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With the rise of anti-Semitism in Germany, Gandhi advised the persecuted Jews to bravely claim Germany as their home, for he was sure that religious resistance against the godless fury of a dehumanized man would bring forth the inner strength and joy given to them by Jehovah…

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Anticipating the devastating consequences of war, Gandhi wrote to Herr Hitler- the one person who could prevent a war that would reduce humanity to a savage state. “Must you pay this price for an object...

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At last the long apprehended was between England and Germany broke out…
Flouting Indian opinion, the British Government declared India a belligerent country and promulgated ordinances, which affected the Indian people vitally…

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After his talks with the Viceroy at Simla, Gandhi made it clear that his sympathies were with the Allies from the purely humanitarian standpoint… He appealed to British statesmen to open a new chapter for all those who were held under imperial bondage…

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Condemning the Nazi aggression, the Indian National Congress declared that though the Indian people had no quarrel with any people, they had a deep – rooted quarrel with systems which glorified war and violence and suppressed the human spirit and that India could not associate herself with a war...

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Making a fervent appeal to India to adopt non-violence as her creed and preserve man’s dignity, Gandhi wrote, “Defense of India by the present method has been necessary because she is an appendage of Britain. Free India can have no enemy…

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“It is better for India to discard violence altogether even for defending her borders… For India to enter into the race for armaments is to court suicide.
“With the loss of India to non-violence, the last hope of the world will be gone…”

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With the British Government’s rejection of nationalist opinion, Gandhi was convinced that its old policy of ‘divide and rule’ was to continue… His reaction was “ Our independence is not to depend upon any one’s mercy… It will come when the people are ready for it”.

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The congress declared that Indian freedom could not exist within the orbit of imperialism and asked its Ministries to resign in protest…

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For a while to pass beyond the darkness that enveloped the destiny of the world, Gandhi and Kasturbai visited Shantiniketan at Poet Tagore’s invitation in February 1940.
The two apostles of India’s regeneration met…

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Notwithstanding his ill health, Tagore came to the mango-grove to express his love and reverence for Gandhi…
The Poet welcomed Gandhi as one of their own and das “one belonging to all humanity…”

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During their talks, Gandhi saw that Tagore was living for his dearest creation, Visvabharati, and wanted to feel sure about its future…

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As they partede, Tagore handed over to Gandhi his impassioned appeal: “Visvabharati is like a vessel which is carrying the cargo of my life’s best treasure… Accept this institution under your protection…”

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Events were moving with their own momentum… Since India was to continue under the imperial domain, positive action became inevitable…the Congress, at its annual session held at Ramgarh, in March 1940, under the Presidentship of Maulana Aul Kalam azad...

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Gandhi commended his thirteen-fold constructive programme. In the fulfillment of it flay the non-violent attainment of Swaraj based on the solid foundation of social justice and economic equality enabling each individual to have the wherewithal to supply all primary needs…

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Correlating economics and ethics and ethics, Gandhi advocated the Upanishhadic message of enjoying wealth by renouncing it for the common good…He enunciated the theory of trusteeship to transform the acquisitive society into an egalitarian one…

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Reluctant to carry the policy of non-embarrassment to the point of self-extinction, Gandhi decided to launch individual Satyagraha as a moral protest against war...

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The person-by-person symbolic protest assumed huge dimensions… Thousands answered the call, proclaimed their faith and courted imprisonment…

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On the Government forbidding the press to report the progress of Satyagraha, Gandhi suspended the publication of his journals and asked everyone to become his own newspaper carrying authentic news…

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The theatre of the war came nearer India… Civil disobedience prisoners were set free in December, 1941… The nearness of war became a challenge to Gandhi and a test of faith… He resumed the weeklies to disseminate his view that “all war is immoral”.

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Gandhi felt that he must accept the necessary consequences and implications of non-violence… He dreamt of India becoming a symbol of non-violence and a messenger of peace … and said prophetically, “Jawaharlal will be my successor… and when I am gone, he will speak my language.”

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Just then, Sir Stafford Cripps came to India with the proposals of the British war Cabinet on self-government for discussion with representative Indians…

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Behind the proposals which dealt essentially with the future, after the cessation of hostilities, lay the old imperial policy of creating division in India and encouraging every factor that came in the way of national growth and freedom.There was no intention to part with power in them…

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He began a series of negotiations with the leaders of all political parties…
On March 27, Gandhi arrived in New Delhi as Cripps was anxious to meet him…

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Strongly disapproving the indefinite and innumerable partitions involved in the proposals, Gandhi asked, “ Why did you come if this is what you have to offer?”Characterizing the offer as a “post-dated cheque”, Gandhi soon left for Sevagram.

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Jawaharlal Nehru’s reaction was, that India would be one in freedom, as it had been one in subjection…He said, (his voice)… “The Clock of destiny is ticking away and war and danger hover over the world.

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Inaction at the critical stage became intolerable for Gandhi who was convinced that India’s real safety lay in orderly and timely British withdrawal…Expressing the prevailing mood of the people...

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To put the Allied cause on an unassailable basis, Gandhi wrote to President Roosevelt that the position of the democracies in the war was morally indefensible so long as India and Africa were not granted independence.

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India stood in peril of invasion… the Quit India Campaign began to take shape in Gandhi’s mind… Accepting Gandhi’s view that India’s bondage enfeebled her for her own defense, the Congress working Committee proclaimed to the country that British rule in India must end…

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The leaders assembled in Bombay on the eve of the All India Congress Committee meeting which had been summoned to endorse the Quit India Resolution…

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On August 7, 1942, the sullen passivity of the people was converted into a spirit o non-submission and resistance… They assembled at the Gowalia Tank maidan and awaited the final call for India’s deliverance…

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The deeply-felt sentiment of the Indian people firmly convinced Gandhi that “suppression will never put out the light of revolt, once it has been lighted…”He came there to guide at the crucial hour with ill will towards none…