The Civil Disobedience Movement marked a decisive mass upsurge against British rule, expanding India’s freedom struggle with non-violent defiance and demand for complete independence.

BulletsIn

• The Civil Disobedience Movement was launched in 1930 under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi as a nationwide protest against oppressive colonial laws and economic exploitation.
• Immediate causes included rejection of Dominion Status, frustration with British responses to the Nehru Report, and the Congress demand for complete independence.
• The movement formally began on 6 April 1930 after Gandhi broke the salt law following the historic Dandi March from Ahmedabad to Dandi.
• Salt was chosen as the focal issue because it affected every Indian and symbolised British economic injustice and state monopoly over basic necessities.
• Forms of protest included salt law violation, non-payment of taxes, boycott of foreign goods, picketing liquor shops, resignation of officials and court boycotts.
• The movement witnessed wide participation across regions, involving peasants, women, workers and urban middle classes, giving it a truly mass character.
• Limitations included uneven participation, repression through arrests, limited industrial worker involvement, and eventual suspension after the Gandhi-Irwin Pact.
• The movement’s impact lay in internationalising India’s freedom struggle, weakening colonial authority, and firmly establishing Purna Swaraj as the national goal.