THE CELTIC SOCIETIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES

(BC 750 1st CENTURY AD)

I Pre-Celtic Times
+Neolithic (New Stone Age) People megalithic tombs: henges, passage graves (from BC
+Bronze Age (from BC 2000)

4000)

II Origins and settlement

Indo-European people, speaking different dialects of a common Celtic language
Arrival in different waves from BC750 to 1st c. BC
III The overall effect of the Celts on Britain
Use of iron; Celtic languages, tribal society
IV A common Celtic cultural framework on the British Isles
+Cult-objects: the common cult of the (severed) head
+Linguistic evidence: modern Celtic languages( e.g. Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, Irish Gaelic);
place and
geographical names of Celtic origin (e.g. the Avon)
+Artistic evidence: La Tne style e.g. gold torcs=> importance of warfare and of warrior aristocracy
V Regional, political, social differences
1. Lowland Zones: South and East of Britain (Belgic Culture)
+More densely populated=>more advanced farming methods (improved tillage, diversified
scale sheep farming)
+Hill-forts =>urban like centres
+Evolution of monarchical societies in the Thames Valley from 1st c. BC (confederacy of the
and Catuvellauni under a single king, Cunobelinus)
+Use of coins =>cash market;
+Economic ties with Rome=> indirect Roman influence in Celtic SE before Roman invasion

crops, large
Trinovantes

2. Highland (N and W) Zones and Ireland

+More scarcely populated; more conservative, rural, tribal societies.
+Smaller-scale, more local political units: small tribal kingdoms
+Ringforts
+Absence of coinage and urban like settlements
Paradox: We know more about the Celtic Lowlands and Celtic Ireland (limits/absence of Roman Conquest and
Anglo-Saxon Invasion)

ROMAN BRITAIN
(BC 55 409 AD)
I Overall effect of Rome
+Social and cultural modernization: literacy; Latin language and culture; Cristianity;
Roman law; centralized state administration;
centralized economy; towns; road system.
+Modernization vs cultural loss
+ Limits of Roman rule and influence: Britannia Provincia (Lowland/SE Britain)
Romano-Celtic aristocracy vs Celtic common people
II Invasion and Conquest
+BC 55-54 Julius Caesar: visit
+43 AD Emperor Claudius: beginnings of occupation
+The importance of the military aspect of occupation:
Roman Army
Limits of military occupation => defence systems, e.g. Hadrians Wall
III Town building

+Origins: garrison towns (castra in Winchester, Manchester, Colchester etc.)

+Civitates (i.e. larger towns):-civic institutions/centres (forum, law courts, offices, chambers)
-public amenities (baths, theatres, engineered water supplies)
-buildings richly decorated (painted walls, mosaic floors, plaster
mouldings)
+Londonium (from a trading centre to an administrative capital; at the hub of a radiating system of six main
roads)
IV Road sytem
+Straight, paved roads for the transportation of army units and supplies, e.g. Watling Street,

Ermine Street.

V A network of villas
+Centres of rural development and of agricultural production for the army and the towns.
Great villas of Pax Romana in first half of 4th c. AD
VI Centralised state administration
+An imperial bureaucracy for the systematic economic exploitation/taxation of the province, the distribution of its
supplies and the transfer of its surpluses to the continental empire and the imperial centre.
Leaders: Roman officials (governor, procurator)
VII Christianity
+The advent of Christianity = the consequnce of Roman influence in both Highland and Lowland areas as well
as in Ireland.
+Insidence of Christianity first patchy and to be associated with villas.
+Spread and survival in Highland and Irish areas.
VIII Decline of Roman Britain
+Internal problems and external threats of Roman Empire in late 4th c.
+ 409 last Roman legion called back from Britain
ANGLO-SAXON TIMES
(AD 450-1066)
I Invasion and Settlement
Sources: Bede The Ecclesiastical History of the English People
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
Settlers: Germanic (Bede: Angles, Saxons, Jutes) illiterate, pagan, tribal, non-urban.
Beginning of invasion: Hengist and Horsa, Kent, 450
Settlement: End of 6th c.: Anglo-Saxon kingdoms: Kent, Sussex, Wessex, East Anglia, Essex, Mercia,
Northumbria
Native population (Romanized Celts) pushed W and N, assimilated.
II Towards political unity: supremacy of Northumbria and Mercia
Institution of bretwaldas, over-kings (Sutton Hoo ship burial)
Supremacy of Northumbria, 7th c. (Edwin, Oswald, Oswy)
Supremacy of Mercia under King Offa (second half of 8th c.):
Literacy and legality=>charters: King of the English
Massive public works: Offas
Money economy: silver pennies
III Anglo-Saxon society
King and his retinue: thegns (royal hall, AS/OE heroic lays/ballads, Beowulf)
Peasant population: ceorl, hide
IV Institutions and administration
Witan, royal council (=>Privy Council)
Shire (main unit of local gvmt.): aldorman=> earl; shire-reeve; shire court.
Hundred: tun (royal manorial court with manorial lord)
Fyrd (Anglo-Saxon army).
V The rise and fall of Wessex. Alfred the Great. Danish invasion and settlement.
Alfred of Wessex (871-99): first king of the English folk
Cultural renaissance; beginnings of OE literary prose
The king who saved England from the Danes: select fyrd, navy; a system of burhs
Danes (Vikings)

Late 8th c.:initial raids~plunder (monasteries: Iona, Jarrow, Lindisfarne)

Mid-9th c.: more organized attacks and settlement
865 Guthrum and the Great Army=>fall of E. Anglia, Northumbria, Mercia
Alfred defeats Guthrum (Edington, 878), captures London, makes peace with Guthrum=>Danelaw
Ethelred the Unready vs Harold Bluetooth: Maldon, 991=>Danegeld
Edward the Confessor (1042-66): church bulding: Westminster Abbey
1066- 3 claimants to English throne: Harold Hardrada (Norwegian king) Harold Godwinson of Wessex (elect of
Witan), Duke William of Normandy.
Hastings, 1066: victory of William the Conqueror=>Norman invasion and occupation=> Norman Times
THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES
(1066-1307)
I Origins and special features
II The legacy of Anglo-Norman Times
III Judiciary: Legal reform by Henry II
IV Constitutional development: Magna Carta
V The beginnings of English Parliament
VI Governmental development: Royal Court and central administration
VII Church and state
***
I Origins and special features
Early Middle Ages/Early Medieval Times
Development of feudal society: feudal pyramid/chain;
lord and vassal, fief, paying homage; serfdom, serfs/villains.
Norman Times
Anglo-Norman England: Anglo-Saxon/insular and Norman-French/continental elements
e.g. shire/county system; French culture; French=official language
Special features of Anglo-Norman Feudalism:
Divided nobility: Norman-French vs Anglo-Saxon/Old-English
Anglo-Norman king: lord in England, vassal to French king
Exceptional power of Anglo-Norman kings: land;
state administration: Domesday Book
castle
II The legacy of Anglo-Norman Times
Language: French and Latin loan words
Education: Oxford, Cambridge; Grammar Schools
Settlement pattern: towns/borougs (140 in 1100-1300)
Economy: wool production and trade
Constitutional and governmental institutions: Magna Carta; Parliament; Curia Regis; Common Law, Jury.
III Judiciary: Henry IIs legal reform:
Saxon Times: diversity of jurisdiction
Early Anglo-Norman Times: local and royal levels (local landlords; kings courts)
Henry I: towards uniformity of jurisdiction: itinerant/circuit judges
Henry II: Kings Justices/Justices of the Peace/Justices of Assize
Common Law, precedents.
Trial by Jury (to replace ordeals)-12 witnesses to provide evidence
(Today: 12 jurors to consider evidence and make the verdict)

Early Middle Ages/2

IV Constitutional development: Magna Carta/Great Charter, 1215

Britain best known constitutional document, granted by John Lackland
61 clauses expressing the rights of the community against an abusive crown:

+rights of the church

+against royal infringements of feudal custom
+check on extortions by royal officials or maladministration of justice, e.g. No freeman(i.e. nobleman) will be
arrested, imprisoned or punished except by the judgement of his peers (i.e. jury) or the law of the land
(i.e. Common Law) ~ principle of the individuals right to a fair and legal trial
+privileges of London and of some other boroughs
Close: empowers a group of 25 lords to keep the king to his promises
An abstract historical document with long-lasting effects e.g. early 17th century
European parallel: Hungarian Aranybulla, 1222.
V The beginnings of English Parliament
Parliament (French) a talk discussion meeting
Henry IIIs Great Assembly
1258-Monfort Parliament; + 1264/65-4 nights/shire and 2 burgesses from each of certain boroughs ~
representation
Edward Is Model Parliament (1290) importance of royal taxation in the development of parliamentary
representation
VI Governmental development: Royal Court and central administration
Curia Regis, Kings/Royal Court ~ nucleus of government/gvmt-al departments:
Exchequer (Treasurer, Chamberlains); Chancery (Chancellor)
Royal Itinerary
Permanent royal capitals: Winchester =>Westminster, London (Edward I)
VII Church and state
Celtic Church (Iona) vs Roman Church (Augustine, Canterbury 601)
Synod of Whitby, 663 => Rome in control of English Church (until Henry VIII)
1076-effects of Gregorian Reform Movement in England => conflicts between church and state over investiture
and jurisdiction over the church, e.g. Henry II vs Thomas Becket (G. Chaucer The Canterbury Tales,
1387; T.S. Eliot Murder in the Cathedral, 1935).

LATE MIDDLE AGES

(1307-1485)
14-15th c.: recurring natural disasters (floods, famines, plagues, e.g. 1348-Great Plague) and catastrophic
consequences of foreign and civil wars (The Hundred Years War, The Wars of the Roses)
vs
End of serfdom, appearance of yeoman farmers; rise of English merchant community; growth of English
national identity; spread of literacy and beginning of book printing (William Caxtons printing press,
1474); triumph of English language as national vernacular.
A transitional period between the Middle Ages and the Modern Times.
I The Hundred Years War (1337-1453)
Prolonged warfare between England and France+dynastic, diplomatic, ideological, political, economic, social
implications.
Disastrous consequences in the short run (=>anarchy and moral decline of Wars of the Roses)
Social transformations and economic benefits in the long run: disintegration of feudal society, development
towards modern nationhood; exploitation/taxation of occupied French provinces=>growth of English
market economy.
First national war in Europe.
Causes: Franco-Scottish/Auld Alliance; tension between England and France over control of Burgundy and
Flanders; wide appeal of the cult of chivalry (Order of the Garter).
Chronology of war:
+1337-Beginning of first phase: Edward III invades France through Flanders

+1346-Battle of Crcy int he invasion of Normandy

+1347-Capture of Calais
+1356-Victory of Black Prince at Poitiers
+1360-Great Peace of Brtigny. English gains: port of Calais, SW France
+1369-77-French military revival led by General Du Guesclain=>recapture of SW France but coastal ports
(Calais, Cherbourg, Bordeaux, Bayonne) under English control.
+1415-Beginning of second phase: Henry V resumes war: Agincourt, Normandy, Loire.
+1420-Treaty of Troyes: Henry V recognized as heir to French throne
+1422-Death of Henry V, accession of Henry VI
+1429-31- French military revival led by Gen. Dunois; Joan of Arc e.g. Orleans
+1453-Loss of Gascony=>End of War with defeat of England (except Calais).
Initial advantage of the English:
French feudal army (compulsion), unsupported cavalry charge of fully armoured knights
English army: strong and well-trained archer infantry (longbow); mercenary companies.
French successes and final victory:
Du Guesclein: mercenary soldiers (Italian crossbowmen); siege operations (cannon, gunpowder)
Henry VI-incapable as a ruler and military leader
Dunoiss tactics +evolution of national spirit and patriotism in France too, heightened by Joan of Arc
Late Middle Ages/2
II The Wars of the Roses (1455-85)
Anglo-Saxon Times: annointed king (notion of sacred, invulnerable kingship)
Anglo-Norman Times: primogeniture =>hereditary monarchy
Edward II (1307-27), Richard II (1377-99): both deposed and killed by barons ~ the inviolability of annointed
kingship breached
1399-Henry of Lancaster usurped the throne from the Earl of March (Yorkist) =>
Henry IV (1399-1413)~roots of civil war bw Yorkists and Lancastrians
Causes of civil war:
+National disappointment after lost war; mercenary companies returned home.
+House of York (white rose) against House of Lancaster (red rose) over succession to the throne.
+Personal incapabilities of Henry VI.
1455-Battle of St Albans-outbreak of the Wars of the Roses: victory of York
Main events of civil war:
1460-Battle of Wakefield: victory of Lancaster
1461-Battle of Towton: victory of York=>Henry VI (Lancastrian) deposed, Edward IV (Yorkist) crowned (1461-70).
1470-Edward IV deposed, Henry VI restored.
1471-Battles of Barnet and Tewskbury: Yorkist victories=>Henry VI deposed and murdered,
Edward IV king for the second time (1471-83)
1483-Death of Edward IV: Edward V~2 months of minority rule; he and his brother misteriously disappeared in the
Tower
1483-85-Richard III, the Crookback (Yorkist)
1485-Battle of Bosworth: victory of Henry Tudor over Richard III=>Henry VII~Tudor dynasty.
End of civil war; end of English Middle Ages=>beginning of Early Modern Times and Tudor Times.
III Development towards a nation
1. Parliament
Two-chambered structure: unique in Europe.
From 14th c. increasingly English-speaking.
Growth of political weight: frequency, distinctive functions (taxation, highest law court, law making),
established procedures, rights and privileges of members.
Permanent role of Commons.
2. London~a permanent national capital: political, administrative, commercial, cultural, social focus in the
kingdom.
Centre of a new market orientated society.
Westminster: royal residence + seat of Parliament.
In-migration of large groups of a varied population.
3. The growing Englishness of the Church (spread of English lang., English law etc.)
John Wycliffe (ca 1330-84).
1396-first complete English Bible.
Lollard Movement.
A precedent for continental Reformation.
4. The English language: its triumph as national vernacular.
Increasing literacy; popularity of reading; book printing (Caxton 1474).
The literate world increasingly English (Parl., legal documents, Church, commerce).

THE TUDOR TIMES (1485-1603)

Henry VII (1485-1509), Henry VIII (1509-47), Edward VI (1547-53), Mary I (1553-58), Elizabeth I (1558-1603)
The making of an English empire over the British Isles (Union of England and Wales by Henry VIII in 1536,
1543 =>political and cultural assimilation~anglicization;
The Tudor conquest and colonization of Ireland by Henry VIII, Eliz. I completed in 1603=>Plantation e.g.
of Ulster in 17th c.).
The first attempts to settle in the New World ( 1584-85-Sir Walter Raleighs attempt to an English settlement
on Roanoke Island).
Important achievements:
+new national and sovereign monarchy
+English diplomacy (envoys by Henry VII, principle of balance of power by Henry VIII)
+Merchant fleet (Henry VII)
+Royal Navy (Henry VIII)
+English Reformation (Anglican Church)
+Beginnings of English trading empire ( Elizabeth I; trading companies e.g. Levant, East India, Africa Company).
Henry VII (1485-1509)
Main objectives: political stability by securing the throne, founding a new dynasty and creating a powerful
monarchy based on strong central government.
Main achievements: centralised monarchy, flourishing trade, full treasury.
1 Social source of monarchy: rising gentry and merchant classes of London and the SE.
2 Peace and economic prosperity: essential to stability
+Good business sense: Henry VII~best businessman ever to sit on English throne
Restoring Englands trading position in Eur.: 1486-trade agreement with Netherlands.
+External peace:
Scotland: peace with James IV and marriage of Margaret Tudor to him.
Diplomatic ties through envoys (H.VII~father of English diplomacy).
+Internal peace:
Union of Lancaster and York
Eliminating last Yorkist challanges (defeat and execution of Yorkist rebels).
3 Strengthening the position of monarchy
+Army = a royal privilege (elimination of feudal right of nobility to a standing army).
+Direct attacks on defiant magnates: prosecution and fining
attainder and forfeiture (execution and confiscation).
=>Control of aristocracy + increase of finacial basis and soverign authority of Crown.
4 Government ~ Strong central government under close royal control
Methods of government:
+Dictatorship in enforcement of law and order: Court of the Star Chamber - royal law court
with full
authority in criminal and civil jurisdiction.
+Partnership: ability (e.g. shrewdness), good service (e.g. assiduity) and loyalty primary
grounds of
appointments and promotions of ministers, councillors, and of royal
patronage (i.e. grant of offices, lands,
pensions, annuities).
=> Mutual alliance bw Crown and new gentry nobility: young, talented members of
new gentry
nobility became influential statesmen + loyal servants of Crown.
5 Personal qualities of Henry VII: dedicated, hard-working, astute, ascetic, financially prudent.
Henry VIII (1509-47)
Two guiding factors of Henrys policy:
+financial needs of Crown
+unlimited royal sovereignty
The English Church=the main target of Henrys policies: church lands, taxes, Pope under
Charles V of Spain, Holy Roman Emperor~political and economic factors.
Henrys divorce from Catherine of Aragon ~ dynastic factors.

control of

Failure of Cardinal Wolsey to get Popes consent to divorce=>Henrys decision to break

with Rome.

1531-32 Convocation of Bishops accept Henrys authority

1534 Act of Supremacy passed by English Parliament=>
+Tudor/Henrician Reformation: Anglican Church founded with English Monarch as
Supreme Head (lay authority);
+Reform in English government: England=sovereign state, where supreme power with
King in Parliament.
1532-36 Henrys Reformation Parliament: Acts of Parliament=>England~politically Protestant.
Thomas Cranmer: first Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury~Architect of Anglican Church.
1539 Great Bible+Cranmers Protestant Prayer Book.

the

Thomas Cromwell (Henrys new Lord Chancellor):

+comprehensive survey of church property=>
+1536-39 - dissolution of monasteries;
(greatest act of licensed vandalism in English history).
Henry VIIIs heritage: 6th wife (Catherine Parr), 3 children (Edward, Mary, Elizabeth), an

III Elizabeth I (1558-1603)

A contradictory reign
1 The Settlement of 1559- after Edward VIs strongly protestant government and the Marian
Second Act of Supremacy: monarch=supreme governor of church
Second Act of Uniformity, Elizabethan Prayer Book: uniformity of religious service.
39 Articles: the Anglican Churchs doctrine.

empty treasury.

Restoration

2 Protestant Catholic struggle at home:

Catholic cause linked to dynastic intrigue in favour of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots
(Catholic, closest living
relative of Elizabeth).
Rise of a strong Protestant Party in Scotland (John Knox)=>Kirk.
Treaty of Edinburgh: peace bw Elizabeth and pro-English, Protestant faction in Scotland (overthrow of pro-French
Catholics)
=> 1568 Mary Queen of Scots fled to England, imprisoned for two decades/centre of
political intrigue
to challenge Elizabeth
=> 1587-execution of Mary Queen of Scots.
2 Protestant Catholic struggle abroad:
Main enemy and focus of Englands foreign policy: Spain (Phillip II) Catholic+strongest
merchant expansion.
Areas of conflict:
The Americas: English sea dogs: Hawkins, Drake, Frobisher (also: geographical
The Netherlands: English support in War of Independence against Spain
1588 Open war bw Elizabeth Is England and Phillip IIs Spain
Casus belli: execution of Mary Queen of Scots
The Invincible Spanish Armada vs English fleet (captain-in-chief: Lord Howard Effingham,
Royal; second captain: Sir Francis Drake, Revenge).
Historic defeat of the Armada off Gravelines at Flemish coasts, 1588.
Increase of Englands prestige but costly war dragged on until 1604.

rival in
discoveries)

flag ship: Ark

3 Elizabethan government William Cecil, chief councillor and Lord Treasurer

Cost of wars: royal borrowing, sales of Crown lands=>1603-Crown completely indebted.
Lack of governmental and fiscal reform: declining tax system, endemic tax evasion
=> central government permeated with corruption.
Elizabeths policies to raise money increase corruption and injurious in the long run: sale of
high ranking
offices and of trading licences and monopolies, but! =>incorporation of patented/chartered companies:
instrumental in creating Englands merchant empire (East India Company; Hawkinss Africa Co.: slave trade).

IV Tudor Parliaments
Antecedents
+Edward Is Model Parliament
+Later Middle Ages (14-15th c.):
Westminster Chapter House~separate sessions of Commons; Political weight of Parl.
power cetntre.

grew; Lords still

Tudor Times: Parliament displayed opposing tendencies:

Parliament still fully dependent on Monarch e.g. sessions, functions determined by
monarch; Speaker~Crowns servant
Henry VII: liked governing in the French style i.e. dispensing with Parliament
Elizabeths use of royal veto, dissolution of Parliament, royal prerogative

Financial needs of Crown + Tudor legislation (e.g. Henry VIIIs Church Reform, Eliz. Is Religious
Settlement) => Political importance and law-making function of Parl. grew.
Developments in Tudor Parliament:
+Power centre shifted from Lords to Commons (i.e. wealthier middle classes=>political role).
+Increase of size of Commons:
Union of England and Wales=>Welsh counties and borouhgs represented in Westm.
Each of English counties became represented (except Durham, late 17th c.)
Number of borough representatives continously grew
+Undemocratic features
Landed gentry captured Commons
Southeast disproportionatelly better represented than North
+New confidence of Parliament deriving from functions (law-making, advising the
monarch, funding the
Crown) and rights (freedom of speech, freedom from fear of arrest)=>ready to challenge absolute monarchy in
Stuart Times.

THE STUART TIMES

-The Long 17th century(1603-1714)
Main divisions in terms of monarchs and great changes:
Early Stuart Period (1603-1649)
James I, Charles I --- royal absolutism

Civil War and Repaublican Era (1642-60)

Oliver Cromwell --- Interregnum, republican government
Restoration (1660-88)
Chrales II, James II --- restoration of Monarchy, Parliament, Anglican Church
Glorious Revolution and Revolution Settlement (1688-1714)
William III and Mary, Anne --- beginnings of Parliamentary/Constitutional Monarchy.
Underlying processes and formative factors:
+Religious Conflicts
Protestants v. Catholics (e.g. Gunpowder Plot, 1605)
Anglicans v. Puritans and other Non-conformist/Dissenter groups.
+Conflicts between Crown and Parliament=>victory of Parliament.
+Evolution of bi-polar/two-party political system in late 17th c.: Tories and Whigs
+Development of English Navy~ by late 17th c. strongest in Europe.
+Expansion on British Isles:
Plantations in Ireland e.g. Ulster
1707 Union of England and Scotland => Great Britain
+Expansion in North America:
Earyl 17th c-Jamestown, Virginia Colony; Massachusetts Colonyin New England
In the next century: 13 English colonies along the east coast of North America.

I Early Stuart Times: James I (1603-25), Charles I (1625-49).

Accession of James I (James VI of Scotland, son of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots):
Personal union of England and Scotland.
Source of problems: Stuart ambition to introduce royal absolutism (i.e. government without
when English Parliament too strong=>only successful in peacetime.

parliament)

James Is royal absolutism (1611-21): his theory of the divine right of the king
Criticism from certain MPs,
e.g. Sir Edward Coke: Parliaments law-making function; reference to Magna Carta.
Charles Is: following his fathers policy of absolute monarchy
Challenge: England involved in Thirty Years War=>Parliament summoned to provide
Petition of Right, 1628: principle of government by Parliament.

financial support=>

Royal absolutism (1629-40): political stability, effective administration, balanced royal

budget.

Problem: Charles mismanagement of religious conflicts in late 1630s.

Puritans~collective term for protestant groups criticizing Anglican Church (from 16th c.)
Presbyterians (demanded abolition of bishops from Anglican Ch.~introduction of
church model of Scotland)=>became influential in Parliament.
Independents: collective term for Non-conformist protestant groups, (advocated
thought and belief); =>later strong in Parliamentary Army.
William Laud (a strong anti-puritan, appointed by Chrales as Archbishop of Canterbury and
to settle religious problem).
Strengthened Anglican Church+tried to force Anglican model upon Scotland.

presbyterian
liberty of
commissioned

=>Bishops Wars, 1639-40-Scotland against England. Scottish demands.

=>Charles summoned Short Parliament (1640), then Long Parliament (1640-60)
=>End of royal absolutism + Grand Remonstrance: constitutional reform to accept rights of
Parliament (e.g.
regular sessions, law-making, granting financial supply to monarch,
part in appointments/dismissals of leading
officials, in reforming English Church).
1641 Irish Catholic Rebellion claimed to support Charles against Parliament.
1642 Charles abortive attempt to arrest 5 MPs (leaders of parliamentary opposition)
=> Charles flees to North (Oxford, Nottingham), raises his standard, declares war on Parl.

II Civil War and Republic (1642-1660)

1642-1646 The First Civil War: King/Royalists against Parliament
Royalists (Cavaliers):
+ Supported Charles I and the Anglican Church
+Members of House of Lords
+Controlled non-urban areas of North and West England + Oxford: royalist stronghold
Parliament: Parliamentarians and Presbyterians (Roundheads)
+Supported by East Anglia (home of Oliver Cromwell), the Southeast, London and towns ~
classes =>
+Parliamentarian army: London apprentices + Ironsides (cavalry unit raised by Cromwell in
yeomen and freeholders) + Independents (Cromwells Major Generals).
+Navy
Marston Moor, 1644-first major battle: victory of Parliament => control of North
Naseby, 1645: decisive victory of Parliament
Cromwells New Model Army (majority Independents, increased cavalry, strong
modern regular army of England).
1646 Royalist surrender at Oxford => end of first Civil War~ victory of Parliament
Charles fled to royalist Scots, but his Scottish opposition (presbyterians) delivered him over to
Paliament.
1647/48 Parliaments majority wished to conclude war, pardon Charles I, disband army
payments) => tension bw Army and Parliament.

wealthier
1643, from

artillery, first
English
(without proper

1648-53 Second Civil War: Army against Parliament

Army leaders took upper hand in Parl. => Prides Purge => Rump (1648-53): Charles I tried for treason, found
guilty, executed in 1649.
1649-60: a period of interregnum: Republic (Monarchy, House of Lords, Anglican Church
Commonwealth (after Cromwell conquered Scotland and subjugated Ireland).
1653Cromwell dissolved Rump and nominated
assembly of saints/Nominated/Barebones Parliament: in 5 months they
Lord General Cromwell.

abolished) +

surrendered power to

1653-59 Protectorate:
+Oliver Cromwell, Head of State and Lord Protector, 1653-58 (1658/59-Richard
Cromwell)
+Instrument of Government (paper/written constitution)
The contradictions and unpopularity of Cromwells system (e.g. one-man rule, military
regime, intolerance).
1659/1660 - Some army generals took control of events (e.g. Gen. Monck): Protectorate abolished, Long
Parliament restored, Charles II recalled = > Restoration of
Monarchy, full Parliament, Anglican Church.

III Restoration, (1660-1688/89), Glorious Revolution and Revolution Settlement (1689)

Both Republicanism and Absolutism over: Monarchy and Parliament considered inseparable.
Restoration Settlement: Charles IIs attempt to provide balance bw Crown and Parliament
as well as
religious toleration.

1661 Cavalier Parliament ~ intolerantly Anglican.

1670s formation of Tory Party in Parl. (by former Cavaliers/Royalists): gentry nobility, devoted to Anglican
Church, intolerant with non-Anglican/Dissenter groups, strongly
loyal to Crown and hereditary monarchy
Whig Party, by a minority group of MPs to challenge Tory dominance in Parl.: opposed absolute monarchy,
advocated gvmt. by Parl., tolerant with non-Anglican Protestant
groups, strongly opposed to
Catholicism=>determined to exclude Catholic James, the
Duke of York, Charles IIs younger brother from
succession.
John Locke, leading Whig philosopher, most outstanding thinker of English Enlightenment.
His ideas on
government (Two Treatises on Government) served as ideological basis
for Bill of Rights.
1660s-70s-social and political unrest prevailed in England:
+ Religious intolerance, persecution of non-Anglican groups
+ 1665 - Plague
+ 1666Great Fire of London=>Papists accused => Anti-Catholic panic => Anti-Catholic
legislation: Test
Act of 1673: Roman Catholics barred from civil and military offices.
1678 Titus Oates and his fellow trouble-makers concocted a story about an attempted
Popish Plot to
kill Charles II, and put his Catholic brother, James on the throne
=>mass-hysteria (conducted by Whigs):
innocent Catholics persecuted and killed. Test Act of 1678: exclusion of Catholics from Parliament and
Universities (in force
until 1829).
Chaotic years of English politics ~ rivalry of Tories and Whigs for control of Parliament =>foundations of
modern political party operations (e.g. propaganda, electioneering).
Accession of James II: attempted to restore Catholic Church, repeal Test Acts, bring back
royal
absolutism => alienated Tories, Whigs, universities, people of various religions ~ hoped that James would die
without an heir, his Protestant daughter, Mary, married
to William of Orange of Protestant Holland, would
follow him on throne.
June 10, 1688 birth of James IIs son alarmed both political parties
=> June 30, 1688: an invitation by 7 Whigh and Tory notables to William of Orange
English throne.

to occupy the

November, 1688: Williams safe landing, abdication of James II

=> 1689 - Crown offered by Parliament to Mary (Mary II) and William (William III) as co- rulers ~ Glorious
Revolution: Parliament, not hereditary monarchy determined succession to English throne.

Revolution Settlement of 1689: terminated rivalry of Crown and Parliament, gave place to
cooperation bw
the two powers with Parliament as leading partner~ basis of Parliamentary/Constitutional Monarchy.
Bill of Rights ~ constitutional foundation of Revolution Settlement, inspired by John Locke.
(Today, along
with e.g. Magna Carta, a major historical document of Constitution).
+principle of government based on a social contract bw monarch and people
(Government should derive from and work by consent of people. Since Parliament
represented
people=>Parliament = dominant political power in the realm).
+basic civil rights
+measures to prevent absolute monarchy (e.g. army, taxation under Parl.s control).
1701 Act of Settlement/Act of Protestant Succession (still in force).
IV The Rise of Great Britain (late 17th and early 18th c.)
1707 Union of England and Scotland => Great Britain:
+Political union: Legislative integration of Scotland into Westminster=>extension of Act of
Scotland.
+Trading union: England and Scotland formed an integrated economic zone.
+Scottish institutions retaining independence: Kirk, legal system, universities.
The Second Hundred Years War ~ France = Britains main enemy,1688 to 1815.
King Williams War: FranceLeague of Augsburg, led by Holland, England joined in 1688
of Ryswick: Louis XIV of France recognized William III on English
throne.

Settlement to

=>1897-Peace

War of Spanish Succession (1701-14)~first modern world war, i.e. continental + colonial
technical and tactical innovations: flintlock musket, socket bayonet, volleyfiring.
Decisive English victories e.g. by John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough
=> Treaty of Utrecht, 1713 English gains: Gibraltar, territories in French Canada,
slave trade in Spanish America.

warfare;
monopoly of

Rise of Britain to maritime commercial supremacy:

British trading empire in early 18th c: North America (13 colonies on East Coast, parts of
Canada); West
Indies (Jamaica, Barbados); India (trading settlements controlled by
East India Co.), Gibraltar (entrance to
Mediterranean).
Domestic impact of prolonged warfare:
+Institution of National Debt
+Bank of England (1694) a central joint-stock bank, by Act of Parliament, to guarantee
Crowns/Gvmnts credit.

GEORGIAN TIMES: THE LONG 18TH CENTURY

I Augustan England, II The Reign of George III, III French Wars
The House of Hanover: George I (1714-27), George II (1727-60), George III (1760-1820),
(Regency 1811-20)(1820-30).

George IV

I Augustan England (1814-60)

George I, George II: more interested in matters of German Electorate of Hanover than in Br.
Jacobite Rising of 1715 by Young Pretender with Scottish support + Tories implicated =>Politics of Augustan
England determined by Whig dominance in Parliament and Whig administrations
Rise of Robert Walpole to political power as a result of his skilful handling of the South Sea
Bubble (wild
burst of speculation in 1720, in the stock of the South Sea Company, following the takeover of 3/5 of the
National Debt by the company, in return for trading monopolies from the government).
1721-41-Walpole First Lord of Treasury, in effect Prime Minister: the modern British
executive/government
began to assume its present shape.
Main pillars of Walpoles supremacy:
+the office of Prime Minister (Robinocracy)
+Whig parliamentary majority in the Commons ~principle that governing party should have
a majority
position in the Commons
+Walpole first First Minister to remain in the Commons ~ political tradition that British Cabinet ministers,
including Prime Minister, sit on the front benches, left of the Speaker=>more effective cooperation of
legislature/Parl. and the executive/Gvmt.
+Responsible Cabinet: close cooperation, and collective responsibility of leading ministers
for their policy
decisions.
Cabinet and Parliament effective means for Walpole to limit the monarch by the
Constitution~Walpoles
system put the political results of Glorious Revolution into
governmental practice (~Constitutional Monarchy).
Extension of the excise system (new taxes on sales of luxury goods) to improve the National Debt=>fall of
Walpole.
William Pitt the Elder, the Earl of Chatham: another outstanding Whig Prime Minister of
18th c.,
architect of First British Empire.
Chathams foreign policy determined by his strong belief in mercantilist economic policy,
i.e. a countrys
prosperity depends on a favourable balance of trade (Fr. Colbert):
Britains major import-export activity
conducted with North America, the West Indies,
West Africa (triangular trade) and India
=>by 1750s France=Britains major mercantilist and colonial rival (e.g. in North America
and India both
France and Britain had trading interests) => conclusive war for empire unavoidable:
The Seven Years War (1756-63): in the first place a major colonial war bw Br. and France.
Theatres of the war:
+Europe: Prussia in alliance with Britain
+North America: French and Indian War: North Am. colonies in alliance with Br.
British victory=>British
gains: Quebec and Montreal from France, Florida from Spain.
+India: army of British East India Company destroyed French trade interests=>1759foundations of British
Empire in India laid.

Treaty of Paris, 1763-bw Britain and France, negotiated by George III, behind the back of
gains recognized.
II The Reign of George III (1760-1820)
Despite the image of the patriot king, George III had a controversial reign:
20 years of personal rule/gvmt without the political parties; loss of North American
against France; 1811-20-Regency: future George IV Prince Regent
(George IIIs mental illness).

Prussia: British

colonies; wars

George IIIs personal government (1760-80): a remarkable setback in governmental development, i.e.
responsible and united Cabinet, led by a Prime Minister, dependent
on a majority vote in the Commons etc.
pushed into background.
Amid an atmosphere of political confusion: John Wilkes, a Whig MP, emerged as a
champion of popular
rights, esp. of free speech, in a legal case started against him for
his criticism of George IIIs government.
+Wilkess campaign=>tradition of giving publicity to Parliamentary debates established, i.e. public
(including journalists) allowed into gallery of Commons.
Rise of public opinion, in which newspapers a vital instrument:
National quality dailies: The Times (1785), Observer (1791), Sunday Times (1822) (National
tabloids, 19th c.: News of the World, 1843, People, 1881, Daily Mail, 1896).
The North American War of Independence and the loss of the 13 colonies (1775-83):
The economic importance of the colonies for the mother country: market, raw materials,
taxes
Conviction of colonists: No taxation without representation.
British political opinion divided over North American issue~criticism of gvmts policies:
Radical fringe: Thomas Paine in his political pamphlets (e.g. Common Sense) supported
the
independence of the colonies.
Liberal Whigs: Chatham, Edmund Burke, Charles Fox emphasized concessions to colonies
(e.g. selfgoverning status) for the integrity of the Empire.
1775, Lexington: outbreak of war --- 1781, Yorktown: British General Cornwallis surrendered
to George
Washington.
+France, Spain, Holland, also joined against Britain=> an international war challenging British colonial positions
in the world.
1783-Peace of Paris, recognized independent US~fall of First British Empire, but other British colonies
remained intact.
The domestic impact of the loss of North American colonies: fall of George IIIs personal
government=>Full Parliamentary and party government restored. Tory and Whig
Parties
reorganized.
William Pitt the Younger, schoolboy Prime Minister (1783-1801, 1803-05).
An outstanding politician:
+re-created the Tory Party;
+accomplished the union of GB and Ireland, 1801=>United Kingdom;
+conducted wars against Revolutionary and Napoleonic France;
+removed a lot of corruption from British politics;
+improved the financal position of Britain (influenced by Adam Smiths ideas of economic
liberalism);
+started to build a new British Empire by modernizing and securing colonial governments in
e.g. India,
Canada;
+reconstituted the power of Prime Minister as governor of state, and of Cabinet as a united
body,
dependent on Commons~ the process of parliamentary and governmental development that had begun
with Glorious Revolution reached its full bloom.
III Britain in wars against France (1793-1815)
The initial impact of French Revolution (1789) on British opinion (before the terror of guillotine):
+Some celebrated people welcomed it, e.g. James Watt, Charles Fox, William Wordsworth,
Samuel Taylor
Coleridge.
+Some liberal reformers denounced it, e.g. Whig liberal reformer, Edmund Burke: reform
permitted only
on terms which retain basic political structure of state.
+Radical Thomas Paine advocated French republicanism, The Rights of Man, The Age of
Reason.
+Prime Minister Younger Pitts main concern: spread of French revolutionary ideas to Br.
1793 France declares war on Britain
Main events of war (from a British point of view):
1 French Revolutionary Wars (1791-1802, Br. entry: 1793)
+France against coalitions/alliances formed by Britain, Russia, Prussia, Austria etc.
+Expansion and land victories of France.

+Naval victories of Britain, e.g. 1798-Admiral Horatio Nelson destroys Napoleons fleet
the Nile=>end of French designs in Middle East.
1082 Peace of Amiens: end of Fr. Rev. Wars, recognized a balanced settlement.

in the Battle of

2 Napoleonic Wars (1803-15, Britain rejoined, projected French invasion)

1805-Austerlitz: Napoleons great victory against Third Coalition (Russia, Austria +
negotiated by Pitt) (Pitt
dies in office upon receiving news of defeat).
1805-Trafalgar, near Gibraltar, Nelsons victory over combined French-Spanish fleet prevented Napoleons
planned invasion of Britain from Boulogne. (Nelson mortally wounded by a sharp shooter.)
1806/07-Napoleons continemtal system on Britain (economic warfare to isolate Britain from Europe).
Peninsular War (1808-14): British response to Napoleons invasion of Sp., Port., led by Duke of
Wellington=>liberation of Iberian Peninsula.
Napoleons defeats: 1812-invasion of Russia, 1813-Leipzig: The Battle of the Nations.
1814-Napoleon forced to abdicate, exiled to Elba.
1815 Napoleon returned for his hundred days campaign but defeated at
the Battle of Waterloo, Belgium: Wellington led a combined Br., Germ., Dutch, Belgian
army+ joined by
Prussians under Marshall Blcher (Napoleon exiled to St Helen).
1814-15 Congress of Vienna:
Gains in the war established Britains colonial supremacy in the world, e.g.:
Br. hold on India strengthened;
effective dominance, through Singapore, of Dutch East Indies/Spice Islands;
conquest of Ceylon;
taking Cape Colony, South Africa from the Dutch;
securing a trading hegemony over former Spanish colonies in Central and South
America.

Impact of prolonged warfare on Britain:

1793-1815: Britain=an army camp (constant drafts into militia, home defence forces)
Fear from French invasion: 3 attempts by Revolutionary France, 1 via Wales, 2 via Ireland
=> Union of Ireland and GB, 1800/01 by Pitt: to create basis of combined Br.-Ir.
military action
in the face of another attempted French invasion.
Economic impact:
+Immense expenditure (initial repression): Br. mostly fought the French at sea + subsidized
anti-French
coalitions (Au., Rus., Pr.)~60-90% of total annual government income=>income tax.
+Economic boom, in the long run: war demands spurred British mining, metallurgy (iron
production,
weapon making/gun founding), textiles (clothing armies), ship-building
(large scale production of sailing
warships)=>a strong impetus for Industrial Revolution.
Impact on internal politics~ Fear from influnce of revolutionary (Jacobin), radical ideas on discontented
social groups:
Increase of political conservatism, associated with patriotism (=>pol. stability in 19th c.)
Corresponding Society (first working-class organization, with branches in London,
Norwich,
Sheffield, Nottingham), Combinations (early Trade Unions), forbidden by
law (Combination Laws, 1799).
Impact on British Foreign Policy:
Insular aspect, distance from Continental Europe emphasized=>Br. avoided European involvement throughout
19th c.
Imperial ambitions became dominant: building of Glorious British Empire=Britains
attachment to the world
outside Europe.
Impact on British identity:
+Victories (Trafalgar, Waterloo) and heroes (Nelson, Wellington)=powerful sources of
and patritic pride.
+Increase of insular and rise of imperial identity

national myth-making

THE MORE THAN INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

I Definition: A prolonged process of technical and economic development in Britain from
the early 18th
c. to 1900, transforming the agriculture, industry (light and heavy), the transportation and communication
systems as well as the social, demographic
and settlement patterns of the country.
Why did the Industrial Revolution start in Britain?
Materialistic conditions:
1 an abundance of money/capital + a sound monetary/credit system based on a network of
merchant banks
and the Bank of England.
2 an abundance of man-power: an increasing population =>large labour force
3 an abundance of raw materials, in Britain and its colonies
4 big demand for manufactured goods, expandig markets in Br. and the colonies
5 big demand for new power/energy source: plentiful coal in Br. ~ more efficient energy source
6 big demand for better transport
Non-materialistic conditions:
1 Puritan values: diligence, saving, economizing, a sensible desire for profit
2 Close connection bw Rationalism/The Age of Reason in 17th c. (Francis Bacon:
observation and
experiment in science)and technical innovation in 18th c.
3 Spread of economic liberalism: free trade, free enterpise, free competition (Adam Smith:
Wealth of
Nations, ideological foundation of capitalist economy).
II Agricultural Revolution
The modern/capitalist transformation of British economy began in agriculture (18th c.):
+Growth of population, especially of urban population
+Enclosures provided the basis of capitalist farming: Landowners changed common- lands/open-fields of
villages to enclosed/fenced-in fields, then let out enclosures to
tenant farmers, who applied new methods
of farming.
+ Improving landlords: put capital into land, studied and practised scientific agriculture.
(Journals on
scientific farming e.g. Arthur Young Annals of Agriculture, 1784: a 45- volume organ of agricultural inventors).
Improvements/inventions:
Jethro Tull: seed/machine drill, soil manuring (early 18th c.)
Charles Towndshend (1730s): developed crop rotation by adding the cultivation of new fodder crops=>inbreeding of animals/intensive animal farming=> improved
livestock breeding: new breeds of sheep, cattle,
horses (e.g. Robert Bakewell,
Leicestershire).
Negative social consequences: increasing pauperism among rural labourers (lesser peasants lost lands/homes
bec. of enclosures; yeomen unable to join capitalist trend)=>migration to industrial cities.
Speenhamland-system of poor relief + Workhouses (to keep the poor alive).
III Industrial Revolution
1 Light industry: textiles/cotton textiles (spinning and weaving).
Technological innovation:
+John Kays flying shuttle (1733): increased productivity of hand-loom weaver.
+James Hargreavess spinning jenny (1764): improved yarn production (work of 11
spinners).
+Richard Arkwrights spinning/water frame (1768): worked by water power.
+ Samuel Cromptons mule (1779): improvement on water frame (fine, strong yarn).
Cotton mills (Lancashire) ~ features of factory-system: division of labour; man-power replaced by water-,
steam-power =>mass production (decline of cotton and wool
manufacturing cottage-industry in villages)
Liverpool=centre of cotton production.
2 Heavy industry: mining (demand for fuel/coal); metallurgy: iron and steel production,
machine
engineering (demand for machines in other industries, e.g. textiles).
Coal a more efficient source of energy for iron smelting (to replace charcoal).
Steam engine (Thomas Newcomen, 1708; James Watt)-first for draining coal mines=>increase in coal
production=>increase in primary metallurgy (iron/steel
production)=> increase in secondary sector:
machine engineering, hardware
manufacturing, ship building.
Centres of heavy-industry (coal fields+metallurgical industries):
South Wales (Cardiff), West Scotland (Glasgow), Northern Ireland (Belfast)

West Midlands/Black Country and North England with industrial conurbations around: Birmingham,
Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds, Newcastle.
The rise of a new social group: modern mechanics~well-paid, educated engineers ~ a new
phase of
university building: Red-brick/Civic Universities in industrial cities
(Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds).
IV Revolution in transportation
Need to move coal from mines to iron smelting plants and distribute finished goods on home
and colonial
markets ~ freight/cargo transport + greater mobility of
people~passanger transport.
1 Road transportation
+Nation-wide turnpike-system/stage coach service ~ new roads=> 1770s: national network
of road
transport (reduced journey times, e.g. London---York, 24 hours).
+Improved road surfaces, John Mcadam, Scottish road engineer.
2 Water transport
+Inland water-transport: navigation canals (to link up natural waterways, for carrying
coal/freight): 1760-1840
km of canals built (J. Brindley, Th. Telford).
+Steamboat: first for inland waters, then ocean-going steam liners bw mother country and
colonies. By
latter half of 19th c., shipping industry=leading sector of British heavy
industry (Britain made and owned
over half of the worlds shipping).
3 Rail transport: initially used horse-power, devised to distribute coal and link up gaps in
canal system,
then steam engine adapted to its needs=>extensive railway building.
Puffing Devil, 1801 by Richard Trevithick: steam road locomotive=>1804-adapted to run on
rails+improvements by George Stephenson.
Rocket, by Stephenson: first successful steam locomotive (50kph) for the completion of the
worlds first
public railway: Stockton-Darlington Line (1825). + Liverpool- Manchester Railway (1830). Both lines engineered
by Stephenson.
1870 British rail-system almost complete: 1833-Great Western Railway; 1851-passanger
trains=>increase in mobility of people,e.g. commuting by train~national
institution,esp. with
suburbanization among middle classes (London, 1850-80).
Revolution in transportation=>rise of civil engineering in 19th c., e.g. Isambard Kingdom
Brunel (180659): shipbuilder, railway and bridge constructor; responsible for the
laying of more thousand kms of railway,
with suspension bridges, tunnels, viaducts in
the Great Western Railway (W. England, Midlands, S.
Wales); builder of the Great
Western (1838, 1st steamship to cross the Atlantic), the Great Britain (1843,
1st large
iron ship with screw propeller), the Great Eastern (1858, laid 1st Transatlantic telegraph
cable).

By second half of 19th c. Britain = workshop of the world.

V The Social Impact of the Industrial Revolution: industrialization, urbanization.
1 Growth of social stratification, new classes: capitalist middle class industrial capitalists, combining with
landowning and banking capitalists; urban working class.
2 Transformation of settlement pattern: urban growth (mid-18th c 1/3 of population towndwellersearly
20th c. over 4/5 of polulation town/city-dwellers).
Reason: internal migration from rural to industrial centres=>growth of industrial cities:
Glawgor,
Belfast, Cardiff, Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, Birmingham.
3 The balance of cultures within British Isles shifted: creation of a new indutrial-urban culture in the North +
importance of South East and London became relative:
banking, insurance centre.

BRITAIN IN THE 19TH CENTURY: VICTORIAN TIMES

I The monarchy
Queen Victoria (1837-1901)
granddaughter of George III, succeeded her uncle, William IV (1830-37).
Popular Monarchy: little political power (politics determined by pol. parties in Parliament
and by leading
ministers, esp. Prime Minister); concerned with public image.
Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha~Prince Consort: chief advisor to Queen; patron of
arts, science,
industry; planned the Great Exhibition of London, 1851. After his death,
Victoria withdrew from public life
for 10 yrs, at Balmoral, the Scottish Highlands.
II Party Politics: creation of a new Liberal Party, and of a modern Conservative Party,
development of
modern party organization, and of a stricter two-party system.
Reasons for re-arrangement of political forces: 1 spread of liberal ideas, incl. economic liberalism 2 need for
reform.
1 Liberal Party: leading Whig politicians, Lord Grey, Lord Palmerston, John Russell,
influenced by liberal
ideas (emancipation of religious minorities, abolition of slavery,
econ. liberalism, reform of Parl. and local
gvmt)=> Term Liberal used for the party
officially from 1840~ shift of support from landowning classes to
progressive
industrialists, social reformers, non-conformists, middle classes.
2 Conservative Party: most Tories (landed aristocracy, gentry) opposed parliamentary reform; BUT Young
Tories impressed by liberal
thinking=>reform= a necessary
social development, e.g.
Sir Robert Peel ~ Home Secretary, then Prime Minister.
His Tamworth Manifesto of 1834~blueprint for modern conservative philosophy:
acceptance of
moderate reform, rejection of radical proposals, any reform to be
balanced against the interests of land,
trade, industry.
1846: Peelite Split: Peel and his supporters, incl. W.E. Gladstone left Tories=>Liberal Tories, a third party,
subsequently joining the Liberal Party.
Cause of split (and of Peels fall as P.M.): repeal of Corn Laws (traditional measures to regulate export-import of
cereals, to maintain adequate supply for consumers and to
secure price for producers/landed gentry, i.e.
protectionist state policy in the interest of
corn-producing landowners).
1830s-40s, Corn Laws drove up prices (urban population) + hindrance on British exports
(progressive
industrialists/capitalists)=>1838-Anti-Corn Law League=>
1846 Repeal of Corn Laws by Prime Min. Peel. BUT Conservative opposition=>Peel
fell from office +
split of Conservatives.
3 Modern two-party system in late Victorian Times: more exclusive loyalty of party
members; centralized
party organization; growth on a national basis (local branches):
national political pattern: S.
England~Conservative; N. England, Scotland, Ireland,
Wales~Liberal.
Most outstanding modern party-leaders of late Victorian England:
William Ewart Gladstone (1809-98): Young Tory=>Peelite Split=>Liberal Party;
1867-leader of Liberal Party.
Greatest British liberal politician of all times, Prime Minister four times, carried several reforms
(elementary education; secret vote; Parliamentary Reform of 1884;
reforms in Ireland but his Irish Home Rule
Bills defeated.
Benjamin Disraeli (1804-81): organizer and leader of modern Conservative Party
(Conservative Central
Office). His Young England faction of Tory landed gentry:
opposing repeal of Corn Laws and instrumental in
bringing down Peel. Then:
broadening political base of party to
establish capitalist/middle-class
support. Prime Minister for several years: 1867 Parliamentary Reform. Imperialist foreign policy:
Direct
governmental control of India (Victoria~Empress of India); British
involvement in Suez.

III A Century of Reform Bills (1832-1928)

1 Reform of franchise and Parliament: Social changes caused by the Ind. Rev. (capitalist
and working
classes, industrial cities and urbanization)=>deficiencies of parliamentary
system obvious. Commons
dominated by landed gentry (i.e. land basis of franchise
and election to Parl.) ~ Parl. unrepresentative of
new classes and cities, of religious minorities and of women.
Pressure from various groups (Progressive Tories, Liberals, radicals, organized workers, womens movements)
=> a series of Parliamentary Reforms: creation of a mass electorate by extension of franchise (~universal
suffrage), representation of social
majority, recognition of constitutional superiority of Commons in
legislation.
1832 Parliamentary Reform Act/Great Charter (by Lord GreysWhig gvmt.)~
Political recognition that Br.=an urban society with a growing urban middle class: +disenfranchised several
rotten/pocket boroughs;
+enfranchised property-owning urban middle class;
+extended vote to 41 new cities, e. g. Birmingham, Manchester, Badford;
+increased Scottish electorate (4,50065,000).
Drawbacks: Englands representation disproportionately high (54% of population with 71%
of seats); some
rotten boroughs kept seats.
1867 Parliamentary Reform Act/Second Great Charter(by Conservative Disraeli):
+nearly doubled the electorate: over 900,000 new male voters;
+household suffrage in towns.
1884 Parliamentary Reform Act/Third Great Charter(by Liberal Gladstone):
+household suffrage to counties (land ceased to be the condition of vote in Britain).
+modern constituencies/electoral districts, each returning one MP to Commons.
1872 Ballot Act (by Gladstone)=secret vote.
1911 Parliamentary Act (by Asquiths Liberal gvmt.): Commons dominant in law-making
can only delay legislation).
1911 - payment to MPs.

process (Lords

Plural Voting Bill of 1914: prevented an elector voting in more than one constituency.
People Acts of early 20th c.: universal franchise.
People/Parliamentary Act of 1918: vote to all males over 21, and to females over 30.
People/Parliamentary Act of 1928~ Equeal Franchise Act: vote to both sexes over 21 without property
qualifications.
2 Social Reform and Welfare ~ basis of a social consensus characteristic of Britain until end
+Equal/Minority Rights: 1829-Catholic Emancipation Act; 1860-Jewish Emancipation Act.

of Victorian Era.

+Humanitarian Reform: William Wilberforces Society for the Abolition of Slave Trade =>1807-Abolition of
Slave Trade; 1833-Abolition of Slavery in British Empire.
+Public safety: Home Secretary Robert Peels Metropolitan Police Act of 1829 =>Metropolitan Police/Met:
uniformed, paid police force of London (bobbies).
1856- County and Borough Police Act: paid police forces over the country.
+Public Health: sanitation problems in densely packed industrial cities (water supply,
sewerage); epidemics
(cholera, typhoid, 1830s)=>public health movements, 1840s
=>Public Health Acts of 1848,1872, 1875: administrative structure to improve sanitation and health
conditions (incl. Pure Food and Drugs Act).
+Poor Relief: inadequacy of Speenhamland-system (1795) of direct help to the most needy=>Poor Law
Amendment Act of 1834~indirect help through a national system
of workhouses (BUT exploitation of child
and female labour).
+Working conditions: industrial work methods=>social, biological pressure on bulk of
exploitation of female and child labour.
Factory Acts~a series of laws from 1830s to regulate conditions of industrial employment
child labour:
1833 Factory Act: factory inspectorate; preventing child employment under 9 years.
1842 Mines Act: prohibition of employment of women and boys under 13 in mines.
1866 Workshop Act: banning child labour from workshops of 50 or more workers

population,
and reduce

1874, 1878 Factory Acts: 56.5-hour working weeks, Saturday afternoons off.
breach by factory owners of restrictive legislation.)

(Problem: regular

+Public Education: provision of free and compulsory state elementary education for all through a series of
Education Acts from late 19th c.
1870 Education Act (by Gladstone): start of state-financed education in England and Wales.
1891 Assisted Education Act: free and compulsory elementary education till 13.
(1944 Ministry of Education: first attempts to extend compulsory schooling till 16).
+Womens Rights:
*Acitivities of middle-class suffragettes (e.g. Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst) for
political rights=>1928-universal suffrage.
*Trade Unions to improve female working conditions (BUT Equal Pay for Equal
Work
law in 1975!)
*Transformation of female employment pattern during/after World War I (1918: 29%
of total
workforce female.)
*Improving status of married women: Married Womens Property Act, 1882
(women no longer had
to give up all their properties to their husbands upon marriage);
wife-beating made illegal in 1891; women
enabled to get a divorce after W.W.I.
*Improving status of women in higher education: Oxford and Cambridge
established female
colleges in late 19th c. but women still not allowed to get a degree.
IV Organized labour, Trade Union Movement and Labour Party:
Labour appeared as a third political force in early 20th c., founded on socialist principles,
originally to
represent workers, largely the outcome of organized labour in 19thc.~Trade Union movement.
1 Beginnings of trade unionism and organized labour:
+Combinations, in late 19th c., banned
+Unions of 1820s (economic slump=>unemployment, low wages); permitted by Labour Acts,
but still local,
isolated groups.
2 Chartist Movement, 1838-48: from cooperation of workers, trade unions, radical MPs.
Peoples Charter (a 6-point programme for workers political rights, e.g. universal
male suffrage,
abolition of property qualifications for MPs, payment of
MPs)=>rejected by Commons in 1840, 1842.
1848 Feargus OConnor, radical Irish MP=>a third Chartist petition+planned mass
action~failed
because of threats of military action by gvmt=>decline of Chartism, also
because of better living and
working conditions of workers (repeal of Corn Laws, Factory Acts); disagreements among leadership (female
vote, policy measures).
3 1850s/60s-development of Trade Unionism into a nation-wide movement:
1868, Manchester: first Trades Union Congress=>two, short/long term objectives:
improving working
conditions; parliamentary representation for workers by
constitutional means.
1871-Trade Union Act: unions=fully legalized organizations.
1880s- new unionism (organization of workers by industry/trade)+organization of
unskilled workers=>
growth of membership (1892: 1.5. million).
4 Emergence of Labour: growing trade union movement (+2 aims); Scottish socialist Keir Hardies Independent
Labour Party (1893), Fabian Society (London, 1884; socialist
middle-class intellectuals, e.g. G.B.
Shaw).
1900-conference of TUC, ILP, Fabian representatives=>Labour Representation Committee.
1906-first breakthrough of Labour at Parliamentary elections (29 seats)=>Labour Party.

BRITISH FOREIGN POLICY AND THE GROWTH OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE IN THE 19TH CENTURY.
DECOLONIZATION IN THE 20TH CENTURY.
I Britains European policy between Waterloo and World War I
Main objective: to abstain from involvement unless the balance of power was challanged.
British direct/indirect involvement to balance France, Germany, Austria and Russia:
+London Treaty of 1839: to guarantee neutrality of Belgium
+Support to the Italian Liberation Movement of Garibaldi, 1859-60
+To prevent Russian expansion
1) towards the Mediterranean (support to Ottoman Empire, to Greek independence
military involvement in Crimean War, 1853-56);
2) towards India (military involvement in two Afghan Wars, 1838-42, 1878-80).

movements;

II Imperial Policy and Worldwide Expansion: The British Empire

Main objectives:
1) Control of world trade through British territorial possessions along major sea routes over
the world (e.g.
Mediterranean: Gibraltar, Malta, Ionian Islands; sea route to India and Indian Ocean: Sierra Leone, Cape Colony,
Mauritius, Ceylon, Singapore)=>The
Policeman of the World;
2) protection and expansion of colonies.
Causes of expansion: (Br. Emp. doubled in 19th c., reached greatest extent after WWI)
+to secure earlier/important possessions (e.g. occupation of Sudan);
+to protect/increase interest zones (e.g. Opium Wars, 1839-42, 1856-60, to enforce the opening of Chinese ports
to Br. trade in opium=>1842: China forced to cede Hong Kong);
+to balance worldwide growth of European rivals (Germany, Russia etc.);
+population increase in Britain (growth of white colonies).
=> 19th c. British Empire~ a political, military empire.
=> Latter half of 19th c.~ second period of empire building
1 The Indian Subcontinent
Seven Years War=>British expansion in the next century (E, N, Central India, Burma).
Administration: East India Company, The Younger Pitts reform of colonial gvmt. in India.
Sepoy Mutiny (1857/58)-began as a local uprising by sepoys in the Bengal army against their
mistreatment=>spread to other parts of India (Punjab, Central India)~general protest
against British
rule and western civilization+paricipation of some Hindu and Muslim princes.
The cruel ways of the British in crushing the movement=>deterioration of Brtish-Indian relations+mutual distrust
bw the two communities.
India Act of 1858: replacement of rule, administrative functions of East India Co. with direct
rule of Brtish
gvmt= The Raj, with British viceroy of India as chief administrator.
India=the Jewel in the Crown
2 Africa
Earlier British acquisitions, e.g. territories in West Africa (Sierra Leone, the Gold Coast, Nigeria, Gambia); Cape
Colony (from Boers in 1815).
Increase of European interest in Africa (expeditions, explorers, missionories, e.g. David Livingstone)
=>1870-90: scramble for Africa by European gvmts (Br., Belg., Fr., Germ., It.)
=>treaties in 1890s: division of Black Continent into interest zones
=>Britain gained most: Br. control of West Africa acknowledged; Br received East Africa
as
protectorates (modern Uganda, Kenya, part of Somalia); Br. sphere expanded in
South Africa to include
Rhodesia (modern Zambia, Zimbabwe).
Egypt and South Africa=two main concerns of Britain in Africa well into 20th c.
Egypt (part of Ottoman Empire)
Importance for Britain: the Suez Canal (built by France; 1869-joint Br-Fr possession+dual
Br-Fr control of
Egypt, 1879)
1882-national movement of native Egyptians to remove Ottoman rule=>Br. invaded Egypt (Br. in Egypt until
1953-54, in Suez until 1956)+1884: Br. took over Sudan.
South Africa
Cape Colony: tension bw earlier settlers, Boers and growing Br. community
1836-The Great Trek=>The Orange Free State and Transvaal (independent Boer Republics
Colony)
Cecil Rhodes (British South Africa Co., 1889; President of Cape, 1890): to bring Africa from
under British control:

north of Cape
Cape to Cairo

+Taking over land north of Boer republics=> Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe, Zambia)
+Boer War of 1881 (Transvaal its reasserted independence)
+Boer War of 1899-1902: Br. attack against Transvaal; guerilla warfare by Boers=>Br. Commander Kitchener
closed noncombatants into concentration camps (death of
26,000 women and children)=> Boer defeat
1910-Union of South Africa: Cape, Natal, Transvaal, Orange Free Sate~dominion (selfgoverning)
status within Br. Empire
(1931-Statute of Westminster: independence in British Commonwealth; 1961, Republic of South
Africa).
3 The White Colonies
Conditions in 19th c. Br. (population growth, unchecked unemployment) favoured emigration=> growth of British
community in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, S. Africa.
Canada
Set the example for a colony to become a self-governing, then a fully autonomus dominion of
the British
Crown (1840, 1867)
1763 Treaty of Paris: Canada claimed by Britain from France:
+Lower Province of Quebec: French population
+Upper Province of Ontario: English speaking settlers.
1801-The Younger Pitts reform: 2 Provincial Assemblies.
Maladministration=>1837-rebellions in both provinces.
1839-Durham Report (by Lord Durham, Governor of Canada)
=>Canada Act of 1840: self-gvmt./dominion status (single elective assembly)
1867- Autonomus Colonies of British North America (Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia) united:
Dominion of Canada ~ an autonomus federation: some
sovereignty in foreign policy, i.e. dealing with
US.
Australia
Discovered by Captain Cook=>New South Wales (E of Australia) claimed for Br. in 1770.
1788-Botany Bay~arrival of convicts and guards=>Port Jackson: a penal colony.
1829-Britain claimed the whole continent: 6 separate colonies.
1850-Australian Colonies Government Act: self-gvmt to individual colonies.
1901-Federation of 6 colonies~dominion status (1931-Statute of Westminster: independence
Commonwealth).

in British

New Zealand
Captain Cook: circumnavigation+maps=>in-migration of Europeans, incl. British settlers.
1840-Treaty of Waitangi: native Maori leaders ceded territory to Br.=>1841-Crown Colony
under Br.
sovereingty=>1907-New Zealand designated a dominion (1931-Statute of
Westminster: independence in
British Commonwealth).
After Canada, the policy of granting dominion/self-governing status to former colonies was followed up in other
white provinces: 1901-Australia, 1907-New Zealand, 1910-South Africa.
1931-The Statute of West minster ~ next milestone of imperial history.
Dominion status redefined ~ complete autonomy, i.e. autonomy extended to the
external affairs => The British Commonwealth.

conduct of

III The Decline of the British Empire and Decolonization

1 1920-British Empire reached its greatest extent (25% of the worlds population): after
WWI
acquisition of mandatory territories, e.g. former German territories (Kamerun, Tanganyika), Middle East
territories formerly belonging to the Ottoman Empire (Iraq,
Transjordan, Palestine).
2 Inter-war years ~ a paradox:
Tremendous confidence in Britain about the Empire difficulties of maintainig it: costly,
profitable;
+ future of constitutional relations bw Br. and dependencies of great diversity unclear.
Attempts by Britain to handle constitutional problems:
1931-Statute of Westminster
India ~ Britains most consistent constitutional problem in the inter-war years.
Anti-colonial nationalist movements:
+Muslim League;
+Congress Party: Hindu middle class movement led by Mahatma Gandhi=>a campaign of
disobedience.

vulnerable, less

peaceful civil

Disagreements bw W. Churchill and Gandhi=>two Government of India Acts failed to settle

problem in India bw the wars.
Egypt-1922: independence, but Britain kept control of its foreign policy + a Br. force
Canal Zone, until the Suez Crisis of 1956.

the imperial

stationed in the Suez

The Middle East

Iraq, Transjordan-independence in 1922, but specially installed kings, favourable to Britain.
Palestine: 1917-Balfour Declaration (by Br. Foreign Secretary A. J. Balfour)=promise of
Br. support for
the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people
+ the Allies (Fr., It., Rus., US)
expressed ageement. =>large influx of Jewish people
from Europe=>resistance of the Arab population.
Br. proposals (partitioned, federated state in Palestine) failed.
(After WWII a UN decision: establishment of Israel).
3 Post World War II Years
Britains declining world role=>gradual and necessary retreat from Empire.
Decolonization:
194749-India, Pakistan, Burma, Ceylon.
1950s-West and East African countries, Cyprus, Malta, some West Indian Islands (Jamaica,
1970s-Bahamas, Fiji, Rhodesia.
1997-Hong Kong returned to China.

Trinidad)

4 Today
+Britain still holds some Overseas Territories (e.g. Bermuda, Gibraltar, the Falklands, British Virgin Islands): selfgvmt. but Br. control of defence, internal security, foreign relations.
+The Commonwealth of Nations: a voluntary association of former British colonies, with nearly one-quarter of
the worlds population, comprising over 50 nations of various constitutional forms, e.g. Canada, India, Lesotho,
Brunei.
British monarch=non-political head;
Commonwealth Office (London); Commonwealth Conference; Commonwealth Games.

BRITAIN IN THE 20TH CENTURY I:

Britain in World War I, British Politics, Economy and Society in Inter-War Years
I World War I
War camps: the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary and their allies)
The Allies/Triple Entente (Britain, British Empire, France, Russia + US, 1917)
British entry on 4 August, 1914:
+German invasion of Belgium (Treaty of London, 1839)
+Anglo-French Entente, 1904=>tightening relations and alliance bw Fr. and Br.

Britains complex role in the war:

+land based operations (Western Eur., SE Eur., Middle East)
+operations at sea.
Western European front:
BEF under Sir John French, initially only 4 divisions (slowed down German advance at Mons, Belg.,) =>
voluntary recruitment (over 1 mill. troops) + additions from Empire
(Can., Austr., NZ., S.Afr., Ind., Ire.,)=>
May, 1916 conscription.
Trench warfare: futile and life consuming (millions of deaths); military actions at Ypres, Belg. (1915, poison gas
by Germans) Verdun, the River Somme (1916, tanks by
British).
South-Eastern Europe: 1915, the Gallipoli/Dardanelles Campaign: complete failire (loss of
over 200,000
Aust. and NZ troops)=> W. Churchills resignation as First Lord of
Admiralty.
The Middle East:
Successful British campaign against Turkish Empire in Iraq, Palestine, Syria: capture of
Baghdad,
Jerusalem, Damascus in 1917-18.
Role of T. E. Lawrence/Lawrence of Arabia (Br. secret agent) in organizing an extensive Arab revolt against
Turks.
=>30 Oct. 1918: Turkey signs armistice (liberated, incl. oil rich areas Iraq, Palestine, Transjordan added to
Br. Emp. as protectorates).
Naval operations:
Only 2 major sea engagements: the Falklands, Dec. 1914;
Jutland, North Sea, May 1916: left undicisive (losses: 14 Br. ships, 11 Ger. ships).
War of attrition at sea:
German unrestricted submarine warfare: U-boats against merchant shipping supplying Fr.
of Lousitania, 1915)
=>US entry, April 1917 (decided outcome of war)
+ convoy-system by P.M. Lloyd George
+Br. navy imposed a surface blockade of German ports=> starvation in Germany=>mutiny
Kiel and Hamburg, Oct. 1918+uprisings in major cities, e.g. soldiers in Cologne.
Summer, 1918: arrival of US Expeditionary Force (1 mill) at Western Front
=> November 1918 German forces driven back. Abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II.
=> 11 November 1918: Germany signs armistice ~ end of war in Western Europe.

and Br. (sinking

in the fleet of

Paris Peace Conference, 1919

+Participants: US/Pres. W. Wilson; Britain/P.M. Lloyd George; France/ P.M. Clemenceau;
Italy/ P.M.
Orlando).
+Separate negotiations with each of the Central Powers (Versailles, St Germain, Trianon,
Neuilly,
Svres/Lausanne).
+Britian driven from US position (Wilsonian ideas, e.g. national self determination) to
punitive and demanding
French objectives (Clemenceaus principle of war guilt).
Conclusion of war for Britain: undefeated, less damage than France, Br. navy still largest in
territorial acquisitions (from Germ. in Afr., from Turkey in Middle East).
BUT Britains world position weakened (Japan, US), European position relative (Germany).

the world +

II The political impact of World War I and party politics in the inter-war years
Substantial short- and long-term political changes.
Short-term political consequences:
+Total war=>widening of gvmt powers (to adjust countrys resources to war needs): nationalization of coal
mines, 1914; conscription, 1916; opening hours of pubs
reduced; strikes banned; summer time; food
rationing, 1918; Ministry of Information
to coordinate war propaganda; name of royal family changed from
German Saxe- Coburg-Gotha to Windsor.
+ First coalition government:
+1915-16 by Liberal P.M. Herbert Asquith to include Liberals (e.g. David Lloyd George), Conservatives and one
Labour member.
+1916-1918: Lib. Lloyd Georges Imperial War Cabinet (a wartime coalition gvmt.).
1918-22: Lloyd George coalition gvmt. reinforced=>Paris Peace Conference.
1922: Lloyd George fell from power (1919-20: miners strikes; split within Liberals,
1921Anglo-Irish Treaty opposed by Conservatives).
Long-term political consequences:

Re-arrangement of the British two-party system in inter-war years: 1 Decline of

Labour 3 Strengethening of Conservatives

Liberals; 2 Rise of

1 Decline of the Liberal Party - (1910-still the largest party in the Commons with 275 MPs=>1924 - only 40
MPs=>Post WWII politics~ a handful of Liberal MPs).
1908-1915-P.M. Asquiths New Liberal Government~in the footsteps of Gladstonian reform politics: first steps
in Britain towards the welfare state (free school meals in
state schools; old age pension scheme; Labour
Exchanges to help the unemployed
find jobs; 1911-National Insurance Act=>national insurance
scheme: insurance fund with regular contributions from working people=>sick-pays and unemployment
benefits allocated.)
Factors weakening Liberal position:
+Split over supporting Labour in early 20thc (radical Liberals capitalist Liberals).
+Split bw Asquith and Lloyd George over conduct of war in 1915/16.
+1918 election failure: large majority of people enfranchised by 1918 People Act voted Labour.
+1924 election failure: great split: Liberals with capitalist ideas to Conservatives;
Lib-Lab/pro-Labour members to Labour=> 40 Lib. seats + 1930s: Liberals squeezed out.
2 Rise of Labour Party :
(19th c. background: growing Trade Union Movement, 1868 TUC=>nation-wide organization of workers, 1892:
1.5 million members; Keir Hardies Independent Labour Party, 1893; Fabian Society, 1884, socialist urban
intellectuals)
=>1906-Labour Party formed officially
20th c. factors of growth:
+1900-14: slow growth (30-42 parliamentary seats)-support from pro-Labour Liberals.
+1918: a social programme adopted, organization on a national basis with local branches.
+1918 People Act + 1928 People Act (+alliance with TUC)=>electoral basis swelled.
+Decline of Liberals.
1922-Labour recognized as official opposition of Conservatives.
1924, 1929-31-first Labour Governments by Ramsay MacDonald.
3 Strengthening of Conservative Party
1906-22 ~ after disastrous election performance in 1906: longest continuous period in 200 yrs
of Br. party
politics without a Conservative P.M.
1914-22 ~ a period of waiting for Conservatives: disintegration of Liberals, experience in
coalition gvmt
under Lloyd George.
Turn of tide: 1918 People Act (+ 1928 People Act)=>long term increase of Conservative
electoral basis:
ex-Liberals opposing growth of Labour voted Conservative.
Inter-war years: dominance of Conservative Party (18 yrs=largest party in Parl.;
16 yrs=majority of seats).
In power: 1922-23 (Bonar Law), 1924-29 (Stanley Baldwin).
Control of national/colation gvmts through P.M.s Baldwin, Neville Chamberlain
(1935-40).
Stanley Baldwin: leading Conservative politician bw wars, P.M. more times; convincing representative of
Conservative claim to being the party of moderation, consensus,
patriotism, e.g. Baldwin carried the Act of
Universal Franchise in 1928, managed to handle the General Strike of 1926, and dealt skilfully with the
Abdication Crisis of
King Edward VIII in 1936. (i.e. the Mrs Simpson-case).
III Economy and society in the inter-war years
An age of unevenness ~ prosperity years alternated with slumps, depressions, crises.
War experience of Br. economy complex: war demands=> resurgence of traditional/staple industries (iron and
steel, coal, shipbuilding, textiles) BUT Peace=>rapid contraction.
Economic problems resulting from pre-war and war years:
+evidence of pre-war decline in staple industries, esp. by comparison with Germ., US.
(structural
problems: lack of modernization, mechanization; e.g. Br. coal mining
less mechanized than German or
even Polish, i.e. 80% of Br. coal still hand-picked in 1920s).
+contraction of volume of overseas trade during and after the war (1913-19: Br. lost over
1/3 of markets),
i.e. S.Am. markets won by US, Eur. countries built up their own
capacity of coal and steel).
+Disruption/decline of Br. finances/trade (decline of earnings from overseas investments and services, e.g.
insurance, shipping)=>from a creditor to a debtor nation ~ from international financial power to a nation
dependent on US loan.
Strikes (economic slumps/contraction=> unemployment, low wages).
+1919-20- about 2000 strikes.
+General Strike of 1926 ~ most of nations workforce stopped work in support of one

union/coal miners.

Immediate cause: Coal miners strike against mineowners proposals to increase

working hours and
reduce wages + breaking down of negotiations bw Baldwins gvmt
and TUC on behalf of miners=>TUC called
a general strike.
9 days, 2-3 mill. unionized workers (transport and railway workers, printers, gas and electricity workers,
workers in heavy industry).
Steps by P.M. Baldwin to combat effects of strike: troops and volunteers (middle-class
people, univ.
students) to maintain food supplies and services + use of infomation services, BBC to agitate against strike
(playing upon polarization of society in relation
to class and occupation).
=>TUC accepted gvmts offer for miners BUT miners felt betrayed=>remained on strike for
next 6 months
(November: threat of starvation forced them back to work).
=>1927 Trades Disputes Act: banned general strikes.
Great Depression, 1929 =>acceleration of decline of staple industries in 1930s.
+Chronical inefficiency: overmanned, labour-intensive, lacking modernization
+ Further shrinking of European market=>cut in production
=>sharp in crease in unemployment: 1931: 3 mill. out of work (23% of insured workforce).
Late-1930s-beginnings of economic recovery:
+New industries: motor manufacturing (Morris and Austin), electrical engieneering;
chemicals; aircraft.
=> transformation of economic infrastucture: new industries located in London, SE England, W. Midlands
(higher levels of scientific expertise, electricity suppliable
across a national grid, large populations with
consumer spending power
=>North-South Divide.
BUT New industries more highly mechanized (e.g. car plants with assembly lines)~more efficient use of
manpower=>mass unemployment remained a problem.
+ War preparations ~rebuilding of Br. armed forces (assisted by US money~ beginnings of
special
relationship): large scale production of weapons, aircraft, war equipment.
Social problems:
Although no serious political crisis or social upheaval in 1930s, for big masses: Depression
years=the
devils decade.
Paradox: politically Br. society increasingly egalitarian/democratic (e.g. universal suffrage) economic
polarization of society ~ growing gap bw haves and have-nots,
i.e. growing modernization=>increasing living standards for upper/middle-class people (2/3 of nations
wealth owned by 1% of population; 10% of income-earners took 42% of national wealth).
Economic+social insecurity for masses of population
=>instances of social unrest (strikes) and of violence targeting ethnic minorities
(Chinese, Jews)
=>1919: a wave of race riots (Londons East End, Newport, Cardiff, Liverpool, Glasgow).
Growing racial tension =>Aliens Acts in first two decades of 20th c.~ first official measures
of modern
Britain to restrict immigration
=>1930s-Racially motivated organized violence and paramilitary action:
British Union of Fascists (BUF) by Sir Oswald Mosley in 1932 (1934: 20,000 members,
paramilitary
wing, Blackshirts)
BRITAIN IN THE 20TH CENTURY II:
Foreign Policy in the Inter-War Years; Britain in World War II
I British foreign policy between the two world wars
1 1920s
Collective security= basic principle of European policy (to maintain peace and Versailles).
League of Nations (set up by Treaty of Versailles): to provide a diplomatic method for the
settlement of
disputes on a multilateral basis.
+Locarno Pact/Treaty of Mutual Guarantee, 1925 (Br., Fr., Germ., Belg., It.) to contain
Germany on the West;
+Kellog-Briand Pact/Pact of Paris of 1928 (over 60 signatories)~ international agreement that
nations would
not use war to settle disputes.
Britain joined and favoured these agreements in the 1920s.
Weaknesses of League of Nations/collective security:
+Collective security tied to League of Nations but League without powers to enforce peace/to
prevent war
+ Eastern front not contained, i.e. Germany not contained in Central-Eastern Europe
+ Soviet Union not involved in arrangements.
(Problem: Although Weimar Republic of Germany seemed constructive participant in coll.
sec. in 1920s
1933 Hitler removed Germany from League of Nations/Geneva
Disarmament Conference + by 1930s
German revisionism increasingly obvious).
2 1930s
Transformation of collective security to a policy of appeasement towards Germany.
Britains contribution to the undermining of collective security~ lack of total commitment:
+Br. view: Versailles too harsh on Germany=>future adjustments not out of question.
+Br. commitment to Empire=>limit on involvement in European politics.
+Brs suspicion of Soviet Bolshevik Regime (Lenin, Trotsky etc.) and of Stalin=>lack of diplomatic
contact=>failure of involving the SU in collective security/containing
Germany in Central-Eastern Europe.

Consequences: Stalins role in Hitlers rise, 1931-33; 1939, German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact=>Hitlers
invasion of Poland.
Problems of 1930s~violation of Versailles by Germany: remilitarization of Rhineland, 1936;
Annexation of
Austria/Anschluss, 1938; Annexation of Sudetenland, 1938.
British responses (Prime Ministers: R. MacDonald 1929-35, S. Baldwin 1935-37,
N. Chamberlain 1937-40)~dual approach:
+appeasement~little resistance to powers threatening peace (Franco Regime in Spain, Mussolinis Italy, Hitlers
Germany).
+Br. re-armement from late 1930s (US money) to recover depressed economy.
Examples of Brtish policy of appeasement:
+1935-Anglo-German Naval Agreement (allowed Germany to rebuild navy to within 35% of
Br. naval
strength).
+No counteraction by Baldwin or Chamberlain to German move to Rhineland and Austria.
+Sudeten Crisis, 1938=>Munich Agreement bw Hitler and Chamberlain: Sudetenland signed away to
Germany+German promise to stop expansion.
BUT Dramatic events after Munich=>Change in Br. foreign policy in early 1939:
guarantees to Poland
and Romania against threats to their independence.
+Invasion of Bohemia/Czech territory by Hitler, March 1939 (violation of Munich).
+1939-Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact (Pol. and Rom. considered by Br. as vital barrier
against
expansion of Germ. and Rus.)
+September 1, 1939-Hitlers invasion of Poland=>Sept. 3 British declaration of war on
Germany.
II Britain in World War II
May 1940-N. Chamberlines Cabinet was replaced by W. Churchills War Cabinet (a
Lib., 4 Labour, 15 Conserv. Ministers, in power until 1945).

coalition gvmt incl. 1

Measures to meet the demands of war (military casualties 1/3 of those of WWI, but great
civilian
hardships during the Blitz).
+Conscription
+Emergency Powers Act, 1940 ~ unlimited powers to gvmt, e.g. strict rationing; Min. of Labour to direct workers
nationally: masses of so far home-based women employed in wartime factories.
+Wartime propaganda by Churchills morale-boosting speeches , e.g. Blood, toil, tears and
sweat speech,
in Commons, May 1940.
Main features of war:
+Enemy camps: Axis Powers (Ger., It., Jap.)Allied Powers (Br. and Commonwealth, Fr.,
+Main war theatres: Europe, Soviet Union, North Africa, Pacific and Atlantic seaborads.
+End of war in Europe V-E Day, May 8, 1945 (German capitulation);
in the Pacific V-J Day, September 2, 1945 (formal capitulation by Japan).

US, SU, China).

Military events involving Britain:

Unlike in WWI, in WWII, Britains military role more peripheral: North Africa and Italy, at sea, in the air.
Phoney war ~first 6 months of war (although both Fr. and Br. at war with Ger., but did not
send soldiers
until Ger. attacked Denmark and Norway).
April 1940 German invasion of Denmark and Norway: failure of Allied
resistance=>resignation of Br.
P.M. N. Chamberlain=>Curchills appointment.
By end of May 1940 German invasion of Holland, Belgium, France
=>Evacuation of Dunkirk, 26 May 4 June 1940 ( a rescue manouvre organized by Churchill: over 300,000
Allied troops (Br. and Fr.) tranferred from Northern France to England, by nearly 900 vessels).
Battle of Britain, 10 July-31 October 1940 direct threat of German invasion of Britain.
Luftwaffe (Messerschmitts, Junkers) RAF (Hurricanes, Spitfires)
Initial German intention: to establish air superiority over Br. => invasion, code-named Sea
Lion. BUT
failure=>the Blitz from early Sept.: air raids against London and other industrial cities, e.g. Coventry,
Southampton, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Hull,
Portsmouth (ab. 40.000 civilians killed, over 1 mill. homes
destroyed).
October 1940 Hitler abandoned the plan of invading Britain (=>invasion of SU)
German air raids continued BUT improvements in Br. air defences/artillery control, e.g. radars for
nightfighters=>larger toll of attackers.
+US help: destroyers-for-bases deal (Sept. 1940), lend-lease system (March 1941).
Spring 1941 German move to the Balkans,Yugoslavia, Greece.
June 1941 German move to SU (finally expelled in Aug. 1944).
December 8 1941 US enters war (after Pearl Harbor)

First front with US participation:

Nov. Dec. 1942 Operation Torch in North Africa, proposed by Churchill.
Br. Gen. Montgomery, Br., US troops Ger. Gen. Rommels Afrika Korps.
El-Alamein, Oct.-Nov. 1942 Montgomerys victory
May 1943 Allied victory in North Africa
=>July-Aug. 1943 Allied invasion of Sicily (July 1943 fall of Mussolini).
=>Sept. 1943 Italian Campaign by Allies
(3 Sept./landing; 8 Sept./unconditional surrender by Italy =>Germany overran Italy)
4 June 1944 Rome fell to Allies;
May 1945 fall of Trieste=>German surrender in Italy.
Second front with US participation:
6 June, 1944, Normandy D Day ~ beginning of Operation Overlord: Allied landing and a
cross channel
assault on Hitlers Atlantic Wall by nearly 1 mill. Allied soldiers (US., Br., Can., Polish), under supreme
leadership of US Gen. Eisenhower.
=>Liberation of France, recapture of Paris on 25 Aug., 1944.
=>Allied forces gradually drove German troops back.
Setbacks in the process of driving the Germans back in Western Europe:
+Battle of Arnhem, Holland, September, 1944: an airborne operation by Allies to capture a
bridge on the
Rhine. Failed, thousands died=>withdrawn by Montgomery after 4 days.
+Battle of the Bulge, December, 1944 ~ last desperate offensive by Germans in the
Ardennes, Southern
Belgium: a surprise attack against the thinnest section of the Allied frontline, punching it back in a several-mile
deep swelling/bulge=>defeated by Allies in a month.
25 April, 1945 link up of Western Allies and the Soviet Army on the Elbe
=>Germany capitulated on May 8, 1945.
Britains involvement in airborne operations, e.g. RAFs participation in the bombing of
Germany from
1943 on: bombing round the clock~ US Airforce and RAF
alternated their raids against Germany=>
German cities, e.g. Dresden in ruins.
Battle of the Atlantic ~ British Royal Navy frustrated Hitlers attempts to starve Br. into submission through Uboat campaign on merchant shipping.
War Diplomacy: negotiations/conferences, until winter of 1943 by US and GB, then by Big
Three (US, GB,
SU)
Atlantic Charter, Aug. 1941, (Placentia Bay, New Foundland)- signed by Br. P.M. W.
Churchill and US Pres.
F.D. Roosevelt: secured the Allies of US support against the Axes.
Casablanca Conference, Jan. 1943 Roosevelt and Churchill agreed to fight on until the
unconditional
surrender of the enemy + discussed military strategy in North Africa.
Conferences to discuss the opening of a second front in Europe:
+ With US-Br. participation: Trident Conference, May 1943 (Washington DC); Quebec/Quadrant Conference,
Aug.-May 1943
+ With Big Three (Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin): Teheran Conference, Nov.-Dec. 1943. (final decision about the
landing at Normandy)
Conferences to decide post-war arrangements:
+Yalta, Febr. 1945 (Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin), e.g. decisions on Allied occupation and division of Germany,
foundation of UNO as a world peace organization.
+Potsdam, July-Aug. 1945 (Harry S. Truman, Clement Attlee, Stalin), e.g. fixed reparations
to be paid by
Germany, decision on trial and punishment of war criminals; a
declaration to call on Japan to surrender
(Potsdam Declaration)