Ms.

Gilmores SAMPLE intro paragraph:

Following the arrival of Western traders in 1608, India had been under the influence of
European powers for over three hundred years until their independence in 1947. As with most
other nations recently freed from the British Empires reign, the newly independent India was
cursed with the task of not only easing the centuries old strain within the Hindu caste system,
but also preventing further warfare between their newly formed, Muslim-dominated neighbor,
Pakistan. Concurrent to the issues within India were the growing tensions between the capitalist
West led by the United States and Great Britain- their former colonizer- and communist East led
by their neighbors, the Soviet Union and China. This additional set of problems meant that the
world had eyes on which side India would choose. Throughout the 1950s and 60s new militant
groups, which today are known as the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist)
1
, began
using guerilla tactics in order to show their strength and support for a communist India. These
ideas were inspired by the successful communist revolutions in Russia led by Vladimir Lenin
and in China led by Mao Zedong. With Indias source of revenue relying on cheap labor and
exacerbated over decades of industrialization, the estimated GDP per capita in 2013 was
$4,000
2
- a point of contention for the CPI-Maoist rebels. While the current social conditions in
India are a result of British imperialism, the rise in militancy in the name of communism has
been made worse by the influence of communist nations during the Cold War Era.


1
"CPI-Maoist - South Asia Terrorism Portal." 2005. 6 May. 2014
<http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/terroristoutfits/CPI_M.htm>
2
"India - The World Factbook." 2007. 6 May. 2014 <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-
factbook/geos/in.html>