The first phase of revolutionary activities lasted from 1907 to 1917. The activities of revolutionary heroism arose as a result of the rise of militant nationalism. The first phase, which lasted until 1917, took on a more activist tone as a result of the Swadeshi and Boycott Movement. As a result of the Non-Cooperation Movement, the second phase began. In this article, we will discuss various activities that took place during the first phase of revolutionary activities which will be helpful for UPSC exam preparation.

Reasons for Surge in Revolutionary Activities

• After the open movements demise, the younger nationalists who had been a part of it found it impossible to drop out and fade into the background.
• They looked for ways to express their patriotic energies, but were disillusioned by the failure of the leadership, including the Extremists, to find new forms of struggle to put the new militant trends into practise.
• Although the extremist leaders called on the youth to make sacrifices, they were unable to establish an effective organisation or find new forms of political work to channel these revolutionary energies.
• Because all avenues of peaceful political protest were closed to them due to government repression, the youth believed that if nationalist goals of independence were to be met, the British had to be expelled by force.

Revolutionary Programme

• The revolutionaries considered, but did not find it practical to implement, the options of launching a violent mass revolution across the country or attempting to undermine the Army's loyalties.
• Rather, they chose to follow in the footsteps of Russian nihilists or Irish nationalists.
• Individual heroic actions included organising assassinations of unpopular officials as well as traitors and informers among the revolutionaries themselves.
• They conducted swadeshi dacoities to raise funds for revolutionary activities; and (during the First World War) organized military conspiracies with the expectation of assistance from Britain's enemies.
• The plan was to instill fear in the hearts of the rulers, arouse the people, and remove their fear of authority.
• The revolutionaries hoped to inspire the people by appealing to patriotism, particularly among the idealistic youth who would eventually drive the British out.
• Extremist leaders failed to ideologically counter the revolutionaries because they failed to distinguish between a revolution based on mass activity and one based on individual violent activity, allowing individualistic violent activities to take root.

Revolutionary Activities During First Phase

• India’s struggle for independence was accompanied by many revolutionary activities that had been raised from different parts of the country.
• Revolutionaries are those people who believed in overthrowing the British Government by means of mass movements. Several internal and external influences worked on the minds of the youth in India during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, resulting in the emergence of revolutionary ideology.
• The revolutionary movement in India began in Bengal, Maharashtra, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, Bihar, and Madras provinces, but it was primarily active in Bengal, Maharashtra, and Punjab because these regions were more politically active than the rest of the country.
• The activities, writings, and speeches of this period's revolutionaries reveal a strong religious bias, romanticism, and emotionalism.
• Many of them were convinced that "pure political propaganda would not suffice for the country, and that people needed to be spiritually prepared to face dangers."
• The first revolutionary organizations were formed in 1902 in Midnapore (under Jnanendra Nath Basu) and Calcutta (under Promotha Mitter and including Jatindranath Banerjee, Barindra Kumar Ghosh, and others).
• The first of the revolutionary activities in Maharashtra was the organization of the Ramosi Peasant Force by Vasudev Balwant Phadke in 1879, which aimed to rid the country of the British by instigating an armed revolt by disrupting the communication lines.
• Extremism in Punjab was fueled by issues such as frequent famines combined with an increase in land revenue and irrigation tax, zamindars' practise of 'begar,' and events in Bengal.

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Revolutionary Activities Abroad

• Revolutionary activities continued unabated even abroad.
• The need for shelter, the possibility of publishing revolutionary literature that would be exempt from the Press Acts, and the desire for arms drove Indian revolutionaries to travel abroad.
• Following the assassination of District Magistrate Rand, Shyamji Krishna Verma of Kathiawar travelled to London and established the Home Rule Society - 'India House' - in London in 1905 as a center for Indian students, a scholarship scheme to bring radical youth from India, and a journal called 'The Indian Sociologist.'
• The Indian Home Rule Society was an informal Indian Nationalist movement that started in London.
• V.D. Savarkar went to London in 1906 and joined the 'Indian Society.' It advocated for revolutionary terrorism.
• The role of the Gadar Party in revolutionary activities around the world cannot be overstated.
• The Ghadar Movement was a pivotal event in the history of the Indian freedom struggle. The Ghadar Party was a political revolutionary organization founded in the United States of America by migrated Indians.
• The formation of the Ghadar Party was primarily the work of Sikhs.
• Lala Hardayal, a revolutionary young man from Punjab, founded the Gadar Party and also published The Gadar, a weekly newspaper. Its goal was to spark a revolution in India that would liberate the country from British rule.
• The Komagata Maru incident involved the Japanese steamship Komagata Maru, on which a group of British Raj citizens attempted to emigrate to Canada in 1914 but were denied entry.
• The 1915 Singapore Mutiny, also known as the 1915 Sepoy Mutiny or the Mutiny of the 5th Light Infantry, was a mutiny against the British in Singapore by up to half of a regiment of 850 Indian Muslim sepoys during World War I.

*For detailed notes of this topic, check this link Revolutionary Activities Abroad

Decline of Revolutionary Activities

After 1918, the Revolutionary Activities came to a temporary halt due to several reasons:

• Stern Government repression along with a series of draconian laws.
• Lack of popular response.
• The World War-I ended and the government released all political prisoners arrested under the Defense of India Act.
• Discussion began on the new Constitutional Reforms (Government of India Act 1919) which generated an atmosphere of compromise.
• Gandhi arrived on the national scene and emphasized non-violent means which also halted the place of revolutionary activities.

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Conclusion

Revolutionary activities emerged as the most significant legacy of Swadeshi Bengal, having an impact on educated youth for a generation or more. The revolutionary activities spread throughout the country. Maharashtra, Bengal, Punjab, and Madras were transformed into revolutionary hotspots. Revolutionary activities continued unabated even abroad. The lack of mass participation, combined with the movement's narrow upper-caste social base in Bengal, severely limited the scope of revolutionary activity. In the end, it crumbled under the weight of state repression.