How Did The British Imperialize India

Have you ever heard of a country invading another country, but not settling? Well, that’s exactly what happened when the British started trading with India. They British's method left little room for error as they took control of India, it's military, it's material, and its land. It was only after 200 years that India tried break free from the British rule. India demanded independence because, they were forced to fight in a war for democracy and they were not granted their own freedom.

When Britain imperialized India, India was known as British Raj. Soon the Indian's started to rebel and the British devised a plan to keep British Raj together. The British encouraged the idealist and political split between the Hindu and the Muslim to keep India divided to them could not rebel against Britain's ruling. In conclusion the Indian rebellion strengthened Britain's control over India. However, the Raj did have their advantages and disadvantages. Some advantages would have to be the British making a considerable investment in Indian infrastructure by railways, canals, and shipping and mining facilities. Some of the disadvantages of Raj would have to be the after effect. The Raj derailed the Indian economy and left the nation open to famines.
There was one man who stood against the British empire and his name was Mahatma Gandhi.
He believed in peaceful non-violent protests and he used those beliefs to push the British back starting with the Salt March. This was his first act of civil disobedience in this march he walked 240 miles to get to Dandi to illegally collect salt. This soon led to a world-wide civil disobedience rebellion against the British rule. He was arrested soon after along with 60,000 people, but the damage had been done. The whole world knew that someone was brave enough to stand up to the rule and strength of the British empire and his name was Mahatma
Gandhi.

In August 22nd, 1894 Gandhi founded the Natal Indian Congress, this congress was formed because Gandhi realized that India urgently needed a form of government to voice India's interests. However, in this government the focus was not politics, but that of economics such as moral and social codes to uplift the citizens of India. He was starting to become a disturbance among the people. This was evident when one day he went to fetch his family from Durban and was almost lynched by the white settlers. When Gandhi was in the Boer War he took no part in the violence, but instead organized a troop of 1100 Indian Ambulance Corps to tend to the wounded and those in need. On 1906 there was a new law in place that compelled the registration of the colony's Indian population. There was soon a massive protest that year on September 11th . Before the Salt March there was the first time Gandhi set into action his belief and it led to catastrophic events for India. There was soon a seven-year struggle in which thousands of Indians were jailed (including Gandhi himself on some occasions), flogged (whipped), or shot for refusing to register and the burning of the registration cards.

On January 30, 1948 Nathuram Godse assassinated Gandhi because he protected the Muslims by speaking out against the riots of Hindu's that wanted bloodshed. The effects of Gandhi's death were miserable soon after Gandhi's death India was split into 3 parts because of the religious divide. Godse was an overall fan of Gandhi until his previous stunts. This is what pushed Godse over the edge into taking matters into his own hands and killing Gandhi. Godse probably could not stand the fact that Gandhi's pro Muslim policy. To him Hinduism meant life, a nation, and a view into what life should be like. On August 1946 Hindus' were massacred by Muslims and this angered Godse to see this and know that Gandhi would not take revenge. Congress could not do anything but laugh and scoff at this. This was the "freedom" that Gandhi was talking about and to the Indians this was worse than it could have ever been. The people of India began to tear apart around this time. Nathuram Godse was Gandhi's right-wing advocate and he was also the man who admired, believed in, and murdered Gandhi.

After the death of Gandhi Godse decided to make an announcement, a speech called "The Last Speech". In this speech it goes into depth of how he felt, what happened when Gandhi appeared on the scene to deliver them from the British, and what it meant for the people. He also went into depth about his reasons for killing Gandhi and what happened before he did it. He put us in his place and we saw the horrible truth that was almost as terrifying, but not as much bloodshed as the movie "Hotel Rwanda". Just like the movie Godse believes what he is doing is right (here is a quote from his speech) "I have no doubt that honest writers of history will weigh my act and find the true value thereof some day in future." It sends a chilling feeling down your spine to hear the wrong injustice done, but it makes it more cringe to find out what they did in their mind they thought it was alright.

Throughout 90 years the Indians have been through trials and tribulations. From the British imperializing them, to the assassination of Gandhi. No matter what they did they could not escape the problems they faced until they took the problems head on. However, even when they split up the countries they still had problems, but it had gotten better than it was before. There just goes to show that no matter what you do if you do not know your history your doomed to repeat it. They were taken over once (Britain) and they did not do anything until Gandhi came along. Then Gandhi was assassinated, and they did nothing to keep building off of what he taught them and with as a whole.