Introduction for Chapter 29

29 Nationalism in Asia 1914–1939

> How did nationalism shape developments across Asia in the decades following the First World War? Chapter 29 examines nationalist movements in Asia in the decades following the First World War. The First World War sped the development of modern Asian nationalism. Before 1914 the nationalist gospel of anti-imperialist political freedom and racial equality had already won converts among Asia’s westernized, educated elites. In the 1920s and 1930s it increasingly won the allegiance of the masses. Between the outbreaks of the First and Second World Wars, each Asian country developed a distinctive national movement rooted in its own unique culture and history. And as in Europe, nationalist movements gave rise in Asia to conflict both within large, multiethnic states and between independent states.

image
Kasturba Gandhi Wife of Indian political leader Mohandas Gandhi, Kasturba was barely fourteen years old and he thirteen when the marriage took place. Kasturba (1869–1944) supported Gandhi through decades of struggle for Indian independence. Here she spins cotton on a charkha, or spinning wheel, part of Gandhi’s campaign for Indians to become self-sufficient by making their own cloth and freeing themselves from imported British goods. (© Dinodia Photo Library/The Image Works)

LearningCurve

After reading the chapter, use LearningCurve to retain what you’ve read.

1904–1905 1925
Russo-Japanese War ends in Russia’s defeat Reza Shah Pahlavi proclaims himself shah of Persia and begins modernization campaign
1916 1927
Sykes-Picot Agreement divides Ottoman Empire; Lucknow Pact forms alliance between Hindus and Muslims in India; New Culture Movement in China begins Jiang Jieshi, leader of Chinese Nationalist Party, purges his Communist allies
1917 1930
Balfour Declaration establishes Jewish homeland in Palestine Gandhi leads Indians on march to the sea to protest the British salt tax
1919 1931
Amritsar Massacre in India; May Fourth Movement in China; Treaty of Versailles; Afghanistan achieves independence Japan occupies Manchuria
1920 1932
King of Syria deposed by French; Gandhi launches campaign of nonviolent resistance against British rule in India Iraq gains independence in return for military alliance with Great Britain
1920s–1930s 1934
Large numbers of European Jews immigrate to Palestine; Hebrew becomes common language Mao Zedong leads Chinese Communists on Long March; Philippines gains self-governing commonwealth status from United States
1923 1937
Sun Yatsen allies Nationalist Party with Chinese Communists; Treaty of Lausanne ends war in Turkey; Mustafa Kemal begins to modernize and secularize Turkey Japanese militarists launch attack on China; Rape of Nanjing