# What If: India\[was\] granted independence 12 years earlier **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 14, 2011, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-india-was-granted-independence-12-years-earlier/592681 "2011-08-14T14:39:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ryan\_Liam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ryan_liam/32/3965_2.png) [@Ryan\_Liam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryan_Liam)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-india-was-granted-independence-12-years-earlier/592681/21 "2011-08-15T19:41:38Z")
> [@Lantern](#): > > The Briitish would have lost the tax revenue that they obtained from their rule of India. It’s unlikely that the Indian government would have allowed their citizens to volunteer in mass for the British Army and how would the British have paid for them anyway? They would have also lost the benefit of India as a staging point for military operations through Burma. > > ``` > How many of that 250,000 garrison were British citizens? Most of them were probably Indians who would have become part of the new Indian army. > > ``` The British who got that tax revenue, at the end of WWII ended up owing around £1 billion to the Indian government by 1945. Freeing up British Army contingents from the sub continent, would allow them to be placed elsewhere whilst saving money, a significant number of British divisions were tied up during world war two on the North West frontier province. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-india-was-granted-independence-12-years-earlier/592681/22 "2011-08-15T19:49:16Z")
> [@Ryan\_Liam](#): > > The British who got that tax revenue, at the end of WWII ended up owing around £1 billion to the Indian government by 1945. Not sure I understand this. There was no Indian government in 1945 so how did the British end up owing them 1 billion? What are the details of this transaction? Again the British divisions in India you are talking about were mostly Indian soldiers. If India had become independent they would have become part of the Indian army. And the British wouldn’t have had the services of 2 million plus Indian soldiers who were paid for with Indian tax revenue. ---
**Author:** ![Ryan\_Liam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ryan_liam/32/3965_2.png) [@Ryan\_Liam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryan_Liam)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-india-was-granted-independence-12-years-earlier/592681/23 "2011-08-15T20:17:40Z")
> [@Lantern](#): > > Not sure I understand this. There was no Indian government in 1945 so how did the British end up owing them 1 billion? What are the details of this transaction? > > Again the British divisions in India you are talking about were mostly Indian soldiers. If India had become independent they would have become part of the Indian army. And the British wouldn’t have had the services of 2 million plus Indian soldiers who were paid for with Indian tax revenue. This is an error, my apologies, I misinterpreted Sterling Debt as a debt incurred to India, rather than a debt incurred in running India. It surmounted to £1 billion. As for the military contribution, I agree that a a significant portion were Indian, however, at any one time there were 70,000 British troops in India as a garrison force, of which were well trained, and of which if allocated to other more pressing theatres of war, would of made up for some of the man power which India provided, troops who were well trained. Dislocating India from the Empire earlier would have a knock on effect in freeing up resources to be used against the Axis powers as other areas which were occupied to defend India would be not needed anymore (i.e Aden, Oman, Egypt) most of these protectorates and colonies were created in justification of defending India from anyone trying to threaten it. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-india-was-granted-independence-12-years-earlier/592681/24 "2011-08-15T21:00:55Z")
Can you give details of these 70,000 troops? Were they British citizens or just divisions in the British Indian army which consisted mostly of Indian soldiers? How long were they in India? Egypt clearly had a major strategic importance beyond just defending India and I seriously doubt there were many British troops troops in place like Aden and Oman during the war. The bottom line is the British mobilized a massive amount of military resources from India both in terms of men and material. Only a fraction of them were spent actually defending India while the rest fought in Africa, Burma and Italy. In net terms India was a major contributor to the war effort. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-india-was-granted-independence-12-years-earlier/592681/25 "2011-08-15T21:19:25Z")
Of course, Burma was part of India. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-india-was-granted-independence-12-years-earlier/592681/26 "2011-08-16T00:35:53Z")
> [@Capitaine\_Zombie](#): > > Not unless you’re American and cant/wont differentiate between Socialists and Communists. Union of Soviet Socialist Republics? ---
**Author:** ![gatorslap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gatorslap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gatorslap)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-india-was-granted-independence-12-years-earlier/592681/27 "2011-08-16T00:37:30Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > Canada and Australia declared war on the Axis. We’re assuming in this thread that India is going to try to stay neutral. Why are we assuming that? The OP doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-india-was-granted-independence-12-years-earlier/592681/28 "2011-08-16T00:42:54Z")
> [@gatorslap](#): > > Why are we assuming that? The OP doesn’t. Posts 2, 3, 6, and 10 all do. ---
**Author:** ![gatorslap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gatorslap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gatorslap)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-india-was-granted-independence-12-years-earlier/592681/29 "2011-08-16T01:04:12Z")
I read those posts as expressing their opinion that India would have been a neutral country, not _assuming_ it. 2 and 6 even use the word “probably”. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-india-was-granted-independence-12-years-earlier/592681/30 "2011-08-16T06:22:48Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > Of course, Burma was part of India. Actually Burma was separated from British India in 1937. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-india-was-granted-independence-12-years-earlier/592681/31 "2011-08-16T06:46:01Z")
And in the hypothetical, India gets independence in 1935. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-india-was-granted-independence-12-years-earlier/592681/32 "2011-08-16T07:18:16Z")
Yes but I was talking about India’s net contribution to the war effort in WW2. I thought your point was that Burma was a part of India at that time and my point was that it wasn’t. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-india-was-granted-independence-12-years-earlier/592681/33 "2011-08-16T11:47:35Z")
Ok. There are many people here who need to read up about the politics of that time beyond a quick skim read of wikipedia. 1. The only way practical independence was going to occur was if the historical Government of India Act 1935 was even more extensive. Historically it was called the half way house to independence; it setup a Federation and transferred many functions to the provinces (which had elected governments). If there is independence in 1935;what you are going to see is a very weak central government with still at least some British influence, especially in foreign affairs. And remember at this time the preferred desire among the locals was for something like Dominion status. So if and when war comes; you should not think of this hypothetical independent India doing the same as what the Republic of India did after 1947. Its foreign policy will still be tied to Britain and there would still be a major war effort. What you might not see would be a Bengal Famine. On the issue of British troops being “tied down in India”, it should be pointed out that troops in India were (from 1942 especially) either involved in the Bruma campaign or had been used in Persia or Iraq. The British Army tended to rotate regiments and higher in and out of theaters. Many units in India were there for rest and refit and would be sent to other theaters when ready. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-india-was-granted-independence-12-years-earlier/592681.md?page=1)