[Topic wise IAS Modern Indian History Question Bank (1979-2015)]: (9) Nationalism under Gandhi’s leadership

Nationalism under Gandhi’s leadership: Rise of Gandhi; Character of Gandhian nationalism; Gandhi’s popular appeal; Rowlatt Satyagraha; the Khilafat Movement; the Non-cooperation Movement; National politics from the end of the Non-cooperation movement to the beginning of the Civil Disobedience movement; the two phases of the Civil Disobedience Movement; Simon Commission; The Nehru Report; the Round Table Conferences; Nationalism and the Peasant Movements; Nationalism and Working class movements; Women and Indian youth and students in Indian politics (1885-1947); the election of 1937 and the formation of ministries; Cripps Mission; the Quit India Movement; the Wavell Plan; The Cabinet Mission.

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1. What were the circumstances that led Mahatma Gandhi to start the Non-cooperation Movement? Examine its contribution to India’s struggle for freedom. [1980, 60m]

2. Write a critical note on: “Gandhiji’s role in solving the communal problem.” [1981, 20m]

3. “The Cripps Mission gave India ‚a post-dated cheque.” Comment. [1982, 20m]

4. “The Cabinet Mission Plan‚ seemed to open an avenue for the reconciliation of a united India with Muslim autonomy’.” Comment.  [1983, 20m]

5. Identify the main strands in the Civil Disobedience Movement with particular reference to the changing role of ‘business pressures’ in the country [1985, 60m]

6. How would you explain Gandhiji’s ‘rise to power’ or ‘capture’ of national leadership in the course of 1919-20? Was it a very skilful top-level political game? [1987, 60m]

7. “The Simla Conference (1945) afforded the last opportunity of the forces of nationalism to fight a reargued action to preserve the integrity of the country and when the battle was lost, the waves of communalism quickly engulfed it.” Comment. [1988, 20m]

8. Identify the main features of industrial development in India from 1914 to 1947 with special reference to the emergence of a class of factory laborers. [1989, 60m]

9. Show how the Civil Disobedience was marked by much scattered potentially radical manifestations. Was the Karachi Congress an indication of certain basic weakness of the entire movement? [1992, 60m]

10. “The nationalist political movements for liberation such as the non-cooperation and civil disobedience movements and their leadership depended heavily on the peasantry.” Comment. [1993, 20m]

11. “To glorify the strength of the Congress and deny that of the League is to be blind.” (P.C. Joshi, 1945) Comment. [1994, 20m]

12. Gandhi restrained mass-movements yet he retained his popularity among the masses. How do you explain this paradox? [1994, 60m]

13.”Gandhi’s mystique consisted of a union of original ideas with a remarkable flair for tactics and an uncanny insight in the mass mind.” Elucidate. [1999, 60m]

14. “Gandhi restrained mass movements, yet he retained his popularity among the masses.” Comment. [2002, 20m]

15.”In the summer of 1942 Gandhi was in a strange and uniquely militant mood.” Comment. [2003, 20m]

16. Analyse the factors responsible for the Civil Disobedience movement (1930-31). How far were its aims realised in the Government of India Act of 1935 ? [2005, 60m]

17. “At Karachi in 1931 , the congress defined what Swaraj would mean for the masses.” Comment. [2007, 20m]

18. Explain the circumstances leading to the alliance between the Khilafat and Non-Cooperation Movements. Was it a politically wise step on the part of the Congress? [2007, 60m]

19. “Us moral law, the laws of conscience, higher than the law of the state, which is oppressive.” Comment. [2008, 20m]

20. Do you think that Quit India movement was a Spontaneous Revolution? [2009, 30m]

21. “Many of us who worked for the congress programme lived in a kind of intoxication during the year 1921. We were full of excitement and optimism… we had a sense of freedom and pride in that freedom.” Critically examine. [2013, 10m]

22. “Gandhi’s body is in jail but his soul is with you, India’s prestige is in your hands, you must not use any violence under any circumstances. You will be beaten but you must not resist, you must not raise a hand to ward off blows.” Critically examine. [2013, 10m]

23. “To characterize the Quit India Movement as ‘Spontaneous Revolution’ would be partial interpretation, so also would be to look up at it as the culmination of Gandhian Satyagraha movements.” Elucidate. [2015, 20m]

24. “The Royal Indian Navy Revolt was seen as an event which marked the end of the British rule almost as finally as Independence Day.” Explain. [2015, 10m]

25. “This retention of Rowlatt legislation in the teeth of universal opposition is an affront to the nation. Its repeal is necessary to appease national honour.” Critically examine. [2015, 10m]

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