Moderates and Extremists: Difference, Objectives, Methods & Impact on India’s Freedom Struggle |
INC’s Evolution: Moderates to Extremists (1885-1920)
The Moderate and Extremists were the two main ideologies that governed the Indian National Congress’s course of action in the freedom struggle movement. The Moderate faction dominated the INC scene from 1885 to 1905. The dissatisfaction with the outcome of the Moderate’s efforts and the division of Bengal gave rise to the extremist tendency in many nationalists. The era of extremists can be assigned from 1905 to 1920.
Divergent Paths: Moderates and Extremists in Indian Struggle
The main difference between the moderates and Extremists lay in their views and ideologies about British rule in India and also in their methods to deal with the imperial power in India.
| Characteristics | Moderates | Extremists |
| Objective | They aimed to achieve more inclusion of Indians with the British administration and they didn’t want to overthrow the British rulers completely. | Their objective was to oust foreign rule from India and attain complete Independence. |
| Social Base | Zamindars and upper middle classes in towns. | Educated middle and lower middle classes. |
| Ideological Inspiration | Western liberal thought and European history | Inspired by rich Indian history, cultural heritage and Hindu traditional symbols. |
| View on Mass participation | They believed that masses were not yet ready for participation in political work and thus the movement should be limited to middle-class intelligentsia;. | Had immense faith in the capacity of the masses to participate and to make sacrifices. |
| Believed political connections | Emphasized the connections with Britain to be in India’s social, political and cultural interests. | Believed that political connections with Britain was responsible for exploitation of India. |
| Loyalty | Professed loyalty to the British Crown | Believed that the British Crown did not deserve Indian loyalty. |
| Means of revolt | Insisted on the use of constitutional methods like Prayer, Petition, Persuasion, and Philanthropy. | They resort to use of extra-constitutional methods like boycotts and passive resistance to achieve their objectives. |
Conclusion
Though the moderates and Extremists were different in many aspects, both these factions played important roles in fuelling the anti-British movement in India. The Moderates suffered with many shortcomings which led to the rise of extremism. However, the Extremists also failed to achieve the goal of independence and thus paved the way for militant and later Gandhian ideology to flourish.
The Difference Between Moderates And Extremists FAQs
Q1. What was the difference in the ideology of Moderates and Extremists?
Ans. The moderates believe in liberalism and Constitutional ways of presenting grievances before the British government however the Extremists believed in radicalism and advocated extra-constitutional means to oust the foreign ruler from India.
Q2. What were the means of revolt used by Moderates during the early phase of INC?
Ans. Moderates believed in constitutional and peaceful methods like Prayer, Petition, Persuasion, and Philanthropy.
Q3. Who were the Extremist Leaders of INC?
Ans. Lala Lajpat Rai, Bipin Chandra Pal, Balgangadhar Tilak and Aurobindo Ghosh etc were prominent Extremist leaders of INC.
Q4. Give a list of important Moderate leaders of INC.
Ans. The important Moderate leaders of INC were Madan Mohan Malaviya, Dadabhai Naoroji, G Subramania Aiyer, Sir Surendranath Banerjee, Gopal Krishna Gokhale and Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee.
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