Question

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Composite effects of the First World War on India

Answer 1

1. During wartime England felt an increasing need for manpower and money. Therefore, the British Government began recruiting army personnel from India.
2. Extra taxes were levied on Indians for raising funds. Taxes on trade and industries were raised. During the war period prices of essential commodities went up.
3. Along with the inflation and hike in prices, Indians also suffered because of increasing unemployment caused by industrial recession.
4. September 1939 saw the emergence of Second World War. Initially, it was England and France against Germany and Italy. When England declared war against Germany, the Viceroy of India Lord Linlithgow announced that India also was joining the war, to support England.
5. The Indian National Congress protested against the Viceroy’s announcement. The Congress was against the German and Italian ideologies, which were inclined toward aggressive dictatorship and also against England’s colonialism inclined toward imperialism.
6. At about the same time, Japanese army reached the eastern border of India. They were the patriotic members of ‘Azad Hind Sena’. Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose was their leader.
7. In this war England emerged victorious but it lost heavily in terms of human life and economic conditions. As a result, England grew weaker. The two world wars caused loss of life and wealth to a great extent.
8. The awareness that there should be an effective measure to avoid such wars in the future made the victorious nations create organisations called ‘League of Nations’ after the First World War and ‘United Nations’ after the Second World War. India has contributed significantly in the work of these organizations.