Chapter Three English History (2). Transition to the Modern Age (1455-1688) 1). The Wars of the Roses The name Wars of the Roses was refer to the battles

Chapter Three

English History (2)

Transition to the Modern Age (1455-1688)• 1). The Wars of the Roses• The name Wars of the Roses was refer to the battle

s between the House of Lancaster, symbolized by the read rose, and that of York, symbolized by the white, from 1455 to 1485. Henry Tudor, descendant of Duke of Lancaster won victory at Bosworth Fireld in 1485 and put the country under the rule of the Tudors. From these Wars, English feudalism received its death blow. The great medieval nobility was much weakened.

• 2).The English Reformation

• The reform began as a struggle for a divorce and ended in freedom from the Papacy. Henry’s reforms was to get rid of the English Church’s connection with the Pope, and to make an independent Church of England.

Transition to the Modern Age (1455-1688)

• Henry VIII’s reform stressed the power of the monarch and certainly strengthened Henry’s position; Parliament had never done such a long and important piece of work before, its importance grew as a result. His attack on the Pope’s power encouraged many critics of abuses of the Catholic Church. England was moving away form Catholicism towards Protestantism.


• Henry VIII

• Elizabeth I (1558-1603)

• Henry VIII’s daughter

• Elizabeth's religious reform was a compromise of views. She broke Mary's ties with Rome and restored her father's independent Church of England, i.e. keeping to Catholic doctrines and practices but to be free of the Papal control.


• 3).The English Renaissance Renaissance was the transitional period between the Middle Ages and Modern Ages, covering the years:1350---1650.

• In England, Renaissance was usually thought of as beginning with the accession of House of Tudor to the throne in 1485. It coincide with the Reformation.

• William Shakespeare


• Distinctive features of the English Renaissance :• 1) English culture was revitalized not so much

directly by the classics as by contemporary Europeans under the influence of the classics; 2) England as an insular country followed a course of social and political history which was to a great extent independent of the course of history elsewhere in Europe;


• Distinctive features of the English Renaissance :

• 3) Owing to the great genius of the 14th century poet Chaucer, the native literature was sufficiently vigorous and experienced in assimilating for foreign influences without being subjected by them; 4) English Renaissance coincided with the Reformation in England.


• 4). The Civil War and the Restoration

• The Civil War:

• the Divine Right of Kings

• because of the absolute rule of Charles, the confrontation between Charles I and the parliament developed into the civil war. The war began on August 22,1642 and ended in 1651. Charles I was condemned to death.


• The consequences:• The English Civil War is also called the Puritan

Revolution. It has been seen as a conflict between the parliament and the King, and a conflict between economic interests of the Crown. The economic interests of the urban middle classed coincided with their religious ( Puritan) ideology while the Crown’s traditional economic interests correspondingly allied with Anglican religious belief. The English Civil War not only overthrew feudal system in England but also shook the foundation of the feudal rule in Europe. It is generally regarded as the beginning of modern world history.


• Oliver CromwellCromwell, Oliver (Lord Protector), leader in

the English Revolution and the first commoner 平民 to rule England.

During the English Civil War, Cromwell hold together the competing groups that had overthrown King Charles. His civilian government introduced electoral reform 选举改革 , moderate religious toleration, and the first truly British Parliament. After a period of political chaos 混乱 he was succeeded by the restoration of Charles II to the throne君主 .


• The Restoration • When Oliver Cromwell died in 1658 and was

succeeded by his son, Richard, the regime began to collapse. One of Cromwell's generals George Monck, occupied London and arranged for new parliamentary elections. The Parliament thus was elected in 1660 resolved the crisis by asking the late King's son to return from his exile in France as king Charles II. It was called the Restoration.


• The Glorious Revolution of 1688 • In 1685 Charles II died and was succeeded by his

brother James II. James was brought up in exile in Europe, was a Catholic. He hoped to rule without giving up his personal religious vies. But England was no more tolerant of a Catholic king in 1688 than 40 years ago. So the English politicians rejected James II, and appealed to a Protestant king, William of Orange, to invade and take the English throne. William landed in England in 1688. The takeover was relatively smooth, with no bloodshed, nor any execution of the king. This was known as the Glorious Revolution.


The Rise and Fall of the British Empire• 1) The emergence of political parties• Whigs and Tories • These two party names originated with the Glorious

Revolution (1688). • The Whig were those who opposed absolute

monarchy and supported the right to religious freedom for Nonconformists. The Whig were to form a coalition with dissident Tories in the mid-19th century and become the Liberal Party.

• The Tories were those who supported hereditary monarchy and were reluctant to remove kings. The Tories were the forerunners of the Conservative Party.

2. The Rise and Fall of the British Empire

• 2). The Enclosure

• During the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the “open-field” system ended when the Enclosure Act was passed. The movement lasted for centuries.

The Rise and Fall of the British Empire• Agricultural enclosure had good as well as bad res

ults: （ 1 ） Farms became bigger and bigger units as the great bought up the small;

• （ 2 ） More vegetables, more milk and more dairy produce were consumed, and diet became more varied; （ 3 ） Enclosure was a disaster for the tenants evicted from their lands by the enclosures. These peasant farmers were forced to look for work in towns. Enclosure led to mass emigration, particularly to the New World; （ 4 ） A new class hostility was introduced into rural relationships.

The Rise and Fall of the British Empire

• 3) .The Industrial Revolution (1780-1830)

• The industrial Revolution refers to the mechanization of industry and the consequent changes in social and economic organization in Britain in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.


• 2) ． Britain was the first country to industrialize because of the following factors:

• (1) Favorable geographical location. • (2) Political stability. Britain had a peaceful society • (3) Good foundation in economy. • (4) It was a country in which the main towns were

never too far from seaports, or from rivers, which could distribute their products.


• (5) Britain had many rivers, which were useful for transport but also for water and steam power. Britain also had useful mineral resources.

• (6) British engineers had sound training as craftsmen. • (7) The inventors were respected. They solved practical problems. • (8) England, Scotland, and Wales formed a customs union after 17

07 and this included Ireland after 1807. • (9) The enclosures and other improvements in agriculture made th

eir contributions by providing food for the rising population, labour for the factories, and some of the raw materials needed by industry.


• Typical examples of the inventions during the Industrial Revolution

• (1) John Kay’s flying shuttle in 1733; • (2) James Hargreaves’ Spinning Jenny in 1766; • (3) Richard Arkwright’s waterframe in 1769; • (4) Samuel Crompton’s mule in 1779 • (5) Edmund Cartwright’s power loom in 1784; • (6) James Watt’s steam engine in 1765.


• Consequences of the industrial Revolution （ 1 ） Britain was by 1830 the ‘workshop of the world’;

• （ 2 ） Towns grew rapidly and became the source of the nation’s wealth.

• （ 3 ） Mechanization destroyed the livelihood of those who could not invest in it . The working men worked and lived in a appalling conditions.

• （ 4 ） The industrial revolution created the industrial working class, the proletariat, and it later led to trade unionism.



• 4). The Chartist Movement

• Two events most alarmed the British ruling class in the late 18th C, They were the American War of Independent( 1776.7.4) and the French Revolution(1789.7.14). In both revolution, people asked for equality and liberty. In Britain the Chartist Movement appeared.


• (1) Reasons for parliamentary reforms.

• Power was monopolized by the aristocrats.

• Representation of town and country, and North and South was unfair.

• There were also various so-called rotten or pocket boroughs.


• Three Reform Bills • Between 1832 and 1884 three Reform Bills were

passed. • a) The Reform Act of 1832 • b) The New Poor Law of 1834 • C) A People’s Charter of 1836 • It had six points: (1)the vote for all adult males;

(2)voting by secret ballot; (3)equal electoral districts; (4)abolition of property qualifications for members of Parliament; (5)payment of members of Parliament; (6)annual Parliaments, with a General Election every June.


• Results of the Chartist Movement Chartism failed because of its weak and divided leadership, and its lack of coordination with trade-unionism. The working class still immature, without the leadership of a political party armed with correct revolutionary theory. The Chartist movement was, however, the first nationwide working class movement and drew attention to serious problems. The 6 points were achieved very gradually over the period of 1858-1918, although the sixth has never been practical. Lenin said that Chartism was ‘the first broad, really mass, politically formed, proletarian revolutionary movement’.


• 5). Trade Unions and the Labor Party • The Trade Union Act of 1871 legalized the trade

unions and gave financial security.• The Labor Party had its origin in the Independent

Labor Party (ILP), which was formed in January, 1893. In 1900, representatives of trade unions, the ILP, and a number of small socialist societies set up the Labor Representation Committee (LRC). The LRC changed its name to the Labor Party for the general election called for in 1906.


• 6). Colonial Expansion • The growth of dominions

English colonial expansion began with the colonization of Newfoundland in 1583. By 1900, Britain had built up a big empire, “on which the sun never set”. It consisted of a vast number of protectorates, Crown colonies, spheres of influence, and self-governing dominions. It included 25% of the world’s population and area.


• Canada was ceded to Britain by the 1763 Treaty of Paris. French rights were guaranteed by the Quebec Act of 1774. The Canada Act of 1791 divided Canada into Upper Canada where the British had settled, and Lower Canada populated by the French. The British North America Act of 1867 established Canada as a dominion.

，


• English began to transport convicts to Australia in 1788. Free settlement began in 1816, and no convicts were sent to Australia after 1840. The gold rushes (1851-1892) brought more people to Australia, and in 1901 the six self-governing wer united in one dominion-the independent Commonwealth of Australia.


• New Zealand became a separate colony of Britain in 1841, achieved self-government in 1857, became a dominion under the British crown in 1907 and was made completely independent in 1931.


• The Conquest of India • The British East India Company establish

ed in 1600. By 1819 the British conquest of most India was almost complete. After the muting of Bengal army in 1857, the control of India passed to the British Crown and Queen Victoria became Empress of India in 1877.

• The Scramble for Africa• At the beginning of the 19th century British

possessions were confined to forts and slave trading posts on the west coast. Over the 19th century the interior of Africa was gradually discovered and colonized by Europeans. Britain led the way in the race. Apart from the colonies in the South and West, Britain was also involved in the North East in Egypt and the Sudan.



• Aggression against China

• In 1840, the Opium War broke out between Britain and China. Since then, Britain gradually invaded many coastal areas and imposed a series of unequal treaties upon China.


• 7). Twentieth Century • Britain and the First World War • The Work War I was fought from 1914 to 1918

primarily between two European Power blocs: “the Central power”. Germany and Austria-Hungary, and the “Allies”, Britain, France and Russia. During the war, the Britain lost much. Apart from the loss of manpower, there had been considerable disruption of the economy and society. Out of the war settlement came the establishment of the league of Nations.


• Britain and the Second World War • As Adolf Hitler and Nazism showed off th

eir aggressive momentum in Europe, Chamberlain, the Prime Minister, found his policy of appeasement of German aggression was no longer tenable, and was forced to declare war on Germany on September 3,1939.


• Postwar Britain • (1) One of the most far-reaching consequences of the W

ar was that it hastened the end of Britain’s empire. • (2) In 1952 Princess Elizabeth was crowned Queen Eliza

beth II. Many people through television saw the ceremony.

• (3)In January 1973, Britain became a full member of the European Economic Community which was still called the Common Market in 1973. Britain witnessed the first oil shock in 1973. (4) Mrs. Thatcher led one of the most remarkable periods in the British economy.

• Queen Elizabeth II

Documents

Chapter Three English History (2). Transition to the Modern Age (1455-1688) 1). The Wars of the Roses The name Wars of the Roses was refer to the battles