How were external factors, namely, the Second World War and international interests, implicated in the beginning of Pakistan’s history
Omer Ahmad
Ms. Anushay Malik
1301 Pakistan Studies
31-Oct-2013
How were external factors, namely, the Second World War and international interests, implicated in the beginning of Pakistan’s history?
The Second World War was a monumental event in history, which had at least some influence upon the future of almost all countries around the globe. Its outcome shaped, for the next half century, all spheres of policy for the countries involved in the conflict, with overriding influences on the formation and early development of Pakistan. This essay will analyze the external factors that had implications upon the partition of British India, and then move on to elaborate upon how international politics after the Second World War influenced the internal politics, economic development, foreign policies and defense agendas of the government of Pakistan in its early years.
Prior to the commencement of the war, the political situation in India was a stalemate; almost all Indians had been persistently in favor of Independence from the British Raj for many years, however, it was not a situation anyone foresaw occurring in the near future. Individuals and parties allied themselves with their British masters solely for personal monetary gain. This can be highlighted in the politics of the Punjab: the Unionist party (formerly known as The Association of the Landed Aristocracy of the Punjab), consisting of the Muslim landowning clans, Muslim and Hindu Biraderis and Sikh chieftains, supported British rule because of the low tax demands, land grants and honorary titles awarded to them by the Raj. In return the British got much needed war time support from them, in the form of a constant supply of military personnel and massive stockpiles of food grain, during the war [Ian. A Talbot, the Second World War and local Indian politics: 1937-1947, p.603].Other parties, namely the All-India Muslim League and The Indian National Congress, were not so fond of the British: both these
Ms. Anushay Malik
1301 Pakistan Studies
31-Oct-2013
How were external factors, namely, the Second World War and international interests, implicated in the beginning of Pakistan’s history?
The Second World War was a monumental event in history, which had at least some influence upon the future of almost all countries around the globe. Its outcome shaped, for the next half century, all spheres of policy for the countries involved in the conflict, with overriding influences on the formation and early development of Pakistan. This essay will analyze the external factors that had implications upon the partition of British India, and then move on to elaborate upon how international politics after the Second World War influenced the internal politics, economic development, foreign policies and defense agendas of the government of Pakistan in its early years.
Prior to the commencement of the war, the political situation in India was a stalemate; almost all Indians had been persistently in favor of Independence from the British Raj for many years, however, it was not a situation anyone foresaw occurring in the near future. Individuals and parties allied themselves with their British masters solely for personal monetary gain. This can be highlighted in the politics of the Punjab: the Unionist party (formerly known as The Association of the Landed Aristocracy of the Punjab), consisting of the Muslim landowning clans, Muslim and Hindu Biraderis and Sikh chieftains, supported British rule because of the low tax demands, land grants and honorary titles awarded to them by the Raj. In return the British got much needed war time support from them, in the form of a constant supply of military personnel and massive stockpiles of food grain, during the war [Ian. A Talbot, the Second World War and local Indian politics: 1937-1947, p.603].Other parties, namely the All-India Muslim League and The Indian National Congress, were not so fond of the British: both these
Cited: Shaikh, Farzana. Making Sense of Pakistan. New York: Columbia UP, 2009. Print. Jalal, Ayesha, “Towards the Baghdad Pact: South Asia and Middle East Defence in the Cold War, 1947 1955”. The International History Review. Aug 1989. 409-33. Print http://www.jstor.org/stable/40106042 Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, “Pakistan GDP Growth Rate”. Trading Economics. N.d. Web. 31-Oct-2013 http://www.tradingeconomics.com/pakistan/gdp-growth Talbot, Ian. “The Second World War and Local Indian Politics: 1939-1947”. The International History Review. Nov 1984. 592-610. Print. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40105423