The Cripps Mission was a British attempt in March–April 1942, led by Sir Stafford Cripps, to secure Indian support for the Second World War by offering dominion status after the war and an elected constitution-making body; it was rejected by the Congress, the Muslim League and other groups.
When the Second World War began in 1939, the Viceroy Lord Linlithgow declared India a belligerent without consulting Indian leaders. The Congress ministries in the provinces resigned in protest. The August Offer of 1940 promised expansion of the Viceroy's council and a body after the war to frame a constitution, but it did not satisfy nationalist demands, and the Congress launched individual satyagraha in 1940–41.
By early 1942 the war situation had changed sharply. Japan had overrun Malaya, Singapore and much of Burma, and appeared poised to threaten India's eastern frontier. The United States, China and Australia pressed Britain to win Indian cooperation, and Labour members of Churchill's war cabinet supported a fresh initiative. Stafford Cripps, a Labour politician who was sympathetic to Indian aspirations and knew Nehru personally, was sent with draft declaration proposals.
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