UPSC Prelims 2015 · Question 68 of 98
UPSC Prelims 2015 question on Swadeshi Moderates Extremists Split
- ExamUPSC CSE
- Year2015
- PaperGeneral Studies Paper I
- SubjectModern History
- TopicIndian National Movement
- DifficultyEasy
- TypeDirect
Which one of the following movements has contributed to a split in the Indian National Congress resulting in the emergence of 'moderates' and 'extremists'?
Show answer
Answer: A. Swadeshi Movement
Verdict
The answer is the Swadeshi Movement. The split into moderates and extremists at Surat in 1907 grew out of the Swadeshi agitation.
Analysis
The partition of Bengal in 1905 triggered the Swadeshi and Boycott movement, and the Congress divided over how far that agitation should be pushed and by what methods. The extremists wanted the movement extended beyond Bengal and beyond boycott of goods, while the moderates wanted it contained, and the disagreement produced the Surat split of 1907. The Non-Cooperation, Civil Disobedience and Quit India movements all came after 1920, by which time the moderate and extremist division had long ceased to define the Congress.
Source
Rajiv Ahir, A Brief History of Modern India, page 89.
How to crack it
Date the phenomenon before searching for the cause. The moderate and extremist division belongs to the first two decades of the twentieth century, so any movement from the Gandhian era after 1920 is chronologically disqualified, and that removes three options at once. Fix the sequence 1905 partition, 1906 Calcutta session, 1907 Surat split as a single causal chain, because UPSC asks it from every direction.