Istoria Si Civilizatia Britanica de La Origini Pana in Prezent-geografic Si Istoric

8/9/2019 Istoria Si Civilizatia Britanica de La Origini Pana in Prezent-geografic Si Istoric

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INTRODUCERE ÎN ISTORIA ŞI

CIVILIZAŢIA BRITANICĂ

Asist. univ. drd. Oana GODEANU

Semestrul II

Obiective

Familiarizarea studenţilor cu elemente de istorie şi cultură britanică, ce staula baza înţelegerii poporului englez şi a limbii engleze, care facilitează cunoaşterealiteraturii engleze care facilitează cunoaşterea literaturii engleze şi care. În generalsunt absolut necesare unui specialist în limba şi literatura engleză; prelegerile voraborda teme majore, cu semnificaţii deosebite pentru istoria li civilizaţia engleză.

GREAT BRITAIN – PHYSICAL FEATURES

Great Britain’s full political title is The United Kingdom of GreatBritain and Northern Ireland. The archipelago is constituted of England,Scotland and Wales, forming the largest island known officially as GreatBritain. The second island, Ireland, is shared between the UK and TheRepublic of Ireland.The rest of the islands – Anglesey, the Orkneys, theShetlands, the Hebrides, the Isle of Wight and the Isles of Scilly are alsoincluded in the British administration.

The Channel Islands – off the French coast – have a special position, and sodoes the Isle of Man – in the Irish Sea. They are not part of the UK, although theyare members of the Commonwealth. They have nevertheless the status of self-

governing Crown Dependencies but the British government is still responsible fortheir defence and international relations.More precisely, Britain’s geographical position is marked by 0° longitude –

passing through Greenwich, the international time measure – by latitude 50° N –passing through the Lizard peninsula in the South West and by 60° N latitude,across the Shetland islands.

Despite its relatively small and compact size, if compared with otherEuropean countries, Britain possesses a richly varied landscape. Its physical areaamounts to about 244,100 km², 95% of which is land. England’s surface is129.634 km², Wales’ – 20, 637 km², Scotland’s – 77,179 km² and NorthernIreland’s – 13,438 km².

For millions of years Britain was part of the European mainland but, afterthe last Ice Age, when apparently the glaciers melted suddenly, the sea level rose,

separating Britain from Europe through the English channel in the South, and the


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North Sea in the North. Nowadays, in the South, only 32 km of water – the Straitsof Dover – separate England from continental Europe.

Questions:

1.

Give possible explanations for the concentration of population in South East England.

2.

Find on the map other important European countries situated at about thesame latitude as England. Explain the differences between England’s climate and

their type of climate.3.

Name the capitals of the following regions: Scotland, Ireland, Cornwall,Wales and England.

PREHISTORY

In prehistoric times the British Isles were inhabited by a population aboutwhich very few things are known today. Since the monuments it left behind aresimilar to those discovered in Malta or Spain, it was assumed this civilization was ofMediterranean origin. Except for various fossils and objects dated 250.000 BC, whenapparently the island was not separated from the mainland, the most importantprehistoric monuments belong to the megalithic period ( about 3000 BC)

Near Avebury, in the Wiltshire county we find, inside the largest circle ofcromlechs existing in Europe, a monument of cult built around 1800 BC, a genuine

megalithic cathedral, over 500 stones form an ensemble of rings to which ledimmense alleys. A hundred meter farther an artificial hill is still visible today,whose dimensions and greatness make the viewer assume that the efforts deployedin its construction by a primitive people were at least equal to that of the Egyptiansthat built the Giseh monuments.

But the most famous prehistoric monument, which has excited the popularimagination for centuries, is undoubtedly Stonehenge. In the West of England, inthe midst of Salisbury Plain, standing is one of the most famous landmarks in theworld: Stonehenge. Even in its current ruined state, the monument is undeniablyimpressive. Stonehenge has had a great deal of aggression associated with it, bothin this century and before. Indeed, it seems likely that the monument was erectedand maintained by a military and political elite who exercised authority over alarge part of southern Britain in the late Neolithic period. As far as its purpose is

concerned, as always in the case of other astronomically oriented monuments, suchas those in Bolivia, Mexico, India or Egypt, the destination is still not very clear.Stonehenge appears to have functioned as either a temple or a sanctuary dedicatedto the cult of the sun or of the moon, or even as an astronomical observatory.Another plausible assumption would be that Stonehenge played an important partin what used to be the Neolithic cult of the dead, an assumption supported by theexistence of the numerous incineration tombs discovered around it. Apparently, itwas constructed in several steps (between 1800-1400 BC) but just how it was builtremains a mystery, if we take into consideration the primitive technology of thetime and the fact that the stones it was made of came from over 385 km away, inWales (Dyfed), from the Prescelly Mountains. The entire complex was built indifferent epochs, starting with 1900 BC, and going to 1400 BC.

The Stonehenge monument has impressed many artists throughout the ages –such as Turner or John Constable who, around 1835 immortalized it in a watercolor, orThomas Hardy, in the setting of whose novel Tess of the d’Urbervilles, the monument


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plays a significant part; nowadays, every year on the day of the summer solstice, atraditional holiday takes place, that gathers not only inhabitants of Salisbury, but alsoforeign tourists who arrive there in order to watch the spectacular sunrise on the site,even if it has been fenced off from the public to prevent its destruction.

Questions:

1. Which other prehistoric monuments are supposed to have been created inabout the same period with Stonehenge?

2. Which is the role played by the monument in Thomas Hardy’s Tess of thed’Urbervilles. What significance is attributed to it in this novel?

3. What is the difference between the Avebury henge and Stonehenge?4. Can you give example of other prehistoric monuments built for religious

reasons in other parts of the world?THE ROMAN CONQUEST

As it possessed no unitary government or rule the territory of Britain did not raiseany serious problems to invasions from across the Channel. It is only with the adventof the Normans that the isle became a difficult conquest. Before that, the physicalcharacteristics of Britain made it an easy access through many havens and navigablerivers in the south. The temptations that determined various migratory groups andeventually the Romans themselves to take possession of the island included not onlythe tin, pearls, various metals, among which gold, but also its fertile soil as well as its

mild climate, due to what we know today as the Gulf Stream, but which the earlyinhabitants found surprisingly balanced for a country situated so up north.After the conquest of the Gaul by the Romans, Britain seemed the following

natural war objective. These mysterious islands seemed able to satisfy Caesar’sneeds for victories and riches for his soldiers and partisans, but also his secretdesires of astonishing Rome once more. Thus, the first Roman incursion in Britaintook place in August 55 BC, when Caesar landed with two legions trying toconquer these unfamiliar lands. However, the operation did not end with a victory,but rather a bitter compromise. The following year, (54 BC), Caesar returned tryingto complete his conquest, only to find the Britons prepared and organised, underthe command of a local leader, Cassivellaunus, whose lands stretched north of theThames; it was again Caesar’s diplomatic skill that helped him subjugate all thetribes – mostly by deftly operating with the divide ut regnum formula. The

hostilities ended by an agreement and Caesar established the tribute Britain was topay to the Roman people. But after Caesar’s death, Britain fell into oblivion foralmost a century and it is only under Claudius’ reign that various groups of interestbegan to consider these distant lands as a possible new source of glory and profitfor the Empire. As a result, in 43 AD., Caesar sent to Britain an expedition formedof 4 legions, which landed in Britain and took over the lowlands of England and –not without some difficulty – over part of the Wales and Scotland, so that, at thebeginning of the second century, England was entirely under Roman rule.

Lifestyle

The Roman strategy of colonization was the same everywhere: it involvedbuilding roads that would have allowed the legions to move more easily and morequickly into the occupied territories, as well as erecting fortified sites, for the fixed


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garrisons to settle into. Most of the English towns today, whose names end inchester or cester, were, during the Roman occupation, military camps (castra).

It is during this period that London – Lundinium – grew, since the Romansdirected towards this town all the routes connecting the north and the south, equallyusing its harbour for the transportation of food and ammunition for the army. The townwas surrounded by a wall with six gates, which was to delimit the boundaries of thetown and which broadly corresponds to what is today known as the City; it was onlyafter the 16th century that the first constructions outside the walls will be erected.

At the same time with enforcing their military system throughout the country,the Romans also tried to re-create their style of life in the unfriendly climate of thenew province, building temples, baths, forums and houses on the model of theirdwellings in Rome. Soon the entire south of the country was scattered with Romancottages, decorated with mural paintings and mosaics representing classical scenes,and with basilica, forums and baths. The assimilation of Roman ways in theensemble of the customs of the local population was gradual and non-violent, sinceRoman colonization was not the expansion of a race, but rather that of a culture.

The best known among the military constructions of this age is the defense wallbuilt in the second century across the northern province of Britannia – along nearly thesame line that constitutes today the English- Scottish border; it was meant to protect theprovince from the attacks of the Scots and the Picts in the northern territories leftoutside Roman rule. Hadrian’s Wall represented the widest fortification system ever

built by the Romans and stretched across about 118 km (74 miles) Religion

The Celts adapted quite easily to the new lifestyle imposed by the Romans,especially because Roman politics respected the local institutions and did notexclude the assimilation in their own Pantheon of new unknown gods, so that nobrutal colonization took place in the occupied territories. A great variety ofreligious cults were to be found so that in addition to numerous Celtic deities oflocal or wider significance, the gods of the classical pantheon were introduced andwere often identified with their Celtic counterparts.

Along with various other cults brought along by the Roman legions, startingwith the third century Christianity entered Britain and at the beginning of the IV-thcentury the presence is mentioned of a certain Christian bishop named Restitutis,

about whom it is known that he took part in the council of Arles, together with twoother Briton bishops.

The end of the Roman Rule in Britain

After the beginning of the 3rd century, the Roman Empire was confrontedwith a threefold crisis: economic, religious and military. As for the military crisis,the capital change that was to mark warfare for at least 13 centuries forward, wasthe replacement of the supremacy of the pedestrian army by the cavalry.

The invasions of the Goths, barbarians originating in the Russian fields,could no longer be stopped, as they were gradually advancing inside the Empire,threatening Pax Romana.

Facing these threats at its continental frontiers, Rome had to call its legions fromBritain in a desperate attempt at protecting the integrity of its continental territories.

The year 410 marks the end of the four-century domination of Roman culture inBritain, as the last Roman soldiers leave the island abandoning the province now


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vulnerable to the repeated incursions of the Northern Celtic tribes (the Picts in Scotlandand the Scots in Ireland), as well as to those of the Germanic tribes coming from the sea.

But the most amazing part in the story of the Roman domination over Britainis the fact that almost four centuries of cultural and military occupation leftpractically no traces in the British language and civilization. In Gaul – present dayFrance – especially in the South, the Roman towns and monuments are stillpresent, while the late Latin provided the grammatical and lexical foundation formodern French. But in English there hardly are any traces of the Latin influence inthe language. Latin words in English came either as scientific neologisms

assimilated at a later date, or French words going back to the Norman Conquest.Among the rare words that were introduced during the Roman occupation and thatcan still be found in modern English are street – from strata via, mile – the Romanmile, wall – wallum and the ending – chester (castra)

However, when analysing the Roman legacy to British civilization, the mostimportant element introduced at that time remains undoubtedly Christianity, which,despite the subsequent torments Britannia was to experience during the next twocenturies that are commonly known as England’s dark ages – continued itsinexorable march in forming the spirituality of its inhabitants.

Questions:

1. What are the similarities between the Roman conquest of Britain and theRoman conquest of Dacia?

2.

Can you provide one possible explanation for the Roman religious tolerance?3. Which was the role of Hadrian Wall?4. Give examples of Latin words preserved in modern English and which

were introduced during the Roman conquest.5. Which were the reasons that caused the Roman Empire to withdraw its

legions from Britain?

THE SAXON INVASION

After the departure of the last Roman legions, the invasions of the Picts and theScots in the north intensified. In order to protect the isle a Briton leader, Vortigern,called the Saxons as mercenaries offering them territories in exchange for their

services. But attracted by this rich, defenseless country, the German invaders refusedto leave. According to Venerabilis Bede’s Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum (731)– the first written chronicle of the English - the Jutes settled to Kent and in the Isle ofWight, the Angles settled in East Anglia founding the kingdoms of Mercia andNorthumbria. The Saxons were the most numerous and the historians identified threegroups, according to their main directions of colonization, South, West and East,where they founded the kingdoms Sussex, Wessex and Essex. Some modern scholarsconsider the Anglo-Saxons as being substantially one people. At the time of theirmigration to Britain, Angles and Saxons were occupying parts of the coast of modernDenmark and Germany and the difference between them in language and customswas small. The Jutes were a smaller tribe, distinct from the Anglo-Saxons, apparentlyoriginating from Jutland, in northern Denmark.

Part of the Celto-Roman population withdrew in the western highlands and in the

south; the Saxon invaders called these refugees Welsh – meaning foreigner, from theGerman word Welche. Another part of the Celto-Roman population crossed the Channel


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on the European mainland, in the Gaulish territories and formed there present day Bretagne. The Saxon conquest was slow and painful. Apparently, the VI-th century kingArthur, or Artorius, the mythic leader that was to inspire generations of artists, wonseveral victories against the invaders. But even back then the Angles, the Saxons and theJutes already had in their possession the wealthiest part of the country.

Lifestyle

The Saxons were country dwellers, so they settled in families or groups of

families and the villages thus created were named after the family names. ThusBirmingham is the setting of the Beorms; also Billingham, or Buchinghamoriginally indicated the name of their inhabitants.

After the violent Saxon invasion, three were the elements that survived from thesophisticated Roman civilization which the arrival of the new tribes had replaced:

These permanent legacies are: the traditional site of London, the Romanroads and Welsh Christianity. As far as London is concerned, if it is possible that,at some point during the Saxon invasion, it was abandoned, then was reestablishedas a Saxon town Adam Bede ( 700 AD.) mentions its existence as an importanttrading centre. The Roman roads, another permanent reminder of the Roman rulegreatly increased the speed of the Saxon, Danish and later on Norman Conquests,but also helped in unifying Britain in one state, by facilitating access to all itsregions once a central government was established. The third and the most lastingRoman legacy was Welsh and Cornish Christianity, which was strengthened by thecontinual presence of missionaries, such as Saint Germanus.

Religion

The Nordic religion that the Saxons had brought along with them was not areligion of dread or of magic. It constituted the expression of racial character, notan outside force to work upon that character; moreover, it was not intolerant andthis may be the reason why it had no defenses against the Christian attack.

Christianity entered Britain from south and north at the same time, fromScotland and from Rome. Among 432-61 St Patrick converted Ireland whileSt. Columba did the same for Scotland starting with 563. Southern England wasunder the Christian influence of St Gregory and St Augustine.

In 597, sent by Gregory the Great to convert the angles, St Augustine arrivedin Britain. He converted Kent, founded the see of Canterbury, thus insuring solidbases for the subsequent spread of Roman Christianity over the island.

All monastic and episcopal England was organized under a new hierarchy, byTheodore of Tarsus, Archbishop from 669 to 690. He created a several Bishoprics withdefinite territorial sees all subject to Canterbury which became thus the spiritual capitalof the region. The monasteries were also subjected to the general ecclesiastical system,continuing to grow in wealth and number, but preserving their strong affiliation toCanterbury. After Theodore, as a result of his preparation of the ground on episcopallines, the parish system began to emerge, so that by the arrival of the Normans, most ofthe island was supplied with parish churches and parish priests.

Questions

1. What was the basic hierarchical structure of the Saxon society?2. Who converted the British Isles to Christian religion?


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3. Find examples on the Map names of rivers or of towns ending in Saxonsuffixes. In what regions can these be found? Why?

THE NORMAN CONQUEST

The Normans, or the Vikings, came from the Scandinavian Peninsula in NorthernEurope. During the 9th century the Gaullish territories – present day France – wereinvaded by the Normans several times, so that, starting with 950 Western Gaul will be

called Northmannia or Terra Northmannorum. Gradually, the ancient Gallo-Romanlanguage, culture and civilization were assimilated by the Normans who retained all theViking energy in colonization and in war, but became converts to Latin culture.

At 1066 the ducat of Normandy – which had already conquered Bretagne andwas in control of the county of Maine, in France, was not only the best managed feudin France, but also the most powerful military state in the Western World. TheNormans were skilled warriors and their fighting techniques advanced warfare in manyways, notably in offensive and defensive strategy; it is they who introduce the long-range fighting technique through the use of archers. England was thus attacked by themost highly organized continental state of the day, which possessed institutions capableof rapid development in the newly conquered territory. Another important element thatwas to mark the Norman rule in England is the fact that the Church in Normandy wasthe ally of the Ducal power. Also, the Normans possessed a feature which the English

lacked, namely the instinct for political unity and administrative consolidation.After the death of king Edward the Confessor (1066) the crown of Englandwent to Harold II. But two years before, while he was only a count of Wessex,Harold had been shipwrecked on the French coast and taken prisoner and hadpromised William to help him obtain the crown of England.

The same crown had been already promised to William by King Edwardhimself in 1051, during the visit of the former in England. Since, technically, hehad been promised the crown of England twice, (in 1051 and in 1064), afterEdward’s death, when Harold occupied the throne, William felt betrayed anddecided to take by force what was rightfully his.

1066 is the most famous date in English history, since the successful Normaninvasion of the island brought Britain into the mainstream of Western European cultureas, on 14 October an invading army from Normandy, under the leadership of William,

landed on the British shore and defeated the English at Hastings. After Hastings,William headed for London. Frightened and left without an army, the nobility and thepriests welcomed the conqueror at Berkhampstead, offering him the Crown.

The importance of the battle of Hastings resides in the fact that after only 8hours of fight the six centuries Anglo-Saxon domination in Britain ended. TheNorman Conquest represents a landmark in the development of British feudalism,as well as in the establishing of a more refined class consciousness.

Importance of the Norman Conquest

The Political Importance

The Norman Conquest introduced feudalism in Britain, thus connecting theseterritories to Continental Europe. Under the feudal system, men gave up personalfreedom in exchange for protection and security. The King owned all the land exceptthat owned by the church and he had the right to lease his land to nobles, who repaid him


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in homage, taxes, and military service. As feudalism is essentially a hierarchicallyorganized system, the nobles, in turn, leased land to lesser nobles, each of whom owedhomage, etc., to the next above him on the social scale, the entire system ultimatelyresting on the serf or villain. As the Middle Ages progressed and the noblemen came todepend on men with special skills, there appeared the freeman, the commoner, and theyeoman, however, no middle class was recognized until the end of the Middle Ages.

William imposed the French system of strictly territorial feudalismthroughout the English territory, dividing every shire up into knights’ fees1 held byFrench-speaking knights from French –speaking Barons and Prelates, who in theirturn, held of the King; thus gradually the central royal power was graduallyreinforced but at the same time a racial distinction between the French-speakingaristocracy and the English-speaking lower classes began to be felt.

The arrival of the Norman conquerors represented a cultural clash at the level ofthe entire society. The differences in lifestyle and mentalities between the local nobilityand Norman aristocracy are important and acceptance will be difficult. Since William Icame to England as the lawful successor of the Saxon kings, he did not try to modifythe local customs and institutions, but used them, where they served his purposes. Thusthe Fyrd – or mass recruitment – first introduced under Alfred’s reign, will become avaluable force as soon as the peasants were made consider themselves as allies of thecrown against the oppressive nobility. The king also appointed as sheriffs his nobles foreach shire, charging them with the collection of taxes.

In 1085, at Gloucester he ordered the first detailed, village-by-village record of

the people and their possessions, throughout his kingdom. Domesday Book alsooffered a strict evidence of the king’s vassals owing him military services. Williamsummoned them a year later, in august 1086, and has them swear loyalty to him atSalisbury, a diplomatic gesture meant to protect him from any possible acts of treason.

After the Norman Conquest, in the Church, just as the French Barons andknights had replaced the Saxon nobility, so foreign clergy replaced native Englishmenin church positions. Some of these changes entailed a higher standard of learning andzeal; Church architecture bore the mark of these changes and four centuries of splendidecclesiastical constructions followed as the Norman builders imported the new trendsfrom the continent replacing the Saxon churches.

But the most important ecclesiastical reform made by William was hisdivision of the spiritual from the secular courts, which represented a significantstep towards a higher legal civilization. Thus the Church as a spiritual body was

subject to the Pope, but this new powers given to the king contributed to thelimitation of the Papal power.

The linguistic transformations

Starting with William’s reign, French and English begin to be usedconcomitantly; thus, the upper classes, the Court, the noblemen and the judgesspoke French, the Church representatives spoke both French and Latin and all theofficial documents were written in Latin and – starting with the 13 th century – inFrench. However, the folk continued to speak English, so that, for almost 3centuries English will be a language with no literature and no fixed grammar.

Since the Norman Conquest did not represent a Norman colonization proper,but merely a process of immigration, it is only natural that the deep structures of

1a heritable land held from a feudal lord in return for service; fief; feudal benefice


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the Anglo-Saxon language should not be affected. It is the most permeablecompartment of the language, the vocabulary, that was influenced by French. Thus,most borrowings concerned the language of administration, war, politics, religion,hunting, cooking, law, trade and, to a lesser extent, the language of culture.

In those linguistic areas connected to the everyday life of the Anglo-Saxonpeasant, those borrowings were scarce and also manifested through the existence ofparallel, almost synonymous forms: ox, calf, swine – the names of the animalsgrown by the Anglo-Saxon peasant, and mutton, veal, pork – the meat of the sameanimals once arrived on the tables of the Norman noblemen.

Education

Between the 11th and the 13th centuries European Christendom is a spiritualempire in itself. The 12th and 13th centuries are the moment when the first Europeanuniversities appear: Bologna, Pavia and Paris. The English built their first and oldestuniversity at Oxford, in 1177. The status of the university was influenced by theUniversity of Paris, with the difference that, if Paris was specialised in the liberal arts,Oxford curriculum was focused rather on Arithmetic, Geometry, Astronomy and Music.

Oxford became a strong university during Henry II’s reign when, during hisdispute with Becket, Henry called back from Paris all English students andprofessors, trying to deprive Becket of any spiritual support in his country of exile.

In 1209, following an act of injustice of the major of Oxford who had

sentenced to death by hanging three innocent students accused of having killed awoman, many students and professors left Oxford and settled in Cambridge,establishing the rival institution. The first Scottish university was St Andrews,founded at the beginning of the 15h century.

Universities played an important part in the political awakening of England,as they gathered together students coming from various provinces of the country,who learnt to find the common grounds for accepting their differences andfounding their national consciousness. The Church was soon to realise the threatthese young scholars represented to the very unity of faith.

Questions:

1. What was the importance of the Norman Conquest? Why is 1066considered the most important date in British history?

2.

Which were the reasons that made William claim the British crown?3. In what way was the development of English language influenced by theNorman Conquest?

THE 100 YEARS WAR

Causes

England, due to its insular position and strong kings, had obtained a certainmeasure of internal peace and was passing from feudalism to nationhood. TheHundred Years War was mainly a matter of political and economic dynamics, onlysuperficially justified by succession claims.

One cause was the long-standing friction over Gascony, ever since 1294; by

establishing that the kings of England owed homage to the kings of France for Gascony,the treaty had created an awkward relationship between the two European powers.


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A second important cause of the English-French rivalry was represented by theNetherlands, which was dependent on English wool for industrial prosperity but someof whose states, including Flanders, were subject to French claims of suzeranity.English wool trade depended heavily on the Flemish manufacturers and Frenchsuzeranity over this territory would have affected the economic prosperity of the state.

Finally, there was the matter of the French throne itself. Edward, through hismother, was closer in blood to the last ruler of the Capetian dynasty than was theValois Philip VI. Its basic cause was a dynastic quarrel which started when theconquest of England by William of Normandy created a state lying on both sides ofthe English Channel. In the 14th century the English kings held the duchy ofGuyanne in France; they resented paying homage to the French kings, and theyfeared the increasing control exerted by the French crown over its great feudalvassals. Thus, the immediate causes of the Hundred Years War were thedissatisfaction of Edward III of England with the nonfullfillment by Philip IV ofFrance of his pledges to restore a part of Guyanne taken by Charles IV; the Englishattempts to control Flanders, an important market for English wool and a source ofcloth; and Philip’s support of Scotland against England.

The war began in 1337, when Edward III of England assumed the title ofking of France, a title held by Philip VI. The initial phase of the war wasinconclusive but soon the English were to register important successes. In 1356 theEnglish won the battle of Poitiers, capturing King John II of France. Negotiationsled to a truce at Brétigny, and in the subsequent negotiations Edward agreed todrop his claim to the French throne. In return, English possessions in France wouldbe held in full sovereignty. The Gascon nobles, oppressively taxed by Edward IIIthe Black Prince, appealed in 1369 to French King Charles V. The war wasrenewed, but, by 1373, the French troops had won back most of the lost Frenchterritory. In 1415, Henry V of England renewed the English claims, took Harfleur,and defeated France’s best knights at Agincourt. By 1419 he had subduedNormandy, with the help of John the Fearless, duke of Burgundy. Philip the Good,successor of John the Fearless, mediated between Henry V and Charles VI ofFrance, and Charles recognized Henry as heir to the crown of France. By 1429 theEnglish were masters of practically all France North of the Loire, but in that yearJoan of Arc raised the siege of Orléans and had Charles VII crowned king ofFrance at Reims. Her capture by the Burgundians and her judicial murder afterextradition to the British did not stop the French successes so that, by 1450 the

French had re-conquered Normandy, and by 1451 all Guyanne was taken, exceptfor Bordeaux. After the fall of Bordeaux in 1453, England retained only Calais,which was not conquered by France until 1558 and, internally torn by the Wars ofthe Roses, made no further attempt to conquer France. In return, Englishpossessions in France were to be held in full sovereignty. The terms of the peacetreaties, particularly those involving the exchange of territory, were not carried outin full, but neither side wished to reopen the war immediately.

Consequences of the war

The Hundred Years’ War brought along a strong national consciousness,more democratic than feudal. If in earlier medieval times hostility was normallydirected towards the natives of neighboring towns or villages, in the time of the

100 years War the ’foreigner’ became the Frenchman or the Spaniard and the newpatriotic feeling took the form of racial hatred for the French. In 1362, six years


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after the battle of Poitiers, a statute was passed through Parliament declaringEnglish as the language in which all pleadings and judgements in law courts shouldbe held. Gradually English began being used in the schools thus becoming againthe tongue of the educated and of the upper class. Moreover, as a result of the War,England ceased to be a continental power and increasingly sought expansion as anaval power, which was to dramatically influence its policy in the future.

The War of the Roses

The end of the campaigns in France brought back to England soldiers used torich loots and still eager to fight. The conflicts among the nobility concentratedaround the two leading families - the House of Lancaster, whose symbol was ared rose, and the House of York – whose symbol was the white rose. It was afaction fight between the families allied to the royal house, contending for powerand wealth and ultimately for the possession of the Crown. Each camp wasconstituted of a group of great nobles, with its own clientele of knights, gentry,lawyers or clergy. The parties engaged in a series of battles where the tactics usedwere those employed in the recent French war.

The opposing factions first met in 1455 at St. Albans—considered to be thefirst battle of the Wars of the Roses followed by a series of battles won by eitherthe Yorkist or the Lancastrians and which continued for over 15 years. The conflictcame to a halt in 1465, when, after a prolonged open conflict, Henry was captured

and imprisoned into the Tower of London. He was restored to the throne for a briefperiod of time in 1470, but a year later Edward IV (of the House of York) regainedLondon and recaptured him. After 12 relatively peaceful years, Edward IV wassucceeded (1483) by his young son Edward V, but soon the boy’s uncle Richard,duke of Gloucester, usurped the throne as Richard III. Richard’s reign marks theend of the war of the Roses. Edward the IV had two sons, of which the eldestshould have followed him on the throne. But his brother, Richard of Gloucester,had them murdered, after imprisoning them in the Tower of London, which stirreda general outcry from the population.

Opposition to Richard worked in favor of Henry Tudor, earl of Richmond,now the last offspring of the House of Lancaster and a refugee in Bretagne. On 22August 1485, Henry landed from France, defeated and killed Richard at the Battleof Bosworth Field, and ascended the throne as Henry VII. Henry VII – the first of

the House of Tudor – married the next year Edward IV’s daughter, Elizabeth, amarriage which united the houses of Lancaster and York. Except for various effortsduring Henry’s reign to place Yorkist pretenders on the throne, the Wars of theRoses were ended. Henry Tudor’s reign marks the end of the long medieval periodand the beginning of English Renaissance.

Education

It is at the end of the 16th century that the first printed books appear. Printingwas introduced in the isles by William Caxton who had studied the craft inCologne and who set up his press in 1476, thus founding the first printing house atWestminster, and starting to publish English works for the growing reading public.The first great collections of family correspondence, those of the Pastons, Stonors,and Celys, survive from this period.


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The monopoly of education was held by the Church, through its schools. At14 a boy would be admitted to Trivium where he would study Latin, Grammar,Logic and Rhetoric for 3 years, after which he was granted the degree ofbaccalaures. He would then attend Quadrivium, where he would be initiated intoMusic, Arithmetic, Geometry and Astronomy and where, at the end of 4 years hewould become magister. The 15th century, was an important age in the foundationof schools and colleges. Some schools were set up as adjuncts to chantries, someby guilds, and some by collegiate churches. Henry VI founded Eton College in1440 and King's College, Cambridge, in 1441. Other colleges at Oxford andCambridge were also founded in this period.

Questions:

1. What were the main causes of the 100 Years War between England andFrance?

2. Which were the two parties fighting over supremacy in England during theWar of the Roses?

3. What brought the end to the War of the Roses?

THE AGE OF THE TUDORS

English Renaissance

The medieval system passed away due to the profound changes that thehabits of the English people had undergone during the previous centuries: the riseof educated and active middle classes, the spread of trading activities outside thetowns, the unifying effects of the Common Law, the royal administration and ofParliament, the national pride engendered by the Hundred Years’ and theestablishment of English as the language of the educated and upper classes; ofequal importance was the advent of the printing press, that undermined thechurch’s monopoly of learning and opened the written word to all those able toread it. All these changes, both spiritual and material, combined to graduallydissolve the medieval mores and patterns of thinking in England. Unlike Franceand Spain, where the new monarchies were allied with the old Church, in Englandthe new monarchy was allied with Parliament. Tudor England preserved the oldsocial structures, namely the orders, corporations and institutions, universities,

nobles, clergy, on condition of submitting to the sovereign authority of the State.It is in the Tudor epoch that the nation asserted its new strength and expelling allforeign authorities claimed the right to do whatever it liked within its own frontiers.This idea of the complete independence for the nation and authoritarian power ofthe State were embodied in the person of the King, which constitutes an importantcause of the King-worship of the Sixteenth century.

European Renaissance started in Italy and from here the new studies came toOxford in the last two decades of the 15th century, bringing in England concern forGreek and Latin literatures and thought. The rise of the printing press helped to therapid rise of Erasmus to an European reputation. His work and that of Sir ThomasMore gave a new moral and religious character to the Renaissance studies, instead ofa merely artistic direction. In England, the men of the Renaissance, used the study ofGreek and Latin to reform not only education and schools, but also the Church

herself. The spirit of this movement was continued in the educational and religiouspolicy of the Reformed Church of England that emerged under the later Tudors.


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Over the next several years Henry's dispute with the pope grew ever deeper,until in 1534 the Act of Supremacy was passed, making Henry, and not the pope,head of the church in England. This was not at first a doctrinal split in any way, buta personal and political move. Among the prominent figures of the time whoopposed the king’s decision, Sir Thomas More openly disapproved of theseverance of the ties with Rome, refused to repudiate Papal authority and wasreluctantly executed by Henry.

Through the Act of Supremacy, the medieval tenet that church and statewere separate entities with divine law standing higher than human law had beenlegislated out of existence; the new English church was in effect a department ofthe Tudor state. The destruction of the Roman Catholic church led inevitably to thedissolution of the monasteries and, as monastic religious fervor and economicresources began to diminish, it was easy enough for the government to build a casethat monasteries were centers of vice and corruption, which attracted Henry thesupport of the common people.

In the new Church of England, the Bishops retained their place, taking the Kinginstead of Pope as master. As Supreme Head of the Church, Henry proceeded toreform the religion of his subjects in order to complete the breach with Rome. Relic-worship, image-worship, and pardon-mongering, the grosser popular superstitionswhich Erasmus had attacked, were rejected. All over the country relics were beingdestroyed. A very important aspect of the Reformation was that Henry ordered that

prayers should be held in English and the Bible in English was not only permitted tocirculate freely, but also was ordered to be set up in every parish church.

The Elisabethan Age

No one in 1558, any more than in 1485, would have predicted that despite thesocial discord, political struggles, and international humiliation of the past decade,the kingdom stood again on the threshold of an extraordinary reign.

After a brief interlude represented by the Catholic reign of Mary Stuart, theAnglican church resumed its domination over the hearts of the English, as well asover the crown, in the person of Elisabeth I (1558-1603), who managed once moreto sever the ties with Rome, at the same time bringing stability to her subjects.

Queen Elisabeth was the product of a fine Renaissance education, and she was wellaware of the country’s need for strong secular leadership. Moreover, she possessed her

father's magnetism without his egotism or ruthlessness and was determined to be queenin fact as well as in name using gracefully tact combined with firmness.In organizing her reign, the queen followed the hierarchical assumptions of

the day. All creation was presumed to be a great chain of being, running from thetiniest insect to God himself, and the universe was seen as an organic whole inwhich each part played a divinely prescribed role. As a mirroring of thesephilosophical assumptions, even in politics, every element was expected to obeyone head in the same way as all parts of the human body obeyed the brain. Theinstitution of monarchy was divine and gave leadership, but it could not stand byitself, nor could it claim a monopoly of divinity. The Privy Council, acting as thespokesman of royalty, planned and initiated all legislation, while the Parliamentwas expected to turn that legislation into law. Inside and outside Parliament thegoal of Tudor government was benevolent paternalism in which the strong hand of

the nascent authority was masked by a careful shaping of public opinion.


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We could say that the Tudors were quite medieval in their economic andsocial philosophy. The aim of government was to reduce competition and regulatelife and the result aimed at was an ordered and stable, if not static, society with ahigh respect for hierarchy and social status. It is during this age that the followingelements are enshrined: the moral obligation of all men to work, the existence ofdivinely ordered social distinctions, and the need for the state to define and controlall occupations in terms of their utility to society.

The state, in the person of the queen, assumed control of such socialproblems as poverty, unemployment, and vagrancy, too widespread for the churchto handle. All parishes were instructed to collect taxes to pay for poor relief and toprovide work for the able-bodied, punishment for the indolent, and charity for thesick, the aged, and the disabled.

Elizabethan society For a few years Elizabethan England seemed to possess an extraordinary

internal balance and external dynamism. In part the queen herself was responsible.The Elizabethan Age was a success because men had new and exciting areas attheir disposal, both of the mind and geographic, into which to channel theirenergies. A revolution in reading and writing was taking place, and by 1640 nearly100 percent of the gentry and merchant elements were literate. Wealth and literacywere directly related. New schools were founded and large sums of money investedinto secondary school education. The student population of both Oxford andCambridge reflected the new literacy, increasing dramatically. The aim of Tudoreducation was to shape the public opinion by agency of this newly acquiredliteracy. A knowledge of Latin or of Greek became, even more than elegantclothing, the mark of the social elite. The educated Englishman was no longer acleric but a J.P. or M.P. (justice of the peace or member of Parliament), a merchantor a landed gentleman who for the first time was able to express his economic,political, and religious dreams and grievances in terms of abstract principles. Theimportance of this widespread literacy is enormous, if we become aware of the factthat, without it the spiritual impact of the Puritans or, later, the formation of partiesbased on ideologies would have been as impossible as the cultural explosion thatproduced Shakespeare, Marlowe, Spenser, Bacon, and Donne .

Also, under the reign of Queen Elisabeth Theatre occupied an important rolein the life of London. Although comedy companies had existed during Henry VII’sreign, it is during this period that the first permanent theatrical companiesappeared, the most famous of which being the Globe, which was partly owned byShakespeare himself.

The 16th century equally marks the beginning of the maritime explorationsthat were to lead to the construction of the British Empire. From a kingdom thathad once been known for its sense of security, Englishmen suddenly turned to thesea and the world that was opening up around them. The first steps had been takenunder Henry VII when John Cabot in 1497 sailed in search of a Northwest Passageto China followed by a series of voyages during the 1570s to northern Canada inthe hope of finding gold and a shortcut to the Orient, as well as by travels in Africain quest of slaves to sell to West Indian plantation owners and Sir Francis Drakecircumnavigated the globe in 1577. This new tendency was inspired not only by the

need for riches but also by religion - the desire to found a new and better nation inthe wilderness. All these elements managed to counterbalance the problems of


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Elisabeth’s reign, and succeeded in generating a self-confidence that had beenmissing during previous reigns.

At the beginning of the 17th century, England and Wales contained morethan four million people. The population had nearly doubled over the previouscentury, and it continued to grow for another 50 years. London could be rankedwith the great continental cities, most of its population being constituted of poormigrants who came to the capital in search of work or charity. London was thecentre of government, of overseas trade and finance, of fashion, taste, and culture.It was ruled by a merchant oligarchy, whose wealth increased tremendously overthe course of the century as international trade expanded.

London not only ruled the English mercantile world, but it also dominatedthe rural economy of the southeast by its large demand for food and clothing. Therural economy was predominantly agricultural. Around the middle of the century itfully recovered and entered a period of sustained growth, so that a nation that couldbarely feed itself in 1600 was an exporter of grain by 1700.

Sheep raising was more frequent in the northeast and southwest, which soonbecame the location of the only significant manufacturing activity in England, thewoolen cloth industry. Wool was spun into large cloths for export to Holland,where the highly technical finishing processes were performed before it was soldcommercially. Soon, the English mercantile economy was transformed from itsprevious dependence upon a single commodity into a diversified economy thatdealt with dozens of domestic and colonial products.

Questions:

1. Indicate the reasons for Henry VIII’s break with Rome. Was the breakcaused only by personal reasons? Give reasons for the public reaction to thisdecision.

2. What is the importance of the Act of Supremacy?3. On what grounds was the royal authority based at the end of Henry VIII?4. Indicate the philosophical assumptions of the time, which influenced

Queen Elisabeth I in organising her reign.5. Point out the changes that took place during Elisabeth’s reign in education,

lifestyle and the economic field.6. Name three important writers that lived and created during the reign of

Queen Elisabeth.THE CIVIL WAR

Charles I (1625-1649)

The Tudor era clearly influenced the general outlook on life of the English,yet it represented part of a larger current that was prevailing at the time incontinental Europe. The Stuart period that was to follow after the death of QueenElisabeth brought along a more individualised development on the part of Britain,which did not follow the absolutist tendencies on the continent. The conflicts withthe despotic France of Louis XIV and the subsequent successes of England in thisconflict brought the latter a great popularity on the continent. Also it is under theStuarts that the establishment of the British Empire in North America and SouthAfrica took place.


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James VI of Scotland (1567-1625), son of Mary Queen of Scots, followedElisabeth on the throne but, his reign, unlike that of his illustrious predecessor,brought about dissent and inaugurated the first disputes with Parliament. In hisperson, however, Scotland and England were formally united and the conflicts atthe Border ceased. But there was no union of the official elements of the two states– Parliaments, Churches or laws – nor will there be until the 18th century.

The clash with Parliament arouse from James’ intention to impose his ideason the divine right of the monarch on a country where the power of Parliament wasconsiderable and had started to hold in check the authority of the monarch himself.

Continental tensions contributed to the gradual diminishing of the prestige ofmonarchy in England and brought the Crown into severe conflicts with the House ofCommons, which was opposing the taxation caused by the war expenses. Under thepressure of economic crisis, members of the Parliament of 1625 were determined toreform the customs and to limit the crown’s right to levy taxes. This led to an openconflict with the king who dissolved the Parliament in1625. Forced to call Parliamentagain in 1628, he was compelled to agree to the Petition of Right, that limited hisright to collect taxes, in return for a badly needed subsidy but soon after dissolved theParliament again. A serious quarrel with the House of Commons in 1629 led to thefact that Charles governed without Parliament for 11 years.

This period was marked by popular opposition to strict enforcement of thepractices of the Established Church and to the various devices employed by thegovernment to obtain funds. Charles removed every constitutional control upon hisactions. The conflict between Charles and his father before him, and Parliamentstemmed from their different approaches to the powers of monarchy. For James thesource of the law was the will of the Prince and the judges should follow thedirectives of the king. His opponents, however, in the spirit of the English commonLaw, viewed law as having an independent existence set above the King and aboveits subjects. The royally controlled courts of high commission and Star Chamberwaged a harsh campaign against nonconformists and Catholics, which caused largeemigrations to America, of both Puritans and Catholics.

The peace was broken by the war that took place in Scotland in 1638-40, as aresult of Charles attempts to impose the English Prayer Book to the ScottishChurch, which had been independent until then. This Scottish Revolt against theking started in fact the British Revolution. The war forced Charles to seek thefinancial aid of the Parliament. The resulting Short Parliament (13 April-5 May1640) once more met the king’s financial requests. Charles offered to abandoncertain taxes, but, as the opposition wished to discuss more fundamental issues, theking dissolved the Parliament in just three weeks.

However, the disastrous results of the second Scottish war forced the king tosurrender to the opposition, and the Long Parliament was summoned inNovember1640. The Importance of the Long Parliament resides in that it not onlyprevented the English Monarchy from hardening into an absolutism similar to thetype general in Europe at the time, but it represented a great experiment in thedirect ruling of the country by the House of Commons, period during which theCommons organised an army which waged a four-year war against the king.

The parliamentarians quickly enacted a series of measures designed to limitthe despotic monarchy. A Triennial Act provided that the sessions of Parliament

should be held no more than three years apart, while another act prohibited thedissolution of Parliament without its own consent. In Nov. 1641, the Parliament


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Although in the 1650s he was offered the crown, he refused. When he died in1658, aged only 59, all hope of continued reform died with him, as his son, Richardincapable of governing, simply left office after a period when his father’sopponents tried to use him to dismantle the civil government. A rebellion of juniorofficers led to the reestablishment of the Rump Parliament.

THE ENGLISH REVOLUTION

After Oliver’s death and the failure of his son, Richard, to rule the country, it

seemed inevitable that, in order to re-establish the authority of Parliament it wasindispensable to re-establish the authority of the king as well. Therefore, in 1660the two houses of Parliament called back Charles II from exile, period known asthe Restoration.

During this period several parties began to form the most important being theWhigs and the Tories, which were to dominate the political scene for centuries. Inthe turmoil of the political context between 1695 and 1713 party issues and partyleaders were pushed to the fore. Though party discipline was still not well formedand ideology was a rather new aspect of politics, clearly recognizable politicalparties had emerged by the end of the reign of William III.

In general, the Tories stood for the Anglican church, the land, and theprinciple of non-resistance to the royal power. They remained divided over theimminent Hanoverian succession, dreaming that James II might convert to

Protestantism so that the sanctity of the legitimate succession could be reaffirmed.The Tories opposed an expensive land war and favoured the strategy of dominatingthe Atlantic and Mediterranean shipping lanes. They believed in the divine right ofthe king and were reluctant to depose the king.

The Whigs were opponents of the monarchy, generally merchants ofLondon, blessed with brilliant leadership and an inexhaustible supply of good luck.Through their influence the Bloodless Revolution succeeded, as they understoodthe economic and political dangers to which their interests and those of the countryfor that matter would have been exposed by Jacobite Restoration of Catholicism inEngland. They therefore supported William of Orange and Mary.

The Bloodless Revolution

By the time he died in 1685, and after several conflicts with the Parliament,whom he dissolved several times, Charles was fully master of his state – financiallyindependent of Parliament and politically secure, with loyal Tory servantspredominating in local and national government. Government in the last years ofhis reign had been based upon the close co-operation of the Court and the HighChurch and the Tory Party on the other. At his death James II followed to thethrone. James tried to reintroduce Catholicism in the country. In this, he followedthe French, Jesuit model, yet he enjoyed neither the support of Parliament, nor ofthe moderate English Catholics. What James’ opponents, including Pope InnocentXI hoped to accomplish in England was a climate of religious tolerance and theytried to do this with the help of William of Orange (of Dutch descent), husband ofJames’ daughter, Mary. In Europe, the persecution of Protestants by Louis XIV andthe revocation of the edict of Nantes prepared the anti-Catholic feeling in England.

For fear that similar persecutions against the protestants could spread in England aswell made the various sects and shades of Protestants to unite against the fanatical


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policy of the King. Although the Tory majority in Parliament was reluctant todepose the king, the birth of a Prince of Wales, baptised Catholic, on June 10 madethem realise the fact that it was he who would succeed to the throne. The supportthat William of Orange enjoyed grew constantly and when in December 1668James fled England to take refuge at the court of France, the first step in theGlorious Revolution occurred as William and Mary ascended to throne. Theirarrival on the British Throne is known as the Bloodless Revolution and was meantto insure stability in a country divided by political conflicts between king andparliament and among the various religious factions. The Church remainedAnglican and through the Toleration Act of 1689 the right of religious worship wasgranted to Protestant nonconformists.

The Declaration of Rights and the Bill of Rights (1689), signed by the twonew monarchs, redefined the relationship between monarch and subjects andforbade any future Catholic succession to the throne, drastically diminishing theroyal liberties. Thus, the king could no longer suspend and dispense with the lawand the crown was forbidden to levy taxation or maintain a standing army inpeacetime without parliamentary consent. The provisions of the Bill of Rightswere, in effect, the conditions upon which the throne was offered to and acceptedby William and Mary. These events were a milestone in the gradual process bywhich practical power shifted from the monarch to Parliament and never again wasthe superiority of Parliament successfully challenged.

The Revolution had decided once and for all the balance betweenParliamentary and royal power in favour of Parliament and since 1689 onwards noBritish king ever attempted to rule without the support of Parliament or to ignorethe votes of the Commons.

After the Revolution Settlement, England did not receive a written, unalterableConstitution which would have enshrined the powers assigned to the monarchs (Williamand Mary) at their coronation. This enabled the gradual changes that monarchyunderwent in England, allowing it to adapt to the requirements of each passing age. Aalmost holy, written constitution was necessary to insure the federal union of the USafter they had cut themselves off from the Old Empire and needed a firm basis for furtherdevelopment; but in England such a strictness was quite unnecessary. Another elementthat distinguished the government of 18th century England from other governments onthe Continent were: Parliamentary control, freedom of speech, press and person, as wellas tolerance towards religious issues. But political and social power in this century wasconcentrated in the class of the landowners, which was to enhance the great evils that theIndustrial Revolution was to bring along.

The Loss of the American Colonies

George II (1727-1760) died in October 1760 and was succeeded by hisgrandson, who became George III. The new king became one of the mostcontroversial British monarchs. The event commonly associated with his reign isthe loss of the American colonies, an important blow to both his Majesty’s empireand to British assumptions and certainties in general. The independence of theAmerican colonies was nonetheless followed by further colonial expansions on thepart of Britain that culminated with the annexation in the next century of Australia,New Zealand, Canada and South Africa, whose result was the establishment of a

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Thus, in Canada, the French were carrying out a well-conceived plan of aline of military posts all the way from the mouths of the St Lawrence to the Lakes,through which they were planning to appropriate to France all northern territoriesof America. The English settlements, except Massachussets were unlikely to unitein a common policy due mainly to inner rivalries. On the other hand, the Frenchcolonists were united in obedience to their government, Church and State.

The Seven Years’ War began in 1756, the British being under the leadershipof Sir William Pitt. Pitt fought on the continent for the maintaining of the Statusquo, but overseas he successfully fought to re-establish the naval supremacy andprevent the French expansion in North America. As post-war arrangements in1763, the Treaty of Paris made the French to withdraw from the North AmericanContinent. But at the same time this colonial victory led to the disruption of thefirst British Empire because it relieved the English colonists of the danger thatmade them look for protection to the mother country.

Moreover, by the middle of the 18th century, differences in life, thought, andinterests had developed between the mother country and the growing colonies.Local political institutions and practice diverged significantly from English ways,and social customs, religious beliefs, and economic interests only added to thepotential sources of conflict.

English society was still aristocratic while American society was alreadydemocratic, the distance prevented an easy intercourse between the two countriesand emigration from England to America had slowed down since 1640. Also, thePuritans were still banned from public life in England, while in AmericaPuritanism dominated public life and Anglicanism was viewed as unfashionable.Also, in England political opinion was mainly that of landowners, while inAmerica it consisted of farmers and frontiersmen of the forest. These differences inmentalities between two societies set apart by circumstances and daily life,rendered compromise difficult, if not impossible to attain.

The British government, through the Navigation Act, had intended to regulatecommerce in the British best interests, but these rules were only loosely enforced,and the colonies were allowed to freely develop with little interference fromEngland. At the same time the ministry (1763–65) of George Grenville in GreatBritain undertook a new colonial policy intended to tighten political and fiscalcontrol over the colonies. The Americans objected to being taxed by a parliamentwhere they were not even virtually represented and opposed the Townshend Acts, which taxed numerous imports. Incidents followed rapidly, making the openconflict inevitable: the seizure of a ship belonging to John Hancock in 1768 or thebloodshed of the Boston Massacre in 1770.

Despite the revocation of the Townshend Acts in 1770, the colonies stillprotested against the Tax on Tea, considered as a sort of token of Parliament’ssupremacy. Indignation in New England regarding the monopoly granted to theEast India Company led to the Boston Tea Party in 1773. 19 April 1775 marks thebeginning of the American Revolution. The Declaration of Independence isconventionally dated the 4th of July 1776. Drawn up by Thomas Jefferson (withslight amendments), it was to be one of the great historical documents of all times,despite the fact that it did not have any immediate positive effect. The Loyalists inthe newly instated United States crossed the border to neighbouring Canada, still

under British rule, thus altering the balance between the French and the Englishspeaking colonists in the colony.


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England during the Reign of George III and the Industrial Revolution

It is during these years that industry began to develop in Britain, which wasto condition the country’s relationship with the rest of the world and to consolidateits economic position already established through trade and colonial expansion.One direct consequence of this development of industry is the changes it triggeredin the pattern of labor and working life, the focus shifting from agriculture and lifein the countryside to a gradual urbanization. Another consequence would be the

gradual disappearance of older cottage industries, and the opening of largefactories. As increasingly large numbers of people moved into the cities, attractedby the prospects of increased wages, the social scene witnessed the emergence of anew class, devoid of clear political affiliations and skeptical of those whosupposedly represented its interests in Parliament. Despite this and despite the factthat the problem was discussed extensively, social reform made little progress sothat there were basically no changes regarding the extension of the suffrage or aredistribution of parliamentary representation.

Direct consequences of the Industrial Revolution:- The rise in the number of inhabitants of Great BritainThe improvement in transportation –Communications and transport in Britain

underwent a new series of transformations and gradually, the railway, powered bythe steam engine, caused the country to get smaller.

-

The creation of the Black county in the West region where the productionof iron was concentrated. With the introduction of James Watt’s steam enginemodern mechanics was introduced and a new social class appeared.

- The immigration of the poor farmers into the new industrialised districtsand into towns.

- Rural life was almost purely agricultural, traditional and poor. The monotony ofvillage life in the 19th century was due to the migration to the industries to the urbandistricts.

- Parliament started the general enclosure system with hedges or stone walls, asystem that was grossly against the poor villagers, but which opened the way tomodern agriculture. Thus, the 18th century saw the arrival of the improving landlords,who invested in land, studied and practised a scientific type of agriculture. Wealth

increased rapidly in town and country and the contrast between the life of the rich andthat of the poor were more dramatic and more widely observable than before.

Questions:

1. Point out the differences between the Whig and the Tory parties, as theyemerge for the first time during William’s reign.

2. Which were the political and economic conditions that caused the loss ofthe American Colonies?

3. What was the attitude of the British public towards the American Revolution?

THE VICTORIAN AGE (1837–1901)

Queen Victoria was the daughter of Edward, duke of Kent and the fourth sonof George III, and Princess Mary Louise Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. At theage of 18, she succeeded her uncle, William IV, to the throne. With the accessionof a woman, the connection between the English and Hanoverian thrones ceased in


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accordance with the Salic law of Hanover2. Victoria had nine children in hermarriage with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Their marriages and those ofher grandchildren allied the British royal house with those of Russia, Germany,Greece, Denmark, and several of the German states.

What the new monarch had to do was to adapt the British system ofParliamentary Cabinet government to the new social facts created by the IndustrialRevolution, namely to allow the admission of the middle and of the workingclasses as partners in government. By a gradual transition, that took placethroughout the 19th century, political rights were extended to all social classes,without the social or political upheavals of previous ages.

The extension of political franchise, the right to vote, compelled the nation toelaborate a system of national education, which soon led to an explosion of literacyamong the middle and working classes.

Politically, the Victorian age saw the strengthening of the two-party system, theTory- the Conservatories and the Whigs – the Liberals. Parliamentary reform was also aprocess stemming out of the circumstances of the hour, culminating in 1832 when theReform Bill was passed, granting the right to vote to the working classes. One directconsequence of the Reform Bill was the abolition of slavery in the British Empire by theAct of 1833, though they continued to be used extensively in the US.

Socially, there was an unprecedented increase in the population of the island,which led to high levels of unemployment. A constant stream of emigration headedto Canada, Australia and South Africa. Under lord Durham the Colonial Office setup a coherent policy regarding emigration, that encouraged English agriculturists tohead for the dominions.

As far as the relations with US are concerned, the latter were in a veryexpansionist mood, conquering nature and peopling a continent with unprecedentedspeed that threatened Canada’s rights of expansion westward. In 1846 the frontierbetween Canada and the US was settled along the line of latitude 49O. Theseamiable relations between the two countries were troubled by the American CivilWar 1861-65 and continued for several years after the war had ended to be settledat Geneva in 1872. The Boer Wars in South Africa (1899-1902) shook the publicopinion of the Metropolis almost to the same extent as the loss of the AmericanColonies, the previous century, while the inter-racial conflicts in Canada led to thecreation of a self-administering Federal Union in 1867.

Religion

Perhaps the most profound challenge to religion came with Charles Darwin’sOn the Origin of Species, another of the great books of the remarkable year 1859.Darwin’s theories influenced and bolstered the Critical sense of many Victorians,echoing other scientific discoveries that were challenging the religious beliefs ofthe time. Yet a strong moral sense remained and could be felt in all manifestationsof social life. The English religious spectrum was very complex. The Church ofEngland was flanked on one side by Rome and on the other by religious dissent.The Roman Catholic church was growing in importance not only in the Irishsections of the industrial cities, but also among university students and teachers.Dissent had a grip on the whole culture of large sections of the middle classes, and

2 Rule of succession in certain royal and noble families of Europe, forbidding females and thosedescended in the female line to succeed to the titles or offices in the family


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the age also witnessed the appearance of a whole network of local voluntarybodies, led either by Anglicans or Dissenters, usually in rivalry. However, therewere thousands of people in mid-Victorian England quite indifferent toward themessage of Christianity, a fact that was demonstrated by the religious census of1851. Although movements like the Salvation Army attempted to attract the poorof the great cities, they did not manage to convert significant numbers of people. InScotland, where the Church of Scotland had been fashioned by the people againstthe crown, there was a revival of Presbyterianism in the 1820s and '30s, whereas inWales there was a particularly vigorous rise of conformity.

Lifestyle

Mid-Victorian England was relatively quiet. The family was regarded bymost mid-Victorians as the central institution in society. Nationally a kind ofbalance was achieved between the busy industrial north and midlands and the moretranquil countryside.

Also, an important feature of the age is the emphasis placed on the new idealof the self-made man, which did not supersede, however, that of “gentleman”.There was far more talk during this period of self-help than there was of classconflict; the Victorian society was a very stable one, its main theories resting onthe assumption that class dividing lines could and should stay unchanged, providedthat individuals in each class could move. Also, a more severe discipline was felt at

all levels. As far as the moral assumptions of the time are concerned, Victorianism came to represent a cluster of moral attributes "character," "duty," "will,"earnestness, hard work, respectable comportment and behaviour, and thrift, whichwere not only embraced by the bourgeoisie, but also by other social classes, be itaristocracy or the merchant class.

In the Victorian age, the middle class had achieved the political power itneeded to hold and consolidate the economic position it had already obtained.Industry and commerce burgeoned. While the affluence of the middle classincreased, the lower classes, thrown off their land and into the cities to form thegreat urban working class, lived ever more wretchedly. The social changes wereswift and brutal and the intellectuals and artists of the age had to deal in some waywith the confusion in society, the obvious inequities that divided the very rich andthe very poor, a situation which strongly contrasted with the emphasis on public

rectitude and moral propriety, emanating from the throne of Queen Victoria. Also,the general level of literacy allowed the middle and lower classes access to writtenforms of entertainment, the most popular of which being the novel.

The position of women underwent no significant change, despite the fact thatthe head of Victorian society was a woman. Within working class householdswomen handled the same tasks and had to endure the same treatment as before.Working women however existed but were mainly employed in the domesticservice. Middle class women could also become governesses, a respectable but illrewarded position. Another possible alternative was that of teaching or of nursing,with Florence Nightingale who triggered the change in mentalities that led do thetransformation of nursing into an acceptable and respectable career for a woman.

Questions:

1.

What is the importance of the Industrial Revolution on the whole of Britishsociety? What triggered it off?


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2. Name the consequences of the increasing welfare of the middle class.3. Did industrialisation in England have a dark side as well? Which was it? Name

one Victorian author that depicted this side of English society in his/her novels.4. Which were the most important events for the British Empire, that took

place during the reign of queen Victoria?5. Point out the changes in mentalities during the Victorian age. By what

were these changes triggered?6. Which were the tenets of Victorian thought?7. Describe the religious spectrum in Victorian Britain.

WORLD WAR ONE

Edward VII, Victoria's successor came to the throne at 59; he had never beenon good terms with his mother, whose way of life was sharply different from his.He, too, gave his name to an age: flamboyant, ostentatious, sometimes vulgar andstrident, with picturesque contrasts of fortune and circumstance. Changes ineconomic conditions during the last decades of the century were obviously ofcrucial importance. Mid-Victorian prosperity had reached its peak in a boom thatcollapsed in 1873. Although agriculture and industry began to face competitionfrom other European countries, England dominated the world scene as banker andfinancier, with the City of London at the centre of international markets of capital,money, and commodities.

The economic basis of the imperial power was still impressive, as Britainwas, in the inter-war period, the world leader in industrial development and trade.Despite a very strong nationalism within the metropolis, the unity of the empirewas beginning to be threatened by the first stirrings of indigenous nationalism,perceivable both in native possessions, like Egypt or India, and in the whitedominions, more particularly in South Africa. As far as external relations wereconcerned, an increasing conflict with other colonialist powers – Russia andFrance, but also America, Japan and Germany – was felt.

After the Napoleonic wars, with the exception of the Crimean war, and untilthe First World War, Great Britain maintained a policy of ‘splendid isolation’ inthe affairs of the continent. The changes in the power balance on the continent andoutside Europe rendered necessary the defining of a clear set of alliances. Analliance with Japan was made, originally to counterbalance the advance of Russia

on to the shores of the Pacific and to prevent the partition of China by Russia,Germany and France. This alliance also favoured the development of the first’coloured’ Great Power, to which other European powers were hostile. As theattempts to secure a Entente with Germany were rejected, British efforts weredirected to the French Republic and the Russian Tsar.

The British declaration of war on Germany on 4 August 1914 brought an endto the threat of civil war in Ireland. The Allies (Great Britain, France, Russia,Serbia, Montenegro, Japan and Belgium) and the Central Powers (Germany, theOttoman Empire and Austria-Hungary) fought a war at an unprecedented scale andviolence, whose real reasons lied in the imperialistic, territorial, and economicrivalries that had been intensifying from the late 19th century, particularly amongGermany, France, Great Britain, Russia, and Austria-Hungary, and which had beentriggered by the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary

by a Serbian nationalist in 1914.


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After four years of war, whose total losses were about 10 million dead and 20million wounded, figures further increased by the starvation and epidemics whichraised the total in the immediate postwar years, German resources were exhausted andGerman morale had collapsed. The war ended without a single truly decisive battlehaving been fought, and Germany lost the war while its troops were still occupyingterritory from France to Crimea. World War I and the resulting peace treaties radicallychanged the face of Europe and precipitated political, social, and economic changes.

Consequences of the War

On the social level, World War I affected Britain more fundamentally thanany other of the Western allies, and far more, it would appear, than did World WarII, as it had provided the occasion for massive governmental experiments ineconomic enterprise, in insurance, in the management of the railroads and coalmines, and above all in the huge ministry of munitions. The experience acquiredduring the war in these fields was successfully used after the war in domesticimprovements. The war also brought about the idea that the government was theideal employer and represented a massive catalyst for social and economic change.

Secondly, the war blurred the frontiers between the classes and the sexes sothat soon the distinction between the common worker and the gentleman becamequite old-fashioned. The employee-employer relationship changed as well,involving less fear and also less respect on the part of the former toward the latter.

The war also changed the position of women, bringing political, and to someextent economic and social emancipation. With the outbreak of war, women’smovement had turned its attention to the military effort. Large numbers of women wereemployed by the ministry of munitions, smaller numbers by private armament makersagainst serious opposition by unions, and still fewer in government and private offices,but the war also brought them the political emancipation in 1918, while in 1928 theage when women acquired the right to vote became the same with the men’s.

Economically Britain had been hurt severely. By the end of the war Britainhad moved from the position of a creditor to that of a debtor nation. Moreover, itsindustrial power, already out of date at the start of the war depreciated even more.The new global economy caused the industries of the Industrial Revolution, uponwhich British prosperity had been built, to become now either weakened orredundant, as other countries occupied the market for those particular products in

the trade of which Britain had once held supremacy. The provisions of the Treatyof Versailles prevented Britain from resuming trade with Germany, previously itslargest foreign customer.

As far as the political plan is concerned, the most remarkable changes wererepresented by the new Representation of the People Act (1918), which, asmentioned above, gave free voting rights to all men and women over 30. Anotherimportant political fact is the almost complete disappearance from the politicalscene of the Liberal party formerly known as Tory and the unprecedentedascension of the Labour Party, which enjoyed the support of the Trade-unions andrepresented the interests of the large working masses.

1919 marks the beginning of the open conflicts in Ireland, as the provisionalgovernment of Ireland, organized by the Sinn Féin party, started guerrilla militaryoperations against the British administration. On 6 December 1921, afterprolonged negotiations, the British government and the Irish rebels signed a treatyallowing the establishment of the dominion government in Dublin.


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Another important co-ordinate of the postwar period is the gradual autonomygained by the former British colonies and their transformation into self-governingdominions. Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa were granted the rightto decide both in their domestic and foreign affairs, by the second Status fromWestminster (1931), from now on the only connection between England and the nationsforming the Commonwealth remaining the king himself. As a result of the Status, theParliament of GB should legislate for the Dominions only at their own request, and theking could take no advice about appointments or other action in the dominions exceptfrom Dominion statesmen. In the post war it is no longer Parliament but the crown that

unites the Empire, in a more symbolic fashion, though in law as well.Questions:

1. Indicate the political and economic causes of World War I.2. Who were the two parties in conflict? Name the countries constituting the

two camps.3. What historic event caused the two parties to open the hostilities?4. Describe the social and economic consequences of the war on Britain.5. Emphasize the changes the war brought about on the political scene.6. What changes occurred in the colonies after the First World War?7. What would be the role of the monarch following the Status from Westminster?8. Which had been the first colony to be given the right to establish a

dominion government in 1921? Which were the colonies that followed?

THE SECOND WORLD WAR

After World War I, the defeated forces, Germany, Italy, and Japan, anxious toregain their power and authority on the world scene, gradually began to developforms of dictatorship that granted supreme powers to the state and began to expandtheir territories at the expense of neighbouring countries. Also, in July 1936, therevolution against the Republican government of Spain broke out, led byconservative forces within the Spanish army under the command of GeneralFrancisco Franco, who, with the help of Germany and Italy eventually defeated thedemocratic forces and installed the fascist dictatorship.

In May 1939 Germany and Italy signed a full military alliance, and, after theSoviet-German non-aggression pact (August 1939) had removed German fears of a

possible two-front war, Germany was ready to launch an attack on Poland. WorldWar II began on 1 September 1939, when Germany, without a declaration of war,invaded Poland. Britain and France declared war on Germany on 3 September, andall the members of the Commonwealth of Nations, except Ireland, rapidly followedtheir example. The fighting in Poland was brief. The German Blitzkrieg, orlightning war, with its use of new techniques of mechanized and air warfare,crushed the Polish defences, and, by the time the Soviet forces entered the territory,the conquest was almost complete.

Great Britain gained a new ally on June 22, 1941, when Germany (joined byItaly, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, and Finland), invaded the Soviet Union. ByDecember 1941, Germany had destroyed a substantial part of the Soviet army andhad conquered much of European Russia but its troops were soon brought to a stopby the harsh Russian winter.

Despite its determination to maintain its neutrality, the United States wasgradually drawn into war by the unannounced attack of Japan on Pearl Harbour in


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December 1941. War was declared on 8 December o

Documents

Istoria Si Civilizatia Britanica de La Origini Pana in Prezent-geografic Si Istoric