Subhas Chandra Bose: Modern History NCERT Notes For UPSC

Subhas Chandra Bose was an Indian revolutionary who played a pivotal role in the freedom struggle of India. Subhas Chandra Bose was affectionately called as Netaji which means respected leader. He was the contemporary of Mahatma Gandhi and they both had ideological differences on several fronts. The Azad Hind Fauj was led by Subhas Chandra Bose.

‘Give me blood and I will give you freedom’ was one of the famous lines quoted by Bose. In this article, the role and contributions of Subhas Chandra Bose are discussed and this will be helpful for UPSC exams.

Subhas Chandra Bose (UPSC Modern History) NCERT Notes: Download PDF Here

Early Life of Subhas Chandra Bose

• Subhas Chandra Bose was born on 23 January 1897 in Cuttack (Orissa) to Janakinath Bose and Prabhavati Bose. He was the ninth child and had 13 siblings.
• He joined B.A. Philosophy in Presidency college, Calcutta from where he was expelled for participating in an incident against the professor E.F.Oaten. Later in 1918, he graduated in Philosophy from Scottish Church College.
• In 1920, Subhas Chandra Bose took the Indian Civil Service examination and ranked fourth. However in 1921, he later changed his mind and refused to attend the final stage of examination as he felt that one cannot serve his/her country fully if he/she is chained onto Civil Service.
• He was impressed by the teachings of Swami Vivekananda which influenced the socialist political ideology of Bose.
• The people of Germany called him ‘Netaji’.

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Role of Subhas Chandra Bose in Indian Freedom Struggle

Political Activities in India

• Subhas Chandra Bose was introduced into the nationalist politics by his mentor Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das.
• He joined the Non Cooperation movement which was started by Gandhi against the British rule in India. When Gandhi called off the movement after the Chauri Chaura incide nt, Bose expressed his bewilderment against his decision.
• He worked along with Jawaharlal Nehru and both emerged as the leaders of youths and students. They both opposed the Nehru Report of 1928.
• Subhas Chandra Bose opposed the idea of demanding dominion status and rather opted for complete independence.
• He started a newspaper called ‘Swaraj’ and he was the editor of the newspaper ‘Forward’.
• He was the President of the Bengal Provincial Congress Committee and he was elected as the President of All India Youth Congress in 1923.
• In 1930, he was arrested during his participation in the Civil Disobedience movement. Throughout his role in the struggle for Independence, he was imprisoned 11 times.
• Twice he was elected as the President of Indian National Congress i.e in 1938 Haripura Session and in 1939 Tripuri session.
• In 1939, due to political reasons Subhas Chandra Bose resigned from the President post and formed a new faction called Forward Bloc within the Congress in May 1939.
• Following his action (Call for all India Protest) against the resolution passed by All India Congress Committee (AICC), he was removed from the post of President of the Bengal Provincial Congress Committee in 1939. For the next three he was excluded from holding any office in the Congress.
• Bose was arrested during his protest against the proposed monument for Holwell in Calcutta. Following his hunger strike, he was released and kept under house arrest.

Also, check the NCERT notes on Revolutionary Movement In India here for UPSC

Political Activities in Germany

• In 1941, he escaped from house arrest in Calcutta and reached Germany. Along with the other Indians in Germany, in 1942 he started a regular broadcast from the Azad Hind Radio.
• In Germany, he also befriended and gained cooperation from Germany and Japan to fight against the British.
• With the help of Hilter, he formed the Freedom Army also known as Mukti Sena in Germany. It consisted of the prisoners of war who were captured by Italy and Germany.

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Indian National Army and Subhas Chandra Bose

• In 1943, Subhas Chandra Bose reached Singapore which marked the beginning of the second phase of Indian National Army.

• In 1943, the INA and the Indian Independence league was transferred to Subhas Chandra Bose. He became the Supreme Commander of the INA.
• Subhas Chandra Bose started a women regiment of INA which was called as Rani Laxmibai Regiment. Other regiments were Gandhi brigade, Subhas brigade and Nehru brigade.
• In 1944, the INA shifted its headquarters from Singapore to Rangoon in Burma.
• The Indian National Army under the leadership of Subhas Chandra Bose reached India for the first time in March 1944 and fought against British in the Northeast part of India.
• With the defeat of Germany and Japan in the Second World War, the Indian National Army surrendered.

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Ideological Differences Between Subhas Chandra Bose and Mahatma Gandhi

• Mahatma Gandhi strongly believed non violence as the means to achieve independence whereas Subhas Chandra Bose believed that independence could be achieved only by violent resistance against the British.
• Bose believed in a Capitalistic form of government whereas Gandhi opposed centralisation and favoured Ramrajya in which communalism, capitalism, representative government , police force are absent.
• Gandhi was against the military system but Subhas Chandra Bose was the Supreme Commander of the Indian National Army.
• Though both accepted that Socialism to be the way forward for India, Bose believed in Western form of socialism whereas Gandhi accepted the socialism advocated by Jayaprakash Narayan.

Check the NCERT Notes rise of Gandhi in Indian freedom struggle here for UPSC

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was known for his courage and sacrifice in the Indian independence movement. Mahatma Gandhi called him the ‘Prince among the Patriots’. It was believed that Subhas Chandra Bose died on 18 August 1945, in a plane crash near Taiwan. However it was not proved.

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