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Subhas Chandra Bose
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Subhas Chandra Bose[f] (23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945) was an Indian nationalist whose defiance of British authority in India made him a hero among many Indians,[g][h][i] but his wartime alliances with Nazi Germany and Fascist Japan left a legacy vexed by authoritarianism,[16][j][k][l] anti-Semitism,[19][m][n][o][p][q][24] and military failure.[r][27][28][s][t] The honorific 'Netaji' (Hindustani: "Respected Leader") was first applied to Bose in Germany in early 1942—by the Indian soldiers of the Indische Legion and by the German and Indian officials in the Special Bureau for India in Berlin. It is now used throughout India.[u][31]

Key Information

Bose was born into wealth and privilege in a large Bengali family in Orissa during the British Raj. He received an education oriented towards British standards and was subsequently sent to England to take the Indian Civil Service examination. He succeeded with distinction in the first exam but chose not to proceed with the standard final exam. Returning to India in 1921, Bose joined the nationalist movement led by Mahatma Gandhi and the Indian National Congress. He followed Jawaharlal Nehru to leadership in a group within the Congress which was less keen on constitutional reform and more open to socialism.[v] Bose became Congress president in 1938. After reelection in 1939, differences arose between him and the Congress leaders, including Gandhi, over the future federation of British India and princely states, but also because discomfort had grown among the Congress leadership over Bose's negotiable attitude to non-violence, and his plans for greater powers for himself.[33] After the large majority of the Congress Working Committee members resigned in protest,[34] Bose resigned as president and was eventually ousted from the party.[35][36]

In April 1941 Bose arrived in Nazi Germany, where the leadership offered unexpected but equivocal sympathy for India's independence.[37] German funds were employed to open a Free India Centre in Berlin. A 3,000-strong Free India Legion was recruited from among Indian POWs captured by Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps to serve under Bose.[38][w] Although peripheral to their main goals, the Germans inconclusively considered a land invasion of India throughout 1941. By the spring of 1942, the German army was mired in Russia and Bose became keen to move to southeast Asia, where Japan had just won quick victories.[40] Adolf Hitler during his only meeting with Bose in late May 1942 agreed to arrange a submarine.[41] During this time, Bose became a father; his wife,[6][x] or companion,[42][y] Emilie Schenkl, gave birth to Anita Bose Pfaff.[43] Identifying strongly with the Axis powers, Bose boarded a German submarine in February 1943.[44][45] Off Madagascar, he was transferred to a Japanese submarine from which he disembarked in Japanese-held Sumatra in May 1943.[44]

With Japanese support, Bose revamped the Indian National Army (INA), which comprised Indian prisoners of war of the British Indian army who had been captured by the Japanese in the Battle of Singapore.[46][47] A Provisional Government of Free India (Azad Hind) was declared on the Japanese-occupied Andaman and Nicobar Islands and was nominally presided over by Bose.[48][2][z] The Japanese considered him to be militarily unskilled,[27] and his soldierly effort was short-lived. In late 1944 and early 1945, the British Indian Army reversed the Japanese attack on India. Almost half of the Japanese forces and fully half of the participating INA contingent were killed.[aa] The remaining INA was driven down the Malay Peninsula and surrendered with the recapture of Singapore. Bose chose to escape to Manchukuo to seek a future in the Soviet Union which he believed to have turned anti-British.

Bose died from third-degree burns after his plane crashed in Japanese Taiwan on 18 August 1945.[ab] Some Indians did not believe that the crash had occurred,[ac] expecting Bose to return to secure India's independence.[ad][ae][af] The Indian National Congress, the main instrument of Indian nationalism, praised Bose's patriotism but distanced itself from his tactics and ideology.[54] The British Raj, never seriously threatened by the INA, charged 300 INA officers with treason in the Indian National Army trials, but eventually backtracked in the face of opposition by the Congress,[ag] and a new mood in Britain for rapid decolonisation in India.[54][13] Bose's legacy is mixed. Among many in India, he is seen as a hero.[ah] Many on the right and far-right often venerate him as a champion of Indian nationalism as well as Hindu identity by spreading conspiracy theories.[57][58][59][60] His collaborations with Japanese fascism and Nazism pose serious ethical dilemmas,[m] especially his reluctance to publicly criticise the worst excesses of German anti-Semitism from 1938 onwards or to offer refuge in India to its victims.

Early life

[edit]
Map 1: The growth of British Bengal between 1757 and 1803 is shown in shades of brown. Cuttack is approximately 225 miles (362 km) southwest of Calcutta.

Subhas Chandra Bose was born to Bengali parents Prabhabati Bose (née Dutt) and Janakinath Bose on 23 January 1897 in Cuttack—in what is today the state of Odisha in India but was part of the Bengal Presidency in British India.[ai][aj] Prabhabati, or familiarly Mā jananī (lit. 'mother'), the anchor of family life, had her first child at age 14 and 13 children thereafter. Subhas was the ninth child and the sixth son.[64] Jankinath, a successful lawyer and government pleader,[63] was loyal to the government of British India and scrupulous about matters of language and the law.

Following his five older brothers, Bose entered the Baptist Mission's Protestant European School in Cuttack in January 1902.[7] English was the medium of all instruction in the school, the majority of the students being European or Anglo-Indians of mixed British and Indian ancestry.[62] The curriculum included English—correctly written and spoken—Latin, the Bible, good manners, British geography, and British History; no Indian languages were taught.[62][7] The choice of the school was Bose's father's, who wanted his sons to speak flawless English with flawless intonation, believing both to be important for access to the British in India.[65] The school contrasted with Subhas's home, where only Bengali was spoken. His father, who was reserved in manner and busy with professional life, was a distant presence in a large family, causing Subhas to feel he had a nondescript childhood.[66] Still, Janakinath read English literature avidly—John Milton, William Cowper, Matthew Arnold, and Shakespeare's Hamlet being among his favourites; several of his sons were to become English literature enthusiasts like him.[65]

Janakinath Bose, Prabhabati Bose, and their family, ca. 1905. Sarat Chandra Bose (standing, centre) and Subhas Bose (aged 8, standing, extreme right).[67]

In 1909, the 12-year-old Subhas Bose followed his five brothers to the Ravenshaw Collegiate School in Cuttack.[8] Here, Bengali and Sanskrit were also taught, as were ideas from Hindu scriptures such as the Vedas and the Upanishads not usually picked up at home.[8] Although his Western education continued apace, he began to wear Indian clothes and engage in religious speculation. To his mother, he wrote long letters which displayed acquaintance with the ideas of the Bengali mystic Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and his disciple Swami Vivekananda, and the novel Ananda Math by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, popular then among young Hindu men.[68] In 1912, he secured the second position in the matriculation examination conducted under the auspices of the University of Calcutta.[69]

Subhas Bose followed his five brothers again in 1913 to Presidency College, Calcutta, the historic and traditional college for Bengal's upper-caste Hindu men.[69][70] He chose to study philosophy, his readings including Kant, Hegel, Bergson and other Western philosophers.[71] A year earlier, he had befriended Hemanta Kumar Sarkar, a confidant and partner in religious yearnings.[72] At Presidency, their emotional ties grew stronger.[72] In the fanciful language of religious imagery, they declared their pure love for each other.[72]

In February 1916, Bose was accused of involvement in an attack on Professor E. F. Oaten at Presidency College.[9] Students claimed Oaten had insulted Indian culture and manhandled them; Oaten said they were simply noisy outside his class. On 15 February, a group of students assaulted him on a stairway with sandals before fleeing.[9] An inquiry committee was constituted. Though Oaten was unhurt and unable to identify them, a servant reported seeing Bose and his classmate Ananga Mohan Dam among those escaping.[9] Both were expelled from the college and barred from the University of Calcutta.[73][74] Bose's family connections were employed to pressure Asutosh Mukherjee, the Vice-Chancellor of Calcutta University.[74] Despite this, Bose's expulsion remained in place until 20 July 1917, when the Syndicate of Calcutta University granted him permission to return, but to another college.[10] He joined Scottish Church College, receiving his B.A. in 1918 in the First Class with honours in philosophy, placing second among all philosophy students in Calcutta University.[75]

A photograph (1851) of Presidency College, Calcutta which Subhas Bose entered in 1913, but from which he was expelled in 1916

At his father's urging, Subhas Bose agreed to travel to England to prepare and appear for the Indian Civil Services (ICS) examination.[76] Arriving in London on 20 October 1919, Subhas readied his application for the ICS.[77] For his references he put down Lord Sinha of Raipur, Under Secretary of State for India, and Bhupendranath Basu, a wealthy Calcutta lawyer who sat on the Council of India in London.[76] Bose was eager also to gain admission to a college at the University of Cambridge.[78] It was past the deadline for admission.[78] He sought help from some Indian students and from the Non-Collegiate Students Board. The Board offered the university's education at an economical cost without formal admission to a college. Bose entered the register of the university on 19 November 1919 and simultaneously set about preparing for the Civil Service exams.[78] He chose the Mental and Moral Sciences Tripos at Cambridge,[78] its completion requirement reduced to two years on account of his Indian B. A.[79]

Subhas Bose (standing, right) with friends in England, 1920

There were six vacancies in the ICS.[80] Subhas Bose took the open competitive exam for them in August 1920 and was placed fourth.[80] This was a vital first step.[80] Still remaining was a final examination in 1921 on more topics on India, including the Indian Penal Code, the Indian Evidence Act, Indian history, and an Indian language.[80] Successful candidates had also to clear a riding test. Having no fear of these subjects and being a rider, Subhas Bose felt the ICS was within easy reach.[80] Yet between August 1920 and 1921 he began to have doubts about taking the final examination.[81] Many letters were exchanged with his father and his brother Sarat Chandra Bose back in Calcutta.[82] In one letter to Sarat, Subhas wrote,

"But for a man of my temperament who has been feeding on ideas that might be called eccentric—the line of least resistance is not the best line to follow ... The uncertainties of life are not appalling to one who has not, at heart, worldly ambitions. Moreover, it is not possible to serve one's country in the best and fullest manner if one is chained on to the civil service."[82]

In April 1921, Subhas Bose made his decision firm not to take the final examination for the ICS and wrote to Sarat informing him of the same, apologising to members of his family.[83] On 22 April 1921, he wrote to the Secretary of State for India, Edwin Montagu, stating, "I wish to have my name removed from the list of probationers in the Indian Civil Service."[84] The following day he wrote again to Sarat:

I received a letter from mother saying that in spite of what father and others think she prefers the ideals for which Mahatma Gandhi stands. I cannot tell you how happy I have been to receive such a letter. It will be worth a treasure for me as it has removed something like a burden from my mind."[85]

For some time before Subhas Bose had been in touch with C. R. Das, a lawyer who had risen to the helm of politics in Bengal; Das encouraged Subhas to return to Calcutta.[86] With the ICS decision now firmly behind him, Subhas Bose took his Cambridge B.A. Final examinations half-heartedly, passing, but being placed in the Third Class.[85] He prepared to sail for India in June 1921, electing for a fellow Indian student to pick up his diploma.[86]

Role in the Indian National Congress

[edit]
Bose at the inauguration of the India Society in Prague in 1926

Subhas Bose, aged 24, arrived ashore in India at Bombay on the morning of 16 July 1921 and immediately set about arranging an interview with Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi, aged 51, was the leader of the non-cooperation movement that had taken India by storm the previous year and in a quarter-century would evolve to secure its independence.[ak][al] Gandhi happened to be in Bombay and agreed to see Bose that afternoon. In Bose's account of the meeting, written many years later, he pilloried Gandhi with question after question.[89] Bose thought Gandhi's answers were vague, his goals unclear, his plan for achieving them not thought through.[89] Gandhi and Bose differed in this first meeting on the question of means—for Gandhi non-violent means to any end were non-negotiable; in Bose's thought, all means were acceptable in the service of anti-colonial ends.[89] They differed on the question of ends—Bose was attracted to totalitarian models of governance, which were anathematised by Gandhi.[90] According to historian Gordon, "Gandhi, however, set Bose on to the leader of the Congress and Indian nationalism in Bengal, C. R. Das, and in him Bose found the leader whom he sought."[89] Das was more flexible than Gandhi, more sympathetic to the extremism that had attracted idealistic young men such as Bose in Bengal.[89] Das launched Bose into nationalist politics.[89] Bose would work within the ambit of the Indian National Congress politics for nearly 20 years even as he tried to change its course.[89]

In 1922 Bose founded the newspaper Swaraj and assumed charge of the publicity for the Bengal Provincial Congress Committee.[91] His mentor was Chittaranjan Das, a voice for aggressive nationalism in Bengal. In 1923, Bose was elected the President of Indian Youth Congress and also the Secretary of the Bengal State Congress. He became the editor of the newspaper "Forward", which had been founded by Chittaranjan Das.[92] Bose was chosen as the CEO of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation, over Birendranath Sasmal[93] by Das when the latter was elected mayor of Calcutta in 1924.[94] During the same year, when Bose was leading a protest march in Calcutta, he, Maghfoor Ahmad Ajazi and other leaders were arrested and imprisoned.[95][failed verification] After a roundup of nationalists in 1925, Bose was sent to prison in Mandalay, British Burma, where he contracted tuberculosis.[96]

Subhas Bose (in military uniform) with Congress president, Motilal Nehru taking the salute. Annual meeting, Indian National Congress, 29 December 1928

In 1927, after being released from prison, Bose became general secretary of the Congress party and worked with Jawaharlal Nehru for independence. In late December 1928, Bose organised the Annual Meeting of the Indian National Congress in Calcutta.[97] His most memorable role was as general officer commanding (GOC) Congress Volunteer Corps.[97] Author Nirad Chaudhuri wrote about the meeting:

Bose organized a volunteer corps in uniform, its officers were even provided with steel-cut epaulettes ... his uniform was made by a firm of British tailors in Calcutta, Harman's. A telegram addressed to him as GOC was delivered to the British General in Fort William and was the subject of a good deal of malicious gossip in the (British Indian) press. Mahatma Gandhi as a sincere pacifist vowed to non-violence, did not like the strutting, clicking of boots, and saluting, and he afterward described the Calcutta session of the Congress as a Bertram Mills circus, which caused a great deal of indignation among the Bengalis.[97]

A little later, Bose was again arrested and jailed for civil disobedience; this time he emerged to become Mayor of Calcutta in 1930.[96]

Visit to Europe

[edit]
(left) Bose with Emilie Schenkl, in Bad Gastein, Austria, 1936; (right) Bose, INC president-elect, centre, in Bad Gastein, Austria, December 1937, with (left to right) A. C. N. Nambiar (Bose's second-in-command, Berlin, 1941–1945), Heidi Fulop-Miller, Schenkl, and Amiya Bose.

During the mid-1930s Bose travelled in Europe, visiting Indian students and European politicians, including Benito Mussolini. He observed party organisation and saw communism and fascism in action.[98] In this period, he also researched and wrote the first part of his book The Indian Struggle, which covered the country's independence movement in the years 1920–1934. Although it was published in London in 1935, the British government banned the book in the colony out of fears that it would encourage unrest.[99] Bose was supported in Europe by the Indian Central European Society organised by Otto Faltis from Vienna.[100]

Formation of the All-India Forward Bloc

[edit]

In 1938 Bose stated his opinion that the INC "should be organised on the broadest anti-imperialist front with the two-fold objective of winning political freedom and the establishment of a socialist regime."[101] By 1938 Bose had become a leader of national stature and agreed to accept nomination as Congress President. He stood for unqualified Swaraj (self-governance), including the use of force against the British. This meant a confrontation with Mohandas Gandhi, who in fact opposed Bose's presidency,[102] splitting the Indian National Congress party.

Bose, president-elect, INC, arrives in Calcutta, 24 January 1938, after two-month vacation in Austria.[am][an]

Bose attempted to maintain unity, but Gandhi advised Bose to form his own cabinet. The rift also divided Bose and Nehru; he appeared at the 1939 Congress meeting on a stretcher. He was elected president again over Gandhi's preferred candidate Pattabhi Sitaramayya.[105] U. Muthuramalingam Thevar strongly supported Bose in the intra-Congress dispute. Thevar mobilised all south India votes for Bose.[106] However, due to the manoeuvrings of the Gandhi-led clique in the Congress Working Committee, Bose found himself forced to resign from the Congress presidency.[citation needed]

On 22 June 1939 Bose organised the All India Forward Bloc a faction within the Indian National Congress,[107] aimed at consolidating the political left, but its main strength was in his home state, Bengal. U Muthuramalingam Thevar, who was a staunch supporter of Bose from the beginning, joined the Forward Bloc. When Bose visited Madurai on 6 September, Thevar organised a massive rally as his reception.[citation needed]

When Subhas Chandra Bose was heading to Madurai, on an invitation of Muthuramalinga Thevar to amass support for the Forward Bloc, he passed through Madras and spent three days at Gandhi Peak. His correspondence reveals that despite his clear dislike for British subjugation, he was deeply impressed by their methodical and systematic approach and their steadfastly disciplinarian outlook towards life. In England, he exchanged ideas on the future of India with British Labour Party leaders and political thinkers like Lord Halifax, George Lansbury, Clement Attlee, Arthur Greenwood, Harold Laski, J.B.S. Haldane, Ivor Jennings, G.D.H. Cole, Gilbert Murray and Sir Stafford Cripps.[citation needed]

Bose arriving at the 1939 annual session of the Congress, where he was re-elected, but later had to resign after disagreements with Gandhi and the Congress High Command

He came to believe that an independent India needed socialist authoritarianism, on the lines of Turkey's Kemal Atatürk, for at least two decades. For political reasons Bose was refused permission by the British authorities to meet Atatürk at Ankara. During his sojourn in England Bose tried to schedule appointments with several politicians, but only the Labour Party and Liberal politicians agreed to meet with him. Conservative Party officials refused to meet him or show him courtesy because he was a politician coming from a colony. In the 1930s leading figures in the Conservative Party had opposed even Dominion status for India. It was during the Labour Party government of 1945–1951, with Attlee as the Prime Minister, that India gained independence.

Second World War

[edit]

On the outbreak of war, Bose advocated a campaign of mass civil disobedience to protest against Viceroy Lord Linlithgow's decision to declare war on India's behalf without consulting the Congress leadership. Having failed to persuade Gandhi of the necessity of this, Bose organised mass protests in Calcutta calling for the removal of the "Holwell Monument", which then stood at the corner of Dalhousie Square in memoriam of those who died in the Black Hole of Calcutta.[108] He was thrown in jail by the British, but was released following a seven-day hunger strike. Bose's house in Calcutta was kept under surveillance by the CID.[109]

Escape to Nazi Germany

[edit]
The Wanderer car Bose used to escape from his Calcutta home in 1941

Bose's arrest and subsequent release set the scene for his escape to Nazi Germany, via Afghanistan and the Soviet Union. A few days before his escape, he sought solitude and, on this pretext, avoided meeting British guards and grew a beard. Late night 16 January 1941, the night of his escape, he dressed as a Pathan (brown long coat, a black fez-type coat and broad pyjamas) to avoid being identified. Bose escaped from under British surveillance from his Elgin Road house in Calcutta on the night of 17 January 1941, accompanied by his nephew Sisir Kumar Bose, later reaching Gomoh Railway Station (now Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Gomoh Station) in the then state of Bihar (now Jharkhand), India.[110][111][112][113]

Bose journeyed to Peshawar with the help of the Abwehr, where he was met by Akbar Shah, Mohammed Shah and Bhagat Ram Talwar. Bose was taken to the home of Abad Khan, a trusted friend of Akbar Shah's. On 26 January 1941, Bose began his journey to reach Russia through British India's North West frontier with Afghanistan. For this reason, he enlisted the help of Mian Akbar Shah, then a Forward Bloc leader in the North-West Frontier Province. Shah had been out of India en route to the Soviet Union and suggested a novel disguise for Bose to assume. Since Bose could not speak Pashto, it would have made him an easy target of Pashto speakers working for the British. For this reason, Shah suggested that Bose act deaf and dumb, and let his beard grow to mimic those of the tribesmen. Bose's guide Bhagat Ram Talwar, unknown to him, was a Soviet agent.[112][113][114]

Supporters of the Aga Khan III helped him across the border into Afghanistan where he was met by an Abwehr unit posing as a party of road construction engineers from the Organization Todt who then aided his passage across Afghanistan via Kabul to the border with the Soviet Union. After assuming the guise of a Pashtun insurance agent ("Ziaudddin") to reach Afghanistan, Bose changed his guise and travelled to Moscow on the Italian passport of an Italian nobleman "Count Orlando Mazzotta". From Moscow, he reached Rome, and from there he travelled to Nazi Germany.[112][113][115] Once in Russia the NKVD transported Bose to Moscow where he hoped that Russia's historical enmity to British rule in India would result in support for his plans for a popular rising in India. However, Bose found the Soviets' response disappointing and was rapidly passed over to the German Ambassador in Moscow, Count von der Schulenburg. He had Bose flown on to Berlin in a special courier aircraft at the beginning of April where he was to receive a more favourable hearing from Joachim von Ribbentrop and the Foreign Ministry officials at the Wilhelmstrasse.[112][113][116]

Collaboration with Nazi Germany

[edit]
(left) Bose with Heinrich Himmler, head of the SS; (right) Bose meeting Adolf Hitler

In Germany, Bose was attached to the Special Bureau for India under Adam von Trott zu Solz which was responsible for broadcasting on the German-sponsored Azad Hind Radio.[117] He founded the Free India Centre in Berlin and created the Indian Legion (consisting of some 4500 soldiers) out of Indian prisoners of war who had previously fought for the British in North Africa prior to their capture by Axis forces. The Indian Legion was attached to the Wehrmacht, and later transferred to the Waffen SS. Its members swore the following allegiance to Hitler and Bose: "I swear by God this holy oath that I will obey the leader of the German race and state, Adolf Hitler, as the commander of the German armed forces in the fight for India, whose leader is Subhas Chandra Bose". This oath clearly abrogated control of the Indian legion to the German armed forces whilst stating Bose's overall leadership of India. He was also, however, prepared to envisage an invasion of India via the USSR by Nazi troops, spearheaded by the Azad Hind Legion; many have questioned his judgment here, as it seems unlikely that the Germans could have been easily persuaded to leave after such an invasion, which might also have resulted in an Axis victory in the War.[115]

Soon, according to historian Romain Hayes, "the (German) Foreign Office procured a luxurious residence for (Bose) along with a butler, cook, gardener, and an SS-chauffeured car. Emilie Schenkl moved in openly with him. The Germans, aware of the nature of the relationship, refrained from any involvement."[118] However, most of the staff in the Special Bureau for India, which had been set up to aid Bose, did not get along with Emilie.[119] In particular Adam von Trott, Alexander Werth and Freda Kretschemer, according to historian Leonard A. Gordon, "appear to have disliked her intensely. They believed that she and Bose were not married and that she was using her liaison with Bose to live an especially comfortable life during the hard times of war" and that differences were compounded by issues of class.[119] In November 1942, Schenkl gave birth to their daughter.

The Germans were unwilling to form an alliance with Bose because they considered him unpopular in comparison with Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru.[120][121] By the spring of 1942, the German army was mired in the USSR. Bose, due to disappointment over the lack of response from Nazi Germany, was now keen to move to Southeast Asia, where Japan had just won quick victories. However, he still expected official recognition from Nazi Germany. Adolf Hitler during his only meeting with Bose in late May 1942 refused to entertain Bose's requests and facilitated him with a submarine voyage to East Asia.[41][122][123]

In February 1943, Bose left Schenkl and their baby daughter and boarded a German submarine to travel, via transfer to a Japanese submarine, to Japanese-occupied southeast Asia. In all, 3,000 Indian prisoners of war signed up for the Free India Legion. But instead of being delighted, Bose was worried. A left-wing admirer of Russia, he was devastated when Hitler's tanks rolled across the Soviet border. Matters were worsened by the fact that the now-retreating German army would be in no position to offer him help in driving the British from India. When he met Hitler in May 1942, his suspicions were confirmed, and he came to believe that the Nazi leader was more interested in using his men to win propaganda victories than military ones. So, in February 1943, Bose boarded a German U-boat and left for Japan. This left the men he had recruited leaderless and demoralised in Germany.[115][124]

Formation and leadership of Azad Hind

[edit]
Main articles: Indian National Army and Azad Hind
The crew of Japanese submarine I-29 after the rendezvous with German submarine U-180 300 sm southeast of Madagascar; Bose is sitting in the front row (28 April 1943)

In 1943, after being disillusioned that Germany could be of any help in gaining India's independence, Bose left for Japan. He travelled with the German submarine U-180 around the Cape of Good Hope to the southeast of Madagascar, where he was transferred to the I-29 for the rest of the journey to Imperial Japan. This was the only civilian transfer between two submarines of two different navies in World War II.[112][113]

The Indian National Army (INA) was the brainchild of Japanese Major (and post-war Lieutenant-General) Iwaichi Fujiwara, head of the Japanese intelligence unit Fujiwara Kikan. Fujiwara's mission was "to raise an army which would fight alongside the Japanese army."[125][126] He first met Pritam Singh Dhillon, the president of the Bangkok chapter of the Indian Independence League, and through Pritam Singh's network recruited a captured British Indian army captain, Mohan Singh, on the western Malayan peninsula in December 1941. The First Indian National Army was formed as a result of discussion between Fujiwara and Mohan Singh in the second half of December 1941, and the name chosen jointly by them in the first week of January 1942.[127]

This was along the concept of, and with support of, what was then known as the Indian Independence League headed from Tokyo by expatriate nationalist leader Rash Behari Bose. The first INA was however disbanded in December 1942 after disagreements between the Hikari Kikan and Mohan Singh, who came to believe that the Japanese High Command was using the INA as a mere pawn and propaganda tool. Singh was taken into custody and the troops returned to the prisoner-of-war camp. However, the idea of an independence army was revived with the arrival of Subhas Chandra Bose in the Far East in 1943. In July, at a meeting in Singapore, Rash Behari Bose handed over control of the organisation to Subhas Chandra Bose. Bose was able to reorganise the fledgling army and organise massive support among the expatriate Indian population in south-east Asia, who lent their support by both enlisting in the Indian National Army, as well as financially in response to Bose's calls for sacrifice for the independence cause. INA had a separate women's unit, the Rani of Jhansi Regiment (named after Rani Lakshmi Bai) headed by Capt. Lakshmi Swaminathan, which is seen as a first of its kind in Asia.[128][129]

Currency issued by the Azad Hind Bank with Bose's portrait

Even when faced with military reverses, Bose was able to maintain support for the Azad Hind movement. Spoken as a part of a motivational speech for the Indian National Army at a rally of Indians in Burma on 4 July 1944, Bose's most famous quote was "Give me blood, and I shall give you freedom!" In this, he urged the people of India to join him in his fight against the British Raj.[citation needed] Spoken in Hindi, Bose's words are highly evocative. The troops of the INA were under the aegis of a provisional government, the Azad Hind Government, which came to produce its own currency, postage stamps, court and civil code, and was recognised by nine Axis states—Germany, Japan, Italian Social Republic, the Independent State of Croatia, the Wang Jingwei regime in Nanjing, China, a provisional government of Burma, Manchukuo and Japanese-controlled Philippines. Of those countries, five were authorities established under Axis occupation. This government participated in the so-called Greater East Asia Conference as an observer in November 1943.[130]

The INA's first commitment was in the Japanese thrust towards Eastern Indian frontiers of Manipur. INA's special forces, the Bahadur Group, were involved in operations behind enemy lines both during the diversionary attacks in Arakan, as well as the Japanese thrust towards Imphal and Kohima.[131]

Bose speaking in Tokyo in 1943

The Japanese also took possession of Andaman and Nicobar Islands in 1942 and a year later, the Provisional Government and the INA were established in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands with Lt Col. Arcot Doraiswamy Loganadan appointed its Governor General. The islands were renamed Shaheed (Martyr) and Swaraj (Independence). However, the Japanese Navy remained in essential control of the island's administration. During Bose's only visit to the islands in early 1944, apparently in the interest of shielding Bose from attaining a full knowledge of ultimate Japanese intentions, his Japanese hosts carefully isolated him from the local population. At that time the island's Japanese administration had been torturing the leader of the island's Indian Independence League, Diwan Singh, who later died of his injuries in the Cellular Jail. During Bose's visit to the islands several locals attempted to alert Bose to Singh's plight, but apparently without success. During this time Loganathan became aware of his lack of any genuine administrative control and resigned in protest as Governor General, later returning to the Government's headquarters in Rangoon.[132][133]

On the Indian mainland, an Indian Tricolour flag, modelled after that of the Indian National Congress, was raised for the first time in the town of Moirang, in Manipur, in north-eastern India. The adjacent towns of Kohima and Imphal were then encircled and placed under siege by divisions of the Japanese Army, working in conjunction with the Burmese National Army, and with Brigades of the INA, known as the Gandhi and Nehru Brigades. This attempt at conquering the Indian mainland had the Axis codename of Operation U-Go.[citation needed]

During this operation, on 6 July 1944, in a speech broadcast by the Azad Hind Radio from Singapore, Bose addressed Mahatma Gandhi as the "Father of the Nation" and asked for his blessings and good wishes for the war he was fighting. This was the first time that Gandhi was referred to by this appellation.[134] The protracted Japanese attempts to take these two towns depleted Japanese resources, with Operation U-Go ultimately proving unsuccessful. Through several months of Japanese onslaught on these two towns, Commonwealth forces remained entrenched in the towns. Commonwealth forces then counter-attacked, inflicting serious losses on the Axis led forces, who were then forced into a retreat back into Burmese territory. After the Japanese defeat at the battles of Kohima and Imphal, Bose's Provisional Government's aim of establishing a base in mainland India was lost forever.[citation needed]

Still the INA fought in key battles against the British Indian Army in Burmese territory, notable in Meiktilla, Mandalay, Pegu, Nyangyu and Mount Popa. However, with the fall of Rangoon, Bose's government ceased to be an effective political entity.[citation needed] A large proportion of the INA troops surrendered under Lt Col Loganathan. The remaining troops retreated with Bose towards Malaya or made for Thailand. Japan's surrender at the end of the war also led to the surrender of the remaining elements of the Indian National Army. The INA prisoners were then repatriated to India and some tried for treason.[135]

Death

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Main article: Death of Subhas Chandra Bose
(left) The last aeroplane journeys of Subhas Chandra Bose; flight paths: blue (completed), red (not completed); (right) A memorial to Subhas Chandra Bose in the Renkōji Temple, Tokyo. Bose's ashes are stored in the temple in a golden pagoda

Subhas Chandra Bose died on 18 August 1945 from third-degree burns after his airplane crashed in Japanese-ruled Formosa (now Taiwan).[136][15][4][5] However, many among his supporters, especially in Bengal, refused at the time, and have refused since, to believe either the fact or the circumstances of his death.[136][51][52] Conspiracy theories appeared within hours of his death and have persisted thereafter,[136][ao] keeping alive various martial myths about Bose.[13]

In Taihoku, at around 2:30 pm as the bomber with Bose on board was leaving the standard path taken by aircraft during take-off, the passengers inside heard a loud sound, similar to an engine backfiring.[137][138] The mechanics on the tarmac saw something fall out of the plane.[139] It was the portside engine, or a part of it, and the propeller.[139][137] The plane swung wildly to the right and plummeted, crashing, breaking into two, and exploding into flames.[139][137] Inside, the chief pilot, copilot and Lieutenant-General Tsunamasa Shidei, the Vice Chief of Staff of the Japanese Kwantung Army, who was to have made the negotiations for Bose with the Soviet army in Manchuria,[140] were instantly killed.[139][141] Bose's assistant Habibur Rahman was stunned, passing out briefly, and Bose, although conscious and not fatally hurt, was soaked in gasoline.[139] When Rahman came to, he and Bose attempted to leave by the rear door, but found it blocked by the luggage.[141] They then decided to run through the flames and exit from the front.[141] The ground staff, now approaching the plane, saw two people staggering towards them, one of whom had become a human torch.[139] The human torch turned out to be Bose, whose gasoline-soaked clothes had instantly ignited.[141] Rahman and a few others managed to smother the flames, but also noticed that Bose's face and head appeared badly burned.[141] According to Joyce Chapman Lebra, "A truck which served as ambulance rushed Bose and the other passengers to the Nanmon Military Hospital south of Taihoku."[139] The airport personnel called Dr. Taneyoshi Yoshimi, the surgeon-in-charge at the hospital at around 3 pm.[141] Bose was conscious and mostly coherent when they reached the hospital, and for some time thereafter.[142] Bose was naked, except for a blanket wrapped around him, and Dr. Yoshimi immediately saw evidence of third-degree burns on many parts of the body, especially on his chest, doubting very much that he would live.[142] Dr. Yoshimi promptly began to treat Bose and was assisted by Dr. Tsuruta.[142] According to historian Leonard A. Gordon, who interviewed all the hospital personnel later,

A disinfectant, Rivamol [sic], was put over most of his body and then a white ointment was applied and he was bandaged over most of his body. Dr. Yoshimi gave Bose four injections of Vita Camphor and two of Digitamine for his weakened heart. These were given about every 30 minutes. Since his body had lost fluids quickly upon being burnt, he was also given Ringer solution intravenously. A third doctor, Dr. Ishii gave him a blood transfusion. An orderly, Kazuo Mitsui, an army private, was in the room and several nurses were also assisting. Bose still had a clear head which Dr. Yoshimi found remarkable for someone with such severe injuries.[143]

Soon, in spite of the treatment, Bose went into a coma.[143][139] A few hours later, between 9 and 10 pm (local time) on Saturday, 18 August 1945, Bose died aged 48.[143][139]

Bose's body was cremated in the main Taihoku crematorium two days later, 20 August 1945.[144] On 23 August 1945, the Japanese news agency Do Trzei announced the death of Bose and Shidea.[139] On 7 September a Japanese officer, Lieutenant Tatsuo Hayashida, carried Bose's ashes to Tokyo, and the following morning they were handed to the president of the Tokyo Indian Independence League, Rama Murti.[145] On 14 September a memorial service was held for Bose in Tokyo and a few days later the ashes were turned over to the priest of the Renkōji Temple of Nichiren Buddhism in Tokyo.[146][147] There they have remained ever since.[147]

Among the INA personnel, there was widespread disbelief, shock, and trauma. Most affected were the young Tamil Indians from Malaya and Singapore, both men and women, who comprised the bulk of the civilians who had enlisted in the INA.[54] The professional soldiers in the INA, most of whom were Punjabis, faced an uncertain future, with many fatalistically expecting reprisals from the British.[54] In India the Indian National Congress's official line was succinctly expressed in a letter Mohandas Karamchand (Mahatma) Gandhi wrote to Rajkumari Amrit Kaur.[54] Said Gandhi, "Subhas Bose has died well. He was undoubtedly a patriot, though misguided."[54] Many congressmen had not forgiven Bose for quarrelling with Gandhi and for collaborating with what they considered was Japanese fascism. The Indian soldiers in the British Indian army, some two and a half million of whom had fought during the Second World War, were conflicted about the INA. Some saw the INA as traitors and wanted them punished; others felt more sympathetic. The British Raj, though never seriously threatened by the INA, tried 300 INA officers for treason in the INA trials, but eventually backtracked.[54]

Ideology

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See also: Political views of Subhas Chandra Bose

Subhas Chandra Bose believed that the Bhagavad Gita was a great source of inspiration for the struggle against the British.[148] Swami Vivekananda's teachings on universalism, his nationalist thoughts and his emphasis on social service and reform had all inspired Subhas Chandra Bose from his very young days. The fresh interpretation of India's ancient scriptures had appealed immensely to him.[149] Some scholars think that Hindu spirituality formed an essential part of his political and social thought.[150] As historian Leonard Gordon explains "Inner religious explorations continued to be a part of his adult life. This set him apart from the slowly growing number of atheistic socialists and communists who dotted the Indian landscape."[151]

Bose first expressed his preference for "a synthesis of what modern Europe calls socialism and fascism" in a 1930 speech in Calcutta.[152] Bose later criticised Nehru's 1933 statement that there is "no middle road" between communism and fascism, describing it as "fundamentally wrong". Bose believed communism would not gain ground in India due to its rejection of nationalism and religion and suggested a "synthesis between communism and fascism" could take hold instead.[153] In 1944, Bose similarly stated, "Our philosophy should be a synthesis between National Socialism and communism."[154]

Authoritarianism

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Bose believed that authoritarianism could bring liberation and reconstruction of Indian society.[155] He expressed admiration for the authoritarian methods which he saw in Italy and Germany during the 1930s; he thought they could be used to build an independent India.[108]

To a large number of Congress leaders, Bose programme shared enough similarities with Japanese fascists.[156] After getting marginalised within Congress, Bose chose to embrace fascist regimes as allies against the British and fled India.[13][18] Bose believed that India "must have a political system—State—of an authoritarian character," and "a strong central government with dictatorial powers for some years to come".[157]

Earlier, Bose had clearly expressed his belief that democracy was the best option for India.[158] However, during the war (and possibly as early as the 1930s), Bose seems to have decided that no democratic system could be adequate to overcome India's poverty and social inequalities, and he wrote that a socialist state similar to that of Soviet Russia (which he had also seen and admired) would be needed for the process of national re-building.[ap] Accordingly, some suggest that Bose's alliance with the Axis during the war was based on more than just pragmatism and that Bose was a militant nationalist, though not a Nazi nor a Fascist, for he supported the empowerment of women, secularism and other liberal ideas; alternatively, others consider he might have been using populist methods of mobilisation common to many post-colonial leaders.[108]

Antisemitism

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Since before the beginning of World War II, Bose was opposed to the attempts to grant Jewish refugees asylum in India.[160][161] The great anti-Jewish pogrom called "the Night of Broken Glass" happened on 9 November 1938. In early December, the pro-Hindu Mahasabha journals published articles lending support to German anti-Semitism. This stance brought Hindu Mahasabha into conflict with the Congress which, on 12 December, issued a statement containing references to recent European events. Within the Congress, only Bose opposed this stance of the party. After some months in April 1939, Bose refused to support the party motion that Jews can find refuge in India.[20][162][163][164][165][166]

In 1938, Bose had denounced Nazi racial policy and persecution of Jews.[167] However, in 1942 he had published an article in the journal Angriff, where he wrote that Indians were true Aryans and the 'brethren' of the Germans. Bose added that Swastika (symbol of Nazi Germany) was an ancient Indian symbol. Bose urged that anti-Semitism should be part of Indian liberation movement because the Jews assisted the British to exploit Indians.[168] The Jewish Chronicle had condemned Bose as "India's anti-Jewish Quisling" over this article.[169]

Romain Hayes describes the troubled legacy of Bose with atrocities related to Jews in the following words:

The most troubling aspect of Bose's presence in Nazi Germany is not military or political but rather ethical. His alliance with the most genocidal regime in history poses serious dilemmas precisely because of his popularity and his having made a lifelong career of fighting the 'good cause'. How did a man who started his political career at the feet of Gandhi end up with Hitler, Mussolini, and Tojo? Even in the case of Mussolini and Tojo, the gravity of the dilemma pales in comparison to that posed by his association with Hitler and the Nazi leadership. The most disturbing issue, all too often ignored, is that in the many articles, minutes, memorandums, telegrams, letters, plans, and broadcasts Bose left behind in Germany, he did not express the slightest concern or sympathy for the millions who died in the concentration camps. Not one of his Berlin wartime associates or colleagues ever quotes him expressing any indignation. Not even when the horrors of Auschwitz and its satellite camps were exposed to the world upon being liberated by Soviet troops in early 1945, revealing publicly for the first time the genocidal nature of the Nazi regime, did Bose react.[61]

Quotes

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His most famous quote was "Give me blood and I will give you freedom".[170] Another famous quote was Dilli Chalo ("On to Delhi)!" This was the call he used to give the INA armies to motivate them. Another slogan coined by him was "Ittefaq, Etemad, Qurbani" (Urdu for "Unity, Agreement, Sacrifice").[171]

Legacy

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Bose's defiance of British authority in India made him a hero among many Indians,[aq][ar][as] however his wartime alliances with Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan left a legacy fraught with authoritarianism, anti-Semitism, and military failure.[at][172][28][au][av]

Memorials

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Bose on 1964 stamps of India

Bose was featured on the stamps in India from 1964, 1993, 1997, 2001, 2016, 2018 and 2021.[173] Bose was also featured in ₹2 coins in 1996 and 1997, ₹75 coin in 2018 and ₹125 coin in 2021.[174][175][176] Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport at Kolkata, West Bengal. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Gomoh railway station at Gomoh, Jharkhand. Netaji Express, a train runs between Howrah, West Bengal and Kalka, Haryana. Cuttack Netaji Bus Terminal at Cuttack, Odisha. Netaji Bhavan metro station and Netaji metro station at Kolkata, West Bengal and Netaji Subhash Place metro station at Delhi. Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Island at Andaman and Nicobar Island. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Setu (Longest bridge of Odisha) at Cuttack, Odisha. Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Road at Kolkata, West Bengal. INA War Museum at Moirang, Manipur. Netaji Indoor Stadium at Kolkata, West Bengal, DDA Netaji Subhash Sports Complex at Delhi, Netaji Stadium at Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Island. Netaji Subhas Open University at Kolkata, West Bengal, Netaji Subhash University of Technology at Delhi, Netaji Subhas University at Jamshedpur, Jharkhand and many other things in India are named after him. On 23 August 2007, Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzō Abe visited the Netaji Bhawan in Kolkata.[177][178] Abe, who is also the recipient of Netaji Award 2022,[179] said to Bose's family "The Japanese are deeply moved by Bose's strong will to have led the Indian independence movement from British rule. Netaji is a much respected name in Japan."[177][178]

In 2021, the Government of India declared 23 January as Parakram Divas to commemorate the birth anniversary of Subhas Chandra Bose. Political party, Trinamool Congress and the All India Forward Bloc demanded that the day should be observed as 'Deshprem Divas'.[180] In 2019, the Government of India inaugurated a museum on Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and his INA at Red Fort, New Delhi. In 2022, Government of India inaugurated a Statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at India Gate. Also in the same year, Government of India started an official award Subhas Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar, for those who do excellent work in disaster management.[181][182]

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Bose on the tableau of Andaman & Nicobar in the 2006 Republic Day Parade in New Delhi
Subhas in Army uniform

See also

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Notes

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References

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Further reading

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[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Subhas Chandra Bose

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from Grokipedia

Subhas Chandra Bose, commonly known as Netaji, (23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945) was an Indian nationalist leader who pursued aggressive strategies for independence from British rule, including serving as president of the Indian National Congress in 1938 and 1939 before breaking away to form the Indian National Army (INA) during World War II.
Born in Cuttack, Odisha, to a prosperous Bengali Hindu family, Bose excelled academically, topping the Indian Civil Service examination in 1920 but resigned to dedicate himself to the independence movement.
His ideological differences with Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru over non-violence and gradualism led to his re-election as Congress president in 1939 against Gandhi's preferred candidate, prompting his resignation and the founding of the All India Forward Bloc to advocate complete independence through mass mobilization and potential armed struggle.
Under house arrest in 1941, Bose escaped and sought alliances with Axis powers, traveling to Germany to recruit Indian prisoners of war for the Free India Legion before proceeding to Japanese-occupied Southeast Asia, where he revitalized the INA and established the Provisional Government of Azad Hind on 21 October 1943, declaring war on Britain and the United States.
Bose's pragmatic overtures to fascist regimes, including a 1942 meeting with Adolf Hitler, prioritized anti-colonial leverage over ideological alignment, enabling joint military campaigns by the INA and Japanese forces in Burma and India that, though militarily defeated, inspired widespread unrest including the Indian National Army (INA) trials and accelerated British withdrawal.
Official accounts hold that Bose perished from third-degree burns in a plane crash near Taipei, Taiwan, on 18 August 1945, as corroborated by eyewitnesses and subsequent Indian government inquiries like the 1974 Khosla Commission, though declassified documents and inconsistencies have sustained speculation of survival or escape.

Early Life and Education

1897–1919: Family Background, Childhood, and Early Influences

Subhas Chandra Bose was born on January 23, 1897, in Cuttack, then part of the Orissa Division in the Bengal Presidency of British India, to Janakinath Bose, a prominent Bengali Kayastha lawyer, and Prabhabati Devi, from the Datta family of Calcutta. His father, who had built a successful legal practice, was appointed Government Pleader and Public Prosecutor in Cuttack by 1905 and later received the title Rai Bahadur from the British administration, which he eventually relinquished in protest against colonial policies. Prabhabati Devi instilled in her children values of kindness, altruism, and empathy, shaping Bose's early moral outlook amid a devout Hindu household. Bose grew up in a large, affluent family as the ninth of fourteen children—eight sons and six daughters—in a two-storied L-shaped home in Cuttack that reflected the family's status. At age five, in 1902, he enrolled in the Protestant European School in Cuttack, a missionary institution emphasizing Western curriculum including the Bible and Latin, where he first encountered racial discrimination between European and Indian students. He continued to Ravenshaw Collegiate School in Cuttack from 1909 to 1912, demonstrating academic excellence and leadership, before transferring to Presidency College in Calcutta in 1913. Bose's early intellectual and patriotic development was profoundly shaped by spiritual and nationalist figures, particularly Swami Vivekananda, whose writings on Vedanta, self-reliance, and national awakening he encountered as a teenager and credited with transforming his worldview from childhood fears to bold idealism. He also drew from Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and the headmaster of his school, Beni Madhav Das, fostering a blend of mysticism and militancy that rejected passive reform in favor of assertive independence. These influences, amid the lingering Swadeshi Movement fervor post-1905 partition of Bengal, instilled in Bose a fervent anti-colonial sentiment by his late teens, culminating in his graduation with a B.A. in philosophy from Scottish Church College, Calcutta, in 1919.

1919–1921: Higher Education in England and Rejection of Civil Service

In September 1919, Subhas Chandra Bose departed Calcutta for England aboard the S.S. City of Calcutta, arriving after approximately five weeks to pursue preparation for the Indian Civil Service (ICS) examination, as arranged by his father despite Bose's reluctance to enter British administrative service. He enrolled as a non-collegiate student at the University of Cambridge, residing at Fitzwilliam Hall, and focused his studies on the Moral Sciences Tripos while rigorously preparing for the ICS. This period coincided with heightened Indian nationalist fervor following the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of April 1919, which profoundly impacted Bose's worldview, though he initially adhered to his familial expectations. By July 1920, after less than a year of intensive study, Bose sat for the ICS examinations and secured the fourth position overall among candidates, a remarkable achievement that positioned him for appointment to the service. However, amid growing alignment with Mahatma Gandhi's non-cooperation movement and a deepening commitment to India's independence, Bose resolved to forgo the opportunity, viewing ICS employment as incompatible with national self-determination. In April 1921, he informed his elder brother Sarat Chandra Bose of his decision to abstain from the final ICS viva voce and requested removal from the probationers' list, citing a "paramount duty towards my country" that superseded personal or familial ambitions. On 22 April 1921, Bose formally submitted his resignation letter to the ICS authorities, stating: "I desire to have my name removed from the list of probationers in the Indian Civil Service. I may state in this connection that I was selected for the Indian Civil Service in 1920 but I have been compelled to ask for my name being removed from the list of probationers owing to my higher duty towards my country." This act, at age 24, marked Bose's unequivocal rejection of colonial bureaucracy in favor of active participation in the freedom struggle, prompting his return to India by July 1921 to join the independence movement. His choice reflected a principled stand against serving an imperial administration, influenced by events like the Rowlatt Act protests and Gandhi's call for swaraj, though Bose would later diverge from Gandhian methods.

Rise in the Independence Movement

1921–1932: Initial Congress Involvement, Activism, and Imprisonments

Upon returning to India in July 1921 after resigning from the Indian Civil Service, Subhas Chandra Bose aligned himself with the Indian National Congress and participated in Mahatma Gandhi's Non-Cooperation Movement, which sought to undermine British authority through boycotts of government institutions, courts, and foreign goods. His involvement included organizing protests and public campaigns in Bengal, reflecting his commitment to mass mobilization against colonial rule. In December 1921, Bose was arrested alongside Chittaranjan Das and other leaders for defying British prohibitions on political assemblies and sentenced to six months' imprisonment in Calcutta's Alipore Jail, marking his first detention for nationalist activities. Released in mid-1922, he founded the newspaper Swaraj and took charge of publicity for the Bengal Provincial Congress Committee, amplifying calls for self-rule and criticizing British policies. Bose supported the formation of the Swaraj Party in January 1923 by Das and Motilal Nehru, which aimed to contest legislative elections to obstruct British governance from within councils, diverging from Gandhi's post-Chauri Chaura suspension of non-cooperation. As a key organizer in Bengal, he mobilized youth volunteers and contributed to the party's propaganda efforts, including editing publications to promote council-entry tactics. In 1924, following Das's election as mayor of Calcutta, Bose was appointed chief executive officer of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation, where he implemented reforms to assert local autonomy, such as prioritizing Indian appointees and challenging discriminatory practices. However, his aggressive anti-colonial stance prompted British authorities to detain him under Regulation III of 1818 in December 1924 without trial, deporting him to Mandalay Central Jail in Burma, where he endured harsh conditions including solitary confinement until his release on health grounds in February 1927. Post-release, Bose resumed Congress work, advocating for complete independence and organizing the boycott of the Simon Commission in 1928, which investigated constitutional reforms but excluded Indian input. Elected president of the Bengal Provincial Congress Committee, he led demonstrations against the commission's visit, resulting in further clashes with police. In 1930, amid the renewed Civil Disobedience Movement, Bose was re-arrested for violating salt laws and leading defiance campaigns, serving additional time before his election as mayor of Calcutta later that year while still incarcerated, underscoring his growing influence among urban nationalists. By 1932, repeated detentions had solidified his reputation as a resolute activist, though tensions with Congress moderates over tactical differences began to emerge.

1933–1937: Recovery from Illness, European Exile, and Personal Life

In February 1933, Subhas Chandra Bose was released from British detention in India due to his worsening health condition, diagnosed as tuberculosis, under a conditional order prohibiting his return without permission. He departed Bombay on the Italian vessel S.S. Ganges on February 23, arriving in Vienna, Austria, in March 1933 for specialized medical treatment. There, he underwent surgery performed by Dr. Demel and convalesced in Bad Gastein, experiencing gradual physical improvement through rest and care. Bose's European stay extended into exile, supported by the Indian Central European Society in Vienna, where he studied European political systems amid restrictions from British surveillance. During 1933–1934, he focused on recovery while maintaining political correspondence and writing, including dictating portions of his book The Indian Struggle, which analyzed India's independence movement up to 1934. In 1935, he assisted in arranging treatment for Kamala Nehru, Jawaharlal Nehru's wife, escorting her to Germany for care before her death. Bose returned briefly to India in 1936 but departed again for Europe later that year, continuing his exclusion until permitted back in 1937. In June 1934, while in Vienna, Bose hired 24-year-old Austrian Emilie Schenkl as his secretary and typist, initiating a personal relationship that deepened over time. Bose had long hair styled in a bun at the back of his head, secured with a hairpin. The couple secretly married on December 26, 1937, in Bad Gastein, Austria, through an informal Hindu ceremony without priests, witnesses, or civil registration, kept confidential due to Bose's political commitments and the inadvisability of an interracial union in that era. This period marked a blend of personal attachment and strategic restraint, as Bose prioritized his nationalist objectives over public acknowledgment of the marriage.

1937–1940: Leadership in Indian National Congress and Conflicts with Moderates

Following his return from Europe in 1937, Subhas Chandra Bose resumed active involvement in the Indian National Congress, leveraging his radical nationalist stance to challenge the dominance of Mahatma Gandhi's moderate faction. Bose criticized the Congress leadership for insufficient militancy against British rule, advocating instead for immediate mass mobilization and economic planning to achieve independence. His growing influence among younger, leftist elements within the party positioned him as a counterweight to the Gandhian emphasis on non-violent negotiation and compromise. In February 1938, at the Haripura session of the Congress held from February 19 to 21, Bose was elected president, defeating Pattabhi Sitaramayya, the candidate backed by Gandhi, by a significant margin of 1,580 votes to 1,375. As president, Bose delivered an address emphasizing industrialization, national planning, and the formation of a National Planning Committee, which he chaired to draft an economic blueprint for independent India. This session marked a temporary shift toward more assertive policies, though underlying tensions with moderates persisted over the pace and methods of anti-colonial struggle. Bose sought re-election for the 1939 Tripuri session, held in March, winning again against Sitaramayya with 1,580 votes to 1,377, reflecting strong support from provincial delegates and socialist groups. However, Gandhi viewed the loss of his endorsed candidate as a personal defeat and instructed Working Committee members not to cooperate with Bose unless he pledged loyalty to Gandhian principles. Fifteen of the fifteen Committee members resigned in February 1939, leaving Bose unable to form a functional executive body and forcing him to govern in isolation. Bose proposed resolutions for renewed civil disobedience and confrontation with British authorities, but these clashed with Gandhi's preference for conditional negotiation and non-violence, exacerbating the rift. The impasse culminated in Bose's resignation from the presidency on April 29, 1939, during an All India Congress Committee meeting in Calcutta, as he deemed continued leadership untenable without internal support. On May 3, 1939, Bose founded the All India Forward Bloc as a leftist faction within the Congress, aimed at unifying radical socialists and anti-imperialists to push for uncompromising independence through mass action and potential alliances against Britain. The Bloc's formation highlighted Bose's critique of moderate compromises, positioning it as a vehicle for synthesizing Indian nationalism with socialist economics, though it faced immediate resistance from the Congress old guard. Throughout 1939 and into 1940, Bose's conflicts with moderates intensified through public campaigns and organizational efforts, including an anti-imperialist conference in Nagpur in October 1939, where he rallied support for strikes and boycotts. British authorities, wary of his agitation, detained him under the Defense of India Rules on December 26, 1940, effectively sidelining his leadership amid escalating World War II tensions. These years underscored Bose's commitment to decisive action over gradualism, revealing deep ideological fractures within the Congress that prioritized Gandhi's moral authority over electoral mandates.

Wartime Strategies and Axis Collaborations

1941: Escape from Custody and Relocation to Germany

Subhas Chandra Bose had been placed under house arrest at his Elgin Road residence in Calcutta in July 1940, following his resignation as Congress president and defiance of British authorities under the Defence of India Rules. Planning his escape since December 1940 with the aid of his nephew Sisir Kumar Bose, he departed the house at approximately 1:30 a.m. on January 17, 1941, disguised as Muhammad Zia-ud-Din, a North Indian Muslim insurance agent, to evade British surveillance. Accompanied initially by Sisir, who drove him in a modified car with concealed compartments, Bose traveled roughly 400 miles overnight to Gomoh railway station in Bihar (now Jharkhand), where British police conducted a raid on the scheduled train but failed to detect him after he hid in a nearby forest. From Gomoh, Bose boarded the Kalka Mail train to Peshawar under his Zia-ud-Din alias, maintaining the disguise amid heightened British scrutiny along the North-West Frontier Province route. Upon reaching Peshawar on January 19, he linked up with local contacts including Mian Akbar Shah, a pro-Congress figure, who facilitated further movement into tribal territories. To cross into Afghanistan, Bose adopted a second disguise as a deaf-mute Pathan, traveling on foot and by car with guides such as Bhagat Ram Talwar (alias Rahmat Khan) and Pashtun escorts, navigating rugged passes and evading patrols; the border crossing occurred on January 26, 1941, marking his exit from British India after enduring harsh weather, scarce supplies, and linguistic barriers. By January 31, he arrived in Kabul, where he resided incognito with Afghan merchant supporters, using the time to secure transit arrangements amid British diplomatic pressure on Afghan authorities to locate him. In Kabul, Bose coordinated with Axis intermediaries to obtain Soviet transit permission, granted on March 3, 1941, after which he departed by car on March 18 through the Hindu Kush mountains toward Samarkand, adopting a third identity as Orlando Mazzotta, an Italian courier, complete with forged documents. The overland trek involved illness, Soviet border interrogations, and reliance on German consular assistance for onward travel; from Samarkand, he proceeded by train to Moscow, arriving March 27, where officials provided guarded facilitation despite wartime suspicions. Continuing by air and rail under Axis protection, Bose reached Berlin on April 2, 1941, after a 77-day odyssey spanning approximately 7,000 miles. Upon arrival in the German capital, Bose was initially received by a mid-level Foreign Office official rather than high command, reflecting cautious Nazi interest in his anti-British credentials; he was provided quarters, funds, and facilities to establish a Free India Centre for propaganda broadcasts to India via Radio Azad Hind, aiming to rally support for armed insurrection against British rule. This relocation positioned him to seek military collaboration, though German strategic priorities limited immediate material aid beyond ideological sympathy and recruitment from Indian POWs.

1941–1943: Operations in Nazi Germany and Recruitment Efforts

Subhas Chandra Bose arrived in Berlin in April 1941 after escaping British custody in India and traveling through Afghanistan and the Soviet Union. Upon arrival, he established the Free India Centre to coordinate anti-British propaganda and support Indian independence efforts. German authorities provided limited funding and facilities, reflecting pragmatic interest in weakening the British Empire rather than ideological alignment with Bose's nationalism. Bose viewed his alliance with Nazi Germany as a tactical necessity to militarily defeat the British, despite personal opposition to Nazi ideology and racial policies. Bose initiated radio broadcasts via Azad Hind Radio, starting in October 1941, to reach Indian troops and civilians with messages urging defection from British forces and portraying the war as an opportunity for liberation. These efforts were part of broader Nazi propaganda initiatives, where Bose broadcast appeals focused on Indian independence alongside other exiled leaders seeking to foment unrest against the Allies in their regions. The station transmitted in languages including Hindi, Urdu, and English, emphasizing Japanese advances in Asia as harbingers of British collapse. These efforts aimed to demoralize Indian soldiers in Allied armies, though their impact was constrained by German priorities shifting after the invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. In November 1941, Bose met German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop to request military aid, including submarines for transporting arms to India, but received non-committal responses. He secured a meeting with Adolf Hitler on May 29, 1942, where he proposed forming an Indian armed force under German command to invade British India; Hitler expressed skepticism about Indian martial capabilities and viewed post-war colonial issues as Britain's responsibility, offering only vague support for propaganda. This encounter underscored the limits of Nazi commitment, as German strategy prioritized European fronts over peripheral anti-colonial ventures. Recruitment for the Free India Legion began in 1941, targeting approximately 10,000 Indian prisoners of war captured by German forces in North Africa and held in camps like Annaburg. Bose and volunteers from the Free India Centre visited these camps to appeal for volunteers, promising liberation from British rule and a role in India's independence; the legionnaires swore oaths of allegiance to both Hitler and Bose; the unit was initially affiliated with the Wehrmacht, with plans for partial transfer to the Waffen-SS, though despite initial enthusiasm, only about 3,000 ultimately enlisted due to distrust of German intentions and poor conditions. The legion underwent training near Berlin but saw limited combat deployment, primarily for propaganda purposes, as German high command restricted its use to avoid alienating potential Indian allies in the event of victory. By early 1943, with stalled German advances and meager tangible support, Bose decided to seek alliance with Japan, departing Germany on February 8 aboard the U-boat U-180 from Kiel, bound for the Far East via a rendezvous with a Japanese submarine. The legion's morale declined post-departure, leading to desertions and eventual disbandment as Allied forces advanced. These operations highlighted Bose's pragmatic realpolitik in leveraging Axis powers against Britain, though constrained by their opportunistic rather than fervent backing of Indian sovereignty.

1943–1945: Shift to Japanese Alliance, Formation of INA, and Azad Hind Government

In early 1943, Subhas Chandra Bose, having achieved limited recruitment success in Nazi Germany with only about 3,000 Indian volunteers for the Indian Legion, accepted a Japanese invitation extended in January to lead nationalist efforts in East Asia, where a larger pool of over 40,000 Indian prisoners of war from British defeats in Malaya and Singapore offered greater potential for an armed force against British rule. On February 8, 1943, Bose departed from Kiel, Germany, aboard the German submarine U-180, accompanied by his aide Abid Hasan, embarking on a perilous three-month voyage southward around the Cape of Good Hope into the Indian Ocean to rendezvous with Japanese forces. The U-180 transferred Bose and Hasan to the Japanese submarine I-29 on May 2, 1943, in the Indian Ocean; the I-29 then proceeded to Sabang, Indonesia, where Bose arrived on May 8 before flying to Tokyo on May 16, 1943. Upon arrival in Southeast Asia, Bose assumed leadership of the Indian Independence League and reorganized the existing Indian National Army (INA), originally formed in February 1942 by Captain Mohan Singh with approximately 40,000 Indian POWs under Japanese auspices but disbanded in December 1942 after disputes over autonomy. By July 1943, Bose had restructured the INA into a more disciplined force, incorporating not only POWs but also civilian Indian expatriates, with units divided into regiments such as Gandhi, Nehru, and Azad Brigades, emphasizing military training and ideological commitment to total war for independence. On August 25, 1943, Bose was appointed Supreme Commander of the INA, instituting the slogan "Chalo Delhi" (March to Delhi) and enforcing strict discipline, including capital punishment for desertion, to forge a combat-ready army aimed at liberating India through Japanese-supported offensives. On October 21, 1943, Bose proclaimed the Provisional Government of Free India (Azad Hind) at the Cathay Cinema Hall in Singapore, declaring himself Head of State, Prime Minister, and Minister of War, with the government claiming sovereignty over Indian territories and seeking recognition from Axis powers. The Azad Hind administration established ministries for finance, education, and propaganda; issued its own currency notes and postage stamps; and operated Azad Hind Radio for broadcasts urging Indian uprising against British forces. Japan formally recognized Azad Hind on October 23, 1943, followed by nine other states including Germany, Italy, and Thailand, and handed over the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in December 1943 as the government's first territorial possession, where Bose briefly served as administrator before withdrawing due to supply issues. Under Bose's command, the INA participated in the 1944 Imphal-Kohima campaign alongside Japanese forces, advancing into Indian territory with initial successes in capturing positions like Kohima but suffering heavy casualties from British counteroffensives, disease, and starvation, leading to a retreat by mid-1944. As Allied advances intensified in 1945, the INA disintegrated during the Japanese retreat from Burma, with many soldiers captured or surrendering by May 1945, though Bose continued directing operations from Southeast Asia until Japan's capitulation in August. The alliance with Japan provided Bose logistical support and a platform for armed struggle but ultimately faltered due to Axis military defeats, highlighting the pragmatic yet high-risk calculus of seeking liberation through wartime opportunism against imperial powers.

Death and Subsequent Investigations

Official Narrative of the 1945 Plane Crash

Following the surrender of Japan on August 15, 1945, Subhas Chandra Bose, headquartered in Singapore, arranged to depart for Dairen (now Dalian) in Japanese-occupied Manchuria as a step toward reaching the Soviet Union to seek support for the Indian independence struggle. He boarded a Japanese Mitsubishi Ki-21 bomber on August 16, 1945, initiating a multi-leg journey that included stops in Bangkok, Thailand, on August 16, and Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City), Vietnam, on August 17. The aircraft reached Taihoku (now Taipei), Taiwan, on August 18, 1945, where it underwent maintenance for mechanical issues, including a faulty propeller on one engine. Bose, accompanied by Japanese Lieutenant General Tsunamasa Shidei and other officers, reboarded for the continuation to Dairen; the plane crashed approximately 20 minutes after takeoff from Taihoku airfield when the propeller on the right engine detached, causing the aircraft to lose altitude and strike trees before impacting the ground. Bose sustained third-degree burns over much of his body and was transported to the Nanmon Military Hospital in Taihoku, where he reportedly succumbed to cardiac failure resulting from the burns at approximately 9:00 p.m. local time that same day. The Japanese government publicly announced Bose's death on August 23, 1945, via Tokyo Radio, attributing it to the crash and subsequent injuries; this account was based on testimonies from surviving Japanese crew and medical personnel, including pilot Masanobu Tsuruta and hospital staff who treated Bose. In 1956, the Indian government's Shah Nawaz Committee, comprising members including former INA officer Shah Nawaz Khan, investigated in Japan and Taiwan, interviewing over 60 witnesses and reviewing records; it concluded that Bose died in the Taihoku crash, dismissing alternative survival claims as unsubstantiated. The 1970 Khosla Commission similarly affirmed the crash narrative after re-examining evidence, including Japanese documents, and rejected conspiracy theories for lack of corroboration. A declassified 1945 Japanese government report, released in 2016, detailed the flight's mechanical failure and Bose's fatal injuries, aligning with the eyewitness accounts from the official inquiries.

Persistent Conspiracy Theories and Evidence Claims

Several conspiracy theories have persisted regarding Subhas Chandra Bose's death, primarily challenging the official account of a plane crash on August 18, 1945, in Taihoku, Taiwan (now Taipei). Proponents argue that Bose faked his death to evade capture by Allied forces or Indian authorities, potentially relocating to the Soviet Union or living incognito in India as an ascetic. These theories gained traction due to inconsistencies in eyewitness testimonies, such as varying descriptions of the aircraft type and Bose's injuries, and the absence of corroborated physical evidence like a crash site or Bose's body. One prominent claim posits that Bose was captured by Soviet forces after attempting to flee to Russia via Manchuria, where he was allegedly imprisoned and executed under Stalin's orders around 1949–1950, possibly due to his anti-communist stance or as a wartime collaborator. Advocates cite declassified intelligence reports from British and American sources suggesting Bose's presence in Siberia, including unverified KGB files referenced in post-Cold War disclosures, though no direct forensic proof has emerged. This theory aligns with Bose's known plans to seek Soviet aid after Japan's defeat, but lacks empirical confirmation beyond anecdotal accounts from defectors. Another enduring assertion identifies Bose with the figure known as Gumnami Baba, a reclusive sadhu who died in Faizabad, India, on September 16, 1985, exhibiting physical resemblances, possession of Bose family artifacts, and knowledge of personal details inaccessible to outsiders. Forensic examinations, including handwriting analysis of letters attributed to Gumnami Baba matching Bose's style, and items like a 1945-dated wristwatch linked to Bose's aides, have been presented as evidence. DNA tests on Gumnami Baba's remains in 2002 yielded inconclusive results due to degradation, fueling speculation despite official dismissal. Skeptics of the crash narrative highlight the Justice Mukherjee Commission's 2005 findings, which rejected the plane crash theory after reviewing Taiwanese records showing no such incident at the alleged site and airport logs omitting any relevant flight. The commission noted the ashes at Tokyo's Renkoji Temple, claimed to be Bose's, could not be verified as human remains from 1945 via scientific testing, and criticized prior inquiries like the Shah Nawaz Committee for relying on potentially coerced Japanese testimonies amid post-war occupation pressures. Taiwanese authorities confirmed in 2005 that no evidence of a 1945 crash carrying Bose existed in their archives, undermining the official timeline. Counter-evidence for the crash includes affidavits from Japanese officers and Bose's aide Habibur Rahman, who survived the incident and described Bose succumbing to burns en route to a hospital, corroborated by hospital records from Nanmon Military Hospital. However, discrepancies persist, such as the lack of Taiwanese civilian or military crash reports and forensic doubts over dental records purportedly linking Bose to the ashes, which independent analyses deemed unreliable. These unresolved evidentiary gaps sustain the theories, with advocates attributing official acceptance of the crash to political motivations, including Nehru government's aversion to Bose's Axis ties.

Governmental Inquiries, Declassifications, and Modern Assessments

The Shah Nawaz Committee, appointed by the Indian government in 1956 under Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, investigated Bose's disappearance and concluded that he died on August 18, 1945, from burns sustained in a plane crash at Taihoku (now Taipei) in Japanese-occupied Formosa. The committee's report, based on witness testimonies from Japanese and Indian sources, rejected survival theories but faced criticism for potential political bias, given Nehru's historical rivalry with Bose and the exclusion of dissenting committee member Suresh Chandra Bose. The Khosla Commission, established in 1970 by the government of Indira Gandhi, reaffirmed the plane crash narrative after reviewing prior evidence, interrogating witnesses, and dismissing alternative claims for lack of substantiation. It emphasized inconsistencies in conspiracy accounts and the absence of credible post-1945 sightings, though critics noted the commission's reliance on earlier, potentially flawed records without new forensic analysis. The Justice Mukherjee Commission of Inquiry, constituted in 1999 by the NDA government and reporting in 2005, diverged sharply by rejecting the plane crash theory due to insufficient corroborative evidence, such as crash site documentation or medical records, and questioning the reliability of key witnesses. It concluded Bose did not die in the alleged 1945 incident and presumed him deceased at a later, undetermined date, while DNA tests on remains at Tokyo's Renkoji Temple indicated no match with Bose's family. The UPA government rejected the report in 2006, citing procedural flaws and adherence to prior findings, amid accusations of suppressing evidence that challenged the official narrative. From 2015 onward, the Indian government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi declassified over 100 files initially, followed by additional batches totaling more than 200 documents by 2017, made publicly accessible via the National Archives portal. These releases, prompted by demands from Bose's family and researchers, revealed intelligence surveillance on Bose's kin post-independence but yielded no definitive proof of survival or alternative fate, reinforcing the government's 2017 stance that Bose perished in the 1945 crash. Taiwan's 2023 declassification of wartime files similarly offered no new crash confirmation, fueling ongoing speculation without resolving evidentiary gaps. Modern assessments remain divided, with official Indian positions upholding the crash based on cumulative inquiry evidence, while researchers and books like "Laid to Rest" (2018) compile eyewitness accounts supporting the crash but acknowledge persistent doubts from unverified sightings and declassified hints of Soviet involvement. Conspiracy claims, including Bose's alleged escape to the USSR or disguise as Gumnami Baba, have been undermined by DNA mismatches and lack of archival corroboration, though political controversies—such as 2019 rejections of survival theories—highlight enduring public skepticism toward institutional narratives. No conclusive new evidence from post-2017 declassifications or international archives has overturned the presumption of death in 1945, prioritizing empirical witness convergence over unsubstantiated alternatives.

Ideological Framework

Nationalist Vision and Critique of Non-Violent Approaches

Subhas Chandra Bose's nationalist vision emphasized purna swaraj (complete independence) through aggressive mobilization and decisive confrontation with British rule, integrating political sovereignty with social and economic reconstruction. In his February 19, 1938, presidential address at the Haripura Congress session, Bose outlined a program for centralized economic planning, rapid industrialization, and a socialist framework to eradicate exploitation and ensure equitable development post-independence. He stressed undiluted nationalism as the foundation for unity, stating it must be inspired by universal ideals of truth, goodness, and beauty to build an impartial Indian Army of Liberation. Bose critiqued Gandhian non-violence as morally admirable but strategically inadequate against a ruthless empire, arguing it fostered passivity and yielded only partial concessions rather than outright victory. He contended that satyagraha's emphasis on moral persuasion overlooked the British willingness to suppress dissent forcibly, necessitating a blend of civil disobedience with readiness for armed action when non-violent efforts stalled. This view crystallized in his push for immediate mass struggle post-1937 provincial elections, contrasting Gandhi's preference for negotiation and ministerial cooperation. The rift peaked at the 1939 Tripuri session, where Bose's re-election as president on January 29—defeating Gandhi-backed Pattabhi Sitaramayya—signaled grassroots support for militancy. Gandhi interpreted the loss as personal, leading the Working Committee to resign en masse on February 22, paralyzing Bose's administration and forcing his resignation on April 29 amid refusal to endorse his confrontational agenda. Bose later asserted, "Freedom is not given, it is taken," justifying his wartime pursuit of alliances and military organization as essential to break imperial deadlock.

Economic Policies, Authoritarian Governance, and Militarism

Subhas Chandra Bose advocated a planned economy emphasizing rapid industrialization, self-reliance, and state-directed resource allocation to address poverty, unemployment, and colonial underdevelopment. As president of the Indian National Congress in 1938, he established the National Planning Committee to formulate a comprehensive blueprint for economic reconstruction, prioritizing heavy industries such as steel, machinery, and textiles, alongside agrarian reforms and labor rights. This approach drew from socialist principles but integrated nationalist imperatives, rejecting laissez-faire capitalism as incompatible with India's needs for sovereign development. In the Provisional Government of Azad Hind, established on October 21, 1943, Bose implemented rudimentary economic measures tailored to wartime exigencies, including the issuance of provisional currency notes backed by Japanese support and the creation of the Azad Hind Bank to finance military operations and territorial administration. These steps aimed at fostering economic sovereignty, with policies promoting indigenous industries and resource mobilization from controlled territories, though constrained by the government's provisional status and reliance on Axis allies. Bose's broader economic ideology, termed samyavāda, sought a pragmatic synthesis of socialism's emphasis on equality and fascism's organizational efficiency, avoiding the racial exclusivity of the latter while critiquing communism's internationalism as detrimental to national unity. Bose endorsed authoritarian governance as a transitional necessity to consolidate power and execute reforms post-independence, arguing that India's fragmented society required a "ruthless dictatorship" for at least 20 years to enforce discipline, suppress dissent, and achieve rapid modernization. In a 1943 speech in Singapore, he explicitly called for such centralized rule to reorganize the economy and polity after British withdrawal, viewing democratic processes as premature amid widespread illiteracy and disunity. As head of the Azad Hind government, Bose assumed multiple roles—including prime minister, war minister, and head of state—exercising dictatorial authority over legislative, executive, and judicial functions, justified by the exigencies of total war against imperialism. This stance reflected his admiration for the mobilizing capacity of authoritarian models in Italy and Germany, though he subordinated them to anti-colonial ends rather than ideological purity. Bose's commitment to militarism positioned armed struggle as indispensable for India's liberation, dismissing non-violent methods as insufficient against entrenched imperial power and advocating a disciplined national army to seize territory and inspire mass mobilization. Revitalizing the Indian National Army (INA) in 1943 with Japanese backing, he reorganized it into a professional force of approximately 40,000 troops, emphasizing hierarchical command, ideological indoctrination, and total war doctrines to foster unity and combat effectiveness. The INA's ideology blended nationalist fervor with martial ethos, incorporating slogans like "Jai Hind" and oaths of allegiance to promote sacrifice and obedience, while Bose framed military victory as the causal prerequisite for political sovereignty. This approach, rooted in realpolitik, prioritized tactical alliances with militaristic powers like Japan and Germany to acquire arms and training, underscoring Bose's belief that economic and political reconstruction demanded prior military dominance.

Engagements with Fascism, Axis Powers, and Debates on Antisemitism

Subhas Chandra Bose engaged with Fascist Italy in the 1930s, visiting Rome in 1934 and 1935 to meet Benito Mussolini, whom he admired for organizational efficiency and anti-imperialist potential. During these encounters, Bose presented copies of his book The Indian Struggle and discussed parallels between Italian nationalism and Indian independence efforts, viewing fascism's disciplined structures as a model adaptable to anticolonial mobilization without endorsing its full ideology. In 1941, after arriving in Europe, Bose met Mussolini again via Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano on May 5, seeking Axis coordination against Britain, though Italian support remained limited due to strategic caution. In Nazi Germany from April 1941, Bose's interactions were pragmatic, aimed at securing military aid to invade British India rather than ideological alignment. Supporters of Bose argue that his alliances with Axis powers, including Nazi Germany, were a tactical necessity to challenge British rule militarily, despite his personal reservations about Nazi ideology and racial policies. He met Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, emphasizing Indian opposition to fascism while pressing for a declaration of Indian independence and formation of an army from approximately 3,000 Indian prisoners of war, leading to the Free India Legion (also known as the Indian Legion or Indische Legion), a regiment within the Wehrmacht composed of Indian POWs who swore an oath of allegiance to Hitler and Bose. It was during this period that the honorific 'Netaji' was first applied to Bose in early 1942 by the Indian soldiers of the Legion and German and Indian officials in Berlin. His sole meeting with Adolf Hitler on May 29, 1942, at the Reich Chancellery lasted about an hour and proved disappointing; Hitler delivered a monologue viewing India as a peripheral theater and Indians as racially inferior, refusing firm commitments on independence or submarines for transport, prompting Bose to shift toward Japan. Bose also conferred with Heinrich Himmler in 1942, but German support waned due to racial hierarchies conflicting with his emphasis on Indian self-rule. In the late 1930s, Bose opposed granting asylum to large numbers of Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany within the Indian National Congress, arguing that it could exacerbate communal tensions and complicate the independence struggle. There is no evidence that Bose publicly or privately condemned the Holocaust or Nazi persecution of minorities during his stay in Berlin from 1941 to 1943. Bose's alliance with Axis powers stemmed from realpolitik: exploiting World War II to fracture British Empire control, not sympathy for fascist totalitarianism or Japanese militarism, as evidenced by his broadcasts critiquing European imperialism and prioritizing anticolonial liberation over ideological purity. He rejected Nazi racial doctrines publicly and privately, arguing they undermined universal anti-imperialism, and synthesized authoritarian nationalism with socialism in his Samyavāda framework, distinct from fascism's ethnocentrism. Debates on antisemitism arise from Bose's Axis ties and positions such as his opposition to Jewish refugee asylum, with some critics alleging implicit endorsement or tolerance via association and silence on Nazi persecutions, while others contend these were driven by pragmatic anti-colonial priorities rather than personal prejudice; no primary evidence demonstrates explicit antisemitic views on Bose's part. He maintained contacts with Jewish individuals and omitted antisemitic rhetoric from Azad Hind propaganda, focusing on anti-British unity. Historians attribute his engagements with Nazi policies to wartime exigency, paralleling other nationalists' tactical alliances amid colonial oppression, though the moral implications continue to invite scrutiny.

Historical Impact and Reception

Contributions to Hastening British Withdrawal

Subhas Chandra Bose's revival and leadership of the Indian National Army (INA) from 1943 onward, in alliance with Japan, directly challenged British military authority in Southeast Asia and eastern India, culminating in the INA's participation in the Imphal and Kohima campaigns of March–July 1944, where approximately 30,000 INA troops advanced into Indian territory alongside Japanese forces. Although these offensives ultimately failed due to Allied counteroffensives and supply shortages, they inflicted tactical losses on British positions and demonstrated the willingness of Indian prisoners of war and civilians to defect and fight against colonial rule, eroding British morale and revealing vulnerabilities in their reliance on Indian sepoys. Bose's proclamation of the Provisional Government of Free India (Azad Hind) on October 21, 1943, in Singapore, which declared war on Britain and the United States, further symbolized organized armed resistance, inspiring defections and propaganda that amplified anti-colonial sentiment across India. The decisive acceleration of British withdrawal stemmed from the post-war INA trials, initiated by British authorities on November 5, 1945, at Delhi's Red Fort, prosecuting key officers including Prem Sahgal, Shah Nawaz Khan, and Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon for treason and waging war against the Crown. These proceedings, intended to deter collaboration with Axis powers, instead galvanized public outrage, unifying Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs in nationwide protests; in Calcutta alone, direct action from November 21–24, 1945, resulted in 97 deaths amid riots and strikes that paralyzed British administration. The trials' publicity of INA exploits fostered a secular nationalist fervor, transcending communal divides and pressuring British commanders like Field Marshal Claude Auchinleck to suspend sentences and release the accused by mid-1946 amid escalating unrest. This erosion of loyalty extended to the British Indian armed forces, most evidently in the Royal Indian Navy mutiny of February 18–23, 1946, involving over 20,000 ratings across 78 ships in Bombay and beyond, who hoisted INA flags and cited the trials as inspiration for their revolt against racial discrimination and poor conditions. The mutiny's rapid spread, coupled with supportive strikes by Indian troops and air force personnel, signaled to British policymakers the unreliability of their 2.5 million-strong Indian army for suppressing independence demands, prompting Prime Minister Clement Attlee's February 20, 1947, announcement to transfer power by June 1948—a timeline advanced to August 15, 1947, amid fears of widespread collapse. Attlee later attributed the withdrawal primarily to the INA's demonstration of disloyalty rather than non-violent movements, underscoring Bose's strategy of armed subversion as a causal catalyst for decolonization.

Criticisms Regarding Methods, Alliances, and Outcomes

Bose's methods have drawn criticism for their emphasis on militarism and authoritarian governance, diverging sharply from the non-violent satyagraha advocated by Gandhi and the Indian National Congress. In a 1939 speech, Bose outlined plans for a post-independence "ruthless dictatorship" lasting up to 20 years to enforce rapid industrialization and social reforms, arguing that democratic processes would hinder urgent nation-building. Critics, including contemporaries like Jawaharlal Nehru, viewed this as incompatible with democratic ideals, with Nehru asserting no viable middle path between fascism and communism, while Bose dismissed parliamentary systems as outdated Victorian relics. Gandhi, despite personal respect for Bose as a patriot, fundamentally opposed his armed approach, stating in 1940 correspondence that they must "sail in different boats" due to irreconcilable views on means to independence. Alliances with the Axis powers formed a core point of contention, as Bose sought military aid from regimes responsible for widespread aggression and human rights abuses. Arriving in Germany in 1941, Bose met Adolf Hitler on May 29, 1942, proposing an anti-British pact and the formation of a Free India Legion from Indian POWs, though Hitler offered limited support and expressed reservations about Indian self-rule. Shifting to Japan in 1943 via German submarine, Bose collaborated with Imperial Japanese forces to revive the Indian National Army (INA), training over 40,000 troops captured from British Indian units during the fall of Singapore in 1942. Detractors argue this pragmatic anti-imperialism overlooked the Axis's own imperial ambitions and atrocities—such as Nazi genocide and Japanese war crimes in Asia—potentially compromising India's moral standing and associating the independence struggle with fascist ideologies, as evidenced by Bose's broadcasts praising Axis resilience against Britain. Indian communists, aligned with Allied powers, condemned Bose's Axis overtures as fascist collaboration, launching campaigns against him during the war. The outcomes of Bose's campaigns underscored military limitations and strategic miscalculations, yielding no territorial gains for India despite inspirational rhetoric. The INA's 1944 Imphal campaign, involving 30,000 troops alongside Japanese forces, collapsed due to inadequate air support, disrupted supply lines from monsoon rains, and superior Allied defenses, forcing a retreat with heavy casualties—over 4,000 INA dead or wounded—and the army's effective dissolution by mid-1945. Japanese defeats in Burma further eroded INA viability, as local uprisings failed to materialize and British counteroffensives reclaimed lost ground by July 1945. While INA trials in 1945-1946 provoked Royal Indian Navy mutinies and public sympathy, hastening British exit sentiment, independence in 1947 stemmed primarily from wartime exhaustion, economic strain on Britain, and Congress negotiations rather than Bose's armed efforts, which some historians deem symbolic at best but ultimately unsuccessful in altering colonial control. Bose's authoritarian vision also clashed with emerging democratic norms, as post-war India adopted a parliamentary constitution under Nehru, sidelining dictatorial models.

Enduring Legacy in India, Memorials, and Cultural Representations

Subhas Chandra Bose, known as Netaji—a honorific first applied to him in early 1942 by Indian soldiers of the Indische Legion and by German and Indian officials in the Special Bureau for India in Berlin—was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist whose defiance of British authority made him a hero among many Indians, but his wartime alliances with Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan left a legacy vexed by authoritarianism and military failure. His legacy emphasizes direct confrontation over passive methods, fostering a narrative of self-reliant struggle that contrasts with contemporaneous non-violent campaigns, though it remains subject to debate over his authoritarian inclinations and alliances with Axis powers. Annual observances, including wreath-laying at memorials and public addresses, reinforce his role in galvanizing national resolve, with his influence evident in post-independence military ethos and regional pride in areas like Bengal and the Northeast. In 2021, the Indian government designated January 23—Bose's birth date—as Parakram Diwas (Day of Valor), marking a formal elevation of his contributions to independence efforts, with nationwide events commencing that year. Celebrations in 2025 for his 128th birth anniversary included tributes from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, highlighting Bose's vision of unity and courage amid diverse commemorations across states like Odisha and Assam. These observances, evolving into festivals of patriotism, underscore public veneration despite historical political marginalization by ruling Congress administrations post-1947. Memorials to Bose proliferate across India, reflecting institutional acknowledgment of his sacrifices. A 28-foot monolithic granite statue, sculpted from a single block, was unveiled by Prime Minister Modi on September 8, 2022, at the canopy near India Gate in New Delhi, symbolizing his martial legacy in the national capital. Other sites include the INA Memorial in Moirang, Manipur—where the Indian tricolor was first raised by INA forces on April 14, 1944—and Netaji Bhawan in Kolkata, his former residence converted into a research institute and museum housing artifacts from his life. In 2018, Ross Island in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands was renamed Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Island, commemorating his provisional government's brief administration there in 1943–1944. Statues and plaques also dot cities like Cuttack (his birthplace) and Silchar, with recent inaugurations such as a bronze statue in Assam in January 2025. Cultural representations portray Bose as a defiant leader, often romanticizing his alliances and exiles while grappling with his authoritarian inclinations. The 2004 Hindi film Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero, directed by Sarkar Hoadi and starring Sachin Khedekar, dramatizes his European sojourns, INA campaigns, and encounters with Axis leaders, earning acclaim for historical fidelity despite commercial limitations. Television series like Azad Hind Fauj Ki Kahani (Doordarshan, 1990s) and biographical sketches in media further embed his image in popular consciousness. Literature includes Bose's own An Indian Pilgrim (1948 edition of his unfinished autobiography), detailing early ideological evolution, alongside modern biographies such as Bose: The Indian Samurai by G.D. Bakshi, which assesses his military strategies. India Post has issued commemorative stamps in 1964, 1996 (centenary), and 2005, featuring Bose in uniform or with INA motifs, circulating millions to affirm his iconic status. These depictions, while occasionally critiqued for glossing over tactical failures like INA defeats, sustain Bose's archetype as an unyielding freedom fighter in Indian arts and education. ![Subhas Chandra Bose 1964 stamp of India][center]

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  35. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Subhas_Bose_convalescing_after_surgery_in_Bad_Gastein_1933.jpg
  36. https://ia803100.us.archive.org/5/items/subhaschandrabos00mook/subhaschandrabos00mook.pdf
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  38. https://www.telegraphindia.com/culture/books/notes-of-affection-from-afar/cid/1948774
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  55. https://www.revolutionarydemocracy.org/rdv7n1/Bose.htm
  56. https://www.netajisubhasbose.org/hitler-s-germany-indian-legion
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  59. https://scroll.in/article/928856/fiction-pick-what-happened-when-netaji-subhas-chandra-bose-met-hitler-read-this-re-creation
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  61. https://www.netajisubhasbose.org/indian-legion-rise-and-fall
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