In early 1942 the religious rivalry was coming to a head. There appeared to be no prospect of compromise between the INC and the Muslim League. Violence continued to spread and India quickly descended into a low grade civil war.
The government in Britain finally accepted the situation was slipping beyond their control. They grasped the nettle and announced four emergency measures.
All British forces would leave India by the end of 1945. In the meantime troop reinforcements would be despatched to restore law and order. The current Viceroy of India, the Marquess of Linlithgow, who had governed India since 1936, was being replaced by Lord Mountbatten, who would oversee the transition to independence. India was to be partitioned. The greater part of the sub-continent being Hindu, would retain the name of India. The majority Muslim areas in the east and west would be named Pakistan.
The INC finally accepted the stand of the Muslim League that internal peace would only be possible with separation of the religions.
The British Foreign Secretary was now weighed down with the problem of an agreed and orderly partition. All sides of the debate were making impossible demands. A mischievous thought went through his head. ‘If only we could give this entire sub-continent to the Germans. I think they would not stand for the nonsense we British have taken from the demanding, inconsistent, untrustworthy and self-seeking Indian politicians.’ He smiled to himself.
Von Altendorf was speaking. “Yes, I am afraid our American friends have acquired the habit of assuming that only they are capable of acting unselfishly and for the good of mankind. It is an attitude encouraged by their politicians and media. They really do think they know what is best for the world. I forget which politician said it, but the quote was ‘you can always count on the Americans to do the right thing — after they’ve tried everything else’.
Still, for all their faults I cannot help liking the ordinary people. They have big hearts. It is only their politicians, both high and low level, that I am wary about. Strictly between you and I, of course.”
There was silence between them for a moment.
“Well Baron, I am very worried that this partition of India is going to be horribly expensive in terms of human lives. The Muslims and Hindus absolutely hate each other. At this moment, they are incapable of negotiating anything without their underlying hostility rapidly surfacing.
Religious bigotry among people claiming to be educated and civilised, in this day and age! It is beyond comprehension.
To complicate matters, the eastern Muslims of Bengal, are now viewing the dominance of the western Muslims with some suspicion. It is possible India might have to be partitioned into three separate entities.” Eden was quite gloomy.
Von Altendorf could only offer advice as an outsider, although Germany had considerable intelligence on India, indeed, on every country in the world. “India’s large population will no doubt ensure that the Hindu and Muslim states will have an important place in the future world. Should Britain make a major mistake in the manner of partitioning of the sub-continent, the emerging states may not easily forgive you. If their economies do not prosper, or if there is social unrest or political instability, they will always blame Britain as the former colonial power. In fact, if the rains fail, or there is a tsunami, Britain will be blamed. That is Germany’s reading of the situation.
My colleaugues and I came to the conclusion that the current plan for a single Muslim nation divided into a West Pakistan and an East Pakistan, is laying the basis for the easterners in Bengal to sooner or later secede from the arrangement. This could well lead to a war between the two entities, which could perhaps draw in India.”
This thought had already crossed Eden’s mind but he had not yet got to the stage where he was prepared to actively contemplate it. “Do you know something about Bengal that I don’t know, Baron?” he asked.
“Very little, I think. We know that it was an independent state before the British gained control in the second half of the eighteenth century. You are probably aware that one of your Bengali Muslim politicians called Chandra Bose, spent some time in Austria in the mid-thirties. He even married an Austrian girl. While he was here, he met, and was influenced by, prominent Nazis.”
Eden confirmed he knew a little about this.
Von Altendorf continued, “What you may not know is that the same gentleman re-appeared here in Germany in April 1940. He was seeking some sort of assistance from Adolf Hitler to establish an anti-British Indian National Army. He had come to the conclusion that the Japanese would eventually take control of Indochina, and from there they would attack British controlled India. Hitler met him once but nothing ever came of it, and of course, within weeks the Fuhrer was dead.
While Bose was here, the Abwehr interrogated him and discovered the Bengali anti-Hindu feeling was as strong, if not stronger, than the anti-British trait. Furthermore the Bengalis were also suspicious of the Western Muslims. Bose later travelled to China. We heard much later that he had died in an aircraft accident.
Our intelligence services review all their country files on a regular basis and submit updated reports to the Governing Council. The subject of a recent one of these, was India. On the basis of Bose’s disclosures, the report concluded that due to the ethnic, linguistic and historic differences, as well as the one thousand six hundred kilometres separating them, Bengal would not readily accept union with a future West Pakistan. It further concluded that in the event that the British coerced Bengal into becoming part of a Pakistan state, it would almost certainly lead to future unrest and insurrection or civil war.”
This was news to Eden. It was also enough to cause a complete re-think of the strategy of partition. Once again he found he was indebted to his German counterpart. He asked, “I don’t suppose it would be possible to get a copy of that report, Baron?”
The German Foreign Minister smiled. He valued his relationship with his British counterpart, and in fact he had become a complete Anglophile. “Of course. I will send for it immediately. I will have to read through it again to make sure there is nothing in it we could consider ‘classified’. Our embassy in London will deliver it to you tomorrow or early the next day.”
As he had been on many occasions in the past few years since the war, Eden was extremely thankful for the special relationship that had developed between Germany and Great Britain. The German inspired European Alliance was the greatest military power on earth. A power for peace. The countries that comprised the Alliance collectively had the greatest industrial output in the world. The communist menace that was the Soviet Union, was docile in the face of Germany’s and the Alliance’s resolve. It was ironic that the problems facing Great Britain over its empire were, at least partly, a result of the naïve utterances and actions of their ‘cousins’ and friends, the United States.
Later that evening he was at home in his study, already starting work on a new, and hopefully final, proposal for the partition of India.
It was announced that the President of the United States, Franklin D Roosevelt, had died suddenly.
Jamie thought back to only a few months ago when he and his father had discussed this very possibility. It was very sad, but Jamie acknowledged to himself that he had definitely lost a little of his respect for his President since the election campaign.
The US Vice President, Harry S Truman, had been sworn in as the thirty third President of the United States. He had only been Vice President for eighty two days when Roosevelt had died.