What would be the best way to have more peaceful independence movements akin to India than OTL?
What would be the best way to have more peaceful independence movements akin to India than OTL?
India was fortunate in that as far back as the first world war tgere were people in the british establishment who realised thr impossibility of hanging on to India in the long run. Thus they were already committed to a dialogue with Indian independence leaders and getting whatever advantage they could before going. Most other colonial powers were far less rational
India was fortunate in that as far back as the first world war tgere were people in the british establishment who realised thr impossibility of hanging on to India in the long run. Thus they were already committed to a dialogue with Indian independence leaders and getting whatever advantage they could before going. Most other colonial powers were far less rational
In fact this was something going on, even as the Company was going through its conquests and many bemoaned the its conquests, urging it to hand it over to a 'native prince'.
Let's not exaggerate- despite the moaning and groaning, throughout the 19th C Britain was delighted to be able to extract resources from and sell finished goods to a captive and extremely profitable market.
However by the early 1900s once Indian nationalist ideals had properly developed I think the Raj was realistic enough to recognise that there was absolutely no way to keep down a population that large committed to the idea of Independence. By the interwar era the only question about Independence was 'when' not 'if'.
Can this be recreated in other British colonies?
India was fortunate in that as far back as the first world war tgere were people in the british establishment who realised thr impossibility of hanging on to India in the long run. Thus they were already committed to a dialogue with Indian independence leaders and getting whatever advantage they could before going. Most other colonial powers were far less rational
No, that's simply not true, Britain was still committed to India before the Second World War. The British strategy was to cling on to the central government in India whilst appeasing the nationalists through granting provincial autonomy - just look at Carl Bridge's work on the 1935 Act, no-one in Britain viewed it as a stepping stone to independence. Most British politicians expected the British presence in India to last for at least a few more decades.
That may have been the official position but read some of the oral histories- Plain Tales from the Raj is quite telling. I recall quite a few Indian Civil Service personnel went out in the 1920s firmly convinced that they would be the last generation able to serve out their careers in India
Hm, I'll have to take a look at it. Most of what I've read has stressed that the collapse in the ICS' morale occurred during the 1940s.