Thematic Essay

Throughout global history, nationalism has had many positive and negative effects. Nationalism is a strong feeling of pride in and devotion to ones country. India, Africa, China, Japan, and Mexico are just a few examples of nations who were affected by nationalism. India had two major effects of nationalism. They were Gandhi's Salt March and the Armistar Massacre.

The Amristar Massacre occurred on April 3, 1919. The people of India wanted a greater self-rule and Britain promised them independence after World War II. When Britain broke their promise the people of India were infuriated. A large, passive crowd gathered in a northern Indian city called Amristar. A general who went by the name of General Dyer arrived with 50 soldiers. It was against the law in India for large groups of people to gather. Therefore, when they gathered in Amristar and the soldiers arrived General Dyer ordered them to open fire on all the men, women, and children present. Three hundred and seventy-nine people were killed while more than 1,100 were wounded. Dyer felt that this would produce a sufficient moral effect.

Another example of nationalism in India was the great Salt March lead by Mohandas Gandhi. Gandhi helped fight for the independence of India. Gandhi preached and battled against the government with nonviolence. He did this by using passive resistance, the method of securing rights by personal suffering, and civil disobedience, the refusal to obey unjust laws. This meant that Gandhi's followers took the beatings from the British without fighting back and they embraced the idea of nationalism while eliminating the caste system. Gandhi discarded western style of dressing and boycotted all British-made products. The Salt March was a retaliation of the Indian people against Britain. Britain had a monopoly on all salt in India. The Indians needed this salt to survive and felt that they should not need to pay Britain to get it. There was plenty of available salt in the sea, but it was forbidden to gather. In a rebellious act Gandhi organized a march to the sea to gather this forbidden salt. Between March 12th and April 6th, 1930, 78 people followed him on a 240-mile march to the sea. Reporter's from all over covered this story as it unfolded, greatly embarrassing Great Britain. As a punishment Gandhi was jailed although he still considered it a success.

Each of India's events of nationalism greatly affected India. Some effects