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Subhas Chandra Bose ( / ʃʊbˈhɑːs ˈtʃʌndrə ˈboʊs / ⓘ shuub-HAHSS CHUN-drə BOHSS; [12] 23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945) was an Indian nationalist whose defiance of British authority in India made him a hero among many Indians, but his wartime alliances with Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan left a legacy vexed by authoritarianism, anti-Semitism, an...
- Overview
- Early life and political activity
- A falling-out with Gandhi
- Activity in exile
Subhas Chandra Bose (also called Netaji) is known for his role in India’s independence movement. A participant of the noncooperation movement and a leader of the Indian National Congress, he was part of the more militant wing and known for his advocacy of socialist policies.
What was Subhas Chandra Bose’s education?
Subhas Chandra Bose studied in Calcutta (Kolkata) at the Presidency College and the Scottish Churches College. His parents then sent him to the University of Cambridge in England to prepare for the Indian Civil Service. He passed the civil service examination but resigned his candidacy and returned to India after hearing of nationalist turmoils there.
What was Subhas Chandra Bose’s impact?
Subhas Chandra Bose (known also as Netaji) reflected a more militant and socialist approach to India’s independence movement as compared with Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi’s less confrontational stance and more conservative economics. While in exile in the 1940s, Bose raised a liberation army in East Asia with Japanese aid and influence.
How did Subhas Chandra Bose die?
The son of a wealthy and prominent Bengali lawyer, Bose studied at Presidency College, Calcutta (Kolkata), from which he was expelled in 1916 for nationalist activities, and the Scottish Churches College (graduating in 1919). He then was sent by his parents to the University of Cambridge in England to prepare for the Indian Civil Service. In 1920 he passed the civil service examination, but in April 1921, after hearing of the nationalist turmoils in India, he resigned his candidacy and hurried back to India. Throughout his career, especially in its early stages, he was supported financially and emotionally by an elder brother, Sarat Chandra Bose (1889–1950), a wealthy Calcutta lawyer and Indian National Congress (also known as the Congress Party) politician.
Bose joined the noncooperation movement started by Mohandas K. Gandhi, who had made the Indian National Congress a powerful nonviolent organization. Bose was advised by Gandhi to work under Chitta Ranjan Das, a politician in Bengal. There Bose became a youth educator, journalist, and commandant of the Bengal Congress volunteers. His activities led to his imprisonment in December 1921. In 1924 he was appointed chief executive officer of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation, with Das as mayor. Bose was soon after deported to Burma (Myanmar) because he was suspected of connections with secret revolutionary movements. Released in 1927, he returned to find Bengal Congress affairs in disarray after the death of Das, and Bose was elected president of the Bengal Congress. Shortly thereafter he and Jawaharlal Nehru became the two general secretaries of the Indian National Congress. Together they represented the more militant, left-wing faction of the party against the more compromising, right-wing Gandhian faction.
Vocal support for Gandhi increased within the Indian National Congress, meanwhile, and, in light of this, Gandhi resumed a more commanding role in the party. When the civil disobedience movement was started in 1930, Bose was already in detention for his associations with an underground revolutionary group, the Bengal Volunteers. Nevertheless, he was elected mayor of Calcutta while in prison. Released and then rearrested several times for his suspected role in violent acts, Bose was finally allowed to proceed to Europe after he contracted tuberculosis and was released for ill health. In enforced exile and still ill, he wrote The Indian Struggle, 1920–1934 and pleaded India’s cause with European leaders. He returned from Europe in 1936, was again taken into custody, and was released after a year.
Meanwhile, Bose became increasingly critical of Gandhi’s more conservative economics as well as his less confrontational approach toward independence. In 1938 he was elected president of the Indian National Congress and formed a national planning committee, which formulated a policy of broad industrialization. However, this did not harmonize with Gandhian economic thought, which clung to the notion of cottage industries and benefiting from the use of the country’s own resources. Bose’s vindication came in 1939, when he defeated a Gandhian rival for reelection. Nonetheless, the “rebel president” felt bound to resign because of the lack of Gandhi’s support. He founded the Forward Bloc, hoping to rally radical elements, but was again incarcerated in July 1940. His refusal to remain in prison at this critical period of India’s history was expressed in a determination to fast to death, which frightened the British government into releasing him. On January 26, 1941, though closely watched, he escaped from his Calcutta residence in disguise and, traveling via Kabul and Moscow, eventually reached Germany in April.
In Nazi Germany Bose came under the tutelage of a newly created Special Bureau for India, guided by Adam von Trott zu Solz. He and other Indians who had gathered in Berlin made regular broadcasts from the German-sponsored Azad Hind Radio beginning in January 1942, speaking in English, Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Gujarati, and Pashto.
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A little more than a year after the Japanese invasion of Southeast Asia, Bose left Germany, traveling by German and Japanese submarines and by plane, and arrived in May 1943 in Tokyo. On July 4 he assumed leadership of the Indian Independence Movement in East Asia and proceeded, with Japanese aid and influence, to form a trained army of about 40,000 troops in Japanese-occupied Southeast Asia. On October 21, 1943, Bose proclaimed the establishment of a provisional independent Indian government, and his so-called Indian National Army (Azad Hind Fauj), alongside Japanese troops, advanced to Rangoon (Yangon) and thence overland into India, reaching Indian soil on March 18, 1944, and moving into Kohima and the plains of Imphal. In a stubborn battle, the mixed Indian and Japanese forces, lacking Japanese air support, were defeated and forced to retreat; the Indian National Army nevertheless for some time succeeded in maintaining its identity as a liberation army, based in Burma and then Indochina. With the defeat of Japan, however, Bose’s fortunes ended.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Subhas Chandra Bose, (born Jan. 23, 1897, Cuttack, Orissa, India—died Aug. 18, 1945, Taipei, Taiwan [China]?), Indian revolutionary. Preparing in Britain for a career in the Indian civil service, he resigned his candidacy on hearing of nationalist turmoil back home.
Learn about the life, achievements and death of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, one of the most celebrated freedom fighters of India. He led the Indian National Army (INA) during World War II and formed a provisional government in Japan. He was a charismatic leader who inspired millions with his patriotic zeal and political ideologies.
Subhas Chandra Bose (Bengali: সুভাষ চন্দ্র বসু, Oriya- ସୁଭାଷ ଚନ୍ଦ୍ର ବୋଷ; (January 23, 1897 - August 18, 1945, although this is disputed), generally known as Netaji (literally, "Respected Leader"), was one of the most prominent and highly respected leaders of the Indian independence ...
Nov 4, 2018 · Learn about the Indian nationalist who fought for freedom from British rule and collaborated with the Axis powers during World War II. Discover his early life, escape, achievements, and mysterious disappearance in 1945.
Jun 8, 2018 · Learn about the life and achievements of Subhas Chandra Bose, one of India's great nationalist leaders who led the revolutionary Indian National Army during World War II. Explore his political career, his clash with Gandhi, his alliance with Japan, and his mysterious death.
