Shaping up the Home Rule Movement

Background of the Home Rule Movement

Here we briefly discuss the background, aka events, that led to the Home Rule Movement; in simpler terms, the events that caused the Home Rule Movement to shape up and take place:...

Foundation of the Home Rule Movement

Two Home Rule Leagues were launched: Bal Gangadhar Tilak established the Indian Home Rule League in Belgaum in April 1916, and Annie Besant launched the Home Rule League at Madras in September 1916. Despite being separate, both leagues aimed to achieve self-rule for India by its people without any foreign interference under the British Commonwealth....

Members of the Home Rule Movement

...

Major objectives of the Home Rule Movement

The main goal of the Home Rule Movement was to gain self-rule for India within the British Empire via constitutional means....

Shaping up the Home Rule Movement

The Home Rule League was active throughout the year, as opposed to the Congress Party, which got together once a year, so the Home Rule Movement had a broader appeal to the Indian people in comparison to the movement that happened prior to 1916. Even politically underdeveloped regions like Gujarat and Sindh were attracted to the campaign and its goals. Public meetings, political education, advertisement through media, public conferences, social work, and fundraising in various regions by the league helped this movement reach a lot of people and influenced them to gather and protest to demand self-rule for India. As a result, a lot of educated Indians came to support this movement. Approximately 40000 members were counted in the two leagues combined. Prominent political leaders like Motilal Nehru, Jawaharlal Nehru, Bhulabhai Desai, Chittaranjan Das, K.M. Munshi, and Muhammad Ali Jinnah joined the Home Rule movement, providing further popularity and legitimacy to the campaign. Many members of Congress and the Muslim League also showed their support for this movement. It briefly united the moderates, extremists, and the Muslim League....

Outcome of the Home Rule Movement

The most significant outcome of the movement was the Montague Declaration of 1917, which agreed to the inclusion of more Indians in the government and the development of self-governing institutions that would help shape responsible governance in the country over time. The Government of India Act of 1919 announced administrative reforms, as a result of which India’s provincial and central governments were established, and the desire for home rule was no longer seen as seditious. There was also, however, a harsh crackdown on the supporters of the home rule movement by the Madras government in 1917, as seen in the arrests of Annie Besant, Arundale, and Wadia, as they wanted to quell the popularity of the movement. However,  this only angered the people more, and there were widespread protests against this move, helping further mobilize the Indians towards this campaign. Another extremely significant outcome of this movement was a shift in the workings of Congress as they moved past the methods of ‘petition’ and ‘prayer’ and learned the importance of ‘agitation’ and ‘demand’. The movement also brought moderates and extremists closer together. The Home Rule Movement paved the way for future freedom struggle movements like the Non-Cooperation Movement and the Civil Disobedience Movement and acted as a precursor to the eventual attainment of Indian independence in 1947....

Why did the Home Rule Movement decline?

A lot of factors were responsible for the eventual decline of the Home Rule Movement; some of these are:...

Conclusion

The Home Rule Movement, though short-lived, acted as a precursor to the future independence movements for India. It stirred political activities and instilled a sense of unity among the people of India, awakening the willingness to protest and demand among the masses and educating them about swarajya, all of which eventually helped the freedom movement in the future....

FAQs on Home Rule Movement

1. Who was responsible for the Home Rule Movement?...