The British Imperial Establishment, Post Imperial Era, and the ‘Churchillian’ World View, 1945-2016. (Adjustments & Challenges in Contemporary British Diplomatic Strategy)

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powers
were transferred to Indians. By this stage Indians, after assisting in
Britain’s war effort, and, after
hearing widespread discussion of national
self-determination at the Versailles Conference in Paris, were
demanding
an equal status with the Dominions. British repression, as at Amritsar in
1919 when hundreds
of Indians were shot, only fanned Indian discontent
higher. Gandhi was helping to frustrate British
administration by leading a
non-co-operation campaign and schemes of civil disobedience. The
British
government made further concessions in 1935, but still not sufficient to
satisfy Indian demands.
Similar status to the white settlement countries was
simply promised, whereas Indians felt it should be
instituted forthwith. The
British government, however, was still able to withstand a
concerted
opposition from Indian nationalists although the demand for independence
had been growing
through the twentieth century. By promising separate
representation to Muslims, and other groups, the British
were able to
forestall independence, with Hindus and Muslims generally unable to co-
operate fully in
their demands for political power. Yet the Indians, although
divided, were making the British presence
difficult to maintain. By their
nationalist strivings the Indians had pushed the course of
political
development faster than most British authorities had ever contemplated.
The Indians were
asserting that they too could exercise a full political
maturity equally with the white settlers of the
British Commonwealth.

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