A Century on Film S02E06 - Under the Banner of Independence

This episode traces the difficult path traveled by Asian nations toward independence. In 1915, Mahatma Gandhi returns to his homeland from South Africa. India celebrates Gandhi's struggle for human rights and independence. Footage depicting Gandhi's philosophy in action shows unarmed men taking on a wall of British constables. In China in 1924, Sun Yat-sen seeks support from the Communist International, and starts a military academy to nurture a revolutionary army, with Chiang Kai-shek as commandant. Images convey 50 years of Western colonial imperialism, and the independence movements it inspired.