Editing Quit India Movement (section)

==World War II and Indian involvement==
In 1939, Indian nationalists were angry that British [[Governor-General of India]], [[Victor Alexander John Hope|Lord Linlithgow]], brought India into the war without consultation with them. The Muslim League supported the war, but Congress was divided.

At the outbreak of war, the Congress Party had passed a resolution during the Wardha meeting of the working committee in September 1939, conditionally supporting the fight against the Axis,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aicc.org.in/the_congress_and_the_freedom_movement.htm#the. |title=The Second World War and the Congress |access-date=28 August 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061005002204/http://www.aicc.org.in/the_congress_and_the_freedom_movement.htm |archive-date=5 October 2006 |publisher=Official of the Indian National Congress}} URL accessed on 20 July 2006</ref> but were rebuffed when they asked for independence in return:

{{Blockquote|If the war is to defend the status quo of imperialist possessions and colonies, of vested interest and privilege, then India can have nothing to do with it. If, however, the issue is democracy and world order based on democracy, then India is intensely interested in it... If Great Britain fights for the maintenance and expansion of democracy, then she must necessarily end imperialism in her possessions and establish full democracy in India, and the Indian people have the right to self-determination... A free democratic India will gladly associate herself with other free nations for mutual defence against aggression and for economic co-operation.<ref>{{cite book|author=Panigrahi, D. N. |title=Quit India and the Struggle for Freedom |year= 1984|publisher= New Delhi|pages=13–14}}</ref>}}

Gandhi had not supported this initiative, as he could not reconcile an endorsement for war (he was a committed believer in non-violent resistance, used in the [[Indian independence movement|Indian Independence Movement]] and proposed even against [[Adolf Hitler]], [[Benito Mussolini]], and [[Hideki Tojo]]). However, at the height of the [[Battle of Britain]], Gandhi had stated his support for the fight against racism and of the British war effort, stating he did not seek to raise an independent India from the ashes of Britain. However, opinions remained divided. The long-term British policy of limiting investment in India and using the country as a market and source of revenue had left the Indian Army relatively weak and poorly armed and trained and forced the British to become net contributors to India's budget, while taxes were sharply increased and the general level of prices doubled: although many Indian businesses benefited from increased war production, in general business "felt rebuffed by the government" and in particular the refusal of the British Raj to give Indians a greater role in organising and mobilising the economy for wartime production.<ref>Srinath Raghavan (2016). ''India's War – The Making of Modern South Asia 1939–1945'', Allen Lane, London. {{ISBN|978-1-846-14541-4}}, p. 320.</ref>

[[Subash Chandra Bose]] remarked that a "new chapter in Indian freedom struggle began with the Quit India Movement".<ref>{{cite book|title=Assamese Women in Indian Independence Movement: With a Special Emphasis on Kanaklata Barua|page=5|author=Guptajit Pathak|year=2008|publisher=Mittal Publications}}</ref> After the onset of the world war, Bose had organised the ''[[Indian Legion]]'' in [[Germany]], reorganised the [[Indian National Army]] with Japanese assistance and, soliciting help from the [[Axis Powers]], conducted a [[guerrilla war]] against the British authorities.

Viceroy [[Victor Hope, 2nd Marquess of Linlithgow|Linlithgow]] remarked the movement to be "by far the most serious rebellion since 1857". In his telegram to [[Winston Churchill]] on 31 August he noted:

<blockquote>I am engaged here in meeting by far the most serious rebellion since that of 1857, the gravity and extent of which we have so far concealed from the world for reasons of military security. Mob violence remains rampant over large tracts of the countryside and I am by no means confident that we may not see in September a formidable attempt to renew this widespread sabotage of our war effort. The lives of Europeans in outlying places are in jeopardy.<ref name="Panigrahi"/><ref name="Wolpert Wolpert">{{cite book | last=Wolpert | first=Stanley | title=Shameful Flight: The Last Years of the British Empire in India | publisher=Oxford University Press, USA | year=2009 | isbn=978-0-19-539394-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zuoMsBWCTBUC&pg=PA46 | page=46}}</ref></blockquote>

When American Republican presidential candidate [[Wendell Willkie]] and [[YMCA]] official [[Sherwood Eddy]] planned to meet Gandhi, Linlithgow deemed it to be American interference in "our own business" and asked Churchill to dissuade them.<ref name="Wolpert Wolpert"/> The Indian nationalists knew that the [[United States]] strongly supported Indian independence, in principle, and believed the U.S. was an ally. However, after Churchill threatened to resign if pushed too hard,{{citation needed|date=November 2019}} the U.S. quietly supported him while bombarding Indians with propaganda designed to strengthen public support of the war effort. The poorly run American operation annoyed the Indians.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Pullin, Eric D. |title='Noise and Flutter': American Propaganda Strategy and Operation in India during World War II|journal=Diplomatic History|volume=34|issue=2|pages=275–298|doi=10.1111/j.1467-7709.2009.00849.x|year=2010|jstor=24915981}}</ref>

===Cripps mission===
In March 1942, faced with a dissatisfied sub-continent only reluctantly participating in the war and deterioration in the war situation in Europe and with growing dissatisfaction among Indian troops and among the civilian population in the sub-continent, the British government sent a delegation to India under [[Stafford Cripps]], the [[Leader of the House of Commons]], in what came to be known as the [[Cripps Mission]]. The purpose of the mission was to negotiate with the [[Indian National Congress]] a deal to obtain total co-operation during the war, in return for [[devolution]] and distribution of power from the crown and the [[Viceroy]] to an elected Indian legislature. The talks failed, as they did not address the key demand of a timetable of self-government and of the powers to be relinquished, essentially making an offer of limited dominion-status that was unacceptable to the Indian movement.<ref name="b" />

===Factors contributing to the movement's launch===
In 1939, with the outbreak of war between Germany and Britain, India became a party to the war by being a constituent component of the British Empire. Had enough Indian states agreed to form a Federal Government under the terms of the 1935 Act, then the Viceroy could not have acted unilaterally in declaring war on India's behalf.  Following this declaration, the Congress Working Committee at its meeting on 10 October 1939, passed a resolution condemning the aggressive activities of the Germans. At the same time, the resolution also stated that India could not associate herself with war unless it was consulted first. Responding to this declaration, the Viceroy issued a statement on 17 October wherein he claimed that Britain was waging a war driven with the intention of strengthening peace in the world. He also stated that after the war the government would initiate modifications in the Act of 1935, in accordance with the desires of the Indians.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/quit-india-movement-british-raj-mahatma-gandhi-do-or-die-8079136/|title=Explained: Recalling 'Quit India', when ordinary Indians took to the streets with a vow to 'Do or Die'|date=9 August 2022 }}</ref>

Gandhi's reaction to this statement was; "the old policy of divide and rule is to continue. Congress has asked for bread and it has got stone." According to the instructions issued by High Command, the Congress ministers were directed to resign immediately. Congress ministers from eight provinces resigned following the instructions. The resignation of the ministers was an occasion of great joy and rejoicing for the leader of the Muslim League, [[Muhammad Ali Jinnah]]. He called the date i.e. 22 December 1939 [[Day of Deliverance (India)|The Day of Deliverance]]. Gandhi urged Jinnah against the celebration of this day, however, it was futile. At the Muslim League Lahore Session held in March 1940, Jinnah declared in his presidential address that the Muslims of the country wanted a separate electorate, Pakistan.

Meanwhile, crucial political events took place in England. Chamberlain was succeeded by Churchill as prime minister. This meant that the Marquis of Zetland who had piloted the 1935 Act, much to Churchill's chagrin, resigned as Secretary of State for India.  In order to pacify the Indians in the circumstance of the worsening war situation, the Conservatives were forced to concede some of the demands made by the Indians. On 8 August, the Viceroy issued a statement that has come to be referred to as the "[[August Offer]]". However, Congress rejected the offer followed by the Muslim League.

In the context of the widespread dissatisfaction that prevailed over the rejection of the demands made by the Congress, at the meeting of the Congress Working Committee in Wardha, Gandhi revealed his plan to launch individual civil disobedience. Once again, the weapon of ''[[satyagraha]]'' found popular acceptance as the best means to wage a crusade against the British. It was widely used as a mark of protest against the unwavering stance assumed by the British. [[Vinoba Bhave]], a follower of Gandhi, was selected by him to initiate the movement. Anti-war speeches ricocheted in all corners of the country, with the satyagrahis earnestly appealing to the people of the nation not to support the government in its war endeavours. The consequence of this satyagrahi campaign was the arrest of almost fourteen thousand satyagrahis. On 3 December 1941, the Viceroy ordered the acquittal of all the satyagrahis. In Europe the war situation became more critical with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the Congress realised the necessity for appraising their program. Subsequently, the movement was withdrawn.

Cripps' mission of March 1942 and its failure also played an important role in Gandhi's call for The Quit India Movement. In order to end the deadlock on 22 March 1942, the British government sent Sir Stafford Cripps to talk terms with the Indian political parties and secure their support in Britain's war efforts. A draft declaration of the British Government was presented, which included terms like the establishment of Dominion, the establishment of a Constituent Assembly, and right of the provinces to make separate constitutions. However, these were to be only implemented after the cessation of the World War II. According to Congress, this declaration offered India an only promise that was to be fulfilled in the future. Commenting on this Gandhi said, "It is a post-dated cheque on a crashing bank." Other factors that contributed were the threat of Japanese invasion of India and the realisation of the national leaders of the incapacity of the British to defend India.