1.     Recognition of the True Nature of British Rule :-Having seen that the British government was not conceding any of their important demands, the more militant among those politically conscious got disillusioned and started looking for a more effective mode of political action. Also, the feeling that only an Indian government could lead India on to a path of progress started attracting more and more people.

2.     The nationalists were wide awake to the fact that instead of giving more rights to the Indians, the government was taking away even the existing ones.

3.     Growth of Confidence and Self-Respect:- There was a growing faith in self-effort. Tilak, Aurobindo and Bipin Chandra Pal repeatedly urged the nationalists to rely on the character and capacities of the Indian people. A feeling started gaining currency that the masses had to be involved in the battle against colonial government as they were capable of making the immense sacrifices needed to win freedom.

4.     Growth of Education:- While, on the one hand, the spread of education led to an increased awareness among the masses, on the other hand, the rise in unemployment and underemployment among the educated drew attention to poverty and the underdeveloped state of the country’s economy under colonial rule.

5.     International Influences:- Remarkable progress made by Japan after 1868 and its emergence as an industrial power opened the eyes of Indians to the fact that economic progress was possible even in an Asian country without any external help. The defeat of the Italian army by Ethiopians (1896), the Boer wars (1899- 1902) where the British faced reverses and Japan’s victory over Russia (1905) demolished myths of European invincibility.

6.     Reaction to Increasing Westernisation The new leadership felt the stranglehold of excessive westernisation and sensed colonial designs to submerge the Indian national identity in the British Empire.

7.     Dissatisfaction with Achievements of Moderates The younger elements within the Congress were dissatisfied with the achievements of the Moderates during the first 15- 20 years. They were strongly critical of the methods of peaceful and constitutional agitation, popularly known as the “Three ‘P’s”—prayer, petition and protest—and described these methods as ‘political mendicancy’

8.     Reactionary Policies of Curzon A sharp reaction was created in the Indian mind by Curzon’s seven-year rule in India which was full of missions, commissions and omissions.

9.     Emergence of a Trained Leadership The new leadership could provide a proper channelization of the immense potential for political struggle which the masses possessed and, as the militant nationalists thought, were ready to give expression to