Rule Britannia, Britannia Rules the Salt - The British Empire | BETWEEN 2 WARS I 1930 Part 1 of 1 - YouTube (2)
spreads across India. Mainstream political nationalists also now switch back to activism.
In December 1929, the Congress, under the leadership of the more radical Jawaharlal
Nehru, authorizes a renewed Civil Disobedience Movement for complete independence.
It is Gandhi that turns this into a movement that will send ripples throughout the Empire
and the rest of the world. Under the India Salt Act of 1882, there is a British monopoly
on the collection and manufacturing of salt. So even in regions by the sea, where you can
technically just collect your salt yourself, which people have been doing so for thousands
and thousands of years, Indians now have to buy their salt from the British. There is
also a tax on salt sales so that revenues from the salt monopoly make up from 4 to 9%
of the Raj's income.
The British administration fails at first to understand that a purely administrative
matter like this is an explosive target for protest, but Gandhi is certain that he has
picked the right target. You see, to animate the people he needs something that matters
to all of the people, especially the poor. And since you can't live without salt, this
is the one. On March 12, 1930, Gandhi and 78 followers begin a 200 mile march from the
banks of the Sabarmati river to Dandi. Along the way Gandhi collects salt form the sea,
encourages others to do so, and holds public addresses. When he arrives at Dandi on April
6, he once again collects salt, and has set in motion a wave of civil disobedience of
massive proportions.
Across India, Gandhi's followers of non-violent resistance, the satyagrahis now march to collect
salt on the shores of Bengal, Orissa, Madras, Andhra, and Kerala. Gandhi declares that “Salt
in the hands of satyagrahis, represents the honor of the nation. It cannot be yielded
up, except to force that will break the hand to pieces” and the movement is now gaining
a mass following.
Widespread boycotts of British goods follow, with the import of foreign cloth falling from
160 million to 48 million yards. The British soon crack down, and both Nehru and Gandhi
are arrested. In May, 2500 volunteers march to the Dharsana Salt Works in a non-violent
raid, they face brutal police assaults. Overall, 60,000 Satyagrahis are arrested in this first
phase of the movement, which fails to produce definite results, but has two major effects.
First of all, it creates widespread foreign support for the Indian independence movement
as Gandhi's Salt March is in headlines and newsreels all over the world. Gandhi becomes
what he remains in 2019; a worldwide symbol for passive resistance against oppression
- Time Magazine makes him man of the year 1930. Second of all, these images of one man
draped only in cloth simply walking and collecting salt in defiance of the greatest power on
the planet, broadcasts to the world that the British Empire might not be as invincible
as everyone thought.
It also sends a shockwave to the British Government; can it continue to rely on its Empire as an
economic and military guarantee?
And this can't come at a worse time. You see, Great Britain has kinda painted itself
into a corner. In 1921 she broke off her alliance with the Japanese Empire, who was flexing
its muscles in the Pacific. They are also at loggerheads with the Americans, who are
calling for Britain to reduce its Naval strength to be on a par with its own. In fact, in 1928,
Anglo-American relations are so low that British Acting Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs,
Lord Cushenden, declares that “war is not unthinkable between the two countries. On
the contrary, there are present all the factors which in the past have made wars between states.”
Britain is being pushed and pulled from all over the place
Its Naval supremacy is being challenged and the territories which supported her in the
last war are looking increasingly insecure. Loyalty to the motherland is still strong
in many Dominions, but this is tempered by a reluctance to enter another massive war,
with no legal force compelling them to do so if it should break out. Now, imagine if
some of her European neighbors should soon rise up and challenge the world by starting
renewed aggressive expansion into other sovereign nations, will the greatest power in the world
still be able to stand up to that like she did in 1914, or will she see no other way
out than appeasement?
