Propaganda and Information in Eastern India 1939-45


Book Description

This is a study of the social, political, economic and public health aspects of the Second World War in South Asia, with particular attention being accorded to colonial Eastern India, which was treated as a single administrative unit during the course of the conflict for strategic purposes. The conclusion deals with the long term effects of the war: its effects on political formations, bureaucratic re-negotiation and the de-colonisation of the British Indian empire.




The Second World War and North East India


Book Description

This book discusses the untold story of North East India’s role during the Second World War and its resultant socio-economic and political impact. It goes beyond standard campaign histories and the epicentre of the Kohima-Imphal battlefields to the Brahmaputra and Surma Valley of Assam—the administrative and political hub of the region, where decisions on the allied war efforts were deliberated and effected right from the outset of the War. What happened in the entire region during the intervening years from 1939? What did the war mean for the people of Assam? How were resources from the region mobilized for the global war effort and how did people adapt, co-opt and survive during these tumultuous years? What was the response of the nationalist and provincial political leaders to the challenges and demands of war? How did the crisis of the 1942 war impact the region? First of its kind, this book investigates hitherto unanswered questions to offer an understanding of contemporary Assam and the North East, including discussions on the complexity of issues such as terrain, migration, taxation, profiteering, inflation, famine and food grain trade. With its lucid style and rich archival material, this volume will be essential for scholars and researchers of history, the Second World War, South Asian history, politics and international relations, colonial studies, sociology and social anthropology, and North East India studies as well as to the interested general reader.




India At War


Book Description

World War II was a global catastrophe. Far broader than just the critical struggle between Allies and Axis, its ramifications were felt throughout the world. It was a time of social relocation, reorienting ideas of patriotism and geographical attachment, and forcing the movement of people across oceans and continents. In India at War, Yasmin Khan offers an account of India's role in the conflict, one that takes into consideration the social, economic, and cultural changes that occurred in South Asia between 1939 and 1945-and reveals how vital the Commonwealth's contribution was to the war effort. Khan's sweeping work centers on the lives of ordinary Indian people, exploring the ways they were affected by a cataclysmic war with origins far beyond Indian shores. In manpower alone, India's contribution was staggering; it produced the largest volunteer army in world history, with 2.5 million men. Indians were engaged in making the raw materials and food stuffs needed by the Allies, and became involved in the construction of airstrips, barracks, hospitals, internee camps, roads and railways. Their lives were also profoundly affected by the presence of the large Allied army in the region, including not only British but American, African, and Chinese troops. Madras was bombed by the Japanese and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands were occupied, while the Bengal famine of 1943-in which perhaps three million Bengalis died-was a man-made disaster precipitated by the effects of the war. This authoritative account offers a critically important look at the contributions of colonial manpower and resources essential to sustaining the war, and emphasizes the significant ways in which the conflict shaped modern India.




The Indian Army, 1939–47


Book Description

The sheer size and influence of the British Indian Army, and its major role in the Allied War effort between 1939 and 1945 on behalf of a country from which it was seeking independence, maintains its fascination as a subject for a wide variety of historians. This volume presents a range of papers examining the Indian Army experience from the outbreak of world war in 1939 to the partition of India in 1947. With contributions from many of those at the forefront of the study of the Indian Army and Commonwealth history, the book focuses upon a period of Indian Army history not well covered by modern scholarship. As such it makes a substantial contribution across a range of subject areas, presenting a compendium of chapters examining Indian Army participation in the Second World War from North Africa to Burma, plus a variety of other topics including the evolution of wartime training, frontier operations, Churchill and the Indian Army, the Army's role in the development of post-war British counterinsurgency practice, and of particular note, several chapters examining aspects of the partition in 1947. As such, the book offers a fascinating insight into one of the most important yet least understood military forces of the twentieth century. It will be of interest not only to those seeking a fuller understanding of past campaigns, but also to those wishing to better understand the development and ethos of the present day military forces of the Indian subcontinent.




Managing the Media in the India-Burma War, 1941-1945


Book Description

This book explores how the media was used by the armed forces during the India-Burma campaigns of WWII to project the most positive image to domestic and international audiences of a war that often seemed neglected or misunderstood. Discussing how soldiers were, for the first time, able to access newspapers and radio broadcasts relating stories of the campaigns they were actively fighting in, Managing the Media in the India-Burma War reveals not only the impact that the media had in maintaining troop morale, but how the military recognised that the media could be a valuable arm of warfare. Revealing how troops responded to reports of their operations, Philip Woods demonstrates the role of the media in creating the 'Forgotten Army' syndrome, which came about in the last two years of the Burma campaign. Focusing on the British Media, but with examples from the United States and India, including Indian war correspondents, it discusses India's role in the Second World War in relation to social, economic and political developments at the time. Honing in on India and Burma at a turning point in their road to independence, this book offers a fresh angle on a well-known military conflict, unpicks the various constraints and influences on the media in wartime, and links the campaign to India's crucial role in WWII.




The Indian Army in the Two World Wars


Book Description

This collection of seventeen essays based on archival data breaks new ground as regards the contribution of the Indian Army in British war effort during the two World Wars around various parts of the globe.




Intimation of Revolution


Book Description

Intimation of Revolution studies the rise of Bengali nationalism in East Pakistan in the 1950s and 60s by showcasing the interactions between global politics and local social and economic developments. It argues that the revolution of 1969 and the national liberation struggle of 1971 were informed by the 'global sixties' that transformed the political landscape of Pakistan and facilitated the birth of Bangladesh. Departing from the typical understanding of the Bangladesh as a product of Indo-Pakistani diplomatic and military rivalry, it narrates how Bengali nationalists resisted the processes of internal colonization by the Pakistani military bureaucratic regime to fashion their own nation. It details how this process of resistance and nation-formation drew on contemporaneous decolonization movements in Asia, Africa, and Latin America while also being shaped by the Cold War rivalries between the USA, USSR, and China.




War over Words


Book Description

Censorship has been a universal phenomenon through history. However, its rationale and implementation has varied, and public reaction to it has differed across societies and times. This book recovers, narrates, and interrogates the history of censorship of publications in India over three crucial decades - encompassing the Gandhian anti-colonial movement, the Second World War, Partition, and the early years of Independent India. In doing so, it examines state policy and practice, and also its subversion, in a tumultuous period of transition from colonial to self-rule in India. Populated with an array of powerful and powerless individuals, the story of Indians grappling with free speech and (in)tolerance is a fascinating one, and deserves to be widely known. It will help readers make sense of global present-day debates over free speech and hate speech, illustrate historical trends that change - and those that don't - and help them appreciate how the past inevitably informs the present.




The Transformation and Decline of the British Empire


Book Description

The slow retreat of the British empire in the century after the First World War has had dramatic implications for Britain itself, its former colonies and the global balance of power. The Transformation and Decline of the British Empire provides a broad-ranging and accessible introduction to the key debates and discussions about this process of imperial decline. Drawing on the lively scholarship which has developed over the last 25 years, it offers both new students and established scholars a guide to the existing literature on British decolonisation, including subjects such as the rise of anti-colonialism, the impact of empire on British politics and culture, the significance of migration, the wars and insurgencies which accompanied the end of empire and the role which capital and labour played in imperial decline. Mawby also examines the way in which the historiography has developed through conversations and debates between scholars, the impact which present day concerns have on historical writing, the significance of new documentary findings and the impact of theoretical considerations on current controversies.




The World in World Wars


Book Description

The volume contributes to the growing field of research on the global social history of the World Wars. Focusing on social and cultural aspects, it discusses the broader implications of the wars for African and Asian societies which resulted in significant social and political transformations.