30.4 NATIONALISM IN INDIA AND SOUTHWEST ASIA

flag of India (right)

flags of Turkey, Iran, and Saudi Arabia (below)

INDIAN NATIONALISM GROWS

Two groups rid India of foreign rule: Indian National Congress (Hindus-see symbol

below left)

Muslim League (Muslims-see symbol below right)

WORLD WAR I INCREASES NATIONALIST ACTIVITY

Until WWI, the vast majority of Indians had little interest in independence.

The British promised reforms in return for service during WWI, but Britain did not fulfill its promise.

Radical nationalists carried out acts of violence.

British passed the Rowlett Act in 1919 allowing the government to jail protestors without trial for as long as two years.

Sir Sidney Arthur Taylor Rowlatt (20 July 1862 - 1 March 1945) was an English lawyer and judge, best remembered for his controversial presidency of the Rowlatt committee, The committee gave rise to the Rowlatt Act, an extension of the Defense of India Act 1915.

AMRITSAR MASSACRE

In protest of Rowlett Acts 10,000 Hindus and Muslims flocked to Amritsar in 1919 where they fasted, prayed, and listened to political speeches.

The British had banned public meetings. The British commander of Amritsar ordered British troops to fire on the crown without warning for 10 minutes.

400 Indians were killed and 1,200 were wounded.

Almost overnight the Amritsar Massacre changed millions of Indians from loyal British subjects into Indian nationalists.

Colonel Reginald Edward Harry Dyer nicknamed “The Butcher of Amritsar” was the commander responsible for ordering the firing on civilians, including women children.

.303 LEE-ENFIELD RIFLE The troops who fired on the unarmed

civilian crowd were armed with .303 Lee-Enfield rifles.

CHARLES FREER ANDREWS

He was a Church of England priest who favored Indian independence and became a close friend of Mohandas Gandhi.

He called the Amritsar Massacre a “cold-blooded massacre and inhumane.”

GANDHI'S TACTICS OF NONVIOLENCE• Mohandas K. Gandhi

emerged as the leader of the independence movement. Gandhi’s strategy

involved his deeply religious approach to political activity.

He blended ideas of all the major world’s religions.

He came to be called Mahatma (meaning “great soul”).

NONCOOPERATION

Gandhi urged the Indian National Congress to follow a policy of noncooperation with the British government.

In 1920, the Congress Party endorsed civil disobedience (the deliberate and public refusal to obey an unjust law).

Gandhi launched his civil disobedience campaign to weaken British authority and economic power.

BOYCOTTS

Gandhi asks Indians to refuse to buy British goods, attend government schools, pay British taxes, or vote in elections.

Gandhi also staged a boycott of British cloth He urged all Indians to weave their own cloth He himself spent two hours a day spinning his

own yarn. The sale of British cloth in India dropped sharply.

STRIKES AND DEMONSTRATIONS

Civil disobedience took economic toll on the British

1920 British arrest thousands of Indians who took part in strikes and demonstrations.

In spite of please for nonviolence, protests led to riots.

THE SALT MARCH

In 1930, Gandhi organized the Salt March in protest of the Salt Acts. Indians could only buy salt from

the government which was taxed Gandhi and followers marched

240 miles to the sea where the people made their own salt.

Some demonstrators marched to a British salt processing plant but were met with violence.

About 60,000 people, including Gandhi, were arrested during demonstrations against the salt tax.

BRITAIN GRANTS LIMITED SELF-RULE

In 1935, the British Parliament passed the Government of India Act. Provisions:

local self-government granted limited democratic elections

Limits: It did not grant total independence.

BRITAIN GRANTS LIMITED SELF-RULE

The Government of India Act fueled tensions between Muslims and Hindus. Two groups had different visions for

independence. Indian Muslims feared being outnumbered

by Indian Hindus.

NATIONALISM IN SOUTHWEST ASIA

• Breakup of the Ottoman Empire and growing Western political and economic interest spurred the rise of nationalism.

TURKEY BECOMES A REPUBLIC

Turkey kept its homelands Anatolia small strip of land around Istanbul

TURKEY BECOMES A REPUBLIC

1919 Greek soldiers invade Turkey Turkish sultan

powerless to stop the Greeks.

1922 Mustafa Kemal, a nationalist leader

successfully fought back the Greeks and their British backers.

after winning a peace, overthrew the last Ottoman sultan.

TURKEY BECOMES A REPUBLIC

1923 Kemal became president of the new Republic of Turkey and ushered in reforms. separated laws of Islam from the laws of the nation abolished religious courts and created a new legal

system granted women the right to vote launched government funded programs to

industrialize Turkey Kemal died in 1938, but left a legacy of a new

national identity. He is called the “father of the Turks.”

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881-1938) Republican People’s Party Goals:

republicanism (National Assembly).

nationalism (“Turkification”).

populism (for the benefit of the people).

statism (state-controlled economy).

secularism (free from religious control).

reformism.

1924 abolished the caliphate.

Atatürk’s Reforms1. “Turkify” the Islamic faith

Translate the Qur’an into Turkish.

Secular education.

Ministry of Religious Affairs abolished.

Sharia courts closed newsecular courts.

2. Western-style clothing Forbid the wearing of the fez

Western-style men’s suits.

Attacked the veiling of women.

Atatürk’s Reforms

3. Language Reform: Roman alphabet replaced

theArabic script.

Literacy in new alphabet required for government positions.

4. State Socialism: State banks established to

finance government-controlled businesses.

5. Adoption of a Surname.

PERSIA BECOMES IRAN

After WWI, when Russia was still reeling from the Bolshevik Revolution, the British tried to take over all of Persia.

A nationalist revolt was triggered.

PERSIA BECOMES IRAN

Reza Shah Pahlavi seized power in 1921, and in 1925 deposed the ruling shah. He set out to modernize the

country established public schools built roads and railroads promoted industrial growth extended women’s rights

He kept all power in his own hands

He changed the name of the country from Persia to Iran

SAUDI ARABIA KEEPS ISLAMIC TRADITIONS

In 1902, Abd al-Aziz Ibn Saud began a successful campaign to unify Arabia

In 1932 the new kingdom was called Saudi Arabia

Ibn Saud carried on Arab and Islamic traditions. Loyalty was based on custom, religion, and family ties

Ibn Saud brought modern technology to the country, but limited to what was religiously acceptable.

No democracy was practiced.

Oil Drives Development

Rising demand for petroleum products brought new oil explorations to Southwest Asia.

European and American companies discovered oil in Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait

Geologists discovered nearly two-thirds of the world’s oil supply was in the Persian Gulf region.

Western nations then began to try to dominate this region.