-
Period: to
Demographic explosion (fueled ind° thx to cheap labour)
x2 (from 2~6 M° to 21M°). By 1901: 37M°
Linked to:
- improvmt of medical knwldg
- decrease of mortality
- imprvmt of nutrition
-> Malthusianism (Thomas Maltus) ~> moral restric° -
Period: to
Corn Laws
To restrict foreign importat° in order to prevent wild price fluctuat°. Supporters wr mostly gentry (-> high tariffs on foreign corn)
Hwvr, led to inflat° of price of bread and wr unpopular -
Period: to
Tories
1st imp PM= Lord Liverpool
Faced post 1815 eco recess° (nat°l debt, ind in crisis, unemplmt of demoblzd troops)
-> Corn Laws + high taxat° on basic items -> popular discontentment with 1 figr being William Cobbett (journalist) -
Industrialization
(better connotes speed)
Fuelled by:
- increase use of new basic materials: iron, steel, coal
- inven° of new machines: James Watt's steam engine (for trains & boats), Cartwright's power loom, James Hargreaves' spinning jenny. -> Manufactures, in N of Eng
- consumer rvl°
- rise of mechnzd factory systm
- dev in transport & communica°: "canal mania", railway mania -
Period: to
Exodus (rural -> urban)
1801: urban ppl° of 34% of total
1901: 78% Eng = 1st country to exp predmntly urban way of life. Had 5 biggest cities of world (London, Manchester, Liverpool, Burmingham, Glassgow) -
Period: to
Luddism
= took place in indstrl citiies, skilled craftsmen attckd industrial machines -
Report on chimney sweeps
= boys ~6 y as they wr small (cld crawl up narrow chimneys), wr bought from poor families by master sweeps. Wr treated lk slaves (ie: to mk them crawl up their feet wr picked with pins/needles, or small fires wr started). They got many bruises, wounds & burns, & many got stuck in chimneys
It created a shock to public who asked reforms -
Peterloo Massacre
Happened during a peaceful mass regrpmt at St Peter's fields. Commoners asked for reform as only wealthy cld vote. A private militia attckd them -
Factory Act
Early 19th: 1/5 of factory wrkrs wr children < 13 (cuz little size & little pay)
This Act prohibited emplmt < 9; children btw 9-12 wr to work only 12h a day
Was for cotton wills only -
Period: to
Growing demand for electoral reforms
The franchise wsn't a basic right. Brit was divided in 2 constituencies:
- counties: own land/property worth certain £
- boroughs: difts systms coming from customs & old trad° (Hs of Commons X reflect distribut° pplt° anymr; rotten brghs [few voters cld send 2 MPs, ie: Old Sarum had 2 MPs for 7 voters]; pocket brghs [~owned by 1 man])- new social forces: middle class + skilled wrkrs -> wt politcl reprst°
- end N1 wars -> nat°l effort has to be rewarded
- new ideas abt democracy
- fear of rvl°
-
Period: to
Whigs
Imp social reforms wr implemented (rising fear) -
1st Reform Act
- extended right to vote
- reallocated seats in Hs of Cmmns
- electorate rose only slightly (14% to 18%)
- 5/6 adult male still X vote
- most new voters wr middle-class (working class still without representat°) -
Slavery Abolit° Act
1772: Mansfield case (proving that slavery is unsupported by Eng law, so techncly slaves in UK wr free)
1807: slave trade ofcly abolished (only led to increase of illgl slavery + enslaved ppl wr still slaves) -
Factory Act
Prohibited <9 in factories
9-13y: 8h a day
13-18y: 12h a day
< 13 receive elementary schooling
Created "inspectorate of factories" to enforce regulat° -
New Poor Law
Aim:
- reduce cost of looking after the poor (who incrsd)
- encourage poor to look after thmslvs and search employment rather than charity (based on utilitarianism/Benthanism, by J.Bentham) Implemented:
- poor relief supplied with workhouses (punitive approach as horrible places) Met widespread criticism. Created Anti-Poor Law mvmt led by Richard Oasther -
Chimney sweeps Act
Use of boys < 10 was forbidden. Hwvr, children continued to be used as not enough sanctions -
Anti-Corn Law League
Richard Cobden
Campaign agnst the Corn Laws -
Period: to
Chartist Mvmt
= most imp wrking class mvmt in 19th Brit. Rose from disaptmt of X vote for wrkrs. Influenced by Fr rvlt°
"Chartist" cuz demanded implementat° of ppl's charters:
- all men hv the vote
- secret ballot
- Parlmtry elect° every y, not every 5y
- constituencies shld be of equal size
- MP paid (wtd deputies from wrking class)
- property qlfct° for becoming MP abolished This mvmt got weakened by internal divis°
By 1918 (so long after) 5/6 demands got implemented -
Condition of England
coined by Thomas Carlyle, "Chartism". Said that ind° led to degradat° of wrkrs: long hours, hard work, child labour, and esp deshumanzt°. To him Gov had to intervene or else the wrking class might rise up.
Engels said that ind° rvlt° cld tk place cuz of exploitat° of weak.
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" C.Dickens, "A Tale of Two Cities"
-> growing demand for soc reforms in 1830s-40s esp for child & women's labour (fed by anti-slavery campaign) -
Newport rising (Chartists)
Lead by John Frost. 10K men gathrd & marched on city of Newport; goal was to ctrl city & free sm chartist mmbrs. 22 chartists died -
Mines Act
focuses on women & children
Women and boys <10 cldn't work undergrnd Never got properly implemented as there was only 1 inspector for all Brit & Irish mines -
"Report of the Children's Employment Commission", Lord Ashley
Report on coal mining:
- kids 5~6y: wrkd as trappers (=open "air shafts" in complete dark & silence)
- kids >10y: wr drawers/drammers (=pull or push coal wagers) -
Corn Laws repe(e)aled
By Tory PM, Robert Peel. "Conservative Party" split over:
- protect°nists (with Disraeli, conservatives)
- "Peelites" (with Gladstone, free trade supporters. In 1859, most join Whigs to create the Liberal Party) 1840s-80s: policy of free trade -
Industrial Revolu°
= process of chg from an agrarian & handicraft economy to dominated by industry and machine manufacturing 1st used by Fr writers but coined by Arnold Toynbee -
Great Exhibition
In London, Crystal Palace. To show off their power.
UK was the world leading commercial nat°:
1870: UK prod 1/3 of manufctrd goods in world -
2nd Reform Act
passed by Disraeli
Vote to part of urban male working class (1M° to 2M° voters) -
1870s = 2 clear pltcl parties
- Protect°nists= Benjamin Disraeli (1868-80) had 3 obj: defd nat°l tradt°l institut° (which he revered), preserve Brit Emp, introduce social reforms
- Liberal party= William Gladstone (1865-94) was in favour of internat°lism, Free Trade, low taxat°, avoid wars
-
Forster Educat° Act
= compulsory educat° for 5-13 y.o -
1872 Reform
Introduced secret ballot -
Period: to
Public Health Acts
- administrtv machinery to deal locally with issues of health & sanitat°
- cmplsry medical officers in urban areas
- local authorities r required to provide water, drainage & sewerage
-
Chimney sweepers' Act
Recquires sweeps to be licensed + police had duty to enforce this legislat° -
Period: to
Consumer Rvlt°
Deep chg of consumerism:
- increase in nbr of consumers: cuz of demogrphc explos°, cheaper prod, wage-earning possibilities for women & children, incrs spending power, social emulat° (-> conspicuous cnsmpt° = to show ur wealth; T.Veblen)
- chgs in distributive trades: "shopping as a pastime", departmt stores for higher classes =/= co-operative stores for wrking class; + advent of modern advrtsmt (Frederic Barratt)
- greater variety of products -
Corrupt and Illegal Practices Prevent° Act
Criminal offense to bribe voters -
3rd Reform Act
passed by Gladstone
All male property-owners cld vote (men in counties & boroughs had vote on same basis) -
Sufragists - Nat°l Un° of Women's Sgr Societies
Millicent Faucett; 100K mmbrs (women & men)
- promote legal, non-violent, constitut°l methods: public meetings, marches, petit°... -
Sufragettes - Women's Social Pltcl Un°
Main un°, founded by the Pankhurts (Emmeline & her 2 daughters)
- use violent, confrontat°l methods, often illegal ("Deeds, not words")
- wt rebell° (//chartists)
- violently repressed (ie: Cat & Mouse Act of 1913) -
Period: to
WW1 aka The Great War aka The Fair War
- Eng was the only country relying on voluntary army (X trad° of conscript°) -> Lord Kitchener's New Army/"Pals battalions" which wasn't enough (soldiers + preparat°)
- Women: voluntary, in non-combat roles: 1st duty was to convince men to enlist in the Army (by peer-pressure), took part in rat°ning & motherly activities, replaced men in factories/employment, worked behind the fires (cooks, typists, chauffeurs, mechanics...) in auxiliary corps
-
Defense Of the Realm Act (DORA)
In 08 UK was ill prepared for war; but installed DORA which gv extrdnry emergency powers to Eng gov:
- allowed suspens° of civil liberties (imprisonmt with X trial, censorship, tk any land/factory/workshop, food rat°ning).
Cuz of it, X talk abt military matters in public spaces as fear spies -
Creat° of the Departement of Informat°
WW1 = 1st conflict in which techniques of prpgnda wr so used (to keep moral & as respns to enemy's prpgnda) -
Representat° of ppl Act
- vote to all men >21
- vote to women >30 with property or married to man with property
- women allowed to become MP -> size of electorate tripled (8M° to 21M°) with 43% being women
-
Creat° of Ministry of Infrmt°
Under Lord Beaverbrook
- films
- posters
- public meetings
- pamphlets/periodicals
- postcards
- info to foreign newspapers
- war artists & authors -
Treaty of Versailles
Ending WW1
Ger:
- tk full respblty for damages
- major land concess°
- army limited to 100K
- pay extrmly large sum in reparat° to Allied Powers
Brit:
- 750K soldiers killed + 1.5M° wounded
- downfall of the Liberal Party -> Labour Party -
Representat° of ppl Act
Same terms of voting for men & women (>21)
-> 1929 elect° majority electors wr women, got nicknamed the "Flapper Elect°" -
Rise of nazism
- 1932: Nazi Party = largest pltcl party
- 33: Hitler became Chancellor
- 36: his forces occupied the demilitrzd Rhineland Brit & Fr wtd avoid war (majority ppl voted in a Peace Ballot in favour of disarmament) = d't respond to expans°
-
The Schedule of Reserved Occupation
Workers in key factories cldn't join army -
Period: to
Munich Crisis
Htl annexed Austria & Czechoslovakia was next target (esp Sudetenland). Erp scarred of war which unprepared for
- 26/09: Munich Conference with Brit, Fr, It, Ger, X Cz
- 30/09: Munich Agreement = Sudetenland to be ceded to Ger in exchg of end of Ger territorial expans° When Chamberlain returned to Ldn, was welcmd as hero -
Hitler persued expans°
- March 1939: took rest of Cz
- 25/08: military treaty of alliance btw End & Pol
-
Evacuat°
3.5M° kids & women got evacuated to country sides from 06 to 09
Brit divided into 3 zones: evacuat° areas (unsafe, might get targtd), recept° areas (safer), neutral areas
Several issues:
- shocking policy
- emergency measure = organizational issues
- clashes & prejudice btw social classes (most kids wr from poor)
- relig°
-> many children came back esp as by beginning 1940 were still in time of Phoney/Bor War -
Period: to
WW2 aka the People's War
-
Period: to
Evacuat°
3.5M° kids & women got evacuated to country sides
Brit divided into 3 zones: evacuat° areas (unsafe, might get targtd), recept° areas (safer), neutral areas
Several issues:
- shocking policy
- emergency measure = organizational issues
- clashes & prejudice btw social classes (most kids wr from poor)
- relig°
-> many children came back esp as by beginning 1940 were still in time of Phoney/Bor War -
War declared on Ger
1/09: Ger troops moved into Poland
The 2/09: heated debates in Hs of Commons -
National Service Act
Passed by Ernest Bevin (Minister of Labr & Nat°l Service).
Raised to 1.6 M° (while before had 400 000)
All men btw 18-41. Men who couldn't join: medically unfit, conscientious objectors and workers in key industries -
Period: to
The Blitz
+45 000 tones of bombs on Brit, attacked airfields, factories, infrastrctrs, strategic bombings (to disrupt product° & transport), civilians & their homes (to disrupt moral)
UK defensive measures:
- gaze masks wr distributed but unused
- shelters: common shelters & private ones (Anderson Shltr or Morrison Shltr)
- civil mobilizat°
- starfish sites: decoy cities close to actual sites -
Period: to
Dunkirk - Operat° Dynamo
= huge evacuat° operat° of Brit troops who had to retreat after Ger invas° of Fr. Had X boats so called upon the radio any boats (lk fishermen's). Went from Dunkirk to Douvre.
Paradoxically remember it as a full success even tho they fled -
Opearat° Sea Lion
= Luftwaffe (Ger) attacked RAF (Brit) by air
1/08/1940: Ger planes dropped leaflets unto Eng as Htl's strategy was for it to surrender without invas°, but they didn't accept
From 15/09: Brit was clearly victorious even tho their bombers & pilotes wr outnumbered, but their pilotes cld be saved while Ger soldiers wr POW (Prisoners Of War) -
The Essential Work Order
Workers wrn't allwd to leave their jobs & cldn't be fired without consent of the Ministry of Labour -
Conscript° of Women
- 18-43
- unmarried
- children >14
- cld join the Forces behind the fires (//WW1) -> 1943: 500 000 Many also joined munit° factories (1/3) & land army for agrcltr
-
D-Day
~débarquement -
VE-Day
Victory in Erp with surrending of Ge -
VJ-Day
Victory over Japan