Mass Movements and Constitutional Milestones

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Civil Disobedience (1930-34): Dandi March (12 March-6 April 1930). Salt as symbol. Round Table Conferences.
Quit India (Aug 1942): 'Do or Die' — Gandhi's call. Massive uprising. Leadership jailed.
Independence: Cabinet Mission 1946, Mountbatten Plan 3 June 1947, Indian Independence Act 18 July 1947, 15 August 1947 independence + partition.

From 1930 to 1947, India's independence movement intensified into mass movements: Civil Disobedience, Quit India, and the final negotiations. NDA tests dates, leaders, and key constitutional milestones.

Civil Disobedience Movement (1930-34)

Lahore Session (Dec 1929): Declared Purna Swaraj. 26 Jan 1930 celebrated as first Independence Day.
Dandi March (12 March-6 April 1930): Gandhi + 78 followers walked 240 miles from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi (Gujarat). 6 April: Gandhi made salt at the coast, breaking the British salt monopoly. Salt — small, symbolic, universally affecting — was a brilliant choice.
Spread: Salt-making, picketing of liquor shops, boycott of foreign cloth, no-tax campaigns. Especially intense in coastal areas, NWFP (Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan's "Frontier Gandhi" movement).
First Round Table Conference (Nov 1930-Jan 1931): London. INC didn't attend.
Gandhi-Irwin Pact (5 March 1931): Gandhi suspended Civil Disobedience; agreed to attend Second RTC. Released political prisoners.
Second Round Table Conference (Sep-Dec 1931): Gandhi attended as sole INC representative. Failed over communal representation.
Communal Award (Aug 1932): Ramsay MacDonald announced separate electorates for Depressed Classes (Dalits). Gandhi went on fast unto death. Poona Pact (24 Sep 1932) between Gandhi and Ambedkar: reserved seats within the general electorate instead of separate.
Movement called off: May 1934.

Government of India Act 1935 and Elections

GoI Act 1935: Provincial autonomy. Federal court (1937). All-India Federation proposed (never materialised due to princely states).
1937 Provincial Elections: First under new Act. Congress won 8 of 11 provinces; formed governments.
Congress ministries (1937-39): Various reforms — agrarian, prison, education. Resigned in 1939 when British declared India in WW2 without consulting Indians.
August Offer (Aug 1940): Linlithgow's offer of dominion status after war. Rejected.
Cripps Mission (Mar 1942): Sir Stafford Cripps offered Dominion status post-war. Both Congress and League rejected. Gandhi called it "a post-dated cheque on a crashing bank."

Quit India Movement (1942)

August 1942: Cripps Mission failure + Japanese advance through Burma triggered Quit India.
Bombay Session (8 Aug 1942): Congress passed Quit India Resolution. Gandhi's famous "Do or Die" speech.
9 August 1942: Gandhi, Nehru, Patel and other top leaders arrested before dawn. Movement effectively leaderless.
Mass response: Strikes, sabotage of railways and telegraph, parallel governments (Tamluk in Midnapore, Satara in Maharashtra, Ballia in UP).
Brutally suppressed: ~10,000+ killed (official figures), ~1 lakh+ imprisoned, many tortured.
Leaders not endorsing: Hindu Mahasabha, Muslim League (saw it as opportunistic), Communist Party (under Soviet/Allied alignment).
Significance: Made Indian independence inevitable. British realised they could no longer rule without Indian consent.

Path to Freedom (1945-1947)

End of WW2 (Aug 1945): Labour government under Attlee in Britain — committed to Indian independence.
INA trials (Red Fort, Nov 1945-Feb 1946): Three INA officers (P.K. Sahgal, G.S. Dhillon, Shah Nawaz Khan) tried for treason. Mass protests. Bhulabhai Desai, Nehru, Tej Bahadur Sapru defended. INA convicts pardoned.
Royal Indian Navy Mutiny (Feb 1946): Naval ratings revolted in Bombay. Symbolic of British weakening grip.
Cabinet Mission (Mar-Jun 1946): Pethick-Lawrence, Stafford Cripps, A.V. Alexander. Proposed three-tier federal structure. Initially accepted by both INC and Muslim League, then disagreements emerged.
Direct Action Day (16 Aug 1946): League's call. Calcutta riots; 4,000+ killed.
Interim Government (2 Sep 1946): Nehru as Vice-President of Viceroy's Executive Council. League joined later (Oct 1946).
Mountbatten arrived (Mar 1947). Last Viceroy.
3 June 1947 Plan: Mountbatten Plan accepted by both INC and League. Partition agreed.
Indian Independence Act (18 July 1947): Passed by British Parliament. Created two dominions — India and Pakistan.
14 August 1947: Pakistan independent. 15 August 1947: India independent. Radcliffe Boundary Commission demarcated borders (Aug 17).

NDA PYQ Examples

Q: The Dandi March began on:

(a) 12 March 1930 (b) 6 April 1930 (c) 26 January 1930 (d) 8 August 1942

Answer: (a) 12 March 1930. Reached Dandi 6 April.

Q: The Quit India Movement was launched in:

Q: The Cabinet Mission came to India in:

Q: India became independent on:

(a) 14 August 1947 (b) 15 August 1947 (c) 26 January 1950 (d) 18 July 1947

Answer: (b) 15 August 1947. Pakistan: 14 August.

Q: The Poona Pact was signed between:

(a) Gandhi and Jinnah (b) Gandhi and Ambedkar (c) Nehru and Jinnah (d) Patel and Mountbatten

Answer: (b) Gandhi and Ambedkar — 1932.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why did Gandhi choose salt for the Civil Disobedience movement?

Salt is needed by everyone — rich, poor, Hindu, Muslim. The British monopoly meant even poor Indians had to pay tax on this basic necessity. By breaking the salt law publicly, Gandhi created a universally relatable symbol of British injustice. The March became a global media event.

What was the Poona Pact?

September 1932 agreement between Gandhi (on fast-unto-death) and B.R. Ambedkar. Ambedkar gave up demand for separate electorates for Depressed Classes. In exchange: reserved seats within the general electorate, 148 instead of the 71 Ambedkar had won via the Communal Award. Controversial — Ambedkar later expressed regret.

Who refused to support the Quit India Movement?

Muslim League (saw it as Hindu-dominated), Hindu Mahasabha (focused on cultural nationalism), Communist Party of India (after USSR joined the Allies, CPI sided with the war effort), and many princely states. INC drove it alone.

What was the Cripps Mission?

Sir Stafford Cripps offered Dominion status after WW2 in exchange for war cooperation (March 1942). Provinces and princely states could opt out of any future Indian union. Gandhi famously called it "a post-dated cheque on a crashing bank." Rejected by both Congress and League.

Why did partition happen?

Multiple causes: Muslim League's demand for Pakistan (Lahore Resolution 1940), failure of Cabinet Mission Plan, 1946 communal violence (especially Direct Action Day), Mountbatten's urgency to leave, and Jinnah's insistence. Both Congress and League eventually accepted partition as the price of independence.