Cripps' mission

The Cripps mission was an attempt in late March of 1942 by the British government to
secure Indian cooperation and support for their efforts in World War II. The mission was
headed by Sir Stafford Cripps, a senior left-wing politician and government minister in
the War Cabinet of Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

Background
With the Battle of Britain and the entry of the U.S., World War II was becoming
increasingly grave and critical for the future survival of Britain and European nations.
The British government desired to enlist the full cooperation and support of Indian
political leaders in order to recruit more Indians into the British Indian Army, which
fought Imperial Japan in South East Asia and Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany in Europe
and North Africa alongside the British Army and its Australian, New Zealander, and
American allies. In 1939 the Viceroy, Lord Linlithgow, had declared India a belligerent
state on the side of the allies without consulting Indian political leaders or the elected
provincial representatives. This caused considerable resentment in India and provoked the
resignation en masse of elected Congress Party Provincial Governments, giving rise to
the prospect of public revolt and political disorder in India. The British feared a
destabilizing revolt in India which could be fatal to their campaign against the Japanese,
as well as detrimental to obtaining much-needed resources and manpower to fight the war
in Europe as well.

Debate over cooperation or protest

The Congress was divided upon its response to India's entry into World War II. Angry
over the decision made by the Viceroy of India, some Congress leaders favored launching
a popular revolt against the British despite the gravity of the war in Europe, which
threatened Britain's own freedom. Others, such as Chakravarti Rajagopalachari advocated
offering an olive branch to the British - supporting them in this crucial time in hope that
the gesture would be reciprocated with independence after the war. India's and Congress'
major leader, Mohandas Gandhi, was opposed to Indian involvement in the war as he
would not morally endorse a war - he also suspected British intentions, believing that the
British were not sincere about Indian aspirations for freedom. But Rajagopalachari, along
with support from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Maulana Azad and Jawaharlal Nehru held
talks with Cripps and offered full support in return for immediate self-government, and
eventual independence.

The leader of the Muslim League, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, supported the war effort and
condemned the Congress policy. Insisting on a separate Muslim state, he resisted
Congress calls for pan-Indian cooperation and immediate independence.
Failure of the mission
Upon his arrival in India, Cripps held talks with Indian leaders. There is some confusion
over what Cripps had been authorized to offer India's nationalist politicians by Churchill
and Leo Amery, and he also faced hostility from the Viceroy, Lord Linlithgow. He began
by offering India full Dominion status at the end of the war, with the chance to secede
from the Commonwealth and go for total independence. Privately, Cripps also promised
to get rid of Linlithgow and grant India Dominion Status with immediate effect, reserving
only the Defence Ministry for the British. However, in public he failed to present any
concrete proposals for greater self-government in the short-term, other than a vague
commitment to increase the number of Indian members of the Viceroy's Executive
Council. Cripps spent much of his time in encouraging Congress leaders and Jinnah to
come to a common, public arrangement in support of the war and government; however,
the Congress leaders felt that whatever Cripps might say, his political masters were not
interested in granting the complete Indianisation of the Viceory's Executive Council, its
conversion into a Cabinet with collective responsibility, or Indian control over Defense in
wartime. They were also suspicious of an opt-out clause which Amery was rumored to
have offered the Muslim League in any putative Dominion arrangement. There was too
little trust between the British and Congress by this stage, and both sides felt that the
other was concealing its true plans.

The Congress stopped talks with Cripps and, guided by Mohandas Gandhi, the national
leadership demanded immediate self-government in return for war support. When the
British remained unresponsive, Gandhi and the Congress began planning a major public
revolt, the Quit India movement, which demanded immediate British withdrawal from
India. As the Imperial Japanese Army advanced closer to India with the conquest of
Burma, Indians perceived an inability upon the part of the British to defend Indian soil.
This period concurred with the rise of the Indian National Army, led by Subhas Chandra
Bose. The British response to the Quit India movement was to throw most of the
Congress leadership in jail.

Jinnah's Muslim League condemned the Quit India movement, participating in provincial
governments as well as the legislative councils of the British Raj, and encouraging
Muslims to participate in the war. With this limited cooperation from the Muslim League,
the British were able to continue administering India for the duration of the war using
officials and military personnel where Indian politicians could not be found. This would
not prove to be feasible in the long-term, however.

The long-term significance of the Cripps Mission only really became apparent in the
aftermath of the war, as troops were demobilized and sent back home. Even Churchill
recognized that there could be no retraction of the offer of Independence which Cripps
had made, although by the end of the war Churchill was out of power and could only
watch as the new Labor government gave India independence. This confidence that the
British would soon leave was reflected in the readiness with which Congress politicians
stood in the elections of 1945-6 and formed provincial governments.[1] In retrospect, this
unsuccessful and badly-planned attempt to placate the Congress in return for temporary
wartime support was the point at which the British departure from India became
inevitable at the war's end