A radical trend of a militant nationalist approach to political activity started emerging in the 1890s, and it took a concrete shape by 1905. As an adjunct to this trend, a revolutionary wing also took shape.

Many factors contributed to the rise of militant nationalism:

Recognition of the True Nature of British Rule

Having seen that the British government was not conceding any of their important demands, the more militant among those politically conscious got disillusioned and started looking for a more effective mode of political action.

Also, the feeling that only an Indian government could lead India on to a path of progress started attracting more and more people.

The economic miseries of the 1890s further exposed the exploitative character of colonial rule. Severe famines killed 90 lakh persons between 1896 and 1900. Bubonic plague affected large areas of the Deccan. There were large scale riots in the Deccan.

The nationalists were wide awake to the fact that instead of giving more rights to the Indians, the government was taking away even the existing ones.

1892 — The Indian Councils Act was criticised by nationalists as it failed to satisfy them.

1897 — The Natu brothers were deported without trial and Tilak and others, imprisoned on charges of sedition.

1898 — Repressive laws under IPC Section 124 A were further amplified with new provisions under IPC Section 156 A.

1899 — The number of Indian members in Calcutta Corporation were reduced.

1904 — Official Secrets Act curbed freedom of press.

1904 — The Indian Universities Act ensured greater government control over universities, which it described as factories producing political revolutionaries.

Also, British rule was no longer progressive socially and culturally. It was suppressing the spread of education, especially mass and technical education.

Growth of Confidence and Self-Respect

There was a growing faith in self-effort. Tilak, Aurobindo, and Bipin Chandra Pal repeatedly urged the nationalists to rely on the character and capacities of the Indian people.

A feeling started gaining currency that the masses had to be involved in the battle against colonial government as they were capable of making the immense sacrifices needed to win freedom.

Growth of Education

While, on the one hand, the spread of education led to an increased awareness among the masses, on the other hand, the rise in unemployment and underemployment among the educated drew attention to poverty and the underdeveloped state of the country’s economy under colonial rule. This added to the already simmering discontent among the more radical nationalists.

International Influences

Remarkable progress made by Japan after 1868 and its emergence as an industrial power opened the eyes of Indians to the fact that economic progress was possible even in an Asian country without any external help.

The defeat of the Italian army by Ethiopians (1896), the Boer wars (1899– 1902) where the British faced reverses, and Japan’s victory over Russia (1905) demolished myths of European invincibility.

Also, the nationalists were inspired by the nationalist movements worldwide—in Ireland, Russia, Egypt,
Turkey, Persia, and China.

The Indians realised that a united people willing to make sacrifices could take on the mightiest of empires.

Reaction to Increasing Westernisation

The new leadership felt the stranglehold of excessive westernisation and sensed colonial designs to submerge the Indian national identity in the British Empire. The intellectual and moral inspiration of the new leadership was Indian.

Intellectuals like Swami Vivekananda, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, and Swami Dayananda Saraswati inspired many young nationalists with their forceful and articulate arguments, painting India’s past in brighter colours than the British ideologues had. These thinkers exploded the myth of western superiority by referring to the richness of the Indian civilisation in the past. Dayananda’s political message was ‘India for the Indians’.

Dissatisfaction with Achievements of Moderates

The younger elements within the Congress were dissatisfied with the achievements of the Moderates during the first 15–20 years. They were strongly critical of the methods of peaceful and constitutional agitation, popularly known as the “Three ‘P’s”—prayer, petition and protest—and described these methods as ‘political mendicancy’.

Reactionary Policies of Curzon

A sharp reaction was created in the Indian mind by Curzon’s seven-year rule in India which was full of missions, commissions, and omissions. He refused to recognise India as a nation and insulted Indian nationalists and the intelligentsia by describing their activities as “letting off of gas”. He spoke derogatorily of Indian character in general.

Administrative measures adopted during his rule—the Official Secrets Act, the Indian Universities Act, the Calcutta Corporation Act, and, above all, the partition of Bengal—left no doubt in Indian minds about the basically reactionary nature of British rule in India.

Existence of a Militant School of Thought

By the dawn of the 20th century, a band of nationalist thinkers had emerged who advocated a more militant approach to political work. These included Raj Narain Bose, Ashwini Kumar Dutta, Aurobindo Ghosh, and Bipin Chandra Pal in Bengal; Vishnu Shastri Chiplunkar and Bal Gangadhar Tilak in Maharashtra; and Lala Lajpat Rai in Punjab. Tilak emerged as the most outstanding representative of this school of thought.

The basic tenets of this school of thought were:

● hatred for foreign rule; since no hope could be derived from it, Indians should work out their own
salvation;

● swaraj to be the goal of national movement;

● direct political action required;

● belief in the capacity of the masses to challenge the authority;

● personal sacrifices required and a true nationalist to be always ready for it.

Emergence of a Trained Leadership

The new leadership could provide a proper channelisation of the immense potential for political struggle which the masses possessed and, as the militant nationalists thought, were ready to give expression to. This energy of the masses got a release during the movement against the partition of Bengal, which acquired the form of the swadeshi agitation.

Must read: Non-cooperation Movement and Civil Disobedience Movement – the strategic shifters

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