Anti-colonial movement gave a common platform to the people to come along and fight for their rights. In several colonies including India the growth of modern nationalism is intimately connected to the anti-colonial movement. In the process of their struggle with colonialism people began discovering their unity. The sense of being oppressed under colonialism provided a shared bond that tied all of them together.

All though each class or group of people felt that they were being oppressed under colonialism, the effects of colonialism were felt differently. Hence, the growth of nationalism in the colonies is linked to an anti-colonial movement.