Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose | From Hitler's Germany to Japan | Full Biography | Dhruv Rathee

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose | From Hitler's Germany to Japan | Full Biography | Dhruv Rathee

 

  

Hello, friends!On 9th February 1943,a German submarine departed from the city of Kiel, Germany.Although it carried the Nazi soldiers in it,an Indian was also present among them.An Indian whose name was Matsuda.This submarine was tasked with the mission to travel Southward,to go around Africaand transfer Mr. Matsuda to a Japanese submarine.It sounds easy,but it was not without dangerThe sea route was full of British ships.And this was during the World War IIwhen Germany and Japan were fighting against the British.On 26th April 1943,after a journey of about two and a half months,when this German submarine reached the coast of Madagascar,a Japanese submarine was spotted in front of it.But the sea was so stormy thatit could have been dangerous for these two submarines to get closer.So for the next two days, these submarineskept moving in parallel.Finally, when the weather cleared,Mr. Matsuda emerged from the submarine.On a small raft, paddling and drenched,he reached the Japanese submarine,where he was welcomed by Captain Masao Teraoka.You may be wonderingwhy these German and Japanese submarineswere helping an Indian during World War II.This is because, Mr. Matsuda is none other thanour Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.Unknowingly perhaps, during this historic journey,he became the first Indianto travel in a submarine.Subhash Chandra Bose is one of the greatest freedom fighters of Indiaand his story is full of such amazing stories.How he escaped under the nose of the British governmentwent to Germany, met Hitler,went to Russia and Japan,met the Japanese Prime Minister,went to Singapore, formed his own army.And even while staying outside India,he launched the biggest war on the British government occupying India.Let's understand his story in this video.Let's start our story with 1939,the year when World War II started.Viceroy Lord Linlithgowdeclared war on behalf of Indiawithout consulting any Indian.This was an embarrassing situation for Congress.And under the Government of India Act,Congress had some control over the ministriesand so they resigned from their positions.Meanwhile, Subhash Chandra Bose was organizing his own party,The Forward Bloc.Although this party was formed from within the Congress,but by the year 1940,it was separated from the Congress's main organization.There were two reasons behind this.First, Subhash Chandra Bose was becoming too vocal about his leftist ideology,which wasn't appreciated by the other leaders of Congress.I have talked about this in detail in the video on Gandhi versus Bose.The link is in the description in case you haven't watched it yet.And the second reason was that Bose wantedto use World War II for India's benefit.He wanted to take action quicklyand breaking off from Congress had become a necessity for him.In July 1940,Bose was leading a march in Calcuttabecause of which he was arrested by the British government.Being in jail, he challenged the governmentby launching a hunger strike."Release me, or I shall refuse to live."He made a straightforward announcement."In 1940, he was languishing in prison.So he gave an ultimatum to the British governmentand undertook a fast unto d3ath."Gradually, his health deteriorated.And in just one week, the government decidedto release him from jailand put him under house arrest.The government did not want to be blamedif Subhash Chandra Bose were to d!e in jail.So they thought that as long as he was in poor health,he should be under house arrest.And as soon as his health improved,they wanted to throw him back in jail.But Netaji was devising his own plans.His plan was to go to Germanyand ask the Germans for helpto fight against the British.But how could he reach Germany?Bose contacted a communist organization in Punjabto find out if there was a wayto cross the border and reach Germany secretly.He was told that there was a way.To enter through Afghanistan,and go to the Soviet Union,from there he could go to Germany.On 16th January 1941,at around 1.30 AM,when the city was sleeping,Netaji sneaked out of his housewith his nephew, Shishir Kumar Bose.He was in disguise.He was pretending to be an insurance agent,Muhammad Ziauddin.Together with Shishir, they drove through the dark all nightand reached Dhanbad at around 8.30 AM.They spend a night at Shishir's brother Ashok's houseand the next day, from the nearby Gomo station,Bose boarded the train Kalka Mail.This train reached Delhi firstand there, he took another train to go to Peshawar,the Frontier Mail.In Peshawar, he was received bythe provincial leader of the Forward Bloc, Mian Akbar Shah.The next step was to leave the territory occupied by the British.To do this, he changed his disguise.Instead of Mohammad Ziauddin,he became a deaf and mute Pathan man.It was necessary to be deaf and mute becauseBose could not speak Pashto.So, if anyone came to check them at the border,the person accompanying him could tell themthat he was a deaf and mute Pathan.He travelled with another leader of the Forward Bloc, Bhagat Ram Talwar,and both pretended that they were going to the shrine of Adda Sharif in Afghanistan.To pray that they could speak and hear.On 26th January 1941,they left Peshawarand crossed the border of the British Empire by evening.By the morning of 29th January,they had reached Adda Sharifand completed the journey to Kabul in trucks and tanks.It took Netaji 15 days to reach Kabul from Calcutta.But the British government found out about his escape12 days after the fact.This is because the people at his home,constantly delivered food to his room.And his other nephews would simply eat his food.People believed that Netaji was still in his room.Since the food was delivered and eaten regularly.His escape was so secret thateven his mother didn't know about it.It was only on 27th Januarywhen a case was to be heard against Subhash Chandra Bose in the court.And when he did not appear at the court,his two nephews informed the policethat he was not at home.On 27th January, the news of his disappearance was published in the newspaper,in Anand Bazaar Patrika and Hindustan Herald.After which Reuters picked up on itand this news spread all over the world.Many reports were made to the British intelligence.One report said that he was on a ship going to Japan,another said something elsebut none of the reports were correct.A ship going to Japan from Calcutta was searched by the British.But there was no sign of Bose.Subhash had told his nephew Shishir thatif the news of his escape could be a secret for 4-5 days,it would be impossible to catch him after that.And this was true becauseafter that, the British government could not catch him again.After reaching Kabul, Netaji went to the Soviet embassy to ask for help.But he didn't get any help from therebecause the Russians mistook him to be a British agentwho wanted to infiltrate the Soviet Union.Then he tried to contact the German embassy.Hans Pilger, a German minister who was present at the embassy at that time,sent a telegram to the German foreign ministeron 5th February,saying that after meeting Subhash,he had advised him tostay hidden in the market with his Indian friendsand on his behalf,the German minister would contact the Russian ambassador.A few days later, Netaji received a message thatif he wanted to leave Afghanistan,he should meet the Italian ambassador.This meeting took place on 22nd February, 1941,And on 10th March, Bose was asked toget a new Italian passport.Bose was given a new Italian passportwith a new Italian identity.This was the photo on his Italian passportand his new name was Orlando Mazzotta.In the meantime, the British government had intercepted an Italian diplomatic communicationand they had found out thatBose was in Kabul.They also found out that he was planning to go to Germany through the Middle East.Two special operations executives of British intelligence were tasked withfinding Bose in Turkey and k!lling him before he reached Germany.But Netaji was one step ahead.He never went to the Middle East.Instead, he went to Moscow using his new identity.From Moscow, he finally boarded a train to Berlin,and on 2nd April 1941,he reached the German capital, Berlin.Here, Netaji had 3 objectives.First, to set up an Indian government in exile.Second, to find a way for his voice to reach the people.And third, to establish an armymade up of Indians,those Indians who were prisoners of war.Now let's see one-by-one how Netaji worked on theseand how he met the German dictator, Hitler.The biggest struggle was that Germanyhad to give a diplomatic recognition to India.He wanted Germany and the other Axis Powersto officially declare India to be a free country.And to make India's independence on of their war aims.But Germany never gave such a declarationbecause Hitler was not comfortable with this idea.In his infamous book Mein Kampf, Hitler stated his opinion about India.He wrote that he admired the British governmentfor the way they have dominated and administered India.And despite having German blood,in spite of everything,he wrote that he wanted to see India under British rule.Not only that, Hitler made fun of Indian freedom fightersby calling them Asiatic jugglers.India's fight for freedom was a joke to Hitler.But still, Hitler wanted to use Netaji Subhash Chandra Boseagainst the British in WWII.Netaji was fully aware thathis relationship with the Nazi Germanywas merely a transactional relationship.Both sides saw their benefit,that's why the relationship existed.Otherwise, it wouldn't.With this, he started working.He made plans on howIndia can collaborate with the Axis Powers.He established a Free India Center in Berlin.And then he submitted a memorandum to Hitler,asking Hitler to attack India with his army,so that the British could be removed from there.It would be akin to attacking the heart of the British Empire.He tried to manipulate the situationto incite Hitler into taking his armyand fighting the British in India.But that had no positive result.The main reason was that Hitler was not concerned about India's freedom.But there was another German who was actually quite interested in helping Bose.Adam von Trot,head of the India section of the Foreign Office in Berlin.With his help, this Foreign Officewas turned into a Special India Division.A few months later, on 2nd November 1941,Bose established the Free India Centre there.In fact, on this very road, that building you see there,used to be the office of the Free India Centre.Today, that's just a cafe.There is no sign of it being an office before.On the other side, there is the Spanish embassy.In the first meeting at this centre, 6 decisions were made.First, the name of the struggle was to be Azad Hind or Free India.Second, in Europe, the name of this organisation would beAzad Hind Centre.Third, the national anthem of our country would be Jana Gana Mana.Fourth, the emblem of the movementwould be in tricolour with a springing tiger.Fifth, Indians would greet each other with the slogan of Jai Hind.And the sixth, Subhash Chandra Bose would be given the titleNetaji.On 20th May 1941,Netaji submitted a detailed plan to the German governmenton how to work on propaganda against British imperialism all over the world.A part of this plan was Azad Hind Radio.On 19th February 1942,Netaji decided to give up the identity of Orlando Mazotta.He dropped itand revealed his real identity to the world.He broadcast his first message to the world through Azad Hind Radio.This is Subhash Chandra Bosespeaking to you over Azad Hind Radio.And starting in February 1942,it began to be broadcast to the Indian population too.Subhash Chandra Bose's first address to his countrymen through this radio wasthat everyone would continue with the struggle.And that the Axis powers would soon help them in their missionand together, they would fight against British imperialism."Brothers and sisters,the struggle for freedom that we have started,we need to continue it untilwe get complete independence."Apart from the radio, a monthly journal was started,called Azad Hind,with copies being rolled out starting in March 1942.Within a few days,5,000 copies were circulated in Germany.But there were problems working on the third motive.The army that Bose wanted to createhe wanted it to be called the Indian National Army.But the Nazi government refused to recognise a new independent army.That's why this military unit was namedIndian Legion.Bose met more than 10,000 prisoners of war and talked to them.He couldn't convince everyone.But about half of the people were convinced to join his army.So, the strength of the Indian Legion was about 5,000 people.Even though this army was small in many ways, it was historic.Because Netaji had successfully brought people together despite their castes and religious beliefs.Captain Walter Harbich,the one in charge of the training camp at that time,noted that"His Excellency, Netaji's goal was toparalyse the century-old antagonismsrooted in the Indian nationalities,religions and castes,and to unite the members of both these unitsin one great common aim.26th August, 1942.Indian Legion took its oath and with that,Netaji was almost successful in fulfilling his goals in Germany.Except for one thing,The Axis powers were stillnot declaring India as independent yet.The reason was Hitler's negative attitude towards Indians.A few months ago, in May 1942,Subhash Chandra Bose managed to meet Adolf Hitler.After this meeting,Netaji was convinced that Hitler was more interested in propaganda victoriesas compared to actually winning with military strength.That's why Netaji turned his attention towards Japan.Till then, news had already reached Japanthat an army of Indians was being formed in Germanyto oust the British from of India.Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo had taken note of it.Since early 1942, he had been saying thatdefeated the British in Singaporeand occupied Singapore.Around 40,000 Indians who were fighting on behalf of the British side in Singapore,after Japan's takeover, became Japan's prisoners of war.Here, Netaji saw another opportunity.Why not include those people in his army too?In the midst of all this, in August 1942,Mahatma Gandhi announced the Quit India Movement.In India, hundreds of thousands of peoplewere ready for the revolution against the British government.When this news reached Netaji,he was happy to hear it.Through Azad Hind Radio, he sent his messagethat all Indians should support Gandhi ji.He called the movement India's non-violent guerilla warfare.Even though a few years ago, there were disagreements in Gandhi ji and Netaji's views.Their opinions often clashed.But at this point in time,they supported each other.On 31st August 1942,when Netaji found out that people like Savarkar and Jinnahwere against the Quit India Movement,this is what he had to say on Azad Hind Radio."I would request Mr Jinnah and Mr Savarkarand all those leaders who still think of a compromise with the Britishers,To realize for once and allthat in the world of tomorrow there would be no British Empire.He addressed leaders like Jinnah and Savarkarand told them that there was no future for the British Empire.The last time Gandhi ji and Netaji met in person was in 1940.In that meeting, Gandhi ji told Netaji,that if Netaji's could successfully free India,the first telegram congratulating him would be from Gandhi ji.This incident was written by Netaji in his book, The Indian Struggle.Though, their ideologies and ways were different,they greatly admired each other.Gandhi ji was fighting in Indiaand Netaji was fighting from outside India.8th February 1943,Netaji appointed his friend ACN Nambiar in charge of the Indian Legion and Azad Hind Centre.And he left Germany to head towards Japan.This time, he didn't take a land route.Instead, he dove into the water,in a German submarine.U-180 German Submarine.Once again, he changed his disguiseand become Mr. Matsuda.I had talked about this story at the beginning of the video.By the way, he was not the only Indian to sit in the submarine.He was accompanied by another leader of the Indian Legion,Abid Hasan Safrani.Two and a half months later, on the coast of Madagascar,both of them changed the submarineand were welcomed in the Japanese submarine.On May 8th, 1943,this submarine reached Sabang,which is part of present-day Indonesia.From there, they took a flight to Tokyoand on May 16th, they reached Japan.Netaji met with the Japanese Prime Minister, Tojo twice.The first time was on 10th June and the second on 14th June.In their second meeting, Netaji openly asked him,if Japan would help the Indian independence movement unconditionally?He wanted to confirm thatJapan would help India with no strings attached.In Germany, Hitler did not agree to this even after months of effort,but this one question was enough in Japan.Tojo immediately agreed to help Netaji.Japan's support was public for the entire world to see.Two days later, on 16th June, Bose attended the 82nd Extraordinary Session of the Japanese Diet.And there, Prime Minister Tojo gave a historic address."India has been for centuries under England's rule."He joined India's aspiration for complete independence.He claimed that Japan would do everything possibleto help Indian independence."I am convinced the day of Indian freedom and prosperity is not far off."After this, Subhash Chandra Bose gave a statementwhich was recorded on video.We have very few real video footage of Netaji.This is one of them.Have a look.There was another freedom fighter in Japan who invited Subhash Chandra BoseRash Behari Bose.Here, I would like to tell you an interesting factthat he was actually the leader of the Indian National Army at this point in time.You might be thinking, how could this be possible?The INA was made by Netaji,but no.The INA actually existed even before Netaji went to Japan.The first Indian National Army was actually formed byGeneral Mohan Singh in February 1942,when Singapore fell into the hands of Japan.This INA operated till December 1942,after which Mohan Singh disbanded this armybecause of disputes with the Japanese.The reason was that the Japanese wantedthe Indian National Army to fight on their behalf in Southeast Asia.Just like the British made them their pawns.Many Indians refused to do thisand so those units were shut downand Mohan Singh was taken into custody by the Japanese.This is where Rash Behari Bose entered the narrative.He acted as a leader and stoped the INA from completely disbanding.With Rash Behari Bose, Subhash Chandra Bose reached Singapore on 2nd Julyand were warmly welcomed with garlands.Ram Singh Thakuri played a song when they came out of the plane.You can watch another original video here."The one India is proud of,the pride of India is here.Subhash is the life of India.Subhash is the pride of India.Subhash ji, Subhash ji,he is the life of India."And here, the command of the remaining INA was given to Netaji.This was a very historic moment becausemany Indians had gathered in Singapore's Padangto listen to Netaji.Here, he gave an inspiring speech.A speech where he used the slogan 'Chalo Dilli'. [Let's March To Delhi][Victory to Subhash Chandra Bose]There were around 13,000 soldiers in the Indian National Army in Singapore.Netaji's plan was to first expand the army.He wanted to gather 50,000 soldiers first.And later, to form a strong army of 3 million people.The Japanese government was shocked to hear this plan.They said that they could not provide weapons to so many people.They could provide weapons to about 30,000 people only.But for Netaji, this was not a fight to be fought with weapons only.He wanted that eventually,the average citizens of the nation should be a part of his army.And then, together, the Indians would overthrow the British.There were similarities between this faction and the Indian Legion in Germany.The soldiers in INA were from various religious backgrounds,but there was no discrimination among them.The motto of the Indian National Army was made up of three Urdu words:Ittefaq, Itmaad, and Qurbaniwhich means Unity, Faith, and Sacrifice.In total, the INA was divided into five regimentsand these five regiments were namedafter five freedom fighters.Gandhi, Nehru,Maulana Azad, Subhash,and Rani of Jhansi.Even the campaign poster of the INAwhich had the phrase, Chalo Dilli,had a photo of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru.On another poster, there were quotes from both Subhash Chandra Bose and Mahatma Gandhi.But today, there are people whospread fake news on WhatsApp to show thatthese two opposed each other.On 7th August 1943,Netaji clearly said in a radio address,even though Gandhi supported non-violence,he was ready to give his full support to the Indian National Army.And more significant than this was the fact thatGandhi's followers would also support them.On 2nd October 1943,Netaji gave another message to Gandhi ji through the radio.He said that Mahatma Gandhi's services to Indiawere unique and unparalleled,that his name should be written in gold in our national history, forever.No single person could achieve as much in their lifeunder those circumstances,as much as Gandhi had achieved.Gandhiji reciprocated Netaji's admirationby giving him the title of Prince of the Patriots.On 21st August 1943,Netaji set up the Provisionary Government of Azad Hind in Singapore.He became the head of this provincial government.He said that it was not a normal government,that their mission was unique.They were a fighting organizationand they planned to declare war against the British government."The skies reverberated with full throated shouts ofJai Hind!"By then, Netaji did not have any territory,but the Indian diaspora living in South East Asia,was officially under his jurisdiction.The government established in Singapore had the right to collect taxes,enforce laws and evenrecruit soldiers for their army.Two months later, in December 1943,the Japanese army successfully expelled the British from Andaman and Nicobar Islands.The Japanese government handed over total control of this territory to Subhash Chandra Bose.This became the first Indian territoryto be freed from the British Empire.On 30th December 1943,the national Tricoloured flag was hoisted in Port Blair by Subhash Chandra Bose.In 1944, his provisional government signed an Indo-Japanese loan agreement with Japan.In the negotiations, he insisted thatIndia was not Japan's client,but a temporarily weak, co-equal government and army.According to this, Japan gave a loan of 100 million yen to India,but Netaji used only 10 million yen.On 7th January 1944,Netaji relocated the headquarters of the provincial government from Singaporeto Rangoon, Burma.He was very close to India.The next target was to capture Imphal and Kohima.In March 1944, an offensive began there.It was one of the toughest land battles of World War II.This battle lasted for 4.5 months,from 3rd March 1944to 18th July 1944.Around 100,000 INA and Japanese soldiers were fighting on one side,and on the other side, the ones fighting on behalf of the British were Indian as well,those in the British Indian Army.Initially, INA was quite successful.Indian Flag was hoisted in Manipur's Moirang.This was the first tricolour hoisting on the Indian mainland.But soon, things started falling apart.Netaji's entire plan was rained upon.In May that year,the rainy season had arrived early.Because of this, it was difficult to fight in the rain and mud.On the other hand, the Japanese Army was losing against America in the Pacific Ocean.So, INA forces did not have substantial air cover.The British had a crucial advantage.The British ships attacked the supply lines.Food rations were running low.The INA soldiers and the Japanese soldiers therehad to eat grass and wild flowers to survive.6th July 1944.It had been two years since Gandhi was released from jail.Netaji broadcast an address on the radio,"Father of our nation,In this holy war for India's liberation,we ask for your blessings and good wishes."This was the first time Gandhi ji was addressed as the Father of the Nation.This is where this title comes from.This title was not given by no other thanSubhash Chandra Bose himself.10th July 1944,the Japanese informed Netaji thathis military position cannot be defended.There is no other option other than retreating.After the failure of the Imphal attack,the INA troops marched back to Burma.On 21st August 1944,Netaji publicly acknowledged the failure of the Imphal campaign.He said that due to the quick arrival of the rainy seasonand the defects in the supply system,they had to face setbacks.After this, Netaji returned to Singaporeand tried to rebuild the INA.What happened next?How was this movement continued?What else did Netaji do?And what was the important role played by the soldiers of INAlater in India's independence?Let's talk about thesein the next part of this video.Because this video has become too long.For now, if you liked the video,you can go and watch the Quit India Movement video.Because the story in this video played out outside Indiafrom 1942 to 1944.But what was going on in India at that time?What were the rest of the freedom fighters doing?I have talked about all these in this video.You can click here to watch it.Thank you very much!EnglishAllFrom Dhruv RatheePolitics newsRelated