Figure 1.--. |
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The independence movement led by Mahatma Ghandi and the Congress Party gained considerable strength during the 1920s and 30s. The British were having increasing difficulties governing India. The Congress Party while refusing to support the War efort, decided not to actively oppose it or to take advantage of British defeats in the early stages of the War. Some Indian POWs taken by the Japanese were recruited by anti-British nationalists and formed the Free Indian Army. Under Subhashchandra Bose, they fought alongside the Japanese in Burma. Overall, India played an important part in the Allied war effort. Indian units fought with other British Empire forces in both the Pacific and European theaters. About 2.5 million Indians (including modern Pakistan) were mobilized. Some Indian units played important roles in the early stages of the War before Britain had fully mobilized and American joined the War. The Fifth Indian Division ngaged the Italians in the Sudan ans subsequently the Germans in the western Desert. The Indians played a major role in quelling a pro-NAZI revolt in Iraq. A successful revolt would have cut the British off from the Iraqi oil fields whigh would have undermined the naval and land defenses of Egypt and the Suez Canal. the Division along with eight other Indian Divisions fought in Burma. India provided important bases for the reconquest of Burma and delivering supplied to the Chinese. India also was a source of food and other supplies for British and Commonwealth forces as well as the British homefront. After the Japanese surrender, the Indian forces then disarmed the Japanese forces in Malayia and Java.
The independence movement led by Mahatma Ghandi and the Congress Party gained considerable strength during the 1920s and 30s. The British were having increasing difficulties governing India. The Congress Party while refusing to support the War efort, decided not to actively oppose it or to take advantage of British defeats in the early stages of the War.
India also was a source of food and other supplies for British and Commonwealth forces as well as the British homefront.
The Fifth Indian Division ngaged the Italians in the Sudan ans subsequently the Germans in the western Desert. The Indians played a major role in quelling a pro-NAZI revolt in Iraq. A successful revolt would have cut the British off from the Iraqi oil fields whigh would have undermined the naval and land defenses of Egypt and the Suez Canal.
The seemingly impregnable British bastion in Asia was Singapore. Japanese General Tomoyuki Yamashita mastermined a brilliant campaign to attack Singapore by moving south through Malaya, a contigency the British had not anticipated. Percival's surrender was the greatest mass surrender in British military history. [Bayly and Harper] Large numbers of Indian troops as part of the British garison were taken as POWs.
Some Indian POWs taken by the Japanese were recruited by anti-British nationalists and formed the Free Indian Army. Under Subhas Chandras Bose, they fought alongside the Japanese in Burma. Bose is a figure that is undergoing reevaluation in India. With the rise of the BJP, some Indians now seem to want a founding father wih a more martial ethic than Gandi. Bose's escape from under the British nose in India and his training by the Germans makes for an interesting story. What is difficult to understand about Bose is ability to dismiss NAZI racism or his inability to understand what a Japanese-controlled India would have meant. His dislike of The British seems to have blined him to what an Axis victory would have neant for India.
The Japanese forced thousands of women into slavery, serving as "comfort women".
The 5th Indian Division along with eight other Indian Divisions fought in the CBI theater, Indian troops played a major role in the last important Japanese offensive of the War. They helped repulse the Japanese invasion of India (1944). Indian troops fought at both Imphal and Kohima. India provided important bases for the reconquest of Burma and delivering supplied to the Chinese.
About 3 million Indians died in the Bengal famine (1943-44). [Bayly nd Haeper]
After the Japanese surrender, the Indian forces then disarmed the Japanese forces in Malayia and Java.
The War stirred nationalist sentiment throughout Europe. [Bayly and Harper] The Japanese victories showed the weakness of the European colonial regimes. India had the most avanced independence movement. Churchill's defeat in the in the British election brought the Labour Party to power, vurtually guaranteeing Indian independence. Lord Mountbatten who directed the CBI Theater became India's last Viceroy.
Bayly, Christopher and Tim Harper. Forgotten Armies: The Fall of British Asia, 1941-1945 (Belknap/Harvard, 2005).
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