·  Annie Besant demanded that India be granted self-government on the lines of the White colonies after the war.

·  Tilak wanted Swaraj along with the formation of linguistic states and education in the vernacular medium.

·  Tilak aimed to reform the administration in a non-violent way without overthrowing the government.

·  Both Tilak and Annie Besant wanted to promote political education and arouse nationalist political activity.

Contributions to India’s freedom struggle:

·  The movement filled the void in the freedom struggle, which was passing through a phase of lull due to split of the Indian National Congress (INC) at Surat in 1907, heavy government repression during the Swadeshi Movement etc.

·  It created organizational links between town and villages, which proved invaluable in later years.

·  By popularizing the idea of self-government, it generated a widespread pro- nationalist atmosphere in the country.

·  Both Tilak and Besant were instrumental in bringing the Extremists in the fold of the INC. Their intervention was also significant in signing of the Lucknow Pact 1916 with the Muslim League, which gave separate electorates to the Muslims.

·  Gandhiji used the cadre created by the Home Rule Leagues to advance the nation- wide Satyagraha against the Rowlatt Act in March 1919.

However, the movement faded by 1919 due to following factors:

·  In July, 1918 the government published its Constitutional Reforms Agenda, which pacified the Moderates who had joined the Leagues. They did not want to participate in any civil disobedience movement thereafter.

·  Annie Besant kept vacillating on the question of constitutional reforms as well as the passive movement. She neither rejected nor accepted them fully.

·  Tilak went to England to pursue a libel case and remained unavailable for months during the critical period, leaving the movement leaderless.

·  Communal riots were witnessed during 1917-1918, which disrupted the movement.