World War II

World War II (1939-1945):

Britain declared war on Germany on Sept. 3, 1939. As it had done before, in World War I, Britain again said that India was also at war with Germany. Indian leaders were angered because they had not been consulted. They continued to demand independence. Britain promised independence for India after the war. But members of the Indian National Congress demanded immediate self-government instead, and they refused to support the war effort.

Nevertheless, India was already helping Britain. Indian troops fought in Africa and the Middle East. Indian factories produced supplies for the British and Allied armies. The British exported coffee, tea, rice, and wheat from India to Allied nations. The export of these products contributed in part to the Bengal famine of 1943, in which about 3 million Indians died.

In December 1941, Japan entered the war on Germany's side. Within a few months, Japanese troops had captured Burma. The Japanese invaded eastern India in March 1944. Many thousands of Indian troops decided to aid the Japanese in the hope of driving the British out of India. These soldiers, most of whom had been captured by the Japanese when they seized Burma, called themselves the Indian National Army. But British and Indian troops soon drove them back.

During the war, Britain continued to hold talks with the Indian National Congress. In a final effort to free India of the British, Gandhi launched another civil disobedience campaign, called the Quit India Movement, in August 1942. In response, the British jailed all Congress leaders for the rest of the war. The Muslim League, on the other hand, cooperated with the British during the war, with the understanding that their demands for a separate nation would receive serious consideration.