Jawaharlal Nehru

Jawaharlal Nehru was the first prime minister of India, he ruled from the time that India gained its independence until his death. He was a supporter of Ghandi and embraced peace as the most important attribute his country could have. Due to the fact that Nehru found peace to be of utmost importance, he decided that India should follow Marxism in order to maintain the most likely course to peace. Nehru believed that following Marxism was the best path to take because violence was only used in order to gain peace in the long run. He also believed with the help of Marxism and government planning, much like the five year plans of Russia, could allow the new country of India to catch up in the world. India also took a very isolationist approach to world politics, Nehru believed that being involved in other affairs would only lead to violence with other countries, a result which he was most adverse to.

Jawaharlal Nehru

In order to progress India’s society, Jawaharlal Nehru analyzed the different forms of government around the world, specifically Marxism and Capitalism. Nehru admits that violence is present in both forms of government, but Marxism appealed more to Nehru because of the lesser amount of violence. Due to this appeal, India ended up adopting a Marxist form of government and adopting five year plans similar to that of Russia. Nehru believed that because India was such an underdeveloped nation, Marxism was the only way it could progress and succeed in the world because of the careful amounts of planning put into this kind of government. Interesting to note is the fact that after completing their first five year plan, India decided to stay neutral and stay out of foreign countries affairs. They chose this path because they believe the less countries interact and interfere with each other, the more likely it is that a peaceful outcome will occur.

Summary of Marxism, Capitalism, and non-Alignment

Jawaharlal Nehru was India’s first Prime Minister after India had gained its independence in 1947 ((Nehru. Marxism, Capitalism, and non-Aligment. Modern History Sourcebook)). When he was writing, India was trying to find a from of government that would help them develop quickly. Nehru saw the violence in both Marxism and Capitalism but saw Marxism being much less violent and how it was only violent to gain peace for the people. In the end, India took a form of Marxism as their from of government and used Five Year Plans to develop. It was not the only one with success with the Five Year Plan. Many countries in Asia took on plans similar to that of India and were experience great economic growth just like India. After seeing Egypt and Hungary have a fall though, India decided it would stay out of other countries affairs not only to help themselves but the world. Nehru though that letting a country figure out its own problem would help Asian countries understand each other. India would be friendly to all countries, and this would bring about world peace.

Nehru on Marxism, Capitalism, and Non-alignment

3 Points

Nehru believed that the violence present in communist nations was inherent and deep-rooted, while the violence of Communist nations was leading Russia to peace, cooperation, and freedom of its people.

He emphasizes Russia’s fortitude and resilience, while the rest of the world was regressing and deteriorating. “With all her blunders, Soviet Russia had triumphed over enormous difficulties and taken great strides toward this new order while the rest of the world was in the grip of the depression and going back in some ways […]”

Nehru expresses the need for India to attribute to the task of achieving economic development. He urges the production of strategic planning, implementation, and enthusiasm and cooperation of India’s people.

 2 Questions

What was Nehru’s reasoning for believing that his approach would help to preserve peace in India, as well as internationally.

What does Nehru mean when he says ‘nonalignment’?

1 Interesting Point

I found it interesting that this was basically the first text we’ve read where there was no intention of interference with another country. Nehru makes it clear that India will successfully move forward with the approach of nonaggression and noninterference.