The British Empire and Industrial Revolution (1688-1837).
When Queen Anne died without any heirs, the English throne was offered to her nearest Protestant relative, George of Hanover, who thus became George I of England. Throughout the long reign of George, his son, and grandson, all named George, the very nature of English society and the political face of the realm changed. In part this was because the first two Georges took little interest in the politics of rule, and were quite content to let ministers rule on their behalf. These ministers, representatives of the king, or Prime Ministers, rather enjoyed ruling, and throughout this “Georgian period” the foundations of English political party system was solidified into something resembling what British people have today. But more than politics changed; English society underwent a revolution in art and architecture. This was the age of the grand country house, when many of the great stately homes were built. Abroad, the English acquired more and more territory overseas through conquest and settlement, lands that would eventually make up an empire stretching to every corner of the globe.
Britain began its participation in the wars against Louis XIV with the War of the Grand Alliance (1689-97). This was followed by the larger-scaled War of the Spanish Succession, which began (1702) after Louis had claimed the inheritance of the whole Spanish Empire for his grandson Philip V. For the British this conflict was known as Marlborough’s war. John Churchill, 1st duke of Marlborough, won a succession of victories, the most striking of which was the Battle of Blenheim (1704) in Bavaria. By the Peace of Utrecht (1713) some restraint was placed upon France, although the Bourbon dynasty retained the Spanish throne. This led to a series of alliances - Family Compacts - by which France and Spain fought several wars against Britain and its allies.
In 1714 the death of the last Stuart monarch, Anne, brought to the throne the elector of Hanover, George I. Rebellions (1715, 1745) by the Jacobites (supporters of James II’s descendants) could not unseat the new German dynasty. The Hanoverian connection involved Britain even more closely in European affairs and wars.
Although the War of the Austrian Succession (1742-48) resulted in little change, the Seven Years’ War (1756-63) was a different matter. Through the exercise of sea power and under the inspired leadership of William Pitt the Elder, Britain won Canada (1760) and eliminated French power in India. This constituted the apogee of the first British Empire, which now included much of North America.
|
|
|
With the threat from French Canada removed, however, the American colonies moved toward independence. The London government’s determination to make the colonies bear part of the expense of the wars (called the French and Indian Wars in America) raised colonial protests against taxation without representation. An impasse was reached, which resulted in the American Revolution and, ultimately, British recognition (1783) of the independence of the United States of America.
France had aided the colonies in the American Revolution, and ten years later Britain was again engaged in war with France. This time it was a mortal struggle with Revolutionary and later Napoleonic France. Britain’s command of the sea narrowly averted invasion by Napoleon I and finally helped to overthrow France’s rule over Europe. The long duel with France was over.
During the crisis of the American war British rule in India was saved by a great proconsul, Warren Hastings. Upon the collapse of the Mogul empire, Britain filled the vacuum, and gradually and reluctantly the British government took over responsibility for rule from the East India Company. At the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars, Britain retained Cape Colony (South Africa), which it had captured from the Dutch, as a station on the route to India. The British Empire was set for a new stage of development.
Certain internal developments had enabled Britain to defeat France, which was three times its size and had more than twice its population. Scotland was making rapid progress in commerce, agriculture, and manufacturing.
In the late 18th and early 19th century a brilliant cultural epoch centered upon Edinburgh, “the Athens of the North.” In Ireland, Dublin became a cultural centre, as is reflected in its architectural distinction.
England developed tremendous power with its Industrial Revolution. In essence this meant the application of mechanical power to every form of manufacture and industry. Water power gave Yorkshire a lead in woolens; Lancashire became a world centre for cottons, importing the raw material from America; and Belfast, in northeast Ireland, was the center of the linen industry.
|
|
|
Communications were facilitated by a network of canals and a new road system. Vast deposits of coal and iron in various parts of Britain led to the growth of heavy industry, particularly steel. The application of steam power revolutionized mining and soon led to the invention of the steam locomotive and the development of railroads. Next, steel revolutionized shipbuilding. Britain was not only becoming the workshop of the world but was also creating the foundation of its modern industrial civilization.
Concurrently agriculture was transformed and productivity increased by large-scale enclosure of land and improved rotation of crops; steam power was also applied to operations on the land. Country-house civilization and the planned beauty of the countryside reached a peak about 1800. The population doubled, while large numbers emigrated to America and to new colonies in Australia and New Zealand.
The social and political consequences of economic change were profound and were, in time, to transform society in both islands. The Irish emigrated both to industrial Britain and overseas. The growth of the middle classes challenged the rule of landed aristocracy and gentry. The middle class demanded reform and the widening of opportunities in every sphere - political, social, educational, and religious, as well as in public health, medicine, and nutrition.
John Wesley, a religious leader and brilliant organizer, worked among the new industrial masses and created – unwillingly - the Methodist church, which took root both at home and in America. The expanding lower classes swelled Methodist membership as well as that of other nonconformist sects. The Church of England was also revived by the Evangelical movement - inspired from Cambridge - among Low Churchmen, and by the Oxford movement among High Churchmen. Both had their influence and following overseas; the former inspired the abolition of the slave trade in 1807 and of slavery throughout British dominions by 1834.
The middle-class demand to share in government created agitation for reform from the late 18th century on. William Pitt the Younger, who was Prime Minister from 1783 to 1801 and again in 1804-05, favored reform in most spheres but was frustrated by the long struggle against revolutionary France. Pitt brought to an end an experiment, begun in 1782, of nominal self-government in Ireland. The intended effect of his act (1801), to unite the Irish in a British parliament, was ruined by the refusal of King George III to allow enfranchisement of the Catholic population. Catholic Emancipation was not conceded until 1829 - too late to avert increasing unrest among the Irish. In Britain the Reform Act of 1832 broadened parliamentary representation and opened the way for the middle class to share in power.
|
|
|
Reform was now underway in every area: administration, local and municipal government, the poor laws, sanitation, and factory conditions. The Anglican monopoly of the old universities was ended, and new universities were started. Reform lagged behind in the army and navy and in lower education.
Дата добавления: 2018-02-15; просмотров: 391; Мы поможем в написании вашей работы! |
Мы поможем в написании ваших работ!