World War I and its causes. 1

World War I and its causes

World War I proved to be a turning point in the imperialist relations between India and Britain. Fourteen million Indian and British soldiers in the British Army took part in the First World War, and their participation is considered to be the cause of a wide cultural change. News of Indian soldiers' participation and deaths in battles with British and other sovereign nations, such as Canada and Australia, spread to far-flung corners of the globe through newspapers and new media radios. As a result, India's international position improved and continued to improve throughout the 1920s. As a result, India became a founding member of the League of Nations in 1920 under its name and participated in the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp under the name 'Les Indes Analysis' (The British Indies). As a result, in India, the leaders of the Indian National Congress have been seen demanding more Indian rights to self-government.
The signing of the Lucknow Agreement in 1918 and the establishment of the Home Rule Leagues demonstrated the strength of the nationalists. At the same time, the catastrophe of the Mesopotamian campaign in World War I made it clear that the war could go on for a long time. The new Viceroy, Lord Chelmsford, warned that the Indian government should be more sensitive to the demands of Indians. After discussions with the government in London later this year, Lord Chelmsford proposed that the British government should take various measures to show confidence in the Indians, given their role in the war. These included the awarding of titles and honors to Indian kings, the granting of various posts to Indians in the army, and the removal of unnecessary cotton excise duties. Most important, however, was the announcement of a future plan for India by Britain and an indication of some concrete steps. After negotiations in August 1918, Edwin Montagu, India's new liberal secretary of state, declared that the British goal was to "establish a progressive and responsible government in India as an integral part of the British Empire through greater Indian participation in every branch of government and the growth of autonomous bodies." It was planned to restore the confidence of educated Indians, who were despised as an under-represented minority. Which Montagu described as "our child in terms of intelligence." Britain would decide where and when to accelerate the pace of reform when the Indians were seen to be achieving it. However, the plan was initially conceived with limited self-government in the states - in India but firmly within the British Empire. It represented the first British proposal for a representative government of any kind in a black colony.

Earlier, the re-deployment of most of India's British troops in Europe and Mesopotamia at the beginning of World War I resulted in an earlier victory. Lord Hardinge expressed concern about India's "risk of troop withdrawal." [6] Revolutionary violence had already become a concern in British India. Consequently, in 1915, the Government of India enacted the Defense of India Act further to strengthen its powers during growing weakness. It empowers the government to detain politically dangerous opponents without due process, and the powers that be under the Press Act of 1910 are strengthened. These included imprisoning journalists and censoring the media. Now the issue of constitutional reform is being seriously discussed. The British government began to consider how to bring moderate Indians into constitutional politics and at the same time strengthen the hand of established constitutionalists. However, the reform plan was taken at a time when extremist violence was declining as a result of excessive government control during the war. Now, fearing a resurgence of revolutionary violence, the government began to consider how wartime powers could be maintained even in peacetime.

The Secretary of State for India, Edwin Montagu, on the left, on whose report the Government of India Act of 1919 was introduced. It is also called the Montford Reform or Montagu-Chelmsford Reform.
Thus, although Edwin Montagu announced new constitutional reforms in 1918, a sedition council was tasked with investigating German-Bolshevik contacts with revolutionary conspiracies and violent activities in India during the war. The council was chaired by a British judge, Mr. S. A. T. Rawlat. The unwritten goal of this council was to extend the wartime powers of the government in later times. To deal with destructive activity in these areas, the Rawat Council recommends that the government use its emergency powers in wartime. These included the power to try by a three-judge panel without a jury in sedition cases, forcible bail from suspects, government surveillance of suspects, and provincial governments to arrest suspects and hold them in short-term detention without trial.
With the end of the First World War, the economic environment also changed. Towards the end of 1919, 1.5 million Indians were in military and civilian roles in the armed forces. India paid core 146 million for the war. The overall price index in India doubled between 1914 and 1920 as a result of increased taxes and disruptions in domestic and international trade. Soldiers returning from the war mainly created a growing unemployment crisis in Punjab. Post-war price hikes have caused food riots in Bombay, Madras, and the provinces of Bengal. The bad rains of 1918-19, illicit profits, and speculation made the situation worse. The worldwide influenza pandemic and the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 were fearsome. The first was to create economic hardship among the people, and the second was to frighten government officials into fearing a similar revolution in India.

To deal with the impending crisis, the government drafted the recommendations of the Rawat Parishad through two Rawat bills. Although the bills were approved for legal consideration by Edwin Montagu, they were reluctantly passed. It was announced, "I hate at first sight this suggestion of keeping the Defense of India Act in peace, as long as Rawat and his friends see it as necessary." In the forthcoming discussions and elections in the Imperial Legislative Council, all Indian members were vocal in their opposition to these bills. Yet the Indian government was able to use its "official majority" to pass the bill in early 1919. However, when the bill was passed, a smaller version was passed in honor of the Indian opposition. It now authorizes additional judicial powers but only for three years and only to try "anarchist and revolutionary movements." The second bill involving changes in the Indian Penal Code was completely withdrawn. Nevertheless, when the new Rawat Bill was passed, there was widespread outrage across India, and it led to the nationalist movement.