British History in Brief

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ФГБОУ ВО «Оренбургский государственный педагогический университет»

Хартунг В.Ю.

BRITISH HISTORY IN BRIEF (краткий курс истории Великобритании) (учебное пособие)

Допущено УМС ОГПУ в качестве учебного пособия для обучающихся по направлению подготовки 44.03.05 Педагогическое образование (с двумя профилями подготовки) по дисциплинам»История и культура страны изучаемого языка», «Страноведение и лингвострановедение»

Оренбург 2019

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УДК 97:806 ББК 81.2 (Англ)

Рецензенты С.В. Мангушев, кандидат филологических наук, доцент Л.Э. Безменова, кандидат филологических наук, доцент

Хартунг В.Ю. British history in brief (краткий курс истории Великобритании): учебное пособие / В.Ю. Хартунг. – Оренбург, 2019. – 66 с. Данное пособие содержит краткую информацию по основным вехам исторического, политического и культурного развития Великобритании с эпохи неолита до наших дней. Основное внимание уделяется логике исторического развития и роли страны в контексте мировой истории. Пособие предназначено для учащихся педагогических вузов по направлению

подготовки

по

направлению

подготовки

44.03.05

«Педагогическое образование с двумя профилями подготовки».

УДК 97:806 ББК 81.2 (Англ) © Хартунг В.Ю.., 2019

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Оглавление

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Введение

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Unit 1

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The Early Days of Britain 3

Unit 2

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Anglo-Saxon Britain 4

Unit 3

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The Norman Conquest and the Late Middle Ages 5

Unit 4

25

Pre-Renaissance England 6

Unit 5

33

The Tudor Age 7

Unit 6

41

The Stuarts - Crown and Parliament 8

Unit 7

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Britain in the 18th – 19th centuries 9

Unit 8

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Britain in the 20th Century 10 Список использованной литературы

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Введение Настоящее пособие предназначено для студентов педагогических вузов по профилю «Иностранный язык (английский)», изучающих дисциплины «Страноведение и лингвострановедение» и «История и культура страны изучаемого языка». Пособие носит комплементарный характер и является дополнительным к основному учебнику. В основе процесса обучения лежит компетентностный подход, обеспечивающий подготовку специалиста, способного решать определенный класс профессиональных задач, что предполагает наличие совокупности интегрированных качеств личности: знаний, умений, навыков, способов деятельности. Целью

данного

пособия

является

формирование

элементов

социокультурной и межкультурной компетенций, а также способности толерантно воспринимать социальные, культурные и личностные различия. Учебное пособие представляет собой краткий конспект лекций по теме «Основные вехи исторического развития Великобритании» и состоит из восьми разделов, выделенных на основании исторической периодизации и логики исторического развития страны. Каждый раздел сопровождается блоком вопросов и заданий по изучаемой теме. Содержание учебного пособия соответствует требованиям ФГОС ВО по направлению подготовки 44.03.05 «Педагогическое образование» (с двумя профилями подготовки.

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Unit 1 The Early Days of Britain Early Settlers The earliest human culture on the British Isles dates back as far as the Ice Age (approximately 10 000 B. C.). The territory of the British Isles back then was still a part of the continent and the river Thames was just a tributary of the Rhine. Most of the mountainous Britain was covered with snow all the year round and the rest of the territory was a vast tundra-like plain which served as a natural habitat for numerous herds of deer. The deer provided food and clothing for small groups of prehistoric people – hunters, fishers and gatherers. They did not build any settlement, but followed the wandering deer, their main source of food. With the end of the Ice Age, as the climate grew warmer and the glaciers began to melt, the sea-level rose and by about 5000

BC

the territory of the British

Isles got separated from the mainland by the North Sea and the English Channel. The climatic changes caused changes in vegetation and most of the British lowland became heavily forested. The deer, deprived of their natural habitat, died out, and the prehistoric people lost their main food supply and with that any chance to develop their own civilization. But the British Isles with their favourable geographical position and warm climate attracted numerous groups of settlers from the mainland. The first wave of New Stone Age settlers came to the British Isles in about 3000 BC from the Iberian Peninsular. They came by sea in small boats which could carry only two people. The Iberians were not wanderers or hunters. They grew corn crops and kept animals. They made tools of stone and later, after they discovered metals, of bronze. Being unable to cut down trees with their primitive tools they settled mostly in deforested hilly and mountainous areas of today’s Cornwall, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The Iberians were short people with dark hair and dark eyes. Obviously, later they would assimilate with other invaders, the Celts, as dark-haired and darkeyed population can still be found in some regions of Ireland, Scotland and even 4

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Wales. They built houses of stone roofed by sod and connected by passages. Skara Brae, in the Orkney Islands is the best preserved Stone Age site in Western Europe. We do not know much about their religious views, but they most certainly existed as the Iberians practiced certain burial rituals and built great circles of upright stones surrounded by earth-banks and ditches. These "henges" might have been used as temples, graves or served for some other purposes. The largest stone henge in England is at Avebury, near Bath. But the most spectacular and by far the best known of them is the Stonehenge in Wiltshire, which was built in separate stages over a period of more than a thousand years. Stonehenge had an outer ring of 30 upright sarsen stones of which only 17 remain standing. Each vertical stone weighs fifty tons or more. The Celts The next group of settlers began to arrive in about 700

BC.

They were tall

people with fair skin, fair or red hair and blue eyes. The Celts probably trace their origin to Central or Southern Europe and they had moved westward till they occupied the most part of the continent and finally reached the British Isles.

Map 1

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The Celtic tribes which arrived in Britain were the Britons, the Scots, the Picts and the Gaels. The Britons settled in the South of the main island, the Picts moved to the territory of today’s Scotland, the Scots originally settled in Ireland and later returned to the main island and fought for the territory with the Picts. The Celts kept coming to Britain in waves for about 700 years. The last tribal group to come was, probably, the Belgic tribes in about 100 BC. What we know about the early Celts comes mostly from archeological findings and from scarce written sources like the Travelling Notes by Pytheus, a traveller from Massilia, the works of the Greek historian Herodotus and Caesar’s “Commentaries on the Gallic War”. According to Caesar “the Celts were tall and blue-eyed people. Men had long moustaches (but no beards) and wore shirts, kneelong trousers and striped or checked cloaks which they fastened with a pin. Both men and women were obsessed with the idea of cleanliness and neatness. Neither man nor woman, however poor, was seen either ragged or dirty”. The Celts were more advanced than the Iberians. They knew iron and could make more advanced tools. That enabled them to start cutting down the forests and thus gave them an opportunity to settle in the lowland south-eastern part of the 6

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island. Their introduction of more advanced technology and ploughing methods made it possible to cultivate heavier soils. The Celts were sophisticated farmers who brought new agricultural techniques that increased food production in Britain. They could grow enough food to support their growing population and to trade. The Celts were organized into different tribes headed by tribal chiefs, military leaders who came to power by force or election. Later some chiefs of bigger tribes became known as kings. Celtic peoples were known for their fierce attacks as well as for their artistic achievements. They knew pottery, blacksmith and goldsmith craft, textile production. Women in the Celtic society were relatively independent and even fought alongside with men. It is known that some tribes were even headed by women. Celtic religion was dedicated to a number of deities that they believed inhabited the forests and fens of Britain. The Druid priests made sacrifices and served as teachers, judges, and religious leaders. The descendants of the Celts still live on the British Isles. They are the Welsh, the Scottish and the Irish. The languages of the Celtic origin (Welsh, Scottish Gaelic and Irish Gaelic) are still spoken by some part of the population. Celtic borrowings are scarce in Modern English. They are about a dozen common nouns, most of them dialectal, like cradle, bannock, cart, down, loch and geographical names like London, Leeds and

Kent, Avon and Evan, Thames,

Severn, etc. The Romans The Romans came to Britain for various reasons. In the first place they wanted to prevent the cooperation between the insular Celts and the continent Gaels with who the Romans were at war. Besides, the Romans were eager to make use of British corn production, their tin and to turn the Celts into slaves. Emperor Julius Caesar led the Roman legions into Britain in 55 B.C. and returned a year later with even bigger army. Though the raid was successful and the Celts were defeated, the Romans left soon after having taken hostages and a huge tribute. 7

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The real invasion began almost 90 years later. In 43 AD Emperor Claudius established Roman authority over Britain. The Celts did not surrender to the invaders eagerly. The hilly districts in the West and swampy forests in the East were difficult to subdue, and the Romans had to station their legions all over Britain to defend their towns. Many of the tribes revolted against the invades. One of the greatest revolts was led by Queen Boadicea (Boadica), the leader of the Iceni tribe. As the Roman legions were away fighting in Wales the Iceni seized the opportunity to revolt. They killed a lot of Romans and burned down Roman towns and cities. But the revolt did not last long. The Romans marched back from Wales, locked the Celts into a trap and easily defeated them. Though the Iceni outnumbered the Romans almost ten times, the legionnaires were much better trained and disciplined. The Romans did not manage to conquer Scotland (Caledonia) and had to built a high wall in the North to defend the territory they controlled from the raids of the Picts and the Scots. Hadrian’s Wall stretched across northern Britain from the mouth of the Tyne to Solway Firth. Built of stone, mortar, sod, and clay, Hadrian’s Wall was 73 miles long, 10 feet thick and 20 feet high.

Map 2

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The Romans established Romano-British culture across the southern half of Britain. The country became one more Roman province which not only suffered from Roman governance but also enjoyed the benefits of Roman civilization. One of the greatest achievements of the Roman Empire was its system of roads. They not only enabled speedy movement of troops, but also made trade and transportation easier. The Romans also dug first British canals. Being town dwellers, the Romans founded a lot of new towns and cities. The main towns were Colchester, York, Dover, Bath and London. They were typical Roman settlements with such public buildings as basilicas, baths, law-courts, and temples. The heart of each settlement was a forum. In the countryside the Romans built numerous villas. The Romans brought the skills of reading and writing to Britain. The British elite could speak and read Latin. Christianity also came to Britain from Rome in the 3-d century AD.

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The Roman control over Britain lasted for about 300 years. It was over when the Empire itself began to collapse in its fight with barbaric tribes. The last Roman soldiers left Britain in the early 400s, leaving Britain to its fate.

Questions and Tasks 1. What did the British territory look like in the Ice Age? 2. What kind of life did the prehistoric people live? 3. What caused the extinction of the prehistoric population? 4. Where did the first settlers on the British Isles come from? When did it happen? 5. Why did they settle in the mountainous regions? 6. What kind of monuments did they leave on the territory of the British Isles? 7. When did the Celts start to arrive in Britain? 8. How do we get the information about the early Celts? 9. What do you know about the economy of the Celts? What do you know about their societal organization? 10.What kind of religious views did they have? 11.What brought the Romans to Britain? 12.When did the massive invasion start? 13.What for was the Hadrian wall built? 14.How did the Romans change the life of the local population? 15.What made the Romans leave the British Isles?

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Unit 2 Anglo-Saxon Britain

Germanic Invasion The wealth of Britain accumulated by the fourth century tempted a lot of invaders. In the 4th century AD, even before the Romans left Britain Germanic tribes started raiding the British coasts. At the beginning they just came to plunder: take away the cattle and corn supplies and be away before the Celts could counterattack. But as the Romans left, Britain split into a great number of smaller kingdoms with no central power, which could offer no resistance to greater and greater numbers of Germanic invaders who began to conquer the country. The newcomers began to settle after 430 AD. The Germanic tribes which came to live on the British Isles were the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes. The Jutes were the smallest in number and after their arrival settled in Kent. The Angles occupied most of the territories in eastern and central Britain and the Saxons settled in the south and south-west. These migrations gave the country its new name, England, "the land of the Angles". The information about the early period of Anglo-Saxon invasion comes from archaeological evidence and from the book History of the English Church and People written by an English monk named Bede three hundred years later. Venerable Bede is considered to be the first English historian as he was the first to question the accuracy of sources and had a sense of historical structure. He was also the first historian to date from the birth of Christ. The newcomers were fierce, warlike and illiterate. A Roman writer, Sidonius Apollinaris, described the Germanic invaders as “scruffy, blond giants.”

The

Germans were rural dwellers. They had a mixed economy of agriculture, hunting, and animal husbandry. They used money and were quite good craftsmen. Hard as the Celts tried to resist the invaders they were still defeated and by 570 were forced west of Gloucester to the territory of today’s Wales and Cornwall. The medieval legends of King Arthur and his Round Table may have originated in 11

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the Saxon period. Arthur may have been a Roman-Celtic leader named Ambrosius Aurelianus who led an assault on the German invaders. In the north, other Celts were driven into the lowlands of the country which became known as Scotland.

Map 3

By the beginning of the 7th century, the invaders formed 7 kingdoms on the conquered territory which later came to be known as England. These were Kent (the kingdom of Jutes), Sussex, Wessex, Essex (the lands of the South, West and East Saxons), Northumbria, East Anglia (populated mostly by the Angles) and Mercia (with mixed population. (See Map 3.) The Anglo-Saxon society had features of both communal and feudal organization. All Anglo-Saxon kingdoms shared similar characteristics: 

They were headed by king, whose leadership position depended not on

birth, but on his leadership in war. One of the kings of the seven kingdoms was acknowledged as the “ruler of Britain,” or Bretwalda. 

Anglo-Saxon kings were elected by the members of the Witan, the

Council of Chieftains, and in their decisions were advised by the councillors. 12

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

There existed a strong kinship group of nobles duty-bound to protect

the honor and welfare of their kin, who later developed into aldermen – local officials and earls – warlords. 

The law that they had was customary law - neither the king nor his

council (the Witan) could make law. Instead, they declared a custom. 

When the Germanic tribes arrived they had polytheistic religion: they

worshipped the old Norse gods. Days of the week were named after these gods: Tig (Tuesday), Wodin (Wednesday), Thor (Thursday), Frei (Friday). 

They knew no written language. Though there existed an Anglo-

Saxon version of a runic alphabet (futhorc), it was not in common use. The majority of the population, kings including, remained illiterate. Epic poems, like Beowulf, were oral traditions. The period covering the 7th – 11th centuries saw the transition from the tribal system to feudalism. The kingdoms kept fighting for the supreme power in the country. The first to claim the ‘kingship of English’ was king Offa of Mercia, who became powerful enough due to important diplomatic and commercial ties with the Continent. He was successful in his military operations and even managed to build a huge dyke along the border with Wales to protect his kingdom from Celtic raids. Parts of this earth wall still exist and the construction is known as Offa’s Dyke. After Offa’s death, though, Mercia lost its supremacy. Later another kingdom, Wessex, would become the nucleus of a united England, and West Saxon kings would ultimately become the English kings. The first man who we can call the King of England was Egbert I of Wessex although he never wore the crown of all English. The forces which encouraged the unification of England (between 600-900 A.D) were: 

The development of a strong monarchy



The return of Christianity.



The outer enemy.

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Christianity Originally Christianity was brought to Britain by the ancient Romans. The Celtic bishops went out from their monasteries of Wales, Ireland and Scotland, walking from village to village teaching Christianity. Celtic Christianity differed greatly from Roman Catholic Christianity that took power in medieval Europe. The Celtic church was not centralized and religious life centered round independent monasteries. The Roman Church was interested in authority and organization. The Celtic Church had to retreat as Rome extended its authority over all Christians. We remember that Anglo-Saxons were pagan when they arrived in Britain. In 597 Pope Gregory the Great sent a monk, Augustine, to re-establish Christianity in England. He went to Canterbury, the capital of the king of Kent. Here a new church was build and Augustine became the first Archbishop of Canterbury in 601. Augustine was very successful in spreading Christianity all over the country. He concentrated on bringing rulers to the new faith and the new faith was soon accepted by several ruling families. By 660 only Sussex and the Isle of Wight had not accepted Christianity. English kings helped the Church to establish its power, but the Church also increased the power of the kings. The Church became a vital part of the Anglo-Saxon society. They were efficient farmers and introduced new methods of land cultivating. They influenced English foreign policy, helping to establish international diplomatic ties. The monasteries became places of learning and education. At the urging of Augustine, King Ethelbert issued the first written laws in England (called dooms). The Danish Invasion From the end of the eighth century new invaders were tempted by Britain's wealth. These were the Vikings, who came from Norway and Denmark. In British history they became known as the Danes. At the beginning they only raided the country, burnt down churches and monasteries, took cattle and captives. But in the second half of the 9th century they came to settle. This time they spared the local 14

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population and even let some English kings stay as puppet rulers. The Vikings quickly accepted Christianity and established their power over the greater part of eastern and central England. The English language still bears some traces of this invasion. The words of Scandinavian origin in Modern English are: outlaw, husband, awkward, happy, ugly, weak, skull, skin, bull, knife, trust, crawl, scare, take, want, birth, etc. Due to the fact that Scandinavian and Germanic languages are related there appeared some etymological doublets (shirt – skirt). By 875 only King Alfred of Wessex held out against the Vikings. He won a decisive battle in 878 (Battle of Edington), and captured London in 886. The Leaders of the Danes were baptized at Alfred’s court. The Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum (880?) was signed, according to which Viking rule was recognized in the east and north of England. The territory was called Danelag (the Danelaw) as the Danish laws applied there. In the rest of the country Alfred was recognized as king. King Alfred (r. 871-899) was the greatest of the Wessex Bretwaldas and is considered the first true King of England. King Alfred played a great role in history of Britain. 

He reformed the national army, the fyrd, to fight the Danes. King

Alfred made the fyrd into a true standing army, with members required to serve on a rotating basis year-round. 

He built a network of roads and a line of fortifications—the burghs—

which soon developed into towns and cities. 

He began the construction of a navy to fight the Danes on the sea.



He made the Anglo-Saxon laws—the dooms—apply uniformly over

England. 

King Alfred revived literacy and learning in the country, encouraging

the nobles to learn. He was the only Anglo-Saxon king who wrote and translated books. He encouraged the monks to keep the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, an invaluable source of information about medieval England.

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

His reign was the climax of the trend to political unification. It was the

first stage in the development of English royal government. Alfred is the only English king to be called ‘the Great’. Unfortunately, his successors did not live up to his achievements. At the end of the 10th century the Danish resumed their invasion. The English tried to buy off the Vikings, and as a result, the Danes imposed on them a heavy tax called the Danegeld in 991, which amounted to 10,000 pounds in silver yearly. Under Ethelred “the Unready” England lost all the gains achieved by King Alfred. At the beginning of the 11th century the English, due to poor leadership, could no longer resist the Danes who took over the greatest part of the territory. The Witan decided that a Danish king was better than no king at all and made the Danish king Cnut, or Canute, the king of England. Canute was also the king of Denmark and Norway (1016-1035). Canute was a wise ruler. He understood that the country had its own traditions and tried not to interfere with them. He preserved many of the old Anglo-Saxon laws introduced by Alfred. As he had to be absent for a long time taking care of other parts of his vast realm, he divided England into 4 earldoms: Northumbria, East Anglia Wessex and Mercia, and appointed an earl to be the head of each earldom. He made no difference between Danish and Anglo-Saxon noblemen, thus gaining the support of the Anglo-Saxon feudal lords. He was a good Christian and a protector of monasteries. Canute reigned in England until he died. His reign was a peaceful one. After his death his successors could not keep England under Danish rule and the throne went to Edward the Confessor, the son of Ethelred the Unready and his Norman wife, Emma. He restored the Saxon rule but, having spent most of his grown-up life in Normandy, made England open to Norman influence. He invited Norman priests and nobles to his court. Edward was very pious. He spent most of his time dealing with religious matters, neglecting his duties of the country’s leader. He built the first Abbey at Westminster, which was completed only eight days before his death. Edward the Confessor was the last Saxon king on the English throne. 16

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Questions and Tasks 1.

Which Germanic tribes invaded the territory of the British Isles?

Where did they settle? 2.

Why could the Celts not resist the invaders?

3.

What was the societal organization of the Germanic tribes? What was

their economy? 4.

Show on the map the first Germanic kingdoms on the territory of the

British Isles. 5.

What characteristics did all Anglo-Saxon kingdoms share?

6.

What do you know about the struggle of different kingdoms for the

supreme power in the country? 7.

Which forces encouraged the unification of England?

8.

How did the Roman Catholic Church establish its power in England?

Was its influence beneficial? 9.

What do you know about the Danish invasion?

10.

What was King Alfred’s role in history of Britain?

11.

How did it happen that the throne of England went to a Danish king?

12.

Who was the last king of the Wessex dynasty?

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Unit 3 The Norman Conquest and the Late Middle Ages The struggle for the English crown. Edward the Confessor, the last English king of the Wessex dynasty, died childless on January 5, 1066, leaving no apparent heirs. The country got into a deep political crisis. There were three claimants to the English throne: Harold Godwinson, Edward the Confessor’s brother-in-law, the most powerful earl in England and a proven military leader; Harold Hardrada, King of Norway, who claimed England as the successor of Cnut, and Duke William of Normandy, who claimed that Edward had promised him the throne. The Witan that did not want to see England turned into a battleground chose to accept Harold Godwinson as the King of England, but that failed to stop the other claimants. The first to make a move was the King of Norway, supported by Harold Godwinson’s brother Tostig. The northerners landed on the coast of Northumbria in September 1066, but were taken by surprise by the advance of Harold’s army and defeated in the battle at Stamford Bridge on September 25, 1066. Three days later William of Normandy and his forces landed at Pevensey Bay. Harold had to march his army to the south as quickly as possible and he met William’s army at Hastings on October, 14. The English fought bravely, but the battle was lost and Harold gave his life in the battlefield. The reasons why the Anglo-Saxon army failed are the following: •

The Normans equaled the Anglo-Saxon forces in number, but were

superior in quality. •

The Normans used a skilful combination of heavy-armoured cavalry

and archers. •

The Anglo-Saxons had a small cavalry which was mainly Harold’s

bodyguard. •

The English footmen usually fought standing close together, so they

were not very mobile. •

The hastily gathered peasants were poorly armed.

•

Saxon archers were not dangerous for the Normans who wore armour. 18

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After the battle was over William marched to London where the Witan had no other choice but proclaim him the King of England after which the Witan was dissolved. William the Conqueror was crowned at Westminster on Christmas Day, 1066. The imposition of Norman Rule. The feudal system. William the Conqueror held the English throne until his death in 1087. In those twenty years Anglo-Saxon England became Norman England. This was done by a combination of efficient policy, advanced military skills and the feudal social system evolved by the Normans. William replaced the Anglo-Saxon lords with his own men at all strategic places in the country. The Norman barons, who had supported William, were rewarded with land and wealth and they readily seized their chance. Without delay they built castles for themselves, from where they could dominate their land and keep their soldiers and cavalry to ensure their security. The castles could be built only with royal permission, which gave William the control over the country and the barons. At the beginning the castles were made of timber, later they were replaced by substantial stone structures. The Tower of London, William’s residence, is a typical example of a Norman castle. The English kept rebelling against the new rule during the first five years of William’s reign, but all the attempts failed. Some ten thousand Norman barons were able to exercise power over the country with the population of about a million people. The form of social organization introduced by the Normans would later be called the “feudal system”. According to this universal system all land belonged to the king. Under him were his tenants-in-chief, powerful lords, who were given land in exchange for support and military service. They, in their turn, had their own vassals bound by loyalty and military support. A vassal had to swear a sacred oath to his lord and the lord had a duty of care to his vassal. The feudal system in England differed from that on the continent in its guarding principle: “the vassal of my vassal is my vassal”. Unlike French kings William made all the barons pledge alliance to him directly in order to reduce the possibility of feudal revolts and establish better control over the country. 19

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The obligations of a feudal vassal to his lord were the following: 

Provision of mounted men for service in his lord’s army.



Hospitality for his lord.



“Aids”: special money payments given to the lord on certain special

occasions. 

Payment of ransom for the lord if he was taken prisoner.

The lords in their turn had the following rights and duties to their vassals: 

Provide protection for his vassal and the vassal’s family and heirs.



Give justice in disputes between vassals.



Approve the marriage of a vassal’s heirs or the re-marriage of his

widow. 

Administer the vassal’s estate during the minority of his child.



Collect a special payment when an estate passed to a new heir.

Though the complicated and varied social organization of the Anglo-Saxon society had been replaced by feudalism, William preserved some features of Anglo-Saxon self-governing system. The system of shire courts and local government remained. Feudal courts held by the lords now operated alongside the shire and hundred moots. William was in urgent need of accurate information about the country he was to rule, the property, military and other resources at his disposal. According to Anglo-Saxon Cronicles in 1086 he “sent his men all over England, into every shire to find out what property every inhabitant of England possessed in land, or in cattle, and how much money this was worth…” This survey would establish who held what property; it would also clarify what rights and dues were owed to the King, in soldiers or tax. The survey resulted in a many-volumed document that got the name of Domesday Book, after God's final Day of Judgement, when every soul would be assessed and against which there could be no appeal. The document was unparalleled in contemporary Europe and provided to be of great importance for administrative and legal purposes.

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There were only 18 towns of over 2000 inhabitants in the Domesday England of 1086. Of these towns, the two largest, London and Winchester, were left out of the Domesday Book entirely. The population of the entire country was probably between 1.2 and 1.5 million, most of them in the south and the east. It is interesting that several of the Domesday towns, like Oxford and York, continued to grow during the medieval period, while others like Wallingford, Thetford, and Dunwich became quiet backwaters. The Domesday book recorded all landworkers as serfs or villains, who were not free to leave their villages and compelled to do a fixed amount of work on their lord’s land and pay rents. This bondage would grow more and more oppressive until the great social changes of the 14th century. The Plantagenets. William I was succeeded on the thrown of England by his two sons, William II Rufus and Henry I. After the untimely death of both there was no direct male heir left and the throne went to William’s great-grandson, Henry, Count of Anjou. Henry II Plantagenet started a new dynasty of English kings. Married to Eleanor of Aquitaine, Henry controlled more land on the continent than the King of France. The English heritage made him the mightiest European monarch. This intelligent and energetic king re-established the centralizing tendency of royal power in the country. Henry’s government made many reforms in law, taxation and the control of trade. He was the first English king to try to exert control over Ireland. Henry II had difficult relations with the church, which was at great power in medieval England. He was determined to keep its influence within bounds. In order to control the church he nominated his close and loyal advisor, Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury expecting that Becket would aid the King to control the Church. Thomas Becket was a remarkable man. A son of a merchant, he had made a great career, rising to the position of Lord Chancellor. Henry II hoped that Becket would continue to put forth the interests of the royal government, rather than those of the church. However, Becket’s attitudes underwent a quick transformation and he became an ardent supporter of the church 21

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and its interests. The hostility between Henry II and Thomas Becket increased in 1164 as the king passed the Constitution of Clarendon, a legal document that was an attempt to curb the power of the Church courts. Becket even had to flee the country, but he returned five years later with papal support. The escalating conflict finally led to Becket’s assassination in 1170. The murder was not committed at king’s direct order, but it was the result of his thoughtless remark. He had to admit his responsibility and do penance. Henry’s penance included submission to a Papal court, a promise to conquer Ireland for the Pope, submission to a public flogging and giving up his claims under the Constitution of Clarendon. The benefit of clergy lasted until the reign of Henry VIII. In spite of his misunderstandings with the church Henry was a powerful ruler and he left the realm of England under firm government. The successive reign of his sons, Richard I the Lion Heart, and John I the Lackland ruined the Angevin Empire and almost destroyed England. Richard spent most of his life on the continent leading countless wars and he viewed England mainly as a source of revenue to support his armies. John failed to defend most of his continental possessions against the French king and his conflicts with the church led to his excommunication and the interdict for the whole country. The English barons turned against him, supported by the citizens of London. They forced him to sign the Magna Carta (1215), their charter of grievances and reform that was the first significant limitation on the powers of the English monarch. The Charter recognized that even a King must respect the customs (or laws) of his kingdom. According to the charter the King had to follow and uphold feudal customs, towns and merchants were assured their customary rights. The charter gave the barons a partial control over the country’s finance. Before John could demand new taxes, he had to seek the “common consent of the realm.” Though the charter was not legally enforced it marks the beginning of participatory democracy and remains an important symbol of liberty today. Soon after signing the Magna Carta, John appealed to Pope Innocent III to be absolved of his oath. In return, John offered England as a papal fief. John’s 22

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successors reissued the charter, stripped of some of its more radical content, and it was a part of political life until it lost its practical significance as new laws were passed by the English Parliament. The emergence of the Parliament. The tradition of parliamentarism in England dates back to Anglo-Saxon representative institutions of the Witan, the king’s council, and the moots, regular meetings for each county (or shire) where cases were heard and local matters discussed. But the first instance of a parliament in which representatives from towns and the shires were summoned together to discuss matters of national concern was Simon De Montfort’s Parliament. Simon de Montfort was Earl of Leicester and brother-in-law of Henry III. He started a rebellion against the king and became de facto the ruler of the country. In 1265 Simon de Montfort summoned the first parliament that included not only the mightiest lords and the highest clergy, but also the representatives of lesser nobles and towns: 2 knights from every shire and 2 burghers from each of the larger towns. The parliament deprived the king of unlimited authority and introduced the idea that the King should govern in the interests and with the active cooperation of the “community of the realm.” At first, the parliament simply meant a meeting of the King and advisors. No single parliament with regular meetings and permanent members existed; instead the King held a series of parliaments. The key to the power of the parliament was its role in approving taxes. According to Clause 12 of Magna Carta “scutage and aid shall be levied only by the common consent of our kingdom.”

Questions and Tasks 1. Who were the claimants to the English throne after William the Confessor’s death? What were the grounds for their claims? 2. Why did the English lose the battle at Hastings? 3. What form of social organization did the Normans introduce? What features of Anglo-Saxon self-governing system were preserved? 23

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4. What made William initiate the Domesday Book survey? How did the survey contribute to the oppression of landworkers? 5. Who was the first king of the Plantagenet dynasty? What kind of person was he? 6. What was the reason for the conflict between the royal power and the church? What role did Thomas Becket play in the conflict? 7. How did Richard I and John I contribute to the downfall of the Angevin Empire? 8. Why did the barons turn against John I? 9. What makes the Magna Carta an important symbol of liberty? 10.When was the first parliament summoned? What made it different from a traditional king’s council? 11.What was the key to the power of the English parliament?

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Unit 4 Pre-Renaissance England The century of disasters. The pre-Renaissance time was a calamitous period in English history. The 14th century saw the fading of medieval prosperity and the onset of a widespread agrarian and commercial depression. The reasons for that were numerous, some of them common for the whole of Europe, some typical only of England. The century saw a gradual decline in peasants’ standard of living due to overpopulation in the sense that the working population was greater than required for the available amount of work generated by the economic and social system. The manorial system was facing its decline, as its low productivity could no longer support the growing population. The costly wars waged by Edward I and Edward III required considerable increases in taxation, which aggravated the problem of agricultural decline. Besides, at the beginning of the 14th century Europe entered a period known as the “Little Ice Age,” in which the entire Northern Hemisphere became colder and wetter. These unfavorable changes caused terrible floods in 1315-17, cattle disease in 1319-21 and crop failures in 1321. The amount of English people who died because of famine and disease is estimated to be 10-15 % of the population. But it was just the beginning of the hardships. In 1347 Europe was struck by a disease known as Black Death, plague, which had originated in China and was brought to Europe by Genoese merchants. In summer of 1348 the disease reached England and quickly advanced across the country from the ports on the south coast. The plague attacked the lymph system, producing huge swellings in the lymph nodes, especially in the groin, armpits, and neck. Back then people were equally unable to detect the cause of the disease or treat the symptoms. The plague was carried by black rats and the fleas that infested the rats. English towns were perfect breeding grounds for rats and fleas due to the low level of hygiene, the absence of sewage facilities and the congestion of the population, and the natural enemies of the rats—cats, dogs, and pigs—were blamed for the disease and killed. 25

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Around 25 % of the population perished in less than two years. The Plague continued to strike regularly throughout the 14th – 17th centuries, but the outbreaks never again reached the pandemic level. England’s population did not recover to its pre-plague numbers until the 17th century. The changing face of England. The Black Death accelerated the death of medieval England and made possible the emergence of a more modern commercial economy. Due to the population decrease many manors were left unattended, the service of rural workers was in demand and their wages rose sharply. Agricultural prices fell while the cost of manufactured articles rose sharply. The situation caused rapid changes in the structure of English society. The manorial system declined and the surviving peasants were able to buy land and become independent farmers or rent it as tenants. Some of them left for towns giving birth to a new social group of urban working class—the journeymen, apprentices and minor artisans. The government tried to maintain the status quo by fixing prices and wages at artificially low levels and preventing workers from changing masters through such devices as the Statute of Laborers (1351). According to the Statute everyone under the age of 60, except those without an independent income, had to work on land for wages which were set at their pre-plague levels. It was an offence for landless men to seek new masters or to be offered higher wages. In 1377, 1378 and 1381 Parliament voted for the Poll Tax. Nevertheless, the changes could no longer be stopped. England was rising to new wealth and did not want to see this wealth taxed away. The basis of this wealth was sheep breeding and cloth manufacture. Cloth industry arouse in many parts of the country, a new class of middlemen and wholesalers managed the trade, which soon became a large export business, which in its turn benefited the seaports and the shipbuilding industry. Landowners chose to turn to sheep breeding rather than crop farming. Towns that had served as agricultural centers lost population, but towns that were centers of cloth manufacturing thrived. Many towns got ‘charters of freedom’, which freed them from feudal duties to the local lord. Wool 26

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industry brought profit and reaches to certain social groups and immeasurable suffering to the others. Land workers were driven out of communal land that became enclosed and the property of one owner who used it for sheep breeding, the process, which later got the name of “policy of enclosures”. Weakening of the church authority. The authority of the Church weakened in the 14th century due to various reasons. “The Babylonian Captivity” of papacy in Avignon weakened its influence in other European countries. With the growth of urban population and the development of trade the church lost its monopoly on literacy and knowledge. It had lost a high proportion of its priests in the Plague and its income from land decreased after that. There was growing repulsion against the luxury and pomp of the Roman Catholic Church and the hypocrisy of its priests. In England this repulsion took the form of the Lollard movement. The Lollards (“mumblers of prayers” from Dutch) believed that the business of the church was to encourage people to live a life of evangelical virtue and poverty and John Wycliffe (1330-1384) was their great English spokesman. He was a doctor of divinity of Oxford University and led there a group of theologians who questioned Church doctrines. Influenced by the religious mystics who proclaimed a direct communication with God, he attacked the Church hierarchy and Church wealth, calling for a return to “Biblical purity.” He was the first to embark on the English translation of the Bible. Being accused of heresy he had to give up his position at the University, but was neither excommunicated, nor deprived of his living. It was after his death that he was declared a heretic, his books were burnt and his dead body was exhumed and burnt and the ashes cast into the river. Many of his followers were less lucky: in 1401 the parliament passed the Statute of Burning of Heretics, and a number of Lollards suffered that penalty. English people were losing faith in the Roman Catholic Church, but not in God. As confidence in the upper clergy weakened, the piety of the parish church members increased. Local parish priests were more attentive to the needs of their

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parishioners and smaller parishes became centers of religious life. The Lollard movement can be regarded as the precursor to the Protestant Reformation. The Great Revolt of 1381 In 1381 the discontented country peasants started an open revolt, which had many roots, poll taxes being among the prime causes. The revolt began in the south, in Essex and Kent, but the rebellious crowd quickly moved to London, capturing the Tower. They killed the Archbishop of Canterbury and the king’s Treasurer and had a full control over the capital for a few days. The rebellious crowds destroyed tax records and tax registers, burned down the buildings which housed government records. Led by Wat Tyler, an ex-soldier from Kent, the peasants demanded: •

Equality of all men before the law

•

Abolition of the nobility

•

Abolition of traditional work service on lord’s lands

•

Confiscation of Church property

•

Elimination of bishops

•

Peasants to be counted as members of the “community of the realm”

and allowed to vote for members of the House of Commons. The spiritual leader of the revolt was John Ball, a preacher without a parish, a great supporter of John Wycliffe’s ideas and especially his insistence on social equality. He preached that all men were created equal by God, and servitude was against God’s will. “When Adam delved and Eve span… Who then was the gentleman?” On June 14 King Richard II met the rebels at Mile End (‘Mile End Programme’). At the meeting the king listened to the grievances and promised to give the peasants what they needed, asking that they go home in peace, which some of them did. More radically-minded rebels stayed for another meeting which took place at Smithfield outside London on the next day. There Wat Tyler was 28

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killed in a scuffle with Lord Mayor. With there leader dead the rebellious peasants were easy to suppress. By the summer of 1381, the revolt was over. Over 100 of the rebels, John Ball among them, were hanged. Though the revolt did not bring the peasants any immediate gain, as a result of it serfdom was practically done away with by the end of the 14th century. It paved the way to a new social system. The Hundred Years’ War The name the Hundred Years’ War is used to describe the long conflict between France and England from 1337 to 1453. The basic cause of the Hundred Years War was the determination of French kings to maintain the feudal overlordship of some English territories, and the determination of English kings to retain there independence and win back their continental possessions. The war was started by Edward I, who claimed the crown of France as the closest relative of the last direct Capetian king. Historians commonly divide the war into three phases separated by truces: the Edwardian Era War (1337-60); the Caroline War (136989); and the Lancastian War (1415-1453) The first period ended to utter English advantage. The English army, well disciplined and successfully using their longbows against heavily armed cavalry, gained numerous victories over much larger French forces. Important sea battles (at Sluys in 1340), and land battles (at Crecy in 1346 and Poitiers in 1356) were won by the English. Edward did not raise his armies by feudal levy—he entered into private contracts with mercenary captains who hired soldiers on an indenture basis. Wars were now fought by professional soldiers. The French king was forced to accept the Treaty of Calais, according to which Edward III agreed to renounce his claim on the French crown. In return he obtained full sovereign rights over an expanded Aquitaine and Calais, the territory which included almost a third of France. However, the aging English king could not control the situation for long. By Edward’s death in 1377, almost all of the English gains were lost. The French

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succeeded in re-conquering almost all the ceded territory, notably by a series of sieges. In 1415, Henry V invaded France to regain all the territory his ancestors had lost. Ambitious and energetic, he proved victorious at Agincourt (1415), conquered Normandy (1417-1418), and was accepted the heir to the king of France by the Treaty of Troyes (1420). At the Battle of Agincourt on Oct. 25, 1415, an outnumbered English army defeated a French force five times larger. 5000 Frenchmen died, including 3 dukes, 5 counts, and 90 barons, while the English lost only 300 men. Henry married the French princess, Catherine of Valois and their baby-son, Henry VI after the untimely death of his father would be the only English king to be proclaimed the king of France. He would also be the king who lost all English possessions on the continent. The majority of the French refused English domination. Joan of Arc (the Maid of Orleans) inspired the French to withstand the English armies. Although she was ultimately captured, sold to the English, and burned as a witch, Joan turned the tide of war in favor of the French. The end of the conflict was never marked by a peace treaty but it died out because the French troops were too strong to be directly confronted and the English got engaged in their own domestic trouble. English territory in France, which had been extensive since 1066 now remained confined to the Channel port of Calais (lost in 1558). Wars of the Roses

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The Wars of the Roses were a series of battles fought in England from 1455 to 1485 between the House of Lancaster and the House of York. The name “Wars of the Roses” is based on the badges used by the two sides, the red rose for the Lancastrians and the white rose for the Yorkists. The circumstances which caused the conflict were the following: 

both houses were direct descendents of king Edward III;



the ruling Lancastrian king, Henry VI, surrounded himself with

unpopular nobles; 

there existed too many powerful lords with their own private armies;



the episodes of mental illness by Henry VI.

Many historians refer to the events as a “civil war”, which might not be exactly accurate as only 4% of the population were involved in the struggle and the essence of the conflict was purely feudal power struggle. The conflict lasted through many sporadic episodes between 1450 and 1487. The Lancastrians were opposed by a great baronial league headed by Richard, the third duke of York. The foremost members of the league were his kinsmen. Richard was installed protector of the realm in 1453, when Henry lapsed into insanity. The Lancastrians tried to reestablished their authority in 1455, but the first battle of the wars, at St. Albans (May 22, 1455), resulted in a Yorkist victory and four years of uneasy truce. The Lancastrians never gave up the attempts to regain the control over the country and the confrontation continued with varying success. Richard of York was killed in one of the battles in 1460 and the leadership over the Yorkists went to his son Edward, who was finally proclaimed king in 1461. In spite of Lancastrian resistance, their forces were practically destroyed by 1465; Henry VI was captured and put in the Tower of London, where he was later murdered. Edward IV’s throne was secure for the rest of his life (he died in 1483). After his death the throne was taken by his brother Richard III, overriding Edward’s son, young Edward V. Evidence was presented to the Parliament that Edward V had married another woman, Lady Eleanor Butler, prior to his marriage 31

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to Elizabeth Woodville. Such a marriage, if true, would make his marriage to Elizabeth bigamous and his children bastards. Parliament accepted the claim of bastardy and proclaimed Richard King. It alienated many Yorkists, who then turned to the last hope of the Lancastrians, Henry Tudor (later Henry VII), a young man with a very remote claim to the throne. With the help of the French and of Yorkist defectors, Henry defeated and killed Richard in August, 1485, bringing the wars to a close. By his marriage to Edward’s daughter Elizabeth of York in 1486, Henry united the Yorkist and Lancastrian claims. Questions and Tasks 1.

What made the 14th century the time of disasters for England?

2.

How did the Black Death affect the economic system of the country?

3.

What did the government do to maintain the status quo on the pre-

plague grounds? 4.

Which industry contributed to the growing wealth of the country?

5.

What caused the weakening of the church authority in the 14th

century? 6.

What do you know about John Wycliffe and the Lollard movement?

7.

What caused the Great Revolt of 1381? What did the rebels demand?

8.

Can we say that the revolt did not bring the peasants any gain?

9.

What were the causes of the Hundred Years’ War? What stages do we

divide it into? 10.

What were the results of the Edwardian Era War?

11.

What did Henry V get with his victory at Agincourt? In whose favour

did the Hundred Years’ War end? 12.

What do we call the Wars of the Roses? Can the event be called a civil

13.

Dwell on the development of the conflict between Lancastrians and

war?

Yorkists.

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Unit 5 The Tudor Age Absolute Monarchy Henry VII, having come to power in 1485 started a new era in English history. His reign marks the end of medieval feudal society and starts a totally new period – absolute monarchy. Henry Tudor became a new model monarch— hardworking, thrifty, and detail-oriented. As he came to an insecure throne after a long series of wars it was pressing that he should take a series of measures to secure his throne, show himself a powerful European monarch and pass his legacy on to an heir. In order to strengthen his position on the throne he married Elisabeth of York, so that to unite Lancastrians and Yorkists, and asked the Parliament to ratify his claim to the throne, so that to gain the support of the “community of the realm”. Remembering the lessons of the civil war he forbade any nobleman to keep armed men and started building a regular army to obey only the orders of the king. His elder son got the name of Arthur after the legendary king, as Henry claimed his lineage to go back to the ancient British rulers. In his foreign policy Henry VIII relied on diplomacy and trade development rather than on wars and conquests. He managed to marry his children into most powerful European royal houses. His eldest son, Arthur, was married to Catherine, the daughter of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, joint rulers of Spain; later Catherine became the wife of his second son, Henry. His daughter Margaret was married to the Scottish king, James IV, and his daughter Mary was betrothed to Charles V (later the Holy Roman Emperor), which was the greatest match of the age, though the marriage never took place. Henry encouraged foreign trade by making commercial treaties, building mercenary fleet and finding new markets by assisting John Cabot and his sons in their voyages of discovery. Since Parliament had earned the right to agree to taxation, Henry organized his policies so that he did not have to request funds from Parliament. The measures 33

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included cutting on expenses of the Court; taking money from France; collecting customs duties; reinstating some old feudal dues; granting monopolies to jointstock companies engaged in foreign trade.; etc. The measures not only helped to increase his personal income, but also encouraged the development of early capitalism. Henry personally supervised the payment of the royal revenue and left to his successor a fortune of about 2 million pounds, a sum equal to 15 years’ ordinary revenue at the time. Henry VII was known for the efficiency of his financial as well as administrative policies. He introduced new methods of government concentrating all power in his hands. The ministers were personally selected by the king for their ability, shrewdness and loyalty. Henry VII is considered to be the first absolute monarch in England. English Reformation Henry VIII, who succeeded his father to the throne of England in 1509, differed greatly from his predecessor. Willful, passionate and pleasure-seeking, he was very wasteful with money waging costly wars on the continent and in Scotland and maintaining the magnificent court, so his father’s money was soon gone. Inflation caused by Henry’s careless policy was aggravated by the increase in population and the flow of gold and silver from Africa and the Americas. In order to raise more money, Henry ordered to reduce the amount of silver used in coins. Within twenty-five years, the English coinage was reduced to a seventh of its value. Many historians refer Henry’s breach with Rome to his desire to centralize royal power and gain profit from church property. Though some of it may have been true, the immediate cause of the breach was Henry’s personal affairs. At the beginning of his reign his relations with Rome seemed perfectly harmonious. Henry was even rewarded the title of the Defender of the Faith for his pamphlet against Martin Luther, a Protestant leader, in which he expressed a profound devotion to Roman Catholic Faith. Cardinal Wolsey was Henry’s minister and one of his closest advisors. 34

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The situation changed in the late 1520s. Henry’s wife, Catherine of Aragon, who had been his brother’s widow, proved unable to provide a male heir to the throne, and that made Henry seek an annulment of his marriage. However, what could have been easy under different political circumstances, proved impossible in Henry’s situation. Pope Clement VII, who was totally controlled by Charles V, Spanish king, Holly Roman Emperor and Catherine’s nephew, refused to grant the annulment. For about five years Henry dithered over whether to continue his attempts to negotiate his divorce with the Pope or to reject Rome outright. The standstill was put an end to in 1533 when, encouraged by his new chief minister Thomas Cromwell, a strong supporter of protestant faith, Henry swung into action. In April 1533 he made the Parliament pass the Act in Restraint of Appeals, according to which all spiritual cases would henceforth be determined within England and “not elsewhere”—including that of Queen Catherine’s marriage. More Parliamentary statutes followed: all clerical appointments were now made solely by the King; there were to be no further papal taxes and the money was redirected to the King’s treasury; the Pope’s name was removed from the services of the English Church. Finally in November, 1534 the Parliament passed the Act of Supremacy, which acknowledged Henry VIII as “Supreme Head of the Church of England”. All church and state officials were to take an oath that the King was the “only Supreme Head on earth of the Church of England.” To refuse was treason. Henry VIII ordered to have a careful survey of all Church property, the first properly organized tax survey since the time of the Domesday Book. He closed down 823 monasteries and confiscated their property. Church lands and property were sold to the rising classes of merchants and landowners, which gained Henry their support. The new Church of England was considered to be a Protestant church, but it differed greatly from other Protestant churches. It remained hierarchical in its structure and orthodox in its doctrine. Henry chose the policy of “Via Media” or the middle way - Catholicism without the Pope. Catholics who questioned the 35

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royal authority in religious matters and Protestants who questioned the beliefs of the Catholic Church of England were equally persecuted. Henry VIII is one of the most controversial figures in English history. Although notorious for his evil deeds and matrimonial affairs he seems to be the embodiment of true monarchy. He gave his nation what it wanted: a visible symbol of its nationhood. He also had done something toward giving it a better government, a useful navy, a start on religious reform and social improvement. The Protestant-Catholic Struggle Henry VIII died in 1547 and his only son succeeded to the throne as Edward VI. As he was a minor the country was to be run by a council of regency, controlled by his relatives on the mother’s side. The council made strong efforts to consolidate the English Reformation. In that period a new book of prayers was introduced to unify church practices over the country. It was in English (not in Latin) and church services were to be held in the native language as well. English priests were released from celibacy and were granted a permission to marry. Edward’s reign was but a short one. After his death in 1553 after a short period of confusion his elder sister Mary, the daughter of Catherine of Aragon, came to the throne. History has labeled her “Bloody Mary” for her persecution of Protestants in a vain attempt to restore Roman Catholicism in England. Though not that bad as a person she was so determined to return England to the Catholic fold that it made her unwise and unbending. Political and family reasons made her marry Prince Phillip of Spain, which alienated not only the Protestants, but even those who still held to Catholicism, but loathed this act of subjugation to Spain for patriotic reasons. Even greater resentment was caused by the following persecution of the Protestants, some of those were exiled and over 280 burnt at stake. John Rogers, the first translator of the Bible, was among them. The revival of Catholicism in England was a short-living one. After Mary’s death in 1558 the church returned to “Via Media”. The new queen was a politique—she believed that religion should be an instrument of the state and a part of life, not the end of government and the whole of human existence. 36

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The Elizabethan Age During the reign of Elizabeth I England asserted itself vigorously as a major European power in politics, commerce, and the arts. The period is sometimes labeled as the Golden Age in English history, though the political and economic situation in the country was far from ideal. When Elizabeth came to the throne in 1558, she had to face the problems of religious struggle, unstable finance, a war with France and tense relations with Scotland. As her grandfather before her, Elizabeth I relied on trade as the most important foreign matter. That made Spain their greatest rival and, consequently, their greatest enemy both on the continent and in the New World. Avoiding an open conflict, Elizabeth I did everything to weaken the Spanish position. She assisted the Netherlands in their struggle for independence from Spain with money and soldiers. She also encouraged English “privateers” plunder Spanish ships as they were returning from colonies loaded with silver and gold. Though she pretended to have nothing to do with the piracy she kept her share of what had been taken from the ships. Finally, that made Phillip II of Spain start a war against England using the execution of Mary, the Catholic queen of Scotland, as a pretext for military intervention. In 1588 the Spanish “Armada”, the largest military fleet of the time, attempted to cross the English Channel. England was in serious danger, but a lucky combination of unsuitable design of the ships and bad weather conditions saved England from the conquest. Most of the ships sunk or were wrecked on the rocky coast. The remnants of the fleet were destroyed by the English navy forces led by Francis Drake, the English Admiral and an ex-privateer. Though it did not end the war, the victory saved England from the imminent danger to be incorporated into the Spanish Empire. The Elizabethan Age saw the beginning of what later would become a great colonial empire. Elizabeth encouraged English traders to settle abroad to make colonies. The first English colony in North America was called Virginia in the name of the Virgin Queen. During her reign a number of so-called “charter” 37

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companies were established, which were granted the right to all the business in a particular region. In return they shared their profit with the crown. The English also started selling West African slaves to work in Spanish colonies in America and soon slavery became one of the most important trades. All these developments brought money to the country, helped to improve the living conditions of most social groups to a certain extent and speeded up the development of a new class of bourgeoisie. The Elizabethan Age gave a chance to many people of talent to develop their abilities. It was the age of explorers, men of letters, philosophers, poets and famous dramatists. Among them was, for example, the celebrated traveler Sir Walter Raleigh, who organized expeditions to colonize North America. The Elizabethan age saw the flowering of poetry, was a golden age of drama (especially for the plays of Shakespeare), and inspired a wide variety of splendid prose (from historical chronicles, versions of the Holy Scriptures, pamphlets, and literary criticism to the first English novels). Tudor Parliaments In Tudor times most important decisions concerning government were made by the king or queen and a small group of advisers called the Privy Council. However, before these decisions became law, they had to be passed by the Parliament. The Parliament comprised two chambers: the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The House of Lords was made up of about sixty Bishops, Dukes, Earls and Barons. It was unusual for the members of the House of Lords to criticise the king's policies. If they did so, they were in danger of being stripped of their titles. Members of the House of Commons were more independent as they were elected by the people who lived in the area they represented. However, very few people had the vote and in many cases the largest landowner in the area decided who went to the Parliament. In the sixteenth century the House of Commons grew more influential as they had the main saying in revenue bills. 38

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Henry VII seldom called the Parliament together trying to avoid being dependant on its decisions. Yet he referred to them to justify his right to the throne to show he had the support of the “community of the realm”. Henry VIII was in favour of holding regular Parliaments. When Henry was in conflict with the Pope in Rome, the votes for the Reformation taken in the Parliament gave it the authority it had never had before. Using the Parliament to strengthen their authority, the Tudors actually increased its influence on the society. Elizabeth held fewer Parliaments than her father. On average, she held a Parliament once every four years. Elizabeth made it clear that members of the House of Commons had complete freedom of speech. However, she believed that certain issues such as religion or foreign policy were best left to her and her Privy Council. It was during her reign that the concept of “King-in-Parliament” was introduced. When Elizabeth sat with the Lords and Commons and legislation was enacted by the whole Parliament under the direction of the “King”—the voice of the whole kingdom was speaking. “King-in-Parliament” was the highest authority in the land and the greatest bulwark against rebellion. By the end of the sixteenth century the Parliament began to show new confidence in itself. The members felt they had the right to decide on important matters and felt their responsibility for what was going on in the country. Being more and more aware of their strength the gentry and the merchant classes became ready to challenge the Crown.

Questions and Tasks 1.

What is absolute monarchy? Who was the first absolute monarch in

England? 2.

What did Henry VII do to secure his throne?

3.

What was Henry’s policy in international affairs?

4.

What did Henry VII do to avoid asking the Parliament for money?

5.

What were the results of his reign? 39

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6.

How did Henry VIII differ from his father?

7.

What factors caused Henry’s breach with Rome?

8.

What acts were passed by the Parliament to ensure the kings

supremacy over the Church of England? 9.

How did the new Church of England differ from other Protestant

churches? 10.

What measures were taken by the council of regency during the reign

of Edward VI to consolidate the English Reformation? 11.

Why did the attempts of Mary I to restore Roman Catholicism in

England fail? 12.

Why was the reign of Elizabeth I labeled as the Golden Age?

13.

What made Spain the greatest rival and the greatest enemy of the

English? 14.

What made the Spanish start a war against England? How was the

Spanish “Armada” destroyed? 15.

How did the British colonial empire begin? Who contributed to the

exploration of the New World by the English? 16.

What cultural developments were made in the Elizabethan Era?

17.

Can we say that the Tudors were on good terms with their

Parliaments? 18.

What made the members of Parliament feel responsibility for what

was going on in the country?

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Unit 6 The Stuarts - Crown and Parliament The Controversies of the new reign Elizabeth I died in 1603, leaving the country in a very unfavorable situation both economically and politically. The decade of 1590-1600 had brought bad harvests, soaring food prices, peasant unrest, high taxes, and war with Ireland. The new king was Elizabeth’s nearest relative—the son of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots—James VI of Scotland. His accession to the English throne was the first step to joining the kingdoms of England and Scotland, though at the beginning they remained two independent countries under one king but with their own parliaments and government. James was the first to call his island kingdom Great Britain. James and his wife were spendthrifts who had inherited a crown already in debt. Apart from economic problems James had to deal with many others: religious controversy, disagreement with the Parliament and so on. As it has already been said the members of the Parliament by that time had begun to see themselves responsible to their shires and boroughs as well as servants of the monarch. MPs demanded that they decide disputed elections and the legal qualifications of MPs. James’s idea of royal power was that of an absolute monarch, according to which kings derive their power directly from God and are answerable only to Him. English custom limited this absolutism— the king could make law only with the consent of the Parliament. But James never understood how important the Members of the Parliament considered their authority. His criticism of the Parliament was taken as threats. And as a result, cooperation between the Crown and the Parliament eroded. Besides, coming from a relatively undeveloped country with negligible foreign trade James never understood how influential English merchants and landowners were. James’s pro-Spanish policy infuriated them as the alliance with Spain threatened colonial trade and put the country into subordination to its main rival. The Parliament urged James to abandon his pro-Spanish foreign policy. 41

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James claimed that peace or war was a royal prerogative—and not subject to parliamentary debate, but ultimately yielded and ended his pro-Spanish policy after a planned Spanish marriage for his son Charles failed. Charles married Henrietta Maria of France and France joined England in a war with Spain and the Parliament was allowed to debate foreign policy in 1624. Being brought up in the religious tradition of the Scottish Episcopal Church, James continued the Tudors’ policy of the “middle way”. He preferred an episcopal organization as better suited to a divinely ordained monarchy. This position was attacked from both sides: nether the Catholics nor radical protestants (Presbyterians) were satisfied. James resisted the attempts to reestablish Catholicism thus putting the Catholics in active opposition to the Crown, and he equally resisted any further protestant reform, associating Presbyterianism and Calvinism with rebellion against authority. English Catholics planned an attack on Parliament to rid the kingdom of its heretic leaders— the attempt later got the name of the Gunpowder Plot of November 5, 1605. Catholic religious leader Guy Fawkes and a handful of conspirators planned to blow up the King and the Houses of Commons and Lords when they met together to open the Parliament thus getting rid both of the king and the MPs, most of who were Protestants. A warning from one plotter exposed the plot. The plotters were arrested and executed, and James tightened his policies against Catholicism. Radical Protestants, who had developed their religious views in the relative freedom of Queen Elizabeth’s reign, were outlawed by James I. Instead of choosing the way of rebellion they started fleeing the country, looking for refuge in more tolerant lands. The most spectacular example is, perhaps, that of the Pilgrim Fathers, a group of Protestants, who fled England first for Holland, and then, mainly for economic reasons, sailed on board the “Mayflower” to North America to found the colony of Plymouth. King James I died on March 27, 1625. His largely successful policy of “letting sleeping dogs lie” had kept the bonds of tradition that bound the Crown, 42

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the Parliament, and the kingdom tight. But all the unsolved controversies were inherited by his son, Charles I, whose negligence of the changes in the country finally led to a disaster. The Civil War Charles I stubbornly adhered to his father’s policies and even more firmly believed in his “divine right” to rule. He bitterly quarreled with the Parliament mostly over money and dissolved it every time the MPs refused to comply. There were all in all 7 Parliaments during his reign. The Commons, in their turn, drew up a long list of grievances, and tried to check the King’s prerogatives. His marriage to the sister of the French king, who was openly Catholic, also alienated the Protestant majority of the Parliament. Being unable to raise enough money without the Parliament, Charles I had to sign the so-called “Petition of Right” according to which the Parliament was to control both the budget and the law. The king tried to prevent the petition from being used by dissolving the Parliament the following year. For eleven years following 1628, the King ruled without the Parliament. For that period of time he was able to balance the budget and make administration efficient. But his inability to deal with the subordinate countries soon ended this short period of harmony. Charles was the monarch of three kingdoms—England, Scotland, and Ireland. His attempts to rule these three jurisdictions as if they were a single unit contributed to his downfall. In 1639 a rebellious Scottish army invaded England. The reasons were mainly religious – the introduction of a new book of prayers was seen as an attempt to restore Catholicism. The need of money to put together an army made Charles summon the Parliament in 1640. The first one (nicknamed “Short Parliament) lasted only for three weeks, refused to grand subsidies until the King responded to a list of grievances and was dissolved. The second one, summoned in November, got the nickname “Long Parliament” and met intermittently for the next 20 years. This was a major change— the Parliament no longer regarded itself as a temporary body, politely petitioning the monarch for redress of grievances. 43

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The number of lawyers and merchants in the Parliament increased—most were Puritans and many were Puritan Presbyterians In 1641 Ireland exploded in rebellion against Protestant English and Scottish settlers. Over 3000 people were killed. The rebellion was seen as not the rebellion against the king, but as that against the Protestant Parliament. In 1642 the king added to those fears by trying to arrest (unsuccessfully) five members of the Parliament. In return London locked its gates on the king and that made him to move to Nottingham to gather an army. The civil war started. Less than 10% of the population actually took part in it. The supporters of the King were described as “Cavaliers”, the supporters of the Parliament – as “Roundheads”. At the beginning of the confrontation the Royalists controlled the agricultural north and the west; the Parliament controlled East Anglia and the south-east – economically and industrially developed regions. It also had control over the navy. The Parliamentary army was led by Oliver Cromwell. It was a new model army - professional and disciplined, efficient, well-trained, and committed. Cromwell won two great battles against the Royalists – at Marston Moor, in 1644, and at Naseby, in 1645. These two battles made Parliament supreme in the North and in the Midlands. Charles tried to seek refuge in Scotland, but the Scots sold him back to the Parliamentarians for £400,000. The Parliamentarians tried the king for treason, found him guilty and sentenced him to death. King Charles I was executed on January 30, 1649 and Britain was proclaimed a Commonwealth (a Republic). Republican Britain The government of the Commonwealth abolished the House of Lords and the monarchy as an institution. They also got rid of the Church of England. De-jure the Parliament was in charge of the country, but de-factor the control now belonged to the army and its leaders. At the beginning Oliver Cromwell and his soldiers had other things to occupy themselves with. In 1649 Cromwell took his army to Ireland to bloodily avenge the revolt of 1641. About 6000 Irish Catholics were killed within that 44

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military operation. In 1650 the Parliamentary army successfully defeated the Scots in their attempt to restore the Stuarts to the throne. Scotland was brought under republican rule. A feared military power, the new regime was much less successful in reforming the governmental system. The system of courts was in total chaos, no agreement could be reached in religious matters, the Parliament even failed to organize the procedure of elections. The reason for the failure lay in the fact that there was no unity among the MPs and no general strategy of reforms. Finally the army lost its patience; Cromwell marched to Westminster and dissolved the Parliament. Cromwell was named Lord-Protector, the council of the State and he chose a Council to help him govern. The Protectorate tackled many of the central issues of reform head-on. New legislation was introduced, commissions were appointed to deal with taxation, and a new Parliament was elected. In religious matters Cromwell allowed “all species of protestant” to gather if they wished into religious assemblies outside the national church. Even the Catholics got an opportunity to exercise their faith if they did that privately. For that historical period it was the policy of unusual religious tolerance. However, it was apparent that the regime was held together by Cromwell alone. He was even offered the crown, but refused it. When he died in 1658, all hope of continued reform died with him. People refused to pay taxes; law courts ceased to function; radical religious groups urged political equality. Unable to deal with the chaos the Parliament invited Charles II back to the throne. Restoration Charles was lenient to his former enemies. He executed only the few he held directly responsible for his father’s death. Many Parliamentary leaders got office in the new government. The monarchy was restored, but Charles II was far wiser than his father had been and was ready to tolerate some restrictions to his power. He understood he could not undo the effects of the revolution, and was ready to admit that they were 45

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not all negative. The English army had become a potent military power; England had acquired some new colonies. Charles II continued Cromwell’s policy of protecting colonial trade. With Charles on the throne, the Parliament was now in full charge of finances. The new tax policy favored landlords and merchants. Justices of the Peace in the local shires increased their power. In religious matters Charles favoured religious tolerance and would gladly allow all Protestants and Catholics alike to worship freely, but the strictly Anglican Parliament did not let that happen. The Church of England resumed its position as the dominating religious power in the country. For the first time in English history the Parliament split into two distinct political groups. Opposition to the King centered in a group of MPs led by the Earl of Shaftesbury. This group formed the nucleus of the “Whigs”—supporters of Parliamentary supremacy. “The Tories” – the party of big landowners was the answer to the radical views of the Whigs. They upheld the authority of the king and the Church. These two groups would later develop into political parties as we understand them now and form the basis for the two-party parliamentary system. The Glorious Revolution James, Duke of York, became James II on the death of his brother, Charles II in 1683. He had learned nothing from his years in exile or his father’s martyrdom. His attempts to bring back the Catholic Church alienated most of the population. So in 1688 the Parliament invited William of Orange to invade England pledging alliance to him if he did. James’s deteriorating health and the setback of his men, including some of his family members, made it impossible for him to resist. He had to flee to France. William of Orange and his wife Mary, James’s daughter, were made joint monarchs. The two new rulers accepted more restrictions from the Parliament than any previous monarch. They had to sign the Bill of Rights, which acknowledged the right for regular Parliaments, free elections and freedom of speech in the Parliament. Additionally, it stated that only a Protestant 46

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monarch could take the throne of the country. The Bill was an important step toward constitutional monarchy. Questions and Tasks 1.

What problems did James I have to deal with?

2.

What caused the opposition between James I and the Parliament?

3.

What events did the religious controversy result in?

4.

What was the policy of Charles I in dealing with the rebellious

Parliament? What document did he have to sign? 5.

Which events caused the outbreak of the civil war?

6.

Why were the royalists unable to suppress the revolution?

7.

What made Oliver Cromwell the leader of the new republic?

8.

What problems did the revolutionary leaders have to deal with?

9.

What made the Parliament invite Charles II back to the throne after

Cromwell’s death? 10.

What political groups developed in the Parliament during the reign of

Charles II? 11.

What caused the events of the Glorious Revolution?

12.

Which restrictions to their power did William of Orange and his wife

Mary have to accept?

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Unit 7 Britain in the 18th – 19th centuries The Enlightenment The 18th century brought radical changes to human perception of the world and their place in it. People stopped relying on divine power in their explanation of the reasons that make the world unfold and turned over to nature and its laws. Education became the focus and one of the main values in the society. Unlike the theologists of the past the philosophers of the 18 th century turned over to reason and experiment to explain the world. Every idea was to be subjected to testing and rational analysis. Human nature was no longer considered to be endemically sinful and vicious. The Enlighteners lay blame for human viciousness on people’s ignorance and the vicious society and the way out was to enlighten people. They hoped to improve the world by teaching and bringing the light of knowledge to the population. The enlighteners rejected Church dogmas and class distinctions. Royal power was no longer considered to be divine and unquestionable. The Enlightenment put an individual into the center of the universe. The goals of rational humanity were considered to be knowledge, freedom, and happiness. The ideas of the period resulted in revolutionary developments not only in philosophy, but in culture and politics. Politics and finance After Queen Ann, the last of the Stuart dynasty, died in 1714 the throne went to their distant protestant relatives, the Hannover dynasty. The first kings of the dynasty hardly spoke any English and were not really interested in their new domain. That gave the Parliament and the administration more opportunity to exercise their power. The first Hannover government was formed by the Whigs, as the Tories had compromised themselves by their support of the Jacobites. The most prominent figure in the new cabinet was Robert Walpole, who is considered to have been Britain’s first Prime Minister and remained in the position 48

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for over twenty years. He came to power mainly due to his financial abilities. It was Walpole who encouraged the creation of the Bank of England, which was to be the only commercial institution that the government was to borrow money from. He fathered the idea of using banknotes and cheques that made commercial transactions much easier and powered a further development of colonial trade. He also made the first steps to making commercial companies responsible for the money they borrowed from their investors. Robert Walpole was determined to keep the Crown under a firm parliamentary control. He also came up with the idea of the Cabinet, a small group of ministers who worked together. Walpole introduced the principle of joint responsibility into the work of the Cabinet. If a minister did not agree with the policies of the Cabinet he had to resign. The principle has been observed up to the present day. Walpole tried to avoid war and had to increase taxes to pay back the debt of the government. Gradually this policy made him very unpopular. Walpole’s main opponent was William Pitt, who advocated British greatness, expansionism and colonialism. He stressed the importance of developing trade and was ready to fight wars for new colonial markets. His policies resulted in numerous confrontations with France, which now was Britain’s main colonial rival. Colonial wars Britain had been waging wars on France for the control over the NorthAmerican continent since the end of the seventeenth century. The greatest of the conflicts got the name of the Seven Year’s war (1756-1763) and was fought both in North America and in Europe. In Canada the British took the French colonies of Quebec and Montreal. That gave Britain full control over important fish, fur and wood trades. North America was not the only region where French and British interests clashed. In India French East India Company and British East India Company allied with some of the local princes struggled to destroy each other’s trade 49

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interests. As a result of these military contests, the British East India Company established its dominance among the European trading companies within India. The territory became the “jewel of the British Crown” and gave a lot of people an opportunity to make their fortune at the expense of the local population. Drunk with its ongoing victories, Britain failed to see that the colonists were beginning to realize themselves as full-right citizens and not just a ready source of money. In 1764 this attitude brought up a serious conflict over taxation between Britain and its North-American colonies. The conflict unfolded violently and finally resulted in a military confrontation. In 1775 the original 13 British colonies proclaimed their independence and the American Army led by George Washington defeated the British in the War of Independence (1775- 1783). It is interesting to say that the French were happy to avenge their old enemy and gladly subsidized the colonists. They openly entered the conflict when it became clear that the colonists were going to win. In 1783 Britain had to acknowledge the independence of the USA. The Great Industrial Revolution The term implies the change from an agrarian and handicraft economy to industrial production and the economy dominated by industry. Most European countries went through the process at a certain point of the 19th century, but the start was made by Britain in the 18th. There are numerous reasons why Britain was ahead of other countries in industrialization. First of all, colonial trade had provided the country with ready money not tied in property and land to start new businesses with. The policy of enclosures that had been followed since the 15th century resulted in a greater than in other European countries percentage of urban population and that meant easy access to labour force. Britain had large and easily accessible supplies of iron for machinery and coal to use as fuel. British system of transportation and shipping was well-developed; it had a great number of ports and a net of inner waterways (rivers and canals). An increased interest in natural sciences gave the country a lot of inventors. 50

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At the end of the 18th century Britain already had a relatively developed textile industry that manufactured woolen and cotton cloth. No wonder the first industrial inventions and improvements were made in that field. It was transformed by such inventions as Kay’s flying shuttle (1733), Hargreave’s spinning jenny (1764) and others. Newcomen’s steam engine (1705) perfected by Watt (1765) provided a power supply. Communications were improved by the locomotives invented by Stephenson. Industrial inventions also helped to improve agriculture and increase the production of food. Unfortunately not all changes brought about by the industrial revolution were favourable. The workers had to work for 12-14 hours a day often in dangerous conditions and the mind-numbing monotony of one primitive operation they had to perform caused a lot of accidents. Working and housing conditions were miserable. Skillful workers often lost their jobs to women and children as skill was no longer important and women and children could be paid much less. The unemployed lay blame for their situation on the machines and that inspired the Luddites movement at the very end of the 18th century. The followers of a mythical character Ned Ludd believed in destruction of machinery as a way out. In order to suppress the riots the government made breaking of machinery punishable by death. Industrialization resulted in quick growth of the middle class that now comprised not only merchants and landowning farmers, but also the so-called professionals: doctors, lawyers, accountants and so on. British middle class started becoming the core of the society. Napoleonic Wars Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars between Napoleonic France and shifting coalitions of other European countries in 1803-1815. Britain remained at war with France throughout the whole period. The wars began not very fortunately for Britain, as at the beginning there was a serious danger of French soldiers invading the country. The danger was eliminated by a spectacular victory of the 51

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British fleet in the Battle of Trafalgar (October 21, 1805), when Admiral Nelson at the cost of his life defeated the combined fleets of France and Spain. The Franco-Spanish fleet lost twenty-two ships, without a single British vessel being destroyed. This naval victory was commemorated by a memorial in Trafalgar Square in London. Another great British commander was Duke Wellington. He commanded the British forces on the continent and was the first to doubt the previously unquestionable military genius of Napoleon. Under his command the allied forces won the Battle of Waterloo (June 18, 1815) that was the culminating battle of the war and the last for Napoleon. Napoleon’s defeat caused the restoration of monarchy in France. As a result of the wars Britain emerged as by far the most powerful country in the world The growth of the British Empire By the middle of the 19th century Britain had grown to become the greatest nation on earth. The Empire included Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Africa, Kenya, India and a great number of smaller territories and islands. Britain possessed a very large navy and a merchant fleet that they used for trade and colonization. As a result of the Industrial Revolution British economy moved away from agriculture and toward the production of manufactured goods. The country imported raw materials such as cotton and silk and exported finished goods to countries around the world. By the mid-1800s, Britain was the largest exporter and importer of goods in the world. It was the primary manufacturer of goods and the wealthiest country in the world. About 30% of the world’s gross output were British. Because of their success, the British felt it was their duty to bring English values, laws, customs, and religion to the “savage” races around the world Social and Political Reform By the middle of the 19th century it became clear that the inner political and social situation in the country needed close attention. Largely successful internationally, the country suffered poverty and civil unrest at home. The taxes 52

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and the inflation rate were high, and while prices doubled the wages remained the same. Also common people felt that their interests were not properly represented as only rich people could get to the Parliament. Some changes were necessary and gradually they took place. In 1832 the Parliament passed the First Reform Act which extended the vote to most middleclass men. In 1833 Britain abolished slavery. The Factory Act which regulated child labor in factories was passed in the same year. It reduced the working hours for children and obliged factory-owners to make sure that children could attend school and get basic education. In 1834 the Poor Law-Amendment applied a system of workhouses for poor people. Unfortunately a basically good idea of providing work and shelter for the needy did not really work out. The workhouses were poorly financed, living conditions there – miserable, and people chose to leave in the street rather than go there. The situation improved only very slowly. The middle of the century was the time of riots and political meetings. The radicals put forth a list of demands which got the name of “People’s Charter” It was drafted in 1838 by William Lovett. The Chartists demanded the right to vote for all adult men, equal electoral districts, abolition of the requirement that Members of Parliament [MPs] should be property owners, the secret ballot and so on. All these demands, which seem only reasonable today, were too radical for the 19th century’s Britain and the House of Commons refused all of them. At the beginning of the century the first regular police forces were created first in London and then all over the country. The idea was promoted by the primeminister Robert Peel. He believed that certainty of punishment was far more effective than cruelty of punishment. The 19th century was the century of trade unions. They had been organized since the 1830, though at the beginning their existence was illegal. Only the Trade Union Act of 1871 made it legal for laborers to organize to protect their right. Eventually trade unions would lead to the foundation of the Labour Party. Victorian Age 53

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Queen Victoria who came to the throne in 1837 had the second longest reign in British history. That graceful and self-assured girl became queen at the age of 18. Throughout her reign, she maintained a sense of dignity and decorum that restored an average person’s high opinion of the monarchy after a series of horrible, ineffective leaders. She managed to restore the reputation of the Crown and give the nation back the sense of its usefulness. Having become the symbol of the nation she gave her name to the whole historic period. Though the real power in the country by that time already belonged to the parliament and the queen’s role was mainly ceremonial, Victoria took an active interest in governmental activities. She closely worked with her Prime Ministers and her conscientious approach to her duties helped to raise the reputation of the monarchy. The queen’s private life had a great influence on the society. Her family life with Prince Albert, her devoted love to her husband and their children served as a model example for her subjects. When her husband died, she was in such a grief that wanted to retire from public life completely but the inducement of the parliament and her own sense of responsibility made her resume her royal duties. The values the queen promoted were the values of the most powerful stratum of the British society: modesty, loyalty, devotion to family and friends, integrity and reliability defined the middle class. It was during her reign that the well-known image of a British gentleman appeared – cool, reserved, respectable and efficient. Gradually Victoria became as completely loved and idolized as Elisabeth I had been. Victoria was often called “the grandmother of Europe” because by her children’s marriages she was related to every royal house of Europe. Questions and Tasks 1.

What changes did the 18th century bring to human perception of the

world? How did the Enlighteners hope to improve human nature? 2.

What gave the parliament and the administration more opportunity to

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3.

What outstanding political figures of the 18th century do you know?

4.

What caused numerous military conflicts between Britain and France

in the 18th century? In whose favour did they end? 5.

What political mistakes made by the British government caused their

loss of the North-American colonies? 6.

What was the Great Industrial Revolution? Why did it start in Britain

earlier than in other European countries? 7.

What inventions marked the beginning of the industrial revolution?

8.

How would you characterize working and living conditions of British

factory-workers in 18th – early 19th centuries? 9.

What do you know about Napoleonic Wars?

10.

Why did the British feel it was their duty to bring English values,

laws, customs, and religion to the “savage” races around the world? 11.

What acts were passed by the Parliament in the 19th century to

promote social and political reform? 12.

What were the demands of the supporters of the “People’s Charter”?

Why were they not accepted by the House of Commons? 13.

What new party was formed at the end of the 19th century?

14.

What was the role of Queen Victoria in British history? What kind of

values did she promote?

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Unit 8 Britain in the 20th Century The end of the English Summer By the end of the 19th century Britain was at its strongest. The country successfully managed to avoid the storms of revolution typical of the rest of Europe due to the policy of political reforms and the steps made toward establishing the “welfare state”. Despite some unrest in the colonies Britain managed to retain them by giving first their “white colonies”, and then the rest of them more self-governing rights. In return the colonies agreed to still accept the British monarch as the head of the state. Unfortunately, the policy did not work out for Ireland, where the contradictions between Catholic and Protestant inhabitants were too strong. At the beginning of the 20th century Britain was still the greatest economic power in the world, but other countries were quickly catching up. Britain’s prodigal daughter, the USA, was already producing more steel than Britain. They were gradually winning the leading position at sea. In Europe another country was quickly rising up – Germany. United comparatively late, at the beginning of the 19th century, under the leadership of aggressive and ambitious Prussia, Germany was late for cutting the colonial pie and was determined to make up for it. By the beginning of the new century it had managed to build strong industries and a strong navy. The balance of power in Europe was beginning to collapse and a long period of European peace was coming to an end. World War I The war began in July, 1914 after a dreadful chain of events in Serbia. What started as a local conflict between Serbia and Austro-Hungary very quickly turned into a general warfare, when Germany, Russia and France got involved. At the beginning Britain hoped to avoid being dragged in, but they had to interfere as German troops invaded Belgium in August 1914. The British entered the war because they feared that German’s ambitions would completely change the balance of power and the map of Europe. 56

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German troops nearly defeated Britain and its allies in the first weeks of the war. At a great sacrifice the allies managed to stop the enemy at River Marne deep inside France. The following four years would be spent by the soldiers of both sides in a bloody fight of trench war. The war showed that Britain was quite unprepared for the destructive power of the modern weapons. Modern artillery and newly invented tanks caused the allies great losses. The casualties were enormous. All in all Britain lost 750 000 dead and about two million seriously wounded. In addition to the war on the continent Britain had to fight Germany’s ally, Turkey, in the Middle East, and the German fleet at sea. German submarines sank not only military ships, but merchant fleet as well. About 40% of British merchant ships were lost, which brought the country on the verge of starvation. But Germany made a mistake of attacking neutral American vessels as well as British. That made the USA enter the war and send its troops to France in 1918. The new power changed the course of the war and Germany had to surrender in November, 1914. The terms of the Versailles Treaty of 1919 were extremely harsh for Germany. With so many losses, public opinion in Britain and France demanded no mercy for the enemy. Germany went out of the war impoverished, humiliated and waiting for revenge. The allies themselves prepared the grounds for future disasters. Depression and Disappointment The after-war period in Britain was characterized by the usual economic and political problems. The cost of the war had led to the enormous increase in taxation, inflation and unemployment. Numerous workers’ strikes followed including the General Strike of 1926. The government could do little to control the economic situation. The situation got worse in 1929 with the onset of the Great Depression which started in the United States causing an enormous reduction in the worldwide gross domestic product, which fell by fifteen percent in the period from 1929 to 1932. It proved to be not only an economic catastrophe but also a social one.

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Britain was functioning as a major exporting country and so when the crisis hit, the country was badly affected. British exports fell by half which had a disastrous effect on employment levels. The number of unemployed in the years that followed was astronomical, rising to around 2.75 million people, many of whom were not insured. Unfavourable political developments caused Britain the loss of control over Ireland, which won its independence at the beginning of the 1920s. Northern Ireland remained within Britain, having become the main sore point for decades to come. The Liberal Party lost its position on the political stage to the newly formed Labour party, which managed to form its first government in 1923. The long-term struggle of women for their independence and political rights finally was a success. They won their right to elect and be elected to the Parliament in 1918 and by 1928 the suffrage had become universal. The crisis that Britain lived through between the two world wars was not only economic and political, but also existential. The country had lost almost a quarter of its young elite in the war and those who survived had to live in a totally new world. The rigid pattern of the British society had been broken and a new one only was to be built. That caused the atmosphere of great confusion and aimlessness among the war's survivors in the early post-war years. It was the first time that Britain spoke of the “lost generation”. World War II By the middle of the 1930s Germany had managed to regain its position in Europe and was ready for revenge. Although Britain had not yet overcome the consequences of World War I, they had to start preparing for a new one. Huge investments were made in heavy industry to produce weapons, aircraft and war equipment. Financial aid was rendered by the United States of America. Britain’s indecision allowed Germany and its allies to start occupying territories of other states. In order to avoid a war, Britain cooperated with Germany in the take-over of Czechoslovakia. It was only when Germany invaded Poland in 58

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1939 that Britain declared a war. Winston Churchill speaking to the House of Commons said: “You were given the choice between war and dishonour. You chose dishonour, and you will have war”. The first period of the war – the end of 1939 was relatively quiet for Britain as it was not involved in any military action. That period is known as the phony war. But in May 1940 Germany attacked the allied British and French forces, defeated the French army and drove the British army into the sea on the beaches of Dunkirk. In the same year, 1940, the Germans started bombing British cities. The battle of the Atlantic began in the same year. The strategy of Germany was to cut off Britain’s supplies of food and munitions by submarine action. Rationing for essential items of food, clothing and fuel was introduced in Britain. In 1941, Japan, which was Germany’s ally, attacked Britain’s colonial possessions in Malaya, Burma and India. As a result, the soldiers of the Empire had to fight against the Axis of Germany, Italy and Japan practically all over the world. In 1941 two most powerful world nations had to join the war – the USSR and the USA. The Allied Forces joined their efforts in fighting against the common enemy. But it was the USSR that had to carry the heaviest of the war load. The war ended in 1945 when the allied troops defeated Germany. Germany signed the Act of Capitulation on May 8, 1945, and Japan refused to surrender until the USA dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The disastrous effects of the assault made Japan give up in September, 1945. Earlier the same year the leaders of the Allied Forces, Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin, had met for a conference in Yalta. They agreed that Germany was to be demilitarized and divided into 4 zones of occupation, controlled by Britain, France, the USA and the Soviet Union respectively. It was also decided to establish the United Nations Organization to maintain world peace and foster international cooperation. The end of the colonial Empire

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After World War I, when German colonies in Africa and Middle East were added to the territories controlled by Britain, the Empire was at its greatest, covering about one fourth of the world’s territory. But it was also the beginning of the end. More and more colonies demanded and got self-government. The process speeded up after World War II with the rise of national movements in many British colonies. Britain had to leave India in 1947 and the territory split up into the Hindu state and Muslim controlled Pakistan. Britain also left Palestine, unable to keep balance between its Arabic population and the new Jewish settlers. The following year the British lost Ceylon. By the middle of the 1960s most of British excolonies became independent. The last big territory to leave was Hong Kong in 1997. It became an autonomous administrative unit of China. The process of handing over the power went more or less peacefully in most ex-colonies due to the efficient work of British colonial administration. This made it possible for Britain to retain some of its influence through its Commonwealth which the former colonies were invited to join as free and equal members. Currently Britain still controls 14 territories called its overseas territories, including Gibraltar in Europe, some island groups in the Caribbean, four island groups off the South American coast, etc. The territories are not very densely populated and therefore mostly incapable of surviving independently. Britain as a welfare state After World War II both Conservative and Labour governments did a lot to introduce new reforms to guarantee social justice and greater social stability. In 1944, for the first time in British history, secondary education became freely accessible for all. In 1946 a new National Health Service gave everyone the right for free medical assistance. The National Assistance Act of 1948 guaranteed financial aid for the old, the unemployed and those unable to work due to sickness. Both main political parties agreed to keep a “welfare state” and make the country a social democracy. However, they disagreed about the method to achieve the desirable balance between the social support of the weak and the efficient 60

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operation of the British economy. Besides, it soon became clear that though the welfare state improved many people’s lives it also introduced new problems causing a rapid growth of government administration, necessary to provide new services. Some people also argued about the psychological effects of the state welfare, claiming that it made people lazy and irresponsible for their own lives. The argument got hotter with the increase of immigration by the end of the century as most immigrants added to the burden on welfare system and, consequently, on conscientious tax payers. The government passed laws to prevent unequal treatment of ‘coloured’ people, as well as to control the number of immigrants coming to Britain every year. The huge inflow of immigrants, especially to the old 19 th-century industrial centres caused economic problems which finally led to riots and inter-racial clashes. Economic development of the country In their attempt to make Britain a social state the Labour government introduced the policy of nationalization in the 1940s. Nationalization was voted by Parliament for the Bank of England, the coal mining industry, hospitals, the iron and steel industry, communications, gas and electricity production, and railways. The owners were compensated. But the desired economic prosperity was not achieved. From 1951 to 1979 Britain experienced an economic decline while nationalizations increased and the welfare state was expanded. Britain was rapidly losing its position as the main European economic power and quickly falling behind its neighbours in production and economic growth. At the end of the 1970s unemployment started to rise rapidly, reaching 3.5 million by 1985. It was the highest in the industrial regions of Britain. The economic crisis made coal miners launch a general strike in protest against pit closures. They were supported by workers in other industries. But the Conservative government headed by Margaret Thatcher managed to win a victory in the greatest industrial conflict of the century.

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The Conservative government started the policy of denationalization ridding the economy of the burden of non-profitable industries. Though the measures may have been totally unpopular, they helped to bring the country out of the deadlock economically and politically. The economic system was rebalanced and manufacturing industries were sacrificed to the growing service and financial sectors. The decline in Britain's manufacturing industry destroyed the power bases of British trade unionism. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland The last century has been characterised by the growing tendency to give more autonomy and self-government rights to the constituent parts of the UK – Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. At the same time the nationalistic movements in these countries have also been growing and gaining more supporters. Wales has always been the most peaceful of the constituent parts. Though the nationalist party, Plaid Cymru became a great political force at the beginning of the 1970s, it lost its popularity by the end of the decade as their insistence to make Welsh the dominant official language was not very popular with the majority of the population. People of Wales turned down the government’s offer of limited selfgovernment in 1979, but accepted it in 1997. Two years later the Welsh National Assembly was created with the power of limited legislation. It is interesting to note that in the first decades of the 21st century the number of native Welsh speakers has grown to 21% (in contrast to 18% at the end of the 20 th century) for the first time after a steady decline for the last hundred years. In Scotland the Scottish National Party has been steadily gaining support for the last fifty years. Their struggle for control over domestic affairs resulted in a referendum on devolution proposals and the creation of the devolved Scottish Parliament and Scottish Government in 1999. Another referendum on Scottish independence was held in 2014, but the nationalists failed to get the majority. However, more powers, particularly in relation to taxation, were devolved to the Scottish Parliament after the referendum. The language situation in Scotland is less 62

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acute than that in Wales as only a small minority of the Scots still speak Scottish Gaelic (about 1%) and the number is constantly decreasing. Northern Ireland enjoyed self-government (Home Rule) since the very beginning of its existence. However, by the end of the 1960s the unsolved controversy between nationalists and unionists, Protestants and Catholics heated the political situation so that it resulted in open violence. The central government had to withdraw the right of Home Rule for Northern Ireland and deploy there British troops. The following thirty years of civil strife came to be known as "the Troubles". The radical nationalist organisation, the Irish Republican Army (IRA), provoked civil unrest and organised bloody terrorist acts. The situation was more or less resolved in 1998 when the Good Friday Agreement was signed between Britain and Northern Ireland with the participation of the Republic of Ireland. Selfgovernment was re-introduced and the Northern Ireland Assembly was elected to make legislation. Britain and the European Union Britain has been a member of first the European Communities (EC) and then the European Union (EU) since 1973. However, levels of support for the EU have historically been lower in the UK than in most other member states. UK citizens are less likely to feel a sense of European identity, and national sovereignty is also seen as more important to British people than that of people from other EU nations. Additionally, the United Kingdom has always been the least integrated EU member state. They have remained out of Schengen agreement, EU monetary system and have not accepted some laws in the area of freedom, security and justice. In the last decades the British have become more inclined to blame their hardships on EU and its policy. All that led to the United Kingdom European Union membership referendum of 2016, in which about 52% of the British voted for leaving. Although legally the referendum was non-binding, the government of that time had promised to implement the result, and it initiated the official EU 63

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withdrawal process. However, the Conservative government has proved unable to negotiate the acceptable terms of leaving and in 2019 Britain still formally remains an EU member. Economists expect that Brexit will have damaging effects on the economies of the UK, both immediate and longer term. Brexit will likely reduce the UK's real per capita income and the Brexit referendum itself has damaged the economy. Studies on effects since the referendum show a reduction in GDP, trade and investment, as well as household losses from increased inflation. Besides, the Brexit heated the political controversy in Scotland and Northern Ireland, both countries having voted to stay an EU member. Questions and Tasks 1.

How did Britain manage to avoid revolution at the beginning of the

20th century? 2.

What made Germany seek a war with other European countries? What

made Britain enter it? 3.

How did World War I develop for Britain?

4.

What made public opinion in Britain and France demand harsh terms

for Germany in the Versailles Treaty? What were the consequences? 5.

What hardships were characteristic of the after-war period in Britain?

What new political developments did Britain go through? 6.

What made British society go through an existential crisis in the early

post-war years? 7.

What made Britain ready to collaborate with Germany in their

aggressive actions at the end of the1930s? 8.

What was the strategy of Germany in their military actions against

Britain during World War II? 9.

What was the Axis? What countries were allied with Germany?

10.

Which country had to carry the heaviest of the war load in World War

11.

What did the allied forces agree upon during a conference in Yalta?

II?

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12.

When did Germany sign the Act of Capitulation? What tragedy

marked the end of World War II? 13.

At what time point was the British Empire at its greatest? What caused

its splitting? 14.

How did the process of handing over the power go? What is the

Commonwealth of Nations? 15.

What do we call British overseas territories?

16.

What reforms were introduced in Britain after World War II to

guarantee social justice and greater social stability? 17.

What problems has the welfare policy caused?

18.

What made the Labour government introduce the policy of

nationalization? Was the desired effect achieved? 19.

What caused the economic crisis of the 1970s-1980s? What solution

did the Conservative party come up with? 20.

How did the political situation develop in the constituent parts of the

UK in the second half of the 20th century? 21.

What has been the European policy of Britain at the beginning of the

21st century? What caused Brexit?

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Список использованной литературы 1.

Воевода Е.В. Великобритания: история и культура = Great Britain:

Culture Across History: учеб. пособие по англ. яз. для студентов II курса ф-та МЭО / Е.В. Воевода. - М.: МГИМО-Университет, 2009. – 221 с. 2.

Заболотный, В.М. История, география и культура стран

изучаемого языка. (English-speaking World) : учебно-методический комплекс / В.М. Заболотный. - М. : Евразийский открытый институт, 2011. - 551 с. 3.

Лежнина Г.В. История и культура англоязычных стран. Учебное

пособие / Лежнина Г. В., 2011, Кемеровский государственный университет. 164 с. В мире английского языка = In the World of English, 2009, Омский государственный университет. - 236 с. 4.

Голицынский Ю.Б. Great Britain = Великобритания : пособие по

страноведению / Ю.Б. Голицынский, 2011, КАРО. - 480 с. 5.

Кертман, Л. Е. География, история и культура Англии [Текст] / Л.

Е. Кертман. - Москва : Высшая школа, 1979. - 386 с. 6.

Росс, Д. Англия. История нации = England. History of a nation :

[книга по страноведению на английском языке] / Дэвид Росс. - СанктПетербург : КАРО, 2006. - 383 с. : ил., портр. ; 26 см. - Загл. обл. : England. History of a nation. - Библиогр.: с. 360. 7.

McDowall D. An Illustrated History of Britain. – Longman, 2007. Электронные ресурсы

1.

https://images.google.com

2.

https://www.britannica.com

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