Quick answer: The decade 1930-1939 runs from the Salt Satyagraha to the resignation of Congress ministries: Dandi and the Civil Disobedience Movement, three Round Table Conferences, the Gandhi-Irwin and Poona Pacts, the Government of India Act 1935, the 1937 provincial elections and the ministries’ exit at the outbreak of World War II. Part 5 of our Modern India series.

Why did Gandhi choose salt in 1930?

Salt was the perfect symbol: taxed by the state, consumed by the poorest, and pure in its injustice. The Dandi March began at Sabarmati Ashram on 12 March 1930 and reached Dandi on 6 April 1930, where Gandhi broke the salt law by picking up a lump of natural salt. Seventy-eight marchers walked roughly 385 kilometres in twenty-four days. The march triggered nationwide civil disobedience – salt production at illegal sites, non-payment of the salt tax, boycott of foreign cloth and liquor shops – and brought lakhs of first-time volunteers, including a decisive wave of women, into the movement (see the NCERT and standard textbook account; our Part 4 notes end at Dandi).

What was the Civil Disobedience Movement’s arc?

• 1930: Dandi and the spread of salt satyagraha; Dharasana raid (Sarojini Naidu led after Gandhi’s arrest); Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan’s Khudai Khidmatgars in the North-West Frontier.
• March 1931: the Gandhi-Irwin Pact – civil disobedience suspended, prisoners released, salt-making for personal use allowed; Congress agreed to attend the Second Round Table Conference.
• 1932: after the failure in London, the movement resumed and was met with severe repression; Gandhi was jailed.
• September 1932: the Communal Award granted separate electorates to the Depressed Classes; Gandhi’s fast unto death led to the Poona Pact (24 September 1932) – reserved seats within joint electorates instead.
• 1934: the movement was formally withdrawn.

What did the three Round Table Conferences achieve?

• First (Nov 1930): Congress absent (it was marching); Ambedkar raised the Depressed Classes’ demands; princely states represented.
• Second (Sep-Dec 1931): the only one Gandhi attended as Congress’s sole representative; federal scheme and minorities deadlocked.
• Third (Nov-Dec 1932): Congress again absent; a conference of the willing that merely consolidated the Communal Award.

Why is the Government of India Act 1935 a landmark?

• It proposed an All-India Federation (centre + provinces + princely states) that never came – the princes would not join.
• It delivered provincial autonomy: eleven provinces with responsible ministries from the 1937 elections.
• It separated Burma from India, created the Reserve Bank of India’s statutory foundation and a Federal Court (1937).
• Exam trap: dyarchy in the provinces ended in 1935, but dyarchy was introduced at the centre by the same act – a favourite Prelims reversal.

What happened in the 1937 elections?

Congress won a clear majority in most provinces – about 5 of 11 provinces outright with majorities and ministries in 7-8 after coalition arrangements, polling roughly 44-45% of votes in the general seats. Ministries worked on prisoner releases, civil-libities restoration, basic education and agrarian relief (limited by the act’s safeguards). The Left inside Congress grew – the Congress Socialist Party (1934) – while Subhas Bose became Congress president in 1938 and again in 1939 (Haripura, then Tripuri).

How did the decade close?

• Tripuri, 1939: Bose defeated Pattabhi Sitaramayya (Gandhi’s candidate) but resigned under organisational pressure; Rajendra Prasad took over.
• 3 September 1939: the Viceroy declared India at war with Germany without consulting Indians.
• October-November 1939: Congress ministries resigned over the war declaration and dominion-status refusal; the League observed a Deliverance Day – the parting of the ways that Part 6 (1940-47) takes up.

How to revise Part 5 in five minutes?

• Anchor the five dates: 1930 Dandi, 1931 Gandhi-Irwin, 1932 Poona Pact, 1935 Act, 1937 ministries.
• Draw the cause-effect chain: salt law -> CDM -> RTC deadlock -> 1935 Act -> 1937 ministries -> 1939 resignations.
• Recite the traps: dyarchy reversal, Poona Pact vs Communal Award, Deliverance Day.
• Pair with Part 4: Gandhi to Dandi and the weekly quiz.

Sources and further reading

• NCERT – Modern India textbook (Class X-XII history)
• Civil Disobedience Movement – reference overview
• Government of India Act 1935 – reference overview

Related explainers

Modern India Part 4: Gandhi to Dandi — 1919 to 1930 (Complete Exam Notes)

Modern India Part 1: Plassey to 1857 — The Company Raj

Modern India Part 2: The Crown’s India — 1858 to 1905