Attlee's statement 1947
Topic: The National Movement: Gandhian Era · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Clement Attlee was the British Prime Minister from the Labour Party. On 20 February 1947 he announced that Britain would leave India by June 1948. It was the first time Britain had named a firm deadline for handing over power. He also said that Lord Mountbatten would replace Lord Wavell as Viceroy. Riots were spreading after Direct Action Day, and the deadline pushed the Congress and the League to settle quickly.
Example
Mountbatten arrived in March 1947. He decided that the June 1948 deadline was too far away. His plan of 3 June 1947 brought the date forward, and India became free, with Partition, on 15 August 1947.
Don't confuse with
- 3 June Plan (Mountbatten Plan): Attlee only fixed a deadline. The 3 June Plan set out how power would actually be handed over: by dividing the country into India and Pakistan.
Related concepts
- Provincial elections of 1937
- Congress ministries 1937-39
- Wardha scheme of basic education
- Congress Socialist Party
- Haripura session 1938
- Tripuri crisis 1939
- Forward Bloc
- Second World War
- Lord Linlithgow
- Resignation of Congress ministries