Are Indian National Movement and Freedom Struggle Different in UPSC Prelims and Mains Syllabus?

The Indian National Movement and Freedom Struggle are often referred to as the same, which is not true. In this article, we will look into how is the Indian National Movement different from Freedom Struggle and also look into the important dates, movements, and details required for UPSC Preparation.

Indian National Movement

Indian National Movement, also known as the extremist period, is a period with a series of events from 1905 to 1920. This movement is entirely different from the Freedom Struggle period as this movement started only in the early 20th century. A group of new national leaders emerged in India with a different ideology from that of the other leaders fighting for freedom. These new leaders did not believe in a peaceful, soft, and persuasive way to independence but wanted to adopt a violent manner for independent India.

Freedom Struggle

India’s Freedom Struggle is the most important part of making India a free nation. This movement is known to huge masses in and outside of the country. It started in 1857 and ended with the Quit India Movement. This freedom struggle movement consisted of moderators who believed to fight with the East India Company for freedom peacefully.

Syllabus of UPSC Preliminary and Mains

Indian National Movement

The Indian National Movement started in 1905 and ended in 1920.

Causes for the Rise of Indian National Movement

#1. The methods used by moderators to talk with British Authorities did not bring effective results.

#2. The several limitations posed by moderators were the main cause for the rise of the Indian National Movement and the extremists.

#3. People were more agitated after the partition of Bengal in 1905, which showed them the true colours of British rulers

#4. The spiritual nationalism at that time also influenced the rise of extremist leaders.

#5. Abyssinia’s successful repulsion against the Italian army in 1896 and Japan’s victory against Russia in 1905 became an inspiration to the extremist leaders in India for a similar movement. Even the national movements of Turkey, Persia, and Egypt also motivated the Indian leaders.

The Surat Split

#1. At the Indian National Congress Surat session in 1907, the different ideologies between the extremists and moderates became very clear.

#2. This particular meeting was initially supposed to occur in Nagpur, and the extremists wanted Lala Lajpat Rai or Bal Gangadhar Tilak to be their President. In contrast, the moderates wanted Rash Behari Ghosh as the President.

#3. There was an age-old rule in the INC that the President of the session could not be from the home province, so the moderates moved the venue to Surat to exclude Bal Gangadhar Tilak from President rule as his home town was Surat.

#4. Rash Behari Ghosh became the president of the session. Bal Gangadhar Tilak was not even allowed to speak at the session that angered the extremists to boycott the session.

#5. Both extremists and moderates with different ideologies couldn’t come to a similar path as both were firm believers of their own paths. This resulted at the end of the session with members throwing chappals and sticks on each other.

Extremist Leaders

Lala Lajpat Rai, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal are the first three main extremist leaders, also known as Lal-Bal-Pal, who lead the Punjab, Bombay, and Bengal provinces respectively, for the cause.

Other prominent leaders included V O C Pillai, Aurobindo Ghosh, A K Dutt, and Rajnarayan Bose.

Methods of Extremists

#1. The main goal of extremists was “swaraj”, which meant complete control for Indians over the administrative decisions of the country.

#2. They were completely against the moderates’ wish for a fair share in the administrative and military levels.

#3. The extremist movement saw involvement from the wider sections of people with the involvement from lower-middle-class people too.

#4. They did not stick to the constitutional methods of protest but decided to adopt boycotts, strikes even during foreign production.

#5. They always believed in confrontation rather than persuasion and did not believe in staying loyal to the British crown.

#6. They were the main reason for the “swadeshi” movement to take the momentum in the way it did, which led to the establishment of own mills, factories, and Industries by Indians that led Indian people to be independent of the East India Company.

#7. They opposed the westernisation of Indian society and took pride in India’s ancient culture and history.

#8. They did not fear opposing British rule, unlike the moderates who believed and had faith in British justice. Extremists always tried to instil self-respect and patriotism in the people.

Freedom Struggle Syllabus for UPSC

As we already know what the freedom struggle is, we will look into some of the important movements in history that played a huge role in making India an Independent nation.

#1. The Revolt of 1857

Several British policies that aimed to exploit India economically and administrative changes that resulted in less power to rulers of Indian states, sepoys, peasants, zamindars, and others slowly started to agitate the people of India. This ultimately resulted in a violent outburst in India that shook British rule and also resulted in some ultimate changes. However, it failed to succeed with the ultimate goal to bring Independence.

#2. Swadeshi Movement

This movement started in 1903 after the partition of Bengal into two provinces. This movement encouraged Indians to boycott all foreign goods and use the Indian grown products that will make us independent from the British for our needs.

#3. Satyagraha

During 1917 and 1918, the Satyagraha movement was launched by Mahatma Gandhi as he emphasised the power of truth and the importance of searching for truth. He explained that if our movement was true, then we should not opt for physical ways and violent methods to face the oppressor and claimed that the truth shall always win.

#4. Non-cooperation Movement

The Non-cooperation Movement is one of the important movements in India’s freedom struggle. In 1920 on August 31st, the Khilafat Committee started a Non-cooperation Movement campaign, and then the movement was launched formally. This movement aims to boycott all the major events, social programs, offices, and educational institutions to resonate with India’s struggle for independence.

#5. Quit India Movement

Also known as the August movement, it was launched on 9th August 1942 during World war 2 with a demand to end British rule in India. He put forward the intention for a complete withdrawal of the British from India with a non-cooperation and non-violent movement.

Conclusion

We covered most of the important movements in the Indian National Movement and Freedom Struggles syllabus. Though both the movements had the same goal of an independent India, their ideas to get independence were completely different. As the Indian National Movement with extremists opted for a non-peaceful way, the other sought for a completely peaceful protest to end the East India Rule in the country.

Continue reading our blogs for more UPSC-specific content that will help you ace your preparation. For further assistance, a personal mentor from UPSC Pathshala can solve your doubts, keep track of your progress, help improve and support you in your dream journey. Don’t miss out on our free demo class to know our teaching methodologies before making the next best decision of joining us inside. For more details, visit our website UPSC Pathshala now.