In the twentieth century, with the growth of nationalism, the identity of India came to be visually associated with the image of Bharat Mata,
• The image was first created by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay.
• In the 1870s, he wrote ‘Vande Matram’ as a hymn to the Motherland,
• After this Abanindranath Tagore painted his famous image of Bharat Mata. Ideas of nationalism also developed through a movement to revive Indian folklore.

(13) Struggle for freedom – A growing anger against the colonial government was bringing together various groups and classes of Indians into a common struggle for freedom.