---
title: "Civil Disobedience Movement Overview | Model Diplomat"
description: "The Civil Disobedience Movement was Gandhi's 1930 campaign against colonial laws, starting with the Dandi Salt March, demanding complete independence."
url: "https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/glossary/civil-disobedience-movement"
---

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Model Diplomat Research Team · Last reviewed June 22, 2026

TL;DR

- The Civil Disobedience Movement was the mass nationalist campaign launched by Mahatma Gandhi in 1930 to defy colonial laws, beginning with the Dandi Salt March and demanding purna swaraj.
- How did the Civil Disobedience Movement differ from the Non-Cooperation Movement?
- What was the significance of the Gandhi–Irwin Pact of 1931?
- Why was salt chosen as the symbol of the movement?
- Why did Muslim participation remain limited in the movement?

[Civil Service & Diplomatic Exams](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/civil-services/glossary)Updated June 22, 2026

The Civil Disobedience Movement was the mass nationalist campaign launched by Mahatma Gandhi in 1930 to defy colonial laws, beginning with the Dandi Salt March and demanding purna swaraj.

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## Timeline

1. 12 March 1930

   The Civil Disobedience Movement (Sviniya Avajna Andolan) was the second great mass struggle of the Indian National Congress against British rule, formally in…

2. 6 April 1930

   The Civil Disobedience Movement (Sviniya Avajna Andolan) was the second great mass struggle of the Indian National Congress against British rule, formally in…

3. 26 January 1930

   Its political basis was the Lahore Session of the Congress (December 1929), presided over by Jawaharlal Nehru, which adopted the resolution of Purna Swaraj (…

4. 31 January 1930

   The movement was preceded by Gandhi's Eleven Demands of to Viceroy Lord Irwin, ranging from prohibition and a fifty-percent cut in land revenue to abolition…

5. 5 May 1930

   The colonial response was severe: Gandhi was arrested on and over 60,000 were imprisoned.

6. 5 March 1931

   The First Round Table Conference (November 1930), boycotted by the Congress, proved sterile, leading to the Gandhi–Irwin Pact of , under which the movement w…

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In April 1930, Mahatma Gandhi defied the British salt law at Dandi after a 240-mile march, igniting nationwide civil disobedience that led to over 60,000 arrests.

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