The Quit India Movement was launched in 1942 by Mahatma Gandhi to protest India sending troops to fight in World War II and demand independence from Britain. Talks between the Indian National Congress and Britain failed, leading Gandhi and other leaders to endorse mass protests across India urging independence. The British responded with mass arrests, fines, and bombings, and the movement turned violent contrary to Gandhi's principles of non-violence, leaving it leaderless and fading over the next year.