Violence in Modern Indian Thought in the Mirror of World War II

The turmoil at the end of the long 19th century and the aftermath of the World War I inspired many Indian political thinkers to reflect upon violence as a means of attaining statehood. Revolutionary violence brought about abrupt social transformation in Russia, while the breakdown of the Austro-Hungarian Empire enabled the formation of several new states. Meanwhile, Germany, the other major European power, was reduced to shambles. The contradictory possibilities which the above developments proffered to the cause of India’s independence shaped Indian debates on violence during the interwar period, finding their most acute expression in references to the emerging developments of the World War II. Focusing on Indian responses to the violence of the World War II, this paper analyses writings of some nationalist figures—primarily Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Aurobindo Ghosh, and Madhav Sadashivrao Golwalkar—to examine how different philosophies such as non-violence, revolutionary struggle, and Hindu nationalism intersected with European wartime developments. These perspectives are framed as tensions between spiritual morality and pragmatic realpolitik.