--- title: "Individual Satyagraha (1940): Aims & Significance" description: "Individual Satyagraha was Gandhi's 1940 civil-disobedience campaign where select individuals protested against war, highlighting the power of individual action." url: "https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/glossary/individual-satyagraha" --- [New](https://modeldiplomat.com/) # Model Diplomat Research Team · Last reviewed June 22, 2026 TL;DR - Individual Satyagraha was a limited civil-disobedience campaign launched by Gandhi in October 1940, in which selected individuals courted arrest by openly making anti-war speeches. - Why did Gandhi choose Vinoba Bhave as the first satyagrahi rather than a senior political figure? - How did Individual Satyagraha differ from the Quit India Movement? - What was the standard formula of the anti-war speech? - Why was Individual Satyagraha suspended in December 1941? [Civil Service & Diplomatic Exams](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/civil-services/glossary)Updated June 22, 2026 Individual Satyagraha was a limited civil-disobedience campaign launched by Gandhi in October 1940, in which selected individuals courted arrest by openly making anti-war speeches. Go beyond the definition ## Research Individual Satyagraha like a delegate Model Diplomat's AI drafts position papers, speeches, and country research with real sources — built for MUN and politics students. ## Timeline 1. 8 August 1940 The subsequent August Offer of , made by Viceroy Lord Linlithgow—promising dominion status after the war, an expanded Executive Council, and a War Advisory C… 2. 17 October 1940 Gandhi selected Vinoba Bhave, his foremost disciple and an acknowledged authority on nonviolence, as the very first satyagrahi; Bhave courted arrest on near… ## Positions at a glance ### Indian National Congress The campaign proceeded in graded stages. Gandhi selected Vinoba Bhave, his foremost disciple and an acknowledged authority on nonviolence, as the very first satyagrahi; Bhave courted arrest on 17 October 1940 near Paunar in present-day Maharashtra. The second satyagrahi was Jawaharlal Nehru, arrested shortly thereafter, and the third was Brahma Datt. After this initial demonstration by individual leaders, the movement was broadened to include members of the Congress Working Committee, then provincial legislators, and ultimately ordinary Congress members. The objective was twofold and precise: to assert the moral right to free speech against the war while demonstrating that the Congress would not exploit Britain's wartime difficulty, and to keep the cadre disciplined and the protest contained. ### All-India Muslim League Individual Satyagraha was a carefully calibrated form of nonviolent resistance launched by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi in October 1940 against the British colonial government's wartime policy in India. Its constitutional and political context lay in the collapse of Congress cooperation after the Second World War began. When Britain declared India a belligerent in September 1939 without consulting Indian opinion, the Congress ministries that had taken office under the Government of India Act, 1935 resigned in protest in late 1939. The subsequent August Offer of 8 August 1940, made by Viceroy Lord Linlithgow—promising dominion status after the war, an expanded Executive Council, and a War Advisory Council—was rejected by both the Congress and the Muslim League as inadequate. With the constitutional impasse hardening and the Congress unwilling to embarrass Britain through a mass upheaval during a global war, Gandhi devised a restrained, symbolic alternative. ## Research it like a delegate Research on modeldiplomat.com ## Ask a follow-up about Individual Satyagraha Open a cited briefing in Model Diplomat search — timelines, positions, and sources you can use in committee or exam answers. [Start research on Individual Satyagraha](https://modeldiplomat.com/search?q=Explain%20Individual%20Satyagraha%20%E2%80%94%20key%20dates%2C%20actors%2C%20positions%2C%20and%20sources) Example On 17 October 1940 Vinoba Bhave became the first individual satyagrahi, courting arrest near Paunar by delivering an anti-war speech against Britain's wartime policy in India. Keep learning ## Go deeper than the definition [Explore all Civil Service & Diplomatic Exams lessons](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/civil-services)[Test yourself with a quiz](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/glossary/quiz/civil-services) ## Take Individual Satyagraha beyond the glossary Ask the AI research engine built for diplomacy — get briefings, position papers, and speeches with sources you can cite in committee.