Indian merchants and industrialists made huge profits during the First World War. The following points analyse the role of merchants and the industrialists in the Civil Disobedience Movement. (i) They became powerful in the society and wanted to expand their business. So, they started opposing colonial policies that restricted their business. (ii) They wanted protection against imports of foreign goods and a rupee sterling foreign exchange ratio that would discourage imports. (iii) The industrialists. criticised colonial control over the Indian economy and supported the Civil Disobedience Movement at its first stage. (iv) They gave financial assistance and refused to buy or sell imported goods. v) Most industrialists thought ‘Swaraj’ as a time when colonial restriction did not exist on business world, as a result trade and business would flourish without constraints .