British History #2

The Civil War to the First World War

The Civil War was a result of King Charles' decision to dismiss parliament and rule alone by "divine right" (absolute power to the monarch). It was also a result of two issues: catholicicm vs Protestantism, and Parliament vs monarch. In 1642 the country divided into Royalists (those who supported the king) and Roundheads (those who supported parliament). Eventually the Royalists were defeated, and in 1649 Charles I was beheaded. His last word before his execution was "Remember". Charles I had seen London recover from the Plague (1665) and the Great Fire (1666). 

For a short time England (1649-53) was a republic called The Commonwealth ruled by Parliament. But as it proved impossible to create a stable government, General Oliver Cromwell (a religious puritan) dissolved parliament (he was frustrated with members of parliament), took power by force and established The Protectorate in 1653. He remained "Lord Protector" (like a dictator…) until his death in 1658. He didn't want the title 'king'. 1649-51: led the invasions of Ireland and Scotland.

Consequences: Parliament had learned that is could not rule without a king, but the king had learned that Parliament was the more powerful of the two. The Civil war proved that the monarch could not rule alone, and helped to set the foundation of a "constitutional monarchy" in which the king was given limited power by Parliament. The outlines of modern British democracy can clearly be seen peeking through. The Protectorate strengthened the belief that Parliament is a good idea. Constitutional monarchy: parliament is good, and a monarch is useful as long as his/her powers were limited.

The Bill of Rights is an Act passed by Parliament in 1689. It said that the monarch had to ask Parliament before he did anything. Mary II, the daughter of James II (who abdicated the throne), had married the protestant Prince William of Orange (from Holland). William of Orange was handpicked by Parliament to be the new king as the Stuarts continued to produce Catholic heirs, something that caused opposition from both English and Scottish Protestants. But first William had to sign a very important document: The Bill of Rights. As a result, they never got an absolute monarch – the king never got absolute powers. Had to ask to pass laws, levy taxes, go to war, and there was to be freedom of speech no matter what.
However when the couple died childless, the throne again reverted to a Stuart – Queen Anne, Mary II's sister.

"The Act of Settlement" was passed by Parliament in 1701. This act laid down that that future monarchs had to be Protestants. Queen Anne had no children (all of her 18 died either in infancy or she miscarried), so after her death the house of Stuart had come to an end. The crown passed to George I of the Protestant house of Hanover.

The accession of the House of Hanover marked the end of the period of intense religious and political conflicts. The questions that had driven the conflicts were resolved: The Protestant reform was to go within the church only as far as each individual group wished as long as it was not at the expense of other groups, and the monarchy was to have very little power independent of Parliament. The age of the constitutional monarchy had begun.

"The Act of Union of England and Scotland" in 1707 formed Great Britain – making England and Scotland one country. Scottish Protestants accepted the union in order to avoid any claims by the House of Stuart (Catholics) to an independent Scottish throne. The Scottish parliament was dissolved, but the Scots kept their own legal and religious system.
Wales became part of a Union with England in 1536 (no wars, they grew together – but kept their own language).

Ireland had a big Catholic population. The country rebelled twice (1649 and 1798) as a result of England's attempt to subdue the island and turn it Protestant. They first revolted in 1649, during the Civil War. Oliver Cromwell and his New Model Army massacred large numbers of the Irish. The king invited Protestants in England to settle in Ireland (area of Ulster) where they became land owners and the people already living there became land workers (slaves if you like) à The conflict in Northern Ireland goes back to the 18^th century.
Naturally the Accession of Catholic King James II in 1685 was welcomed with joy by the Irish, but when he was defeated in 1690 and William of Orange took over, all hope of tolerance of Catholicism in Ireland ended. For the next century they were excluded from public and economic life by the brutal rule of the Protestant Ascendancy.  In despair the Irish once again rebelled in 1798, but they were met with torture, suppression and massacres. In 1801 Ireland was forced to join the Union of England, Scotland and Wales – which became The United Kingdom of GB and Ireland. Although the conflict was not ended…

The industrial revolution began in Britain in the 1700s. During industrialisation there was a remarkable population growth caused by the development of modern scientific practises during the Enlightenment. Inventions like the spinning jenny and the steam engine increased efficiency and improved transportation. Science also led to better health care, which in turn was a major factor leading to population growth, which then created expanding markets, which subsequently encouraged new inventions and so on. The free-market economy was created. A consequence was that landowners threw peasants of their land in order to grow cash crops for profits, so the poor and homeless wandered the countryside or made their way to the growing cities.

The forces that were let loose by the industrial revolution also drove the expansion of the British Empire. Countries like America, India, Australia and New Zealand were brought under British rule. The darkest aspect of British economic expansion was the slave trade between Africa and America. (The British government outlawed slave trade in 1807). The imperial expansion cause international conflicts, primarily with France. A series of wars were fought and won against the French in North America in the 1700s.

However as a contrast to the economic growth and military victory abroad, the reality at home was more sombre. There were high unemployment, bad working conditions, no health-, welfare- or unemployment benefits, and children had to work adult hours. In the 1800s a series of social reforms were put into action.

The Victorian Age (during Queen Victoria's reign, 1837-1901) is looked back upon as the time of Pax Britannia – a general peace kept by Britain. This was also a period of economic growth, imperial expansion, new inventions… Countries looked to Britain and copied their infrastructure of roads, canals and railways. The parliamentarian government had helped Britain escape the revolutions that shook governments all over Europe in 1848. The principles of individual freedom and natural rights were beginning to be firmly fixed. The growing middle class became more influential, and the working class was organising. The Victorian age is also known for its puritanical attitudes (respectable, god-fearing, serious behaviour) and also for its hypocrisy and double morals (prostitution, alcoholism and drug abuse).