The Indian National Congress (INC) was formed in the year 1885 in order to provide a platform for civil and political dialogue among educated Indians.
Long before the INC was formed, leaders like Dadabhai Naoroji could see through the sinister plans of the British and how they were draining India of her wealth. INC was formed by Allan Octavian Hume along with the help of other leaders like Dadabhai Naoroji.
It was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge under the British Empire in Asia and Africa. One of the objectives was to train the Indian youth in political agitation and to help create public opinion in the country.
The period 1885-1905 is considered as the first or early phase of Indian National movement, also referred to as the Moderate Phase.
During this phase, INC was led by early political leaders (like Dadabhai Naoroji, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Annie Besant) known as the Early Nationalists, who dominated the Congress. They were educated, open-minded, more loyal to the crown, and avoided serious opposition to the British, because of which they passed fairly moderate reform resolutions.
As years passed by, other leaders within INC were becoming radicalized due to the increased poverty that India was witnessing under British imperialism; they felt they needed to be more aggressive and assertive if they really wanted to achieve their goal of independence.
As a result, dissension with the organization increased and by the 1905, INC was split between the Extremists and the Moderates.
In fact, it was the Swadeshi movement of 1905–1907 that resulted in the split within the Indian National Congress into the Moderates and the Extremists.
Despite their different ideologies, these national leaders all had a common purpose in life and that was too free their motherland from British rule, and they fought hard for it.
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