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• History of India
• Quick Facts on India
• Indian Freedom Movement
• 1857 Revolt
• Partition of India
• Quit India Movement
• Non-Cooperation Movement
• Civil Disobedience Movement
• Cabinet Mission
• Indian National Congress
• Jallianwala Bagh Massacre
• Dandi March
  (Salt Satyagraha]

What is the Civil Disobedience Movement?

Formed under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, the Civil Disobedience Movement set a milestone in the history of India's freedom struggle. The Civil Disobedience Movement was formed in the year 1930 and is one of the most important phases in the Indian National Movement. The main ideology behind the Civil Disobedience Movement was to defy the laws made by the British.

Factors Leading to Civil Disobedience Movement

• The social and political circumstances contributed to the launch of the Civil Disobedience Movement.
• One of the main factors was the Simon Commission. This commission was formed by the British Government. It included only the British Parliament members and came into effect in November 1927 to chalk out a constitution for the country. Sir John Simon was the chairman.
• However, political parties and social organizations nationwide accused the commission as an 'All-White Commission', and was rejected by them. This was followed by a strike in Bengal on February 3rd, 1928. Simon's arrival in the Calcutta was meted with demonstrations.
• All-Party Conference was formed in May 1928 in Bombay for further boycotts. The president of the conference was Dr MA Ansari and Motilal Nehru was shouldered the responsibility of the drafting committee and prepare the constitution for India.
• The British government was pressurized by the Indian National Congress to accept the Nehru Report as it is. The Calcutta Session of the INC held in 1928 warned the British government that it would start a Civil Disobedience Movement of India was not granted the dominion status.
• Governor General Lord Irwin declared that the whole purpose of the constitutional reforms was to grant dominion status to India. To this, Gandhi and other national leaders requested for a more liberal attitude in the solving of the crisis prevailing in the constitution as well as release the political prisoners. They also suggested a Round Table Conference.
• When all their efforts went futile, the Congress launched the Civil Disobedience Movement.

Civil Disobedience Movement Facts

12th March 1930 is remembered as one of the important days in Indian history as the Civil Disobedience Movement was launched on that day. The launch triggered off with a Dandi Salt March where the British Salt were broken. The march started from Sabarmati Ashram and ended at Dandi. This was followed by a lot of agitation all over the country. This angered the British government which resulted in the imprisonment of Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi.
On March 1930, Gandhi signed the Gandhi-Irwin Pact with the then Viceroy Lord Irwin. The 2 important clauses of the pact were:

• Participation of Congress in the Round Table Conference
• Calling off the Civil Disobedience Movement

Civil Disobedience Movement - Renewal

• The Second Round Table Conference held in London was attended by Gandhi and Smt. Sarojini Naidu. Here Gandhi's claim that 85% of the Indian population was Congress supporting was not endorsed.
• Viceroy Lord Willingdon in Gandhi's absence adopted the repression policy violating . the Gandhi-Irwin Pact. With this serious economic crisis took over the country. This sowed the seeds of the Civil Disobedience Movement again.
• The decision to restart the Civil Disobedience Movement in Indian came from the Congress Working Committee and it was launched on January 1932. The British Government promulgated 4 ordinances to deal with the prevailing situation.
• Police could arrest any one based on mere suspicion. Sardar Patel and Gandhi were arrested along with the supporters of Congress. The movement went on for six months.
• Gandhi went on for a 21 days fast on 8th May 1933 in order to make amends for behavior meted out by the caste Hindus to the untouchables. After a period of suspension, the Civil Disobedience Movement finally came to an end on 7th April 1934.