Indian nationalists of the 1920s and 1930s sought to achieve their aims mainly by

• A. Seeking support from the League of Nations.
• B. Forging alliances with other countries under colonial rule.
• C. Organizing boycotts, strikes, and mass demonstrations.
• D. Staging guerrilla raids on British garrisons.

Answer: (C)

Nonviolent mass mobilization through organized boycotts, strikes, and demonstrations is what defines the main approach of Indian nationalists in the 1920s and 1930s. Under leaders like Gandhi, the movement aimed to apply broad, peaceful pressure on British rule by enlisting as many people as possible—peasants, workers, students, and women alike. Boycotts of British goods and institutions, combined with mass protests and civil disobedience, disrupted everyday life and challenged the legitimacy of colonial authority without resorting to violence. This approach sought political concessions and self-rule through moral authority, international sympathy, and the demonstration that Indians could govern themselves.

This method stood in contrast to alternatives like seeking foreign backing, forming continental alliances, or carrying out guerrilla attacks. Those paths were not the defining strategy of the mainstream nationalist movement in that era—the emphasis was on mass, peaceful resistance that united a wide cross-section of Indian society and forced negotiation with the British government.