Fiscal and Economic Burden
- Escalating Defence Expenditure: The war led to a massive increase in the defence expenditure of the colonial government, which was financed through war loans and higher taxes.
- New and Increased Taxation: To generate revenue, customs duties were raised and an income tax was introduced across the country.
- Price Inflation: During the war years, prices surged and doubled between 1913 and 1918, imposing extreme economic hardship on common people.
- Famine and Epidemic Crises: At the close of the war period (1918–19 and 1920–21), acute food shortages struck many parts of India due to crop failures. This coincided with a devastating influenza epidemic; according to the 1921 census, 12 to 13 million people perished due to famines and the epidemic.
Social Discontent and Rural Coercion
- Forced Recruitment: The colonial state pressured villages into providing soldiers for the British army. This system of forced recruitment created intense resentment and anger across rural areas.
- Post-War Disillusionment: Widespread hardship persisted after the war ended, dashing popular expectations of economic and political relief.
Growth and Boom in Domestic Industries
- Decline of Foreign Imports: Because British factories were preoccupied with producing war supplies for the army, imports of manufactured goods (such as Manchester textiles) into India dropped sharply.
- Captive Home Market: Indian mills and factories suddenly gained access to a vast, open domestic market to supply without foreign competition.
- Supplying Military Requirements: As the conflict prolonged, Indian industrial units were tasked with fulfilling war orders, including jute bags, cloth for military uniforms, tents, leather boots, and horse and mule saddles.
- Expansion of Production: Indian industrial production experienced a boom; new factories were established, existing plants operated multiple shifts, extra workers were hired, and laborers worked longer hours.
- Rising Business Profits: Indian merchants and industrialists accumulated substantial profits during the war years, establishing economic strength and forming business associations to push for tariff protection and commercial concessions.
- Permanent Setback to British Manufactures: After the war, British industries (notably Manchester cotton mills) could not recapture their dominant pre-war position in the Indian market, enabling local industrialists to consolidate their hold.
Political Mobilisation and Nationalism
- Broadening the Nationalist Base: The severe economic strain and unfulfilled wartime expectations helped transform the anti-colonial struggle, drawing in peasants, industrial workers, the urban middle classes, and business groups.
- Emergence of New Modes of Agitation: Against the backdrop of post-war distress, Mahatma Gandhi launched nationwide mass mobilization—beginning with the Rowlatt Satyagraha in 1919 and culminating in the Non-Cooperation Movement in alliance with the Khilafat cause.
Reference Ncert Document
https://ncert.nic.in/textbook/pdf/jess302.pdf
https://ncert.nic.in/textbook/pdf/jess303.pdf
