The concept of Swadeshi as explained by Gandhi, is employment of unemployed or semi-employed people by encouraging village industries and the in general trial was towards building a non-violent society. Strategies of the swadeshi movement therefore involved boycotting British products and the revival of domestic products and production. The popular upsurge of 1905 was unprecedented. But of course it did not emerge from nowhere. The writings and speeches of Bal Gangadhar Tilak and his associate had done much to prepare the way. Tilak reached out to the masses through popular festivals. He transformed the traditional Ganapati Utsav into a public celebration where patriotic ideas could be spread. Later he inaugurated a Shivaji festival for the same purpose. In 1906 Bengal honored the great Maratha as a national hero.
There were many other factors behind the growth of `the new spirit in India`. One was a generalized awareness that Britain was the cause of the country`s poverty. Three books published in 1901. The names of the books can be mentioned as Dadabhai Naoroji`s poverty and un-British rule in India, R. C. Dutt`s economic history of India, and William Digby`s ironically titled `prosperous` British India. All of the three books showed with a mass of detail that how Britain`s policies had destroyed India. India was the country with once flourishing economy. The famines that continued to plague the country causing the death of ninety lakhs between 1896 and 1900.
At the same time the true face of European imperialism was being revealed. The belief in the supremacy of the imperial powers` military was being challenged. In 1896 Ethiopia defeated an Italia Army. A few years later Boer guerrillas proved themselves the equals of England`s finest troops. But most exciting of all was the miracle of Japan. After a rapid modernization begun in 1868, the island country proved itself superior not only to her giant neighbor China but also to Russia. Russia was one of the great European powers at that time. Japan`s victory in the Russo Japanese war in 1905 seemed to mark the end of the domination of Europe over Asia to many Indians.
The day the partition of Bengal went into effect on 16 October 1905. This was observed in Bengal as a day of `mourning`. No cooking was done, and shops and marketplaces were closed. In Calcutta, thousands walked barefoot in silent processions to a mammoth meeting where the cornerstone of a federation hall, monument to `united Bengal`, was laid. The ceremony of rakshabandhan was given a new turn. The yellow thread that the people tied to one another`s wrists symbolized the brotherhood of each to all.
The swadeshi movement quickly gathered force. Bonfires of British cloth demonstrated the peoples` determination not to rely on foreign products. The sale of English goods fell dramatically as Bombay mills worked overtime to meet the demand for swadeshi textiles. It became a matter of pride to wear coarse dhotis woven on local handlooms rather than fashionable Manchester cottons. Student volunteers encouraged people to use Indian products. Popular enthusiasm was sustained by songs written by Rabindranath Tagore and others. Bankim chandra chatterjee`s `vande mataram` became a national anthem, and opening words a sort of battle cry.
The swadeshi movement gave tremendous inputs to Indian industry. Beginnings were made in the manufacturer of swadeshi salt, sugar matches and other products. On a larger scale, the movement gave a stimulus to Prafullachandra Rays`s bengal chemical works. This action encouraged Jamshedji Tata of Bombay to open his famous steel plant in Bihar. At the same time, Indian labour took its first real steps towards organization. A series of strikes in Calcutta and other places demonstrated that the workingman was growing weary of exploitation.
