← GPSC syllabus
GPSC (Gujarat)Stage 2: Main Examination
The Freedom Struggle: Stages and Contributors
What the official syllabus says
GPSC Main Examination, Paper IV: General Studies-I, (A) History.
- The freedom struggle - its various stages and important contributors/contributions from different parts of the country.
Topics in detail
The line asks for stages and for contributions from different parts of the country. Learn the phases in order, then a set of contributors region by region.
Moderate phase (1885 to 1905)
- Foundation of the Indian National Congress (1885); A. O. Hume, W. C. Bonnerjee
- Methods and demands of the moderates; the economic critique of colonial rule
- Leaders: Dadabhai Naoroji, Pherozeshah Mehta, Surendranath Banerjee, G. K. Gokhale
Extremist phase and revolutionaries (1905 to 1918)
- Partition of Bengal (1905) and the Swadeshi movement
- Lal-Bal-Pal; the Surat split (1907)
- Morley-Minto Reforms (1909) and separate electorates; the Muslim League (1906)
- Home Rule Leagues of Tilak and Annie Besant; the Lucknow Pact (1916)
- Revolutionaries in India and abroad: Anushilan Samiti, Khudiram Bose, India House in London, the Ghadar Party
Gandhian phase (1917 to 1947)
- Champaran, Kheda and the Ahmedabad mill strike (1917-18)
- Rowlatt Act and the Jallianwala Bagh massacre (1919)
- Khilafat and Non-Cooperation (1920-22); Chauri Chaura
- Swarajists, the Simon Commission (1928), the Nehru Report
- Purna Swaraj (Lahore, 1929); the Civil Disobedience Movement and the Dandi March (1930)
- Round Table Conferences, the Gandhi-Irwin Pact (1931), the Communal Award and the Poona Pact (1932)
- Government of India Act (1935) and the provincial ministries of 1937
- Quit India Movement (1942); parallel governments
Towards Independence
- Subhas Chandra Bose and the Indian National Army; the INA trials
- Royal Indian Navy mutiny (1946)
- Cripps Mission, Cabinet Mission, the Mountbatten Plan and the Indian Independence Act (1947)
- Partition and its human cost
Contributors from different parts of the country
- North and west: Lala Lajpat Rai, Bhagat Singh, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Vallabhbhai Patel
- East: Chittaranjan Das, Subhas Chandra Bose, Surya Sen
- South: V. O. Chidambaram Pillai, Subramania Bharati, C. Rajagopalachari, Alluri Sitarama Raju
- North-east: Rani Gaidinliu, U Tirot Sing
- Women: Sarojini Naidu, Aruna Asaf Ali, Usha Mehta, Kasturba Gandhi
- Workers, peasants and tribal people; the role of the press and of students
- Leaders from Gujarat are covered on the Gujarat modern history page
Stages at a glance
| Stage | Years | Main methods |
|---|---|---|
| Moderate | 1885 to 1905 | Petitions, resolutions, economic critique |
| Extremist and Swadeshi | 1905 to 1918 | Boycott, swadeshi, national education, Home Rule |
| Gandhian mass movements | 1917 to 1942 | Satyagraha, non-cooperation, civil disobedience |
| Final phase | 1942 to 1947 | Quit India, INA, negotiations, transfer of power |
Themes for analytical answers
- Mass mobilisation: peasants, workers (AITUC, 1920), students and women
- The princely states and the All India States People's Conference (1927)
- The communal question and the road to Partition
- Constitutional development as a parallel track to agitation
- Revolutionary and non-violent methods compared
Overlaps
- Prelims General Studies: India's freedom movement, Indian revolutionaries in India and abroad, national leaders.