The plunder of India was a main source of the primitive accumulation of capital which made possible the English industrial revolution. The conquest and exploitation of India was one of the main bases of capitalist development in Britain, giving direct support to her whole social and political structure. The success of Britain in defeating her continental rivals, as well as the native rulers of India, and the consolidation of her domination in India paved the way for her subsequent world supremacy. India, the largest, the longest dominated and exploited of British conquests, the richest field of investment, the source of incalculable plunder and profit, the base of Asiatic expansion, the inexhaustible reservoir of material and human resources for British wars, the focus of all British strategic aims, the pivot of the Empire, and the bulwark of British world domination, offers, after 200 years of subjection, the most complete demonstration of the workings and results of the colonial system of modern imperialism.Įvery European colonizing power directed its first efforts toward India, and the bitterest struggles for the glittering prize were fought on the battlefields of Europe and India alike. A brilliantly written document, we are certain that our readers will find it highly instructive and of the utmost social importance – Ed. They deal with the development of the classes in India, the movements of national independence, the rôle of the successive British governments in their treatment of the question of Indian Freedom, and the presentation of a program to realize the genuine liberation from imperialism of the Indian proletariat and peasantry and the whole of Asia. Other sections will follow in forthcoming issues of The New International. In view of the international situation we believe it of extreme timeliness to begin publication of the whole thesis with this particular introductory section. The following article is the first section of a thesis by the Indian Trotskyist organization which we received prior to the outbreak of the war in that part of the world. BLPI: The British Conquest of India (1942)Įncyclopedia of Trotskyism | Marxists’ Internet Archiveįrom New International, Vol.
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