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Muslim League forms
A Muslim group working to rid India of foreign rule. They partially work with the Hindu Indian National Congress, uniting the two constantly fighting Indian cultures (Beck et al 887). -
Amritsar Massacre
Around 10,000 Indians, Muslims and Hindus both, protesting the Rowlatt Acts in Punjab were fired upon by British troops without warning. The official reports record 400 dead and 1,200 wounded, but estimates are much higher. This is important because millions of Indians became nationalists almost overnight in response to the massacre and set the stage for Mohandas Gandhi (Beck et al 888). -
Salt March
Gandhi organized the Salt March to protest the Salt Acts. Demonstrators were beaten with steel tipped clubs and some were arrested, but thanks to an American journalist’s story, the movement gained worldwide support (Beck et al 889). -
Government of India Act
This act allowed India local self government, a good first step to independence (Beck et al 889). -
Indian forces in WWII
Brittain committed India’s armed forces to fight in WWII without so much as consulting the elected representatives of the colony, causing Gandhi to launch a nonviolent campaign of noncooperation (Beck et al 997). -
WWII ends, 8 May 1945
After the war, Britain was in extreme debt, and they could no longer afford to maintain and govern distant colonies, namely India. The British decided to give India independence. (Beck et al 998). -
Partition and Bloodshed
Uncertainty over who would receive power from the British, Muslims or Hindus, resulted in four days of clashes in Calcutta ending with 5,000 dead and 15,000 hurt, proving Muslim Indians and Hindu Indians could not rule together (Beck et al 998). Image from:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/staticarchive/55eef63265d665bbb560bcceb47123df8399aa89.gif -
Independence
The British House of Commons passes act giving independence to India and Pakistan in one month (Beck et al 998).
