Which one of the following is …

The hardships ended with the war as the British introduced the Rowlatt Act

• First of all, the war created a new economic and political situation. It led to a huge increase in defence expenditure which was financed by war loans and increasing taxes: customs duties were raised and income tax introduced.
• Throughout the war, prices doubled, which led to extreme hardships for the common people between 1913  & 1918. Villages had been requested to provide soldiers, and forcible rural recruitment caused widespread indignation. Crops had failed in several parts of India in 1918-19 and 1920-21.  This added to extreme food shortages.
• This was combined with an outbreak of influenza. 12 to 13 million people died in famines and plague, according to the 1921 census. People hoped that after the battle, their troubles could cease. That didn't happen, though.
• The British government passed the infamous Rowlatt Act which gave enormous powers to the police to arrest any person without any reason whatsoever.The Act was meant to curtail the country's increasing nationalist upsurge. Gandhi urged the population to fight the oppressive act "Satyagraha"