Wavell Plan and Shimla Conference

Last Updated : 21 Mar, 2024

Wavell Plan and Shimla Conference: Sir Archibald Wavell succeeded Lord Linlithgow as Viceroy of India in September 1943, appointed by Winston Churchill during a period of unrest between the British Empire and advocates of Indian independence. As a former Commander in Chief of India, Wavell brought insight into the pressing issues of the time.

The Simla Conference of 1945, held during Wavell’s tenure, gathered notable figures from India’s freedom movement to discuss post-independence roles and representation. Despite the conference’s aim to address these issues, it failed to reach a consensus, serving instead to amplify individual community demands, ultimately leading to its failure.

Background of Wavell’s Plan and Simla Conference

The events prior to the conference bottled up the dissent against the Raj exponentially.
The Quit India Movement by M.K Gandhi launched in 1942 led to his arrest and imprisonment at the Aga Khan Palace in Pune.
M.K Gandhi protested from the jail using Satyagraha, his fast for twenty-two days ended with his release as the Raj was worried Gandhi’s death would increase the resistance against the establishment.
Gandhi was also infected with malaria-causing his health to severely deteriorate. During the tenure of his imprisonment, his wife Kasturba Gandhi and his trusted aide Mahadev Desai died at the Aga Khan Palace in Pune.
With the growing agitation, Lord Linlithgow and Wavell recommended Gandhi’s unconditional release to Winston Churchill, in one of the letters Winston Churchill says “ it seems almost certain that the old rascal [Gandhi] will emerge all better for his so-called fast.”
It was finally the Secretary of State of British India L.S Amery who convinced Churchill to release Gandhi. While Lord Wavell was trying to lobby for a united India and did not want to cater to the demand for a separate state for the Muslims as directed by the All India Muslim League led by Jinnah.
After multiple correspondence and meetings with both Jinnah, Gandhi, and other prominent members, Wavell drafted a plan that would be presented at the talks in Simla which could possibly resolve the differences between AIML and INC.
Before understanding the cause of conflict and the failure of the conference here is a brief understanding of Wavell’s Plan for the Simla Conference.
Wavell’s responsibility was to formulate a plan acceptable to both the Indian National Congress (INC) and the All India Muslim League (AIML), to create a smooth transition of power.
INC under the persuasion of Gandhi rooted for an undivided India, however AIML under the persuasion of M. Jinnah was hell-bent on the creation of a new state for Muslims in the country, later to be known as Pakistan.
To further deliberate on the plan and create a common consensus the Simla Conference was convened on June 25th, 1945, inviting twenty-one political leaders including Gandhi and Jinnah.

What is the Wavell Plan 1945

The Wavell Plan of 1945, also known as the Breakdown Plan, was introduced by Viceroy Lord Wavell to address the political deadlock in India and pave the way for Indian self-governance. initiated by the British government to address the deadlock in India, was prepared by Lord Wavell, who succeeded Lord Linlithgow as Viceroy of India in 1943. Tasked with reaching a potential agreement for India’s self-governance, Wavell sought to resolve disagreements among various political factions through his plan, also known as the Breakdown Plan.

A Brief Explanation of Wavell’s Plan

The number of seats in the executive council was to be increased and the council will only consist of Indian members other than the Viceroy and the Commander in Chief who would be representing the British establishment.
Equal representation was guaranteed to both Muslims, Caste Hindus, Sikhs, Depressed classes, etc. Six of the fourteen seats were given to Muslim members.
The role of British officials and the transfer of power was clarified in the plan. The Viceroy would have the veto power but assured that its use would be minimal. The foreign relations portfolio would be transferred to an Indian member and the affairs related to Defence would continue to be taken care of by the British officials until the complete transfer to a new Indian army.
That meeting was to be convened between the INC and AIML to nominate members to the new executive council.
Wavell wanted decentralization of power, where the executive council at the center would grant the provision for similar executive councils to be formed at the local level consisting of local leaders in each province.
It was assured that this plan was to ensure the smooth transition of power and in no way would influence prejudice of any kind in drafting the individual Indian constitution. The larger objective Wavell wished to achieve was the unity of the provinces and under no circumstances allow the creation of a state on communal differences.
However, Wavell was unable to create a common consensus over the presented plan. The primary reason for the failure was the expected disagreement between INC and AIML, more specifically the disagreement between Gandhi and Jinnah. Lord Wavell left a remark in his journal about the stubbornness of both leaders stating that “Gandhi and Jinnah are behaving like very temperamental prima donnas.”

When did the Wavell Plan Propose?

The Wavell Plan was proposed in 1945 by Viceroy Lord Wavell.
It aimed to grant significant power to India and reorganize the Executive Council to include representation for Hindus, Muslims, and other minorities.
The plan suggested appointing an Indian member to handle foreign affairs.
Despite these efforts, the plan did not resolve the political deadlock and faced limited acceptance.

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What is the Shimla Conference 1945

The 1945 Simla Conference, also known as the Simla Talks, was led by Viceroy Lord Wavell to discuss the Wavell Plan for Indian self-governance. Despite efforts, consensus eluded the participants, leading to an inconclusive outcome.
The Shimla Conference, held in 1945, was a significant meeting between Viceroy Lord Wavell and prominent political leaders of British India.
It aimed to discuss and negotiate the provisions of the Wavell Plan, which proposed reforms for Indian self-governance. However, the conference failed to reach a consensus due to disagreements, particularly regarding the selection of Muslim representatives, ultimately leading to its failure.
A meeting took place at the Viceregal Lodge in Shimla, where Viceroy Lord Wavell and prominent political leaders from British India discussed the Wavell Plan.
Lord Wavell invited 21 Indian political leaders to the Summer Capital of British India to discuss the provisions of the Wavell Plan. This meeting became known as “The Shimla Conference of 1945.”
The discussion got stuck on the selection of Muslim representatives. Jinnah argued that only the Muslim League should represent Muslims in India’s Executive Council, while Congress disagreed. In the end, both the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League rejected the Wavell Plan.

In which year, the Simla Conference was held?

The 1945 Simla Conference, led by Viceroy Lord Wavell, aimed to discuss the Wavell Plan for Indian self-governance. Despite efforts, consensus eluded the participants, leading to an inconclusive outcome.

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A Brief History of Simla Conference

Lord Wavell Invited the most prominent 21, political leaders, to the Viceregal Lodge, Simla, and this conference started from 25th June to 14th July 1945. The list of Invited guests also included Dr. B.R Ambedkar to represent the “Depressed Classes”, Tara Singh representing “Sikhs”, M.N Roy to represent the laborers, and other prominent leaders to represent non congress or non-league persuasions.
Abul Kalam Azad spoke in his capacity as the President of the INC clarifying its non-communal stance that the INC will maintain and expressing disagreement towards the demands proposed by Jinnah. In rebuttal, Jinnah accused the INC of being Hindu-centric, this dispute carried on throughout the conference. Six of the sixteen members were assigned for Muslims.
As per the Wavell Plan, the attendees were supposed to nominate members from their fold to be part of the executive council. All entities who took part in the conference nominated a member of the executive council. Tara Singh was to represent the Sikhs, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar would be representing the Depressed Class. Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhbhai Patel, Rajendra Prasad, Madhav Shrihari Aney, and B. N. Rau were the five “Caste-Hindus” who was nominated to the council.
Out of these four Muslim members were to be nominated by the AIML. The AIML wanted the right to nominate all the six Muslim members to the Executive Council and demanded that AIML be recognized as the sole representative of Muslims.
INC was ready to submit its list of candidates for the new executive council but Jinnah delayed the submission from AIML. On further correspondence with Wavell, Jinnah stood his ground and expected Wavell to agree to his demands. When Jinnah did not receive a response from Wavell, he declined to be part of the plan and completely withdrew from the talks. No concrete decision was taken at Simla resulting in the failure of the conference.
The failure of Wavell’s effort was complete when the world war ended and the Labour Party came into power.
The leaders of the Labour Party wanted to grant India its independence quickly, therefore sent the cabinet mission to fulfill this very purpose.
The Simla Conference is viewed as one of the major events that led to the partition of the country. M. Jinnah’s stubborn stance on the creation of a separate state for Muslims and apprehension against the INC nominating Muslim representatives caused the occurrence of partition to be inevitable.

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Conclusion of Simla Conference

The Wavell Plan, proposed by Viceroy Wavell in 1945, aimed to address Indian independence demands but faced opposition. Subsequently, the Shimla Conference gathered Indian leaders to negotiate governance terms yet failed to reach a consensus due to disagreements over power-sharing and representation.