Non-Cooperation Movement
Gandhi's first nationwide mass resistance campaign called on Indians to boycott British institutions, goods, titles, and courts. Millions participated — surrendering British honors, withdrawing from government schools, and boycotting foreign cloth — paralyzing colonial administration.
Preceding Causes
The outrage over the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre combined with the Khilafat issue (British role in the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire, which alienated Indian Muslims) gave Gandhi the moment to unite Hindu-Muslim opposition in joint nonviolent resistance.
Swadeshi Movement
The Swadeshi movement called for Indians to boycott British manufactured goods and revive Indian industries, particularly textiles. It was the first mass economic resistance campaign against British rule and provided a model for Gandhi's later movements.
Jallianwala Bagh Massacre
On April 13, 1919 (Baisakhi Day), British Brigadier General Reginald Dyer ordered troops to fire without warning into a crowd of thousands of unarmed civilians gathered in an enclosed garden in Amritsar, Punjab. The official Hunter Commission recorded 379 dead and over 1,200 wounded; Indian estimates place the death toll considerably higher.
Formation of Indian National Congress
Allan Octavian Hume, a retired British civil servant, founded the Indian National Congress in Bombay in 1885 with 72 delegates, initially as a moderate platform for educated Indians to petition the British government. It evolved into the primary vehicle for India's independence movement.
Historical Consequences
Demonstrated the power of organized nonviolent mass resistance. Congress transformed from an elite debating society into a genuinely mass movement. Ended abruptly after the Chauri Chaura incident (February 1922) when a mob burned a police station killing 22 policemen — Gandhi controversially called off the movement — but the template for civil disobedience was established.