16: Attitudes to Empire - the Role and Influence of Individuals

Gandhi's background

He trained as a barrister in London but enjoyed little success and returned to India. Gandhi began his career practising in South Africa for 20 years from 1893. He campaigned against racism and segregation, championing the civil rights of Indians who had settled in the area - challenging the British and the Afrikaners. His effort in South Africa won him widespread respect and opened doors in the Congress

Gandhi's beliefs

Gandhi favoured peaceful resistance to British rule - based on satyagraha principle. Satyagraha was rejecting violence to combat evil, relying on peaceful protests to appeal to the moral conscience and compassion of one's opponents e.g. strikes, boycotts, protests and peaceful disobedience. He wanted a united India with tolerance and equal rights for Hindu's and Muslims. He rejected the caste system, particularly arguing against discrimination against 'untouchables' and strongly opposed the partition. He wanted an independent India build on spiritual and social traditions. He wanted a predominantly agricultural and rural society which rejected the urbanisation and industrialisation of the west. For him, religion was fundamental to the conduct of human affairs. He distrusted all forms of modern technology which alienated many of the conventional liberal progressives in Congress.

Gandhi's campaigns

1907 Speaking he set out his commitment to the ordinary people of India and condemned the hardships the endured under both British rule and the iniquitous caste system

1915

Becomes President of the Indian National Congress. He travelled the country, supporting popular protests against British rule

1915-18

Travelled around India making speeches and listening to ordinary people's grievances

1917-18

Championed the downtrodden indigo workers of Bihar and textile workers of Ahmedabad. He was interested in gaining rights for poor Indians

1919

The Rowlatt Act appalled him as they were unjust and abolished the normal legal process for all political offences

1919

After the Amritsar massacre he began his campaign for full Indian independence. Congress was reborn as a dynamic mass movement which embraced the peasantry and industrial workers

1920

Helped organise the Non-Cooperation Movement. Taxes were withheld, British titles were returned and imported goods form the empire were not bought. By the end of 1922 more than 30 000 Indians had been arrested and as the architect of this mass action, Gandhi was quickly established as the leading figure in Indian nationalism. It was called off as peaceful protests gave way to violence

1924

1924 Fasts for three weeks to promote Hindu-Muslim unity

1930-31, 1932-34

Helped organise the Civil Disobedience Movement against unjust laws, including his anti-salt tax campaign (1931) culminating in 24-day march to Dandi to make salt in defiance of the British monopoly. Gandhi was arrested along with over 80,000 supporters.

1931

The Round Table Conference. Gandhi claimed to speak for the whole of India and questioned the presence of other Indian representatives. This went straight to the core of Muslim fears, and significantly undermined the negotiations, which resulted in a failure to reach an agreement. His actions in London disrupted what was perhaps the best opportunity yet offered to nationalists

1942

1942 Helped organise the Quit India Movement during WW2 which led to his eventual arrest by the British. It was 'a poorly judged action that failed to take in account the divided loyalties of the Indian nation' 'It received dismal support throughout the nation - victory over Hitler took precedence over grassroots India'

1947

Strongly opposed the partition of India and fasted again to show opposition to Hindu-Muslim violence

Developments outside of Gandhi's influence

The British remained in control - Gandhi did not force the British to change. They used repression and were in control of government policy and reform. The idea of a separate Pakistan gives weight to independence as an idea. Word War Two was a key turning point because of how it affected the economy and how it shifted the balance of global power. Elections of the Labour government that was amenable to granting India independence. The British public showed little interest in the Indian Issue. They were more concerned. In the 1939s when independence looked more realistic the prospect of actual power became the overriding issue and each side began to jockey for optimal position: any illusion of unity was replaced with self interest and Gandhi became increasingly marginalised

Gandhi's importance

He was prepared to talk with the British to share his vision of an independent India. He helped organise the civil disobedience campaign which led to India being ungovernable. He was involved with the peasants of India (ryots)- rallying the masses to his cause. His leadership brought increased support and direction to the nationalist movement. His methods made it hard for the British to respond as they believed in the 'civilising mission' of the empire. Breaking up non-violence with violence hardly fulfilled this. 'Gandhi was both a positive and an undermining influence. He forced Britain to listen to Indian demands but also create a platform for internal dispute'. 'When it became apparent that maintaining the Crown in India was a political and economic probability, Gandhi was rarely involved in the handover negotiations. On the day of independence he was not even present at the celebrations: his vision of a united India was in tatters...Gandhi will remain the preeminent figure of Indian nationalism, but the man himself was left behind in the desperate scramble for power and sadden by the final outcome'

Colonial Administration

It was their job to collect taxes and maintain stability and order in the face of growing nationalist movements seeking more representation of full independence from colonial rule. In 1925, the Colonial Office was split into two departments: the Dominions Office, with its own Secretary of State (this also took responsibility for the small number of other territories, most notably Southern Rhodesia) and the Colonial Office itself. Three cabinet members were responsible to Parliament for the good governance of the Commonwealth and Empire: the Secretary of State for the colonies, the Secretary of State for India and the Secretary of State for the Dominions. Beneath the three secretaries of state were the permanent officials at Whitehall, and below them, spreading across the Empire, the administrative services which backed up and exercised imperial power

Governance of Dominions

The Dominions recruited and appointed their own civil service, but the British Crown still continued to appoint the governor-general. After the Statute of Westminster in 1931 when the Dominions became autonomous, the Governor-General in the Dominions ceased to be an imperial official and instead became merely the representative of the crown

Recruitment of Colonial Administrators

The colonial services were unified in 1930 Individuals were no longer appointed directly to individual colonial governments and applied centrally to the Colonial office. The quality of recruits generally improved, particularly in Africa, where the future of colonial government looked assured. The bulk of administrators continued to be recruited form similar if not the same, public schools and the traditional universities. Pay varied enormously. The Governor of Nigeria in 1922, for example, could expect a salary of £8250 per annum, whereas a cadet starting work in Kenya earned approximately £200 per annum. They were expected to have qualities of singlemindedness and purpose. They were expected to be honest, responsible and industrious, but they could also be smug and narrow-minded despite the white racial attitudes being considerably softened by the 1920s and 30s

'Trusteeship'

There was a developing idea that colonial administration in the less-developed parts of the Empire, practically in Africa, should be a form of trusteeship. Administrators were there to protect native interests, foster the colony's economic growth and 'nurture' it towards greater self-rule. It was the duty of colonial government, before it thought of giving self-rule to any colony, to work to establish the infrastructure of 'good' government there which meant educational, welfare, medical and administrative services but chiefly the economic prosperity which would make these things possible. In 1927, a White Paper written by the Colonial Secretary, Leo Amery, argued in favour of trusteeship with colonists and promoting their interests. A Royal Commission under Sir Edward Hilton Young in 1929 ruled our self-government and federation in East Africa in favour of a policy of 'trusteeship'.

Benefit of the idea of Trusteeship

It was effective because it kept both imperialists and anti-imperialists quiet as it anticipated the end of empire, but not too soon. Both the left and the right of the political spectrum strongly endorsed doctrine of trusteeship. Such beliefs helped to cushion the shock of the eventual loss of empire for many British people and enabled them to see the granting of independence as the fulfilment of mission, not as the collapse of British power. It invested the will to empire with an ethical purpose which helped to sustain it beyond the Second World War. It implied that Britain was in Africa and Asia for the Africans' and Asians' benefit: that her aim was to develop them to a stage where they could fend for themselves

'Dual Mandate'

In 1931, Lord Passfield went a step further and argued in favour of a 'dual mandate'. This was the belief that a colonial power had a double responsibility: to its colonial peoples, it owed material and moral advancements leading to self-government; to the outside worlds it had the obligation to see that the natural resource of its colonies were developed and exploited

Edwin Montagu

Secretary of State for India from 1917-22. He was responsible for reforms which led to the Government of India Act 1919.

Leo Amery

Colonial secretary who argued in favour of 'trusteeship'.

Sir Ralf Furse

He was responsible for improving the recruitment and training of administrators. He was responsible for the 1930 reform of appointments to colonial service and became the director of recruitment in a new personal division in 1931. His reforms heled to establish a standard system of recruitment and training. He was given the nickname the 'father of the modern Colonial Service'. He considerable improved the quality of those in the colonial service.

Sir Harry Haig

A lifelong colonial administrator in India. He was reluctantly coming to terms with the idea of Indians as partners in empire. He was an opponent of Gandhi's campaign for independence.

Lord Chelmsford

Viceroy of India from 1916-21. Responsible for reforms which led to the Government of India Act 1919.

Lord Linlithgow

Viceroy of India from 1935-43. He actively promoted the further enfranchisement of Indians in the Government of India Act 1935 believing further reform would weaken the more radical nationalists and give rise to more responsible Indian politicians who would see the wisdom of working with the British towards the longer-term goal of self-government. He was an implacable opponent of Gandhi and resorted to suppression during the Indian civil disobedience campaign. Indians blamed him for the division and lack of economic development in the country but he was praised in Britain

Sir Donald Cameron

He was the Governor of Tanganyika (1924-31) and of Nigeria (1931-35). He greatly admired Lugard. He believed in the trusteeship principle. He promoted the exports of ground nuts and palm oil in Nigeria and the building of harbours and railways in Tanganyika. He wanted to advance the colonies economically and supported the entry of indigenous peoples into the civil service but he favoured a gradual path to more self-rule.

Sir Philip Mitchell

He had experience in various areas of the empire but went to Uganda in 1935. He fulfilled the trusteeship principle' by extending Makerere College ad working to create a more educated African elite.

independence

Baron Hailey

He was in the Indian Civil Service and was a key participant in the conferences leading to the 1935 Government of India Act. He travelled over 20 000 miles for the Royal Institute of International Affairs to produce 'an African survey' in 1938 which was so comprehensive and thoughtfully produced that it proved a highly influential study for future of British policy even after WW2.

Sir Andrew Cohen

He had considerable sympathy for the plight of the natie African peoples and was one of the earliest to understand the need for decolonisation. He cultivated contacts with African nationalists and when appointed Assistant Under-Secretary of State for the Colonial Office in 1947 was able to influence steps towards greater