The essentials
In 1937 the Congress won elections held under the Government of India Act of 1935 and formed ministries in many provinces. When the Second World War broke out in 1939, the Viceroy declared India's involvement in the war without consulting Indian leaders. The Congress ministries resigned in protest. Talks with the British, including the Cripps Mission of 1942, failed.
Gandhi then launched the Quit India movement in August 1942, calling on the British to leave India at once. His call to the people was "do or die". Gandhi and other senior leaders were arrested almost immediately. Even so, the movement spread: young activists organised strikes and acts of sabotage across the country. Socialist members of the Congress, such as Jayaprakash Narayan, were active underground. In some districts, such as Satara in the west and Medinipur (Midnapur) in the east, "independent" governments were proclaimed.
Key points
- The British responded with force; it took more than a year to suppress the movement.
- Quit India was a genuinely mass movement, bringing hundreds of thousands of ordinary Indians into the struggle.
- Gandhi was released from prison in 1944 and worked to bridge the differences between the Congress and the League.
- After the war, the Cabinet Mission (1946) failed to obtain agreement; communal violence followed, and India was partitioned at Independence in 1947.
- On 15 August 1947 Gandhi did not attend the celebrations in Delhi; he was in Calcutta, working to restore peace.
- Gandhi was assassinated on 30 January 1948.
Common mistakes
- "Do or die" belongs to Quit India (1942), not to the Salt March.