Chapter 52: The Return of the British Empire (Part 2)
During World War II, Churchill once said a famous saying about the British air war: "Never have so many people been protected by so few." In fact, if this sentence is slightly changed, it is the living history of the British Empire: Never so few People who controlled so much land and population.
In the seventeenth century, the population of England was only four million, which was only half of the population of Spain and a quarter of France at the same time. Even at the height of the British Empire, the population was only 40 million. However, outside the small island of Great Britain, it rules a population of 345 million and an area of 11.6 million square miles. It is aptly called the "Empire on which the sun never sets", and London It also became the capital of the world.
In the last world war, it was precisely by relying on so many colonies around the world that Britain, which ranked last among the European powers in terms of local size, gained unparalleled war potential and could sustain a protracted war. It will not collapse and disintegrate. Colonies all over Africa, America, Asia, and Oceania can provide Britain with a steady stream of war materials. As long as the logistics transportation lines are not cut off, the British can persist for a long time. This is something that Germany cannot match. Moreover, during the war, Britain could also form troops from various colonies. The colonial armies formed by India, Canada, Australia, South Africa, etc. could completely make up for the manpower gap caused by the war. Even if one German soldier is exchanged for ten colonial soldiers, such a battle loss ratio is very beneficial to Britain, but the Germans cannot withstand such huge consumption.
But there is a premise for such a sure-win situation, that is, the enemies of the British Empire can only be located in Europe, and cannot attack from Asia at the same time. Otherwise, the seemingly invincible British colonial empire would collapse in the blink of an eye like a shabby house made of cards.
Fortunately, until the outbreak of World War II, the British Empire, which consisted of dependencies, colonies, protectorates and condominiums, was still vast and boundless, and the sun would never set on the territory of the British Empire. Five hundred and sixty-three million people of all colors and languages—Tamils, Chinese, Bushmen, Hottentots of Southwest Africa, Dravidians, Melanesians, The lives and deaths of Australians, Englishmen, Canadians, etc., still depend on the gentlemen of Whitehall, London.
Among the magnificent colonial system of Great Britain, the British Indian Empire, which extended from the Khyber Pass to Cape Comorin, is undoubtedly the most shining jewel and the most gorgeous treasure house in the crown of the British Empire.
Starting from the mid-19th century, Britain completely turned India into its own colony and a slave state. In this highly hierarchical country, the highest level is naturally the white British and other white people, followed by the original Indian princes and nobles, then the Indian commoners, and the lowest level is the original Indian untouchables. The British would not allow any revolution in India because it would endanger Britain's own interests. Therefore, nobles are still nobles, commoners are still commoners, and untouchables are of course still untouchables. India became a paradise for the British and a paradise for white adventurers. All the white hooligans and even beggars who are extremely bored or down and out in the UK can come back to India within a few years looking like shit and with bulging wallets. As for the well-established aristocrats or the children of rich people, if they go to India, they will become masters and enjoy supreme dignity in India. They will eat and drink delicacies from the mountains and seas, fine wine and delicacies, and have slaves everywhere. The environment of the residence is elegant, luxurious and luxurious.
During this period, the Indian Empire ruled by the British was like a magnificent building. It was the cornerstone and witness of the British Empire. It symbolized the extremely glorious achievements of the British Empire and the culmination of many years of hard work by the British colonists.
However, even the Indians are not a nation willing to be slaves forever. In this world war, the Japanese samurai sword from the east and the anger from the South Asian subcontinent itself finally gave this gem a little ground. Crushed to pieces.
By last autumn, all the Union Jack flags in British India had been torn down and torn to pieces, leaving only Delhi, the capital, still resisting. However, after losing the Port of Bombay, the last channel to connect with the outside world, Wei, who was trapped in Delhi, Governor Weir seems to be doomed.
In this regard, Churchill once lamented with infinite despair in parliament, "...the loss of the Indian colonies was a decisive fatal blow to the British Empire. Britain has since become insignificant and eclipsed."
——Without the continuous wealth contributed by the Indian people, without the cheap Indian soldiers to fill the trenches, other colonies except India will also fall apart and be in flames. Under such circumstances, the struggling British Empire had to search for the last copper coin in the country and recruit the last strong man of the nation to engage in an increasingly bloody war of attrition against increasingly powerful and numerous enemies. . To this end, almost all types of consumer goods, such as food, fuel, alcohol, electricity, clothing, and even the world-famous stout and cricket balls, disappeared from British stores. There is no turkey and cake on the British Christmas table, and London is dark in the New Year because the price of electricity has increased tenfold and everyone cannot afford electricity. The British gentlemen were shocked to find that their lives had become so poor, so deprived that it became unbearable.
But even with such a search, Britain's limited size and meager resources still cannot sustain the huge expenditures of a full-scale war, so it can only shamelessly ask the United States for help. They wanted everything from fuel to food to munitions, but they couldn't pay for anything and could only pay for it temporarily on credit.
The former world hegemon has now become a beggar begging for mercy from the United States. Such a miserable situation is really heartbreaking.
But in the spring of this year, the situation suddenly reversed. The British Empire easily regained most of India without spending a single soldier, relying only on the dexterous tongue of a few diplomats! Such an incredible miracle simply stunned the politicians in London.
"...It's incredible. We have all met Gandhi. It is hard to imagine that this ascetic would give up his idea of making India independent."
Labor leader Attlee shook his head and said, "...and this is when India is almost destined to break away from imperial control!"
"...Simple, because Gandhi was an unrealistic dreamer, living in a dream world he imagined. And his followers had to dream with Gandhi. You can't treat him as a politician , his true identity is a religious leader, you can think of him as a modern Gautama Buddha, or the Jesus of India. He hopes to see a peaceful country without war and bloodshed."
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Churchill blew out a smoke ring and said leisurely, "...but the Indian rebellion led by Chandra Bose is obviously pushing this ancient country into the abyss of blood and fire. And this country was born through war and killing. The India he has been fighting for his whole life has no resemblance to the India he dreamed of. In order to end this nightmare and push India onto the track he imagined, he can only come back and cooperate with us."
"...What about Nehru? He is not a magician or a dreamer. His ambition is not even worse than Hitler!"
"... Nehru? That arrogant, lying lawyer?" Churchill snorted from his nostrils, "... He really hates the continued rule of India from Whitehall in London, but he hates it even more when India is led by someone else. Independence...and this is the basis for our cooperation..."
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There is a saying that as long as the line is wrong, the more knowledge you have, the more reactionary you will be.
If this sentence is placed on the head of India's Mahatma Gandhi, it can be said that it cannot be more appropriate.
Overall, the halo around Gandhi's head was the result of the imagination of a distant observer. In fact, Gandhi's abstract ideas and romantic spirit have not been much favored by the Indian elite in any era. However, given the moral resources that Gandhi possessed, they had to use Gandhi's banner while doing things that were completely contrary to Gandhi's vision. Otherwise, God knows what India will be like.
Chinese people often say that Sun Yat-sen was "Sun Da Pao". He spoke unrealistically and made random nonsense. His "Strategy for the Founding of the People's Republic of China" was almost a third-rate science fiction novel. But compared with Gandhi's route for nation-building, Sun Yat-sen's "Strategy for the Founding of the Nation" can already be said to be very pragmatic.
So, what is Gandhi’s political and ideological line? Well, there are roughly the following points: anti-science, anti-Western, anti-industrialization, anti-violence, protection of animals, protection of the environment, national equality, religious freedom... In addition to the lack of a program of equality between men and women, they are basically the Virgin Mary of the White Left in Europe and the United States in later generations. A fresh set of chicken soup for the soul. At least Greenpeace will definitely have a common language with Gandhi - although there have been many literary and artistic works nostalgic for the pastoral era, but globally, Gandhi was the first person to systematically propose the theory of "deindustrialization".
Although this kind of thinking seemed fashionable for a while in the early 21st century, in the first half of the 20th century, when war and revolution were the main themes, it was an out-and-out bizarre theory. For example, political figures in modern China, whether they are left-wing or right-leaning in their thinking, will basically not deny the importance of science, technology and industrialization. Even the comprador class who opposes the development of national industry and firmly believes that "it is better to buy than to build, and to rent than to buy" at least believes that it is necessary to build modern sea and land logistics and transportation to facilitate business with overseas countries more smoothly - if even ports and railways There are no roads, roads or airports, and nothing can be transported in or out. How should we do this comprador business?
However, Gandhi was really opposed to everything in Western civilization. In his book "Indian Self-Government", he elaborated on his founding and governance concepts, strongly criticized all deep-rooted Western systems, and believed that the way out for India lies in “Abandoning what it had discovered over nearly fifty years.”
He regards all material wealth created by modern civilization as evil, holds an attitude of uprooting modern civilization, denies modern urban life, denies the modern industrial system, opposes industrialization and big machines, and advocates returning to nature and the traditional simplicity and tranquility. Small peasant society, restore the natural economy that combines agriculture and handicrafts, restore self-sufficient village autonomy, and rebuild a society based on spirituality.
Going against the general trend of the times to separate politics and religion and realize a secular society, Gandhi introduced religious factors into politics. Gandhi not only often used religious terms in the national democratic movement and linked religious issues with political issues, but also directly used religious methods such as hunger strikes and prayers to solve political issues. He often quoted religious terms and repeatedly mentioned God, Rama, etc., emphasizing that The religious significance of the movement gave the movement a strong religious revivalist character. Gandhi often relied on his mysterious "inner voice" to do things, and rarely appealed to reason. During the national democratic movement, Gandhi not only used his inner voice to decide how to launch the struggle, but also used his inner voice to stop the movement at will for various absurd reasons.
Gandhi opposed all technological progress, opposed the use of tractors, and asked people to cultivate the land using the old methods of thousands of years ago; opposed rice milling machinery, and asked everyone to eat brown rice. There were also calls for the closure of textile mills and their replacement with hand-operated spinning wheels to give country people something to do. For his belief in non-violence, Gandhi believed that hypodermic injection was an act of violence and refused to allow his wife to inject penicillin when she suffered from acute bronchitis, resulting in his wife's death.
Gandhi hoped to build according to his ideals - an India that bids farewell to industry and science, an India that is willing to be poor and believes in gods, an India that bids farewell to cities and returns to the countryside. Gandhi was full of pride in India's traditional culture, endowed it with supreme moral superiority, and even hoped to retain the caste system that deprived people of equality because he believed that professional inheritance could keep people settled and conservative.
At the same time, he extremely despised modernization. According to Gandhi's vision, the essence of modern civilization, that is, Western civilization, is evil. An ideal India should not have railways, factories and armies, and the number of doctors and lawyers should be as small as possible. Town life means corruption, only the countryside is sacred. Four hundred million people can live a happy life by relying on abstract concepts such as non-violence and seeking truth, and can also save the fallen Westerners...
Well, if the ideological slogans of the Chinese Boxers are modified in an artistic and non-violent way, it will probably be the content of Gandhi’s propositions.
——He does not admit that those who fall behind will be beaten, and does not acknowledge the development and progress of human society. Instead, he believes that benevolence and tolerance can save everything, just like an ostrich burying its head in the sand... Such anti-modernization ideas, which are like an idiot's dream, although let Gandhi in He has countless supporters in the countryside, but he has shocked other leaders of the Congress Party. Even Nehru, as the legal successor, publicly expressed his anger towards Gandhi many times, saying that "the old man is confused and pretending again." In the eyes of Gandhi, ascetics and beggars represented the traditional virtues of India. In Nehru's mind, "most people are useless. They only deceive others and live on the alms they get for nothing."
Some of Gandhi's political opponents openly pointed out that even though Gandhi dressed like a beggar, his personal expenses were never small. Although Gandhi was vegetarian for the sake of simplicity, his food was still carefully selected and carefully prepared to avoid various religious taboos, and it was no cheaper than the price of a steak. And the hand-woven homespun clothes he was wearing were actually far more expensive than industrial products - otherwise, why would humans invent textile machinery? At the same time, Gandhi was surrounded by many secretaries and maids at all times, and the expenses for organizing various spiritual practices and religious ceremonies were all funded by the generosity of businessmen. A person who once served Gandhi sarcastically said: "It really cost a lot of money to let Gandhi live in poverty."
Of course, even so, Gandhi was still a good man, a very great man, and a charismatic guy - when the world was full of hatred, Gandhi fought against hatred; when the world worshiped violence, Gandhi fought against violence; When the world is full of people who deceive each other At that time, Gandhi talked about honesty; when all the countries in the world believed that "people are not for themselves, God and earth will perish", Gandhi advocated selflessness; when the world worshiped heroes and privileges, Gandhi had to live with untouchables; when the world When materialistic desires abounded, Gandhi refused to enjoy them.
But it is very regrettable that there is never an equal sign between a good person and a qualified leader.
Generally speaking, everyone is willing to be a good friend, but they may not be happy to have a good person as their boss. Because a cruel and cunning barbaric tyrant can make a country prosperous, but an innocent and kind-hearted saint leader can make his people miserable.
Gandhi's eccentricities were very appropriate for a country that revered the supernatural, but his ideas were unhelpful to India's problems and India's future.
But there is no way, just like some people will believe in the superstitious ideas of the Boxers, Gandhi's anti-modernization ideas also fascinated countless Indians - in this world, it may not be possible to get the approval of all smart people Victory, but if it is recognized by all fools, it can really be crowned. At this time in India, where there are only 600,000 middle school students in the country, the number of fools is far higher than that of smart people.
In the Western world, Gandhi's status is basically the same as that of the Dalai Lama in later generations - although the slogan is loud, in fact it does little harm because it is too funny. However, in order to keep up with the fashion, many people were happy to see him, listen to his fallacies, and then laugh them off without taking it seriously.
If all Indians act like Gandhi, then India will probably only have a lot of non-mainstream performance artists who are talking about it. The great cause of independent nation building will not be achieved in a hundred years just by relying on hunger strikes, demonstrations and strikes. The best The result was just a few official positions in the government.
However, after all, there were still some Indians who couldn't stand Gandhi's nagging and turned around and chose to take up arms to make revolution.
First, Congress Party Chairman Chandra Bose, who led the wolf into the house, landed in Goa with the support of Japanese bayonets and Yamato naval guns, sweeping across southwestern India. Then Jinnah, the leader of the Muslim League (the founding father of Pakistan), launched mutinies in Karachi and Rawalpindi and organized his own army. Next, the Sikhs, Tamils, Nepalis, and Sinhalese also revolted one after another, tearing the British colonial administration into pieces.
Faced with such a situation where a group of heroes are vying for the throne, no matter how much they advocate non-violence, Gandhi can only follow the trend and join the ranks of the armed uprising. Then with the assistance of his close deputy Nehru , raised the flag in Calcutta at the mouth of the Ganges and rebelled.
Although the rebellion was half-hearted, the influence and appeal that Gandhi had accumulated over the years was truly astonishing. As soon as the signal for the uprising was given, thousands of followers prepared their own weapons and food and came to defect in the blink of an eye. swept the province of Bengal and took control of the three densely populated areas of the Ganges. After that, they continued to march towards the upper reaches of the Ganges River and captured the province of Bihar. The troops advanced directly to the city of Delhi. Their momentum was unparalleled... but they squeezed out Chandra Bose, the real chairman of the Congress Party at the time. It was untenable, and in fact it could only control a few provinces and princely states on the west coast.
As of the spring of 1946, the situation in the South Asian subcontinent was roughly as follows: Marshal Wavell, the British Governor-General of India, was left with only more than 10,000 miscellaneous troops and an isolated city of Delhi surrounded by all sides. Gandhi and Nehru conquered the entire Ganges plain east of Delhi and controlled India's traditional core hinterland. Jinnah, leader of the Muslim League, controlled the Indus Valley, Bose, chairman of the Congress Party, controlled Bombay Province, most of Madras Province and Ceylon on the southwest coast of India, and the Sikhs controlled the small half of Punjab in the east. Under the coordination of Japan, Jinnah, Bose and the Sikhs actually formed an alliance, facing a vague confrontation with the Gandhi-Nehru group in eastern India across the capital Delhi controlled by the British army.
Then, between the two major military and political groups that dominated East India and West India, there were also a lot of princes from the princes and warlords and bandits who proclaimed themselves kings, and the forwards who pressed down from the Himalayas in the north also reached Delhi. Nepalis in the countryside.
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In terms of the policy of managing the colonies, the British were typical in that they only wanted profits and did not care about the people. As long as profits were guaranteed, the British were very willing to hand over actual governance to local indigenous forces in order to reduce the cost of maintaining the colony. Therefore, when the British came to rule India, they did not infringe on the fundamental interests of these princes. Instead, they signed treaties with these princes: each prince must recognize Britain as their monarchy and be willing to accept orders from the British. The Vice-President (generally also serving as the Governor-General of India) is the supreme ruler of India and agrees with the Vice-President to control India's defense and diplomatic powers. Under this premise, the British agreed to retain their status as princes and allow them to enjoy the right to self-government within their own territories.
It can be seen that the British did not bring the concept of democracy to India. If it really wanted to give freedom and human rights to the Indian people, then it should first abolish these feudal feudal systems and abolish the privileges of the princes. However, instead of doing so, it signed an agreement with the princes of the feudal states and recognized the legal status of these princes and princes in legal form. From this we can see what the real intentions of the colonialists were.
Therefore, if you think that the British sent advanced ideas to India, the British sent revolutionary ideals to India, and the British sent advanced production methods to India... If someone thinks so, then this can only be said to be true. A wishful thinking.
Therefore, after the British ruled India, India can actually be said to have become two Indias. One is India composed of provinces with New Delhi as the center, and the other is India composed of 565 princely states. The Maharaja still reigns as a hereditary, supreme monarch, ruling one-third of India's territory and one-quarter of its population. The situation among the various princely states varied greatly. Some wealthy princely states, such as Hyderabad and Kashmir, had an area and population almost as large as those of the European powers. The princes' palaces were filled with priceless rare jewels. But there are also some poor kingdoms whose territory is as small as a park. The prince's property is so meager that he is almost a beggar, and he can only live in a dilapidated stable.
Generally speaking, the princes of various Indian states, whether they are rich or poor, whether they are religious or arrogant, whether they are corrupt and declining or enlightened and progressive, are all loyal to Britain and serve the country well. All the hard work of dogs and horses. In both world wars, they donated generously and shed blood and sacrificed their lives for Britain. They even organized, equipped, and trained several expeditionary armies, which fought on various battlefields under the guidance of the Union Flag.
Even in the process of the collapse of the British Indian colonies, the rebellious attitude of the traditional Indian princes was not positive. A considerable number of them even fought loyally for the British Empire until the last moment, until they were defeated by Bose's India. The Nationalist Army fought until it was defeated and the country was destroyed. Some of the remaining princes also had no choice but to support their own troops, either joining the relatively tolerant Gandhi side, or proclaiming themselves kings and waiting and watching for the time being.
In fact, they are always looking forward to the day when the military flag of the British Empire can once again fly on the land of the South Asian subcontinent.
——Although as a bourgeois revolutionist, Chandra Bose and the Congress Party radicals led by him are far from being comparable to the Russian Bolsheviks in suppressing the princes of the princes. At best, they are the "Meiji Restoration" of Japan. The level of "abolition of feudal vassals and establishment of counties" and "equality of all four peoples". Specifically, it means abolishing the caste system, confiscating the land of uncooperative princes, developing industrialization, etc. But for these Indian princes, whose ideological realm was mostly still in the feudal serfdom era, this was already as treacherous and unethical behavior as the devil.
Not to mention that in the turmoil of the Revolutionary War, even the Congress Party, which launched the war, could not control the chaotic social order at all. Many strong men from grassroots backgrounds took advantage of the out-of-control situation and took the opportunity to start rebellions and massacre the landlords and princes. Although India's religion can anesthetize the people's sense of resistance to a certain extent, after the beacon fire has been ignited, they still There was nothing to stop the mob from doing the following.
In contrast, Gandhi's idea of "returning India to the state it was in before the arrival of the British" moved the princes very much: even if they could not return to the "good old days" before the arrival of the British, they could return to it again. Kneel down under the rice flag and be a loyal minister of the British King, at least you will be better than now!
With the continuous development of cruel wars and bloody revolutions, Gandhi, who once advocated independence, gradually began to feel that instead of letting India continue to bleed like this and eventually be torn into a pile of pieces, it would be better to return everything to the peace of British rule. Time!
——If the radicals of the Indian National Congress Party led by Bose still have more or less the decisive demeanor of revolutionaries, then the moderates of the Indian National Congress Party led by Gandhi are no longer revolutionaries at all. Now, we can only say that he is a politician who is good at showing off and a dreamer who is full of lies.
Therefore, Gandhi was really tired of bloodshed and sacrifice and hoped to restore peace at all costs; the remaining princes hated the revolution and wanted to return India to its previous state; Nehru wanted to squeeze out the present Bose, Chairman of the National Congress Party, replaced him and became the new King of India... Unlike Gandhi, a compassionate and absolute pacifist, Nehru was an extremely arrogant and highly aristocratic person, with an ambition even more arrogant than Hitler's. Since childhood, he has compared himself to Alexander the Great.
U.S. President Richard Nixon commented on Nehru in his book "The Leader": "Outstanding talent, arrogant, aristocratic, bad-tempered, arrogant and arrogant", and "sometimes aggressive, unabashedly showing strong superiority" feel".
In Nehru's eyes, India should be the center of the world, and other countries in the world should act and live according to Indian moral standards and Indian values - as early as 1934, Nehru He wrote ambitiously in his autobiography: "My personal view of the future prospects is this: I believe that a federation will be established in the future, including China, India, Myanmar, Sikkim, Afghanistan and other countries."
Hey, this is already crazier than Hitler's "Mein Kampf"! You have forgotten that even India itself is still a colony!
Obviously, a self-proclaimed "man of destiny" like Nehru would never be willing to surrender to anyone.
Therefore, these three parties with evil intentions have already secretly colluded and planned more than one conspiracy to seize power. It was just that during the years when the Japanese naval combined fleet swept through Unai and dominated the Indian Ocean, they did not dare to say anything or move in the face of Chandra Bose who was supported by Japan. After the Japanese Empire collapsed and the United Fleet withdrew from the Indian Ocean, Nehru discovered another very embarrassing problem.
——Even if he united those princely states that tended to him, he could not defeat the alliance of Jinnah, Bose and the Sikhs.
Although they are all under the banner of the Indian National Army, Bose's direct troops are British-Indian prisoners of war captured by the Japanese on the battlefield. They are also professional soldiers after all. They were later trained by the Japanese army and tested in actual combat. How can it be calculated? They were all stronger than the rabble under Nehru and Gandhi.
The troops of Jinnah, the leader of the Muslim League, were even more incredible - during the era of British rule in India, the headquarters of the Indian civil service system was in Delhi, but the headquarters of the British-Indian army was in Rawalpindi, which is now Jinnah's base. In other words, the orthodox inheritance of the British-Indian Army is in the hands of Jinnah.
As for the Sikhs, not to mention, as early as the Mughal Dynasty, they were already the most capable group of people in Hindustan...
In contrast, Gandhi, the master of the non-violent non-cooperation movement, was not able to lead troops to fight, or even carry out terrorist attacks. Nehru's men also had little military talent. Although the arrogant and extravagant princes of the feudal states controlled some armies, their strength was very limited.
More importantly, they did not have any military industry in their hands - India under the rule of British colonists was simply unable to produce even one artillery piece, one rifle and one bullet. However, the several arsenals built with the help of the Japanese were all in Bose's territory. Therefore, in order to obtain supplies of ordnance and ammunition, and to win the Indian Civil War, Nehru, Gandhi and the princes of the princely states decisively re-embraced the British, while Prime Minister Churchill happily took a huge advantage...