Assignments

1. Describe the development of the English state in the 11--12* centu­ries. How did the increase of trade for export abroad influence the development of the English society? Why, do you think, it was not profitable enough for the English merchants to sell raw wool abroad? What had the English people to learn to make their wool production fit for export?

2. Why did the English lords get interested in paying money to em­ployed people for their work instand of using their own workers' (peasants') labour whom they did not have to pay for? What rela­tions, in your opinion, began to develop between the employer and the employed people in England at that time? What caused those relations?

3. The reign of Henry II. Under what circumstances did he make his first attempts to conquer Ireland? How sucoessful were they?

4. What can you say about his policy inside the country? Why did Henry II rise the customary taxes? Didn't it influence the develop­ment of the English economy and trade inside the country?

5. Why did he hire mercenaries for his army whom he had to play money instead of using his vassals in army service?

6. Richard Lionhearted: Why, do you think, he was loved and sup­ported by common people and the Anglo-Saxons in particulary? Try to remember, some episodes from English literature which reflect Richard's reign and speak about them.

7. John Lackland's reign: why was John called 'Lackland¹? Why did he find himself in complete isolation from all sections of society the barons, the towns, the common people and the Roman Church in particular which had supported the English Crown before? What caused him to sign the programme of demands in a document known as the Great Charter of Liberties? (Magna Charta Libertatum). Evaluate the historical significance of the Magna Chara. What influence did it have on the social classes in future centuries?

8. Face the origin of the English parliament, paying special attention to its initial functions. Who was the first to summon the parliament? Speak about the historical significance of the first English parlia­ment.

9. The uprising of Wat Tyler: What caused the peasants' uprising of Wat Tyler? Speak about the events and the results of this uprising paying special attention to the demands of its participants. What role did the peasant uprising of Wat Tyler play in the feudal relationship? Did it break down these relations and if it did, in what way?

10. Discuss cultural life in feudal England language, education and literature. What influenced the changes in the English language?

7. The Development of Absolutism in the 15^th Century I) The Wars of the Roses

The Wars of the Roses (1455-85) started on the background of England's defeat in the Hundred Years War between England and France - a series of wars, not just one war, which lasted more than a hundred years (1337-1453).

English and French kings had always been quarrelling because of fishing in the North Sea and the English Channel. But the main reason of the war between England and France was the English possession of ter­ritory in France, which had begun with William the Conqueror. Before becoming king of England William had been a French (Norman) duke. As his successors on the English throne had enlarged their possession in France, the French had tried to drive them out as invaders and succeeded in it

The defeat in France had brought back the most warlike English nobles, who were greatly dissatisfied with their losses, nobles for whom the war had become a profession and who could not adjust themselves to the serious changes in the economic life of the country, which had oc­curred during the long struggle between England and France. They were unfit for peaceful work and so in 1455 an internal war broke out in England in form of a dynastic struggle between two most powerful feudal families - the House of Lancaster which had the emblem of a red rose and the House of York with the emblem of a white rose - hence the name of this conflict. The other noble families joined either the House of York or the House of Lancaster. This war lasted 30 years and weakened both sides. The result of the war was that Henry Tudor won the battle against Richard III (the king of England), where the later was killed, and made himself king. Henry was wise enough to marry the heiress of the House of York.

"The king is dead. Long live the king!" is a strange English saying. It means that as soon as a king is dead, another must take his place.

Thus Henry VII formed a new monarchy, the Tudor monarchy, which was based upon a new relationship in society.

2) The changes in the country after the wars

The wars of the Roses had considerably weakened economically and politically the old feudal baronial families. Many of them had lost their most powerful members and many of them had lost their property.

The new Tudor monarchy was absolute. It was supported by the new nobility and the merchants. They wanted security which was neces­sary for the economic development and they feared feudal wars and an­archy. So they needed the strong power of the king, supported him and supplied him with money.

Henry VII crashed down the old nobility, confiscated the lands of the defeated and began to create a new nobility who was directly de­pendent upon the Crown. His power was absolute. It was under Henry VII when Britain became a centralized national state.

8. England in the 16^th Century 1) Economic devel o pment

As it has been mentioned before the English merchants for a long period had sold only raw wool to different European countries but then they realized that it was not profitable enough especially after the Eng­lish people had learned to weave and to make wool clothes. It was a great progressive step for the clothing industry and of course for the trade in general. By and by, little by little, those who were engaged in this business - the clothiers[28] began to collect a great number of artisans[29] under a single roof to carry out the whole industrial process there. This was the beginning of the manufactury. Of course, the process was long and slow but at the end of the XV and the beginning of the XVI centuries the clothing industry became the decisive feature of English economic life, the industry which brought profit, wealth, security for those who owned such manufacturies.

2) The Enclosure [30] Policy.

The feudal landowners, the gentry and the merchants realized the commercial advantages of sheep breeding for they needed more and more wool to make clothes. Wool meant sheep and sheep needed more and more pastures[31], more and more land, the land which could be taken by force in different regions. They began to enclose land and to turn it into pastures. The direct result of enclosure was the loss of the land for thousands of people, mostly poor peasants, small landowners. Landless peasants and their families appeared on the roads. They were called "study beggars" -healthy and active people, able to work but for whom no work could be found Those people became a social problem and soon the first English "Poor Law" was enacted against them. According to this Law, 7200 people were hanged for theft in the reign of Henry the VIII. Since that time the law had been kept against beggars for "beggars were forbidden in Great Britain" and only 10 years ago the law was abolished[32]. Thomas More, a great philosopher of that time, the giant of the Renaissance in England wrote about the enclosures:

"Your sheep were so obedient and tamed and ate so little but now they are said to become so gluttonous and wild and eat even people".[33] Sheep eat people - the first achievements of English capitalism.

Thus the enclosure brought hunger, misery, poverty and death to millions of the English people.

3) The reign of Henry VIII

The reformation of the Church

Henry VIII was a king of a new type. First he was supported by the merchants and new nobles, secondly he was rich himself and independ­ent. He was strong enough to prevent any revival[34] of armed forces in any group of nobles. In return the merchants received his help for free devel­opment of trade and shipbuilding. He gave the squires[35] more political power in the countryside, more political responsibility.

Henry's power was absolute and it led to a break with Rome.

The motive was Henry VIII's devorce with his first wife Catherine of Aragon, the daughter of the Spanish king, and his desire to marry a brilliant young English lady Ann Bolein. The Roman Pope objected to it for in the Catholic religion any devorce is forbidden. For this purpose Henry VIII called parliament into session which stayed in session seven years, and helped him greatly in completing the separation from Rome. The Parliament passed several acts of which the most important was "the Act of Supremacy" which recognized the Anglican church as the official church in the country with Henry VIII as its head.

The Reformation in England was not the popular, democratic movement that it was in many parts of Europe, as for example the Lu­theran Reformation in Germany in its beginning.

The new church differed little from the former Catholic church in its learning, only it was controlled by the state and the king. Anyhow the translation of the Bible into English, the performing of services in church in the English language, the permission for the clergymen to get married were progressive and important steps in the development of Protestan­tism in England.

Economically and politically all these changes were connected with increased power of England against Spain and France.

4) Queen Elizabeth I

Henry VIII had three children from different wives: two daughters and a son named Edward, the heir to the throne, a little boy with a poor constitution. When Henry VIII died Edward became the king of England though he had not come of age yet. But very soon he died and his sister Mary, Henry VIIFs eldest daughter, became the first Queen of England.

Mary was the daughter of Henry and his first wife Catherine Ara­gon. She married Philip II, the king of Spain, an ardent[36] catholic for Spain was a catholic country and the main centre of Catholicism.

Being an English Queen and an ardent catholic too Mary repealed[37] everything what had been done by her father and restored[38]³ Catholicism again.

A lot of protestants were executed and hanged; among them there were lords, barons, merchants, peasants - thousands of people. She was called "Bloody Mary".

After her death (she -was killed), her sister Elizabeth Tudor became the Queen of England.

The reign of Queen Elizabeth saw the development of the country * in all directions: economy, trade, science, culture, literature, especially in poetry. She was a remarkable, distinguished queen, loved her country and her people and never wanted to share her throne with anybody else for she never married and remained for her people the only crowned head of State.

Elizabeth I assisted and supported the merchants and especially seamen-pirates, so called, "Elizabeth's sea-dogs". John Hawkins and Francis Drake[39] were her first sea-dogs and slave traders who received a great profit from their "business". They took slaves from.the African West coast and sold them to Spanish colonists in the West Indies. The shameful slave trade brought tremendous profits to the English merchants and the Crown. But she was sure, that she did all this for the sake of her.country and her people,

Elisabeth I was a protestant herself and in the reign of her sister Mary oppressed, put into the Tower and kept there for some time, though she was not killed the others. Having become the Queen of England after Mary's death she restored protestantism in England and had to struggle with all Catholic elements inside the country. Spain, the greatest enemy of England, supported those Catholic elements headed by Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, who was next in line, after Elizabeth, to the Eng­lish throne. The Catholic forces in England hoped to gain supremacy[40]. Many plots were discovered in the country in which Spain and Mary Stuart were deeply involved[41].

The plots were uncovered, the Spanish ambassador[42]¹ was sent home, Mary Stuart was sentenced to death and executed.

After all those tragic events in England an open war between Eng­land and Spain became inevitable.

Philip, the king of Spain began to build a huge fleet of fjiips, an Armada (The "Unconquered Armada" as he used tc call it). His plan was that the Armada should sail to Holland, pick up the Spanish army there and from there invade England But he could not carry out his plans for the Spanish Armada was completely defeated by the English navy in 1588 in the English Channel and broken by storms as it went round Scotland and Ireland in the Irish sea when it tried to return home. It was a great victory for England though the war continued for some time. This victory meant the establishment of English naval supremacy in Europe.

9. The Renaissance. Literature and Cultureof Tudor England

In England we may distinguish three periods within the Renais­sance: the first period in the end of the XV and the first half of the XVI century, the second period coinciding with the reign of Queen Elizabeth (1558-1603) and the activities of William Shakespeare (1564-1616) and the final period after Shakespeare's death, which ended with the beginning of the puritan revolution.

In the reign of Henry VIII much attention was payed to the spread of ancient Greek art, Greek classical literature, the acquaintance with Greek philosophy and science. It gave a great impulse to the develop­ment of the fine arts, architecture, literature, scientific studies etc.

But first, all this was the privilege of the upper classes. Then by and by, little by little men and women of the middle class became affected by the Renaissance too. More and more learned to read and write, more and more began to attend Grammar schools and later on universities. A new kind of education which included schooling in Arithmetic, History, Ge­ography together with Greek and Latin was found in Grammar schools, attended mainly by the sons of the local gentry and the local merchants. Simultanav«6ly many new Universities were opened, especially in the reign of Elizabeth 1.

The reign of Henry VIII was a period of great flourishing of music, art and architecture. He encouraged architects and painters to come from Italy and other European countries. Many of them enriched English cul­ture and today are considered to be the founders of the English school of painting. For example, Rubens and Van Dyck, though Dutchmen by ori­gin, seriously influenced English painting too.

The reign of Queen Elizabeth saw the development of the English language to the height of its power as an instrument of prose and espe­cially of poetry.

On the whole this period was called the golden age of the English Renaissance. The Renaissance was a time which "required titans and bred titans".

William Shakespeare, poet and dramatist, was one of the greatest titans of this age. The theatre in Shakespeare's days rose to the greatest height, for it was more closely connected with the people than any other art. All London went to see the plays of the great dramatists, and the greatest of them all was William Shakespeare, one of the most famous playwrights of the world.

His characters are real, lifelike, typical of his time and we may say that many of them are still up-to-date.

Assignments

Test questions

1. What caused the Wars of the Roses in England and what were the results of them?

2. Speak about the economic development in the country after the war period. What was the decisive[43]¹ feature of the English economic life and how did it influence the development of manufacturies.

3. The reign of Henry VIII: Why was the Tudor monarchy absolute? Wh3t class supported the king and why? Was absolutism an impor­tant progressive step in the development of English economy and in what way?

4. Why did the enclosures occur mainly in the XVI century? What were the consequences of this process?

5. Explain the spread of the Reformation to England. Why were the monasteries dissolved? What were the consequences of the dissolu­tion of the monasteries?

6. What do you think was progressive in the English reformation? Did it influence the development of the English society, their views and if it did, in what way? Try to compare it with the Lutheran Refor­mation in Germany.

7. Why do English people consider Elizabeth I the most remarkable and distinguished Monarch in the English History? What was re­markable in her reign and personality?

8. Give a survey of the influence of the Renaissance on English cul­ture, literature and science. What was the distinguishing feature of the English Renaissance? What titans did it breed and what do you know about them?

9. The English Bourgeois Revolution of the 17^th Century

1) England on the Eve of the Revolution

The English bourgeois revolution of the 17^ft century opened a new era in the world history when the capitalist mode of production tri­umphed and bourgeoisie became the ruling class of society.

The English revolution of the 17- century took place in a country where capitalism had developed faster than in any other country of Europe.

Capitalism as it has been said before began to develop in England already in the 15-16* centuries: England produced woolen cloth, sold it to different countries and got great profit by this trade; many new manu­factures were founded throughout the country and the production of clothes became the leading branch of industry.

Quite simultaneously other branches began to develop, such as high industry based upon coalmining, steel production, silk, glass, soap pro­duction etc. Shipbuilding was also very important for it made England the most powerful state in the seas and world oceans. By that time Eng­land had the strongest navy in the world. Land was becoming a source of profit too but feudal relations in agriculture were a serious obstacle to capitalist land exploitation - free trading in land.

The most important classes of that time were the bourgeoisie and the gentry[44]. These classes were becoming more and more wealthy and powerful and they were dissatisfied with the balance of political power established by the Tudor monarchy.

2) The English Kings on the Eve of the Revolution, Their policy

After Elizabeth I's death (1603) Mary Stuart's son James I became king of England, for Elizabeth I died childless. Thus a new dynasty was established, the Stuart dynasty. James Stuart had been king of Scotland for more than 30 years and having become king of England he felt a for­eigner to this country The English people did not respect their new king because of his policies and more than that because he came after Eliza­beth I, who had been loved and greatly respected by the English people. James I by his extravagances soon increased the crown's debts, a fact which aroused great indignation in Parliament and with the people as well. His foreign policy was unpopular too: for years the English people had considered Spain to be their chief enemy, but James after having made peace with Spain fell under Spanish influence; the Spanish ambas­sador[45] was said to be the real power behind James.

James I, as it has been said, had been king of Scotland and naturally remained a catholic for Scotland was still a catholic country. The English Catholics had relayed on him and had supported him for they had hoped that James I would make England a catholic country again. Besides, his close relationship with Spain proved it too. But James I after becoming king of England, joined the Anglican Church, probably to please the English people and to strengthen his power in the country. So the Eng­lish Catholics considered him to be a traitor and organized a plot against him, led by Catesly and Guy Fawkes[46]. They determined to kill the king and his ministers by blowing up the Houses of Parliament with gun powder. But one of the conspirators had several friends in Parliament and did not want them to die. So he wrote a letter to Lord Monteagle[47] begging him to make some excuse to be absent from Parliament if he valued his life. Lord Monteagle took the letter hurriedly to the King. Guards were sent at once to examine the cellars of the Houses of Parlia­ment. And there they found Guy Fawkes about to fire a trail of gunpow­der. The latter was tortured and hanged. Catesby was killed during the arrest in Ms own house.

James¹ relations with Parliament were extremely strained[48] for the King wanted more and more money which he couldn't get without Par­liament's consent. The Parliament refused it and James constantly dis­solved it.

3) The Reign of Charles I The Beginning of the Revolution

It was in the reign of Charles I that the struggle between crown and Parliament reached its climax[49]¹ for the king needed money and he wanted to get it avoiding Parliament. In this he succeeded by introducing a new direct tax, the so called "ship money" to be payed by everybody. It aroused great indignation with the people and the Parliament made the king sign a document called the Petition of Rights.

The Petition of Rights forbade the king to introduce any martial law in time of peace, to imprison freemen, to collect any tax without the con­sent of Parliament. The king signed it but soon forgot about the existence of this Petition and continued his old practice. When Parliament pro­tested against these actions, Charles I dissolved it and there was no Par­liament for II years. These were the years of his personal rule.

When Charles I in 1639 invaded Scotland he hurriedly summoned Parliament to vote money for an army to crush the Scotts. But the Par­liament refused to vote the money and Charles I dissolved it within three weeks. In the history of England it was called the Short Parliament. Meanwhile the Scotch forces invaded northern England and pushed back the king's forces. Under such circumstances Charles I was forced to summon another Parliament in 1640 which is known as the Long Par­liament for it sat for 13 years.

The summoning of the Long Parliament in 1640 marks the begin­ning of the English bourgeois revolution which continued up to 1660 when monarchy was restored.-

4) The Civil War in England

There are 3 periods in the history of the English revolution: the first - the peaceful period (1640-1642) - from the summoning of the Long Parliament to the beginning of the civil war in England.

The second period - from 1642 to 1649 - the period of two civil wars, the execution of the king in 1649,the proclamation of Common­wealth or republic.

The third period - from 1643-1660 - the period of Commonwealth.

In 1660 the restoration of monarchy occurred, which was the end of the bourgeois revolution.

Charles I was hated by most of his people, and especially his wife, a French princess, daughter of the French king Henry IV, was hated by the English people both the rich and the poor. She demanded from her husband the king to establish absolute rule and to dissolve Parliament once and for ever (like in France). Fortunately for her she escaped in time from England to France and her little daughter was brought there too secretly as a common girl. But the other children were left in Eng­land and her second daughter died there after the king's execution. Their elder son James, the heir of the throne, who was in Holland during the English civil war, stayed alive.

On the Eve of the civil war the king decided to take revenge by ar­resting five of the most active members of the House of Commons. But these five members, warned of his coming, had escaped to the City of London and Charles I suffered a humiliating defeat. As the result he lost the whole of London and the south-east of the country. He decided to move to the north, where there were large manors of feudal aristocracy left. There he hoped to find material and military support and he suc­ceeded in it. The feudal lords were still powerful there and they sup-' ported the king but the south and south-east of England became the strong-hold of Parliament.

In 1642 the king declared war against the supporters of Parliament. The kings own supporters were called "Cavaliers". They were smartly dressed, feathers in their soft hats, their hair was long and curly and they wore moustaches. At the beginning they looked at the war like a game and at first they seemed to win for they were the first in England to ride on horses during the battle. But it was only at the beginning.

The supporters of Parliament were called Roundheads. The army mostly consisted of common people, soldiers, peasants mostly Puritans.

So first the royalists (cavaliers)[50] won but then the situation changed when the parliamentary forces were joined by detachments of peasants, small landowners and workingmen. These detachments were com­manded by a member of the House of Commons named Oliver Crom­well. He kept iron discipline in his army and taught his soldiers being strict and exacting to himself.

Cromwell's powers of organization took him high in the parlia­mentary army. His name became well known in the armies of both sides.

The royalists lost the war in 1642. The king put himself into the hands of the Scots but they extradited[51] him to the English parliament. After the king's arrest in 1644 Parliament announced that the war was over.

5) The Execution of the King. The Proclamation of the Commonwealth.

At the end of 1647 Charles I escaped He went south to the Isle of Wight where he reached an agreement with the Scotch reactionaries and began another war. However. Cromwell's army beat them all and after this battle Cromwell himself became the most powerful person in Eng­land He succeeded in appointing a special Court to judge the king. Charles I was brought back to London and accused before that Court of acts of tyranny, of making war upon his subjects and his people. The trial took seven days, the king was sentenced to death and beheaded before a huge crowd of people in January 30,1649.

Shortly afterwards, in February the House of Lords was abolished as useless and dangerous and England was announced a Commonwealth or republic. This was the climax of the English bourgeois revolution. The country began to develop as a bourgeois republic. Oliver Cromwell be­came Lord Protector for life.

6) Oliver Cromwell. The Period of Commonwealth

Oliver Cromwell was born and brought up in a puritan family. When a boy he went to the puritan church and learned theology. At Cambridge he continued to learn theology but then he became a colonel of a cavalery regiment, a Member of the House of Commons and later on the leader of the country: Cromwell's power of organization took him high, he was strict and ascetic to himself and to others. His creed, which he followed all his life, was that everything must be modest, pure and plain. Anyhow he was a perfect sportsman, went in for riding, swim­ming, wrestling.

The formation of the republic was a triumph of the bourgeoisie and gentry over the feudal monarchy.

However, the new regime suppressed[52] all movements directed at the further development of the revolution. Oliver Cromwell preserved big landownership and made them pay heavy taxes. He undertook an Irish expedition to suppress an uprising for independence there, which was headed by the Irish nobles and the Catholic Church. Cromwell's expedition was a bloody extinction of the Irish population. His army killed thousands of Irishmen, cruelly and bloodily.

The soldiers and officers of Cromwell's army were promised the confiscated lands of the Irish and the promise was kept. Thus a new class of rich landownery was formed in Ireland which supported the new re­public.

In England the popular masses began to protest against the new re­gime. Prices went up, the poor suffered awful privations and died of hunger. Anyhow Cromwell decided to go on. In 1653 he copied the ac­tion of Charles 1: he marched to the House of Commons and entered it.

His soldiers pushed the members out and Cromwell locked the doors behind him. Parliament was dissolved. Cromwell was the only ruler of the country but even in this period of military dictatorship attempts were made to restore monarchy.

In 1658 Cromwell died. There was trouble almost immediately. The army started quarrelling with the Parliament which had been summoned in the last years of Cromwell's lifetime to establish military regime.

A new parliament was summoned where the royalist elements won the majority and the House of Lords was restored.

The House of Commons passed a statement recognizing that Gov­ernment ought to be "by King, Lords and Commons". A week later an official declaration was issued saying that Charles II (the son of the exe­cuted King) was to be king. In May 1660 monarchy was restored in England

10. The Restoration Period 1) The Restoration

This period is characterized by a struggle for power between the feudal aristocracy and the bourgeoisie and gentry. The feudal aristocracy wanted a complete return to the pre-revolutionary days while the bour­geoisie tried to preserve privileges gained during the revolution.

Charles II had promised to pardon all the participants of the revo­lution but soon forgot or pretended to forget all his promises: everybody who could be captured¹ was punished in the most cruel way. Even Cromwell's body was taken out of Westminster abbey and hung like a traitors. The land taken by the Commonwealth government from the crown and the church was returned to them, However the land taken by the Puritan gentry during the Revolution remained in the hands of then-new owners.

At this time London was struck by a terrible disease -the plague¹. It was the worst attack since the Black Death three centuries earlier. The rich people, who could, escaped to their country houses. The great mass of poor people remained in town. They fell ill, locked their houses, died inside them but still the infection was spreading all over the city. There was nobody to burry the dead. About 70 000 of people died. And when the worst months were over another blow fell upon London: fire! The Great Fire of London! It started in a baker's house on a hot dry night with an east wind blowing. The wind carried the flames into the centre of the City and they burned there for 4 days and 5 nights. When the burning was finished, a great area lay waste. Nearly 13000 houses and ⁽)() churches were gone or ruined. The fire left many people homeless. How­ever it stopped the plague.

2) The Parties in the Reign of Charles II

Charles II was always eager for an opportunity to free himself from parliament, to find other ways of finding money. The French king Loins XIV made him an offer: if England fought together with France against the Duchmen the (Louis XIV) would give Charles enough money to make parliamentary supplies unnecessary. Besides Louis XIV demanded that Catholicism should be restored in England. Charles agreed and ■ secret treaty was concluded between him and Louis XIV. That led to the growth of French influence in the country and the war against Holland was started, although Parliament was against it.

The opposition in the Parliament consisted of Protestants objected to all these actions and made Charles II accept the Test Act according to which Catholics were forbidden to occupy any position of Government importance.

The opposition party (formed in 1679) expressed the interests of the London City financiers, merchants and the gentry. They stood for limiting the power of monarchy and were opposed to Catholicism.

In the same year another party was organized. This royal party fa­voured the royal prerogative and the Anglican church. The court party expressed the interests of the landed aristocracy. The opposition started to use the word "tory"[53] as a rude word for the court party. In Irish it meant a Roman Catholic outlaw. The court party, the Tories called the opposition party "whigs",[54] - a rude Scottish word meaning "rebels".[55]

3) The Habeas Corpus Act [56]

Rumors were spread of a Catholic plot to kill the king and seize the government. The king was forced to dissolve the old Cavalier Parlia­ment. However he needed money and he called another parliament in 1679. The parliament passed the famous Habeas Corpus Act. This document was written in Latin because of its significance and solemnity "Habeas" and "corpus" are the first two words in the phrase "Habeas corpus immune".^5[57] According to this Act neither the monarch nor the government should violate[58] personal immunity of citizens-no one should be arrested and put into prison without the consent of a judge. It was the declaration of the right of every citizen.

4) The reign of James II

Charles II was childless and after his death his brother James be­came king of England. He was a catholic and after he was crowned he began to appoint Catholics to the highest posts in the state. His aim was to improve the position of his fellow Catholics. He expected to do all this without much opposition from the Tory Parliament. The Tories had sup­ported a Stuart king, but only as long as he allowed the Anglican church to preserve its leading position and would not attack their interests. The king's support of Catholics became dangerous for them.

So the Whigs and a part of the Tories thought a radical change nec­essary.

5) William of Orange. The Bill of Rig hts

The opposition was looking towards Holland, the home of James's Protestant daughter Mary and her husband William of Orange. He was a firm protestant too. Seven leading Whigs and Tories sent an invitation to the Dutchman William. They promised him their support if he came over to England. William accepted their offer and in 1688 appeared in Lon­don. Having realized at last that his game was lost, James II escaped to France. Under such circumstances William and Mary were crowned in February 1689.

The events of 1689 are called by English historians the Glorious Revolution. Undoubtedly, it was never a revolution but a change of gov­ernment.

In 1689 the new king signed the Bill which contributed[59] to the es­tablishment of constitutional or parliamentary monarchy. The Bill was the first legal step towards a constitutional monarchy and was a guaran­tee of political freedom and political rights for the British people.

In the same year William signed a parliamentary Act allowing both Protestants and Catholics to occupy Government posts or teach at Uni­versities.

Thus, all these developments could take place only on the basis of the changes in the country achieved by the English revolution of the 17th century.

The British people got political and economic power. It meant a collapse of feudalism in England and led to the development of capita­lism.

Assignments Test Questions

1. Describe the historical background in England at the beginning of the 17^th century on the eve of the bourgeois revolution.

2. Trace the main problems in the relations between James I, Charles I and Parliament. Why was the plot organized against James I and what was the result of the plot? Whose side do you think Common people took in this plot?

3. Narrate the events that culminated in the calling of the Long Parlia­ment and speak of its work.

4. Give an account of the civil war. Describe both sides of its participants and speak about the advantages of Cromwell's army. Why do you think they won the war?

5. Do you find Cromwell's figure and personality an important and pro­gressive one in history? Give your reasons and express your point of view by giving illustrations taken from his "governing" the country. What do you think about the actions initiated by him in Ireland?

6. Narrate the main events which led to the restoration of the monarchy.

7. Outline the main events in the Restoration period which led to the gradual establishment of a constitutional monarchy. Speak about the reign of Charles II. What terrible disasters of that period do you know and what were their results in London?

8. The beginning of the two party system in England. Who were the To­ries and the Whigs? Give the origin of their names. What are they called now?

11. The Economic and Social Development of England in the XVIII and XIX centuries

1) The Industrial Revolution.

1. By the beginning of the XVIII century English economy had made a great progress. The basic production was still agricultural, but manufacture especially of textiles was widespread and prosperous. Bri­tish markets all over the world were increasing fast. Capital remained in the country and it was invested in manufacture, commerce, agriculture and in colonial expansion. It meant an accumulation[60] of tremendous wealth, for example, the Bank of England had become a banker's bank, providing support for people wanting to lend or borrow money for business purposes. Private banks were started even in small towns.

The result of the enclosure policy was that thousands of peasants became landless and homeless, ruined by this policy. Some of them went to the growing fast towns and were employed there as workers by mill and factory owners. Their labour was cheap enough and the owners of mills and factories gained great profit.

Meanwhile new discoveries were made in science and technique. New machines appeared which fulfilled all functions at the mills and factories instead of workingmen's labour used before. These changes first affected textiles but then spread over all other fields of industry. Among the towns of England Manchester reflecting all these changes became the symbol of the new industrial age.

The social consequences of the Industrial Revolution were dramatic for it brought misery and poverty to thousand people. It was the ruthless exploitation of the workers on the one hand and the tremendous profits gained by the capitalists on the other. The workers lived and worked in nightmarish conditions; children and women were employed for their labour was cheap. Men were replaced by women and children English society was breaking up into two basic classes - the proletarians and the capitalists.

2) Luddism [61].

Due to the use of machines at the mills and factories hand-workers began to lose their jobs. It is quite natural that they couldn't understand the nature of their hardships and blamed the machines for that

Thus a movement started in the country which was associated with the destruction of the hateful machines. The weavers of Manchester, Nottingham-shire, Derbyshire gathered in great number and began to destroy the looms.[62] The movement, known as Luddism (after the name of Ned Lud, the leader of it) began in 1779 in Nottingham and Sheffield and spread quickly all throughout the industrial centres of England. The attacking group was devided into armed guards and smashers who used great heavy sledgehammers.³ The rebels sent out public letters in which they stated their demands.

The English Government took severe measures against the Lud­dites: many of the leaders were executed, the others were sentenced to imprisonment or were sent to the colonies as slaves. The movement was crushed, anyhow it was significant for the future working-class organizations for in it workers first had begun to form united groups to defend their economic rights.

3) The Social States of the Working People

At the beginning of the 19* century the people of England suffered many hardships during the war with France, the so called, Napoleonic wars. After the war they hoped to find relief and peace. Instead of relief, however, there followed a period of a severe economic and political cri­sis. The heavy industries were the first to experience the effects of the economic crisis. It increased mass unemployment, and even those who were lucky to have a job, continued to live under nightmarish conditions: wages fell, prices stayed high. There was no change fpr the better for the agricultural labourers especially in the southern counties. In protest against this 400 labourers destroyed the machines and set on fire the property of a much hated landowner. The same actions took place in other areas of the countryside. The result was that the wages improved for some of the workers but nearly 2000 people were arrested and brought to trial. 252 were sentenced to death, 481 were transported to the colonies - to Australia, and the rest were imprisoned.

Yet all these repressive measures could not prevent the outbreak of a mass movement known as Chartists' movement in English history.

4) Chartism and its Main Trends [63]. The Historical Significance of Chartism

In 1837 the London Working Men's Association produced a peti­tion which became known as the Charter. It formulated their demands in a several - point paper which contained, first of all universal suffrage[64](the right of all citizens to elect members of Parliament) by secret ballot[65] and secondly the recognition of the equality of the Irish people.

The industrial North became the centre of the whole movement with the newspaper "Northern Star" published in Leeds. After the Charter was published there mass meetings of thousands of workers were held in different towns and districts.

There were three trends in the movement. William Lovett, the or­ganizer of the Working Men's Association in London, and his supporters held the opinion that the Charter could be won by peaceful methods -education, agitation and petitions to Parliament. This was the party of "moral force". Its opponents called it "the parry of rose-water".

The party of "physical force" was headed by O'Connor, an Irish lawyer who came from a family with revolutionary traditions. He recog­nized armed uprising but he was far from being a real socialist and had at times Utopian ideas, such as to buy up lots of land in order to return all the workers to agricultural works etc. There were other leaders in the movement such as O'Brien, G.Harney and E.Jones, who had a much clearer idea of class struggle. They considered that socialism was the only way out and it could be won by class struggle.

Meanwhile, the government took advantage of the disagreement in their ranks and undertook[66] suppressive[67] measures against the movement. Some 450 prominent activists of the movement, including Lovett, O'Connor, O'Brien were arrested and imprisoned The Chartist papers were forbidden. The failure of the first Petition was a direct result of the lack of unity among the Chartists.

In 1840 the workers in Manchester formed another political party known as the National Chartist Association. There were also representa­tives of bourgeois circles in it whose political views were quite contra­dictory. Besides many trade-unions joined the National Chartist Asso­ciation. Its membership was more than fifty thousand. In 1841 another Petition was written. It contained the main demands of the first petition and some new items were added. Those items contained some economic demands as wage increase, shorter working hours.

On May 6 1842 the new petition was submitted[68] to Parliament. The Tory Government rejected[69] the Petition. The committee of the National Chartist Association declared a nationwide general strike. Though a wave of mass strikes overwhelmed the country, the main aim was not achieved - there was no general strike.

Lancashire with its main city Manchester became the centre of the strike movement to support the Charter. Yorkshire, Wales, Scotland joined in. But due to the lack of organization, London and the South failed to support the workers on strike. William Lovett and his suppor­ters - the well-payed workers-deserted the movement. Again a great number of active participants of the Chartist movement were arrested.

In 1846 England was hit by another economic crisis which made thousands of workers penniless. Under such circumstances the committee of the National Chartist Association started a new agitation for the third National Petition. The fact was that now the demands of the former peti­tions were supplemented by demands of freeing Ireland from England. Chartist organizations were formed in the towns of Ireland and Irish clubs in England. More than that there was the demand to declare Britain a republic under the influence of the French revolution in 1848. A great demonstration was to be held in support of the Petition, Frightened by the movement and the danger of losing power the government directed the army and police force in London against the demonstration.

Anyhow the Petition was brought to Parliament but it was rejected a third time.

After all those events in 1848 Chartism lost its revolutionary activity.

Nevertheless Chartism played a great historical role and forced the bourgeoisie to make certain concessions^3[70] in favour of the working peo­ple-economic reforms as the ten-hour working day, more liberal factory laws, the improvement of working conditions at factories. It was the first attempt to build an independent political party representing the interests of the labouring classes of the nation.

In 1844 the Reform Act was adopted concerning the labour of chil­dren and women, first of all in the mining industry. The law required child workers from nine to thirteen to attend school half of each day and forbade women to labour more than twelve hours a day. However, it was one thing to pass an act and another to carry it out. In 1851 there were 5 million children of school age. 600 000 were at work, over 2 millions were at school and the rest were neither at work nor in school.

Imperialistic Policy

By the middle of the XIX century Britain established her industrial superiority in the world as well as her dominant position in world trade. She achieved a leading position far advanced in comparison with France, Germany, USA and Italy put together.

The principles underlying British foreign policy were connected with trade and colonial expansion. Based on her "splendid isolation". Britain carried out a "free hand" policy. Without binding herself by agreements, England could at a decisive moment support any country, thereby gaining considerable advantages.

The British Empire was built up by colonization of vast territories in India, Africa and other parts of the world. Britain possessed two kinds of colonies: colonies proper as India headed by a viceroy and completely dependent on Britain, and the so called dominions beyond the sea as Canada, Australia, New Zealand where the land had been taken over by white settlers before and where self-government and the dominion status were granted to them. For example, Australia had always attracted many settlers and stimulated the rapid development of the country for it was very rich. The discovery of gold in 1851 attracted a new wave of settlers and in 1901 the British parliament recognized the Commonwealth of Australia New Zealand was granted self-government too.

In colonizing India the English used native soldiers driven by hun­ger and privation, to serve in the British army against their own people.

Railways were built to penetrate deep into the country to bring cheap English goods and take back cotton and other raw materials. Thus in the 19^th century India was full of cheap English factory-made goods which brought grave consequences to millions of weavers ruined by English competition and starved to death. The people of India never yielded to British oppression. There was a mass uprising against British rule especially in 1857-59. The main forces of the uprising were com­prised of peasants and artisans who were poorly equipped and badly or­ganized. Of course Britain with all its technical might suppressed the uprising. India was declared an imperial province of the British crown headed by a viceroy[71].

Though the foreign policy of Britain was aggressive and motivated by the imperialist interests of the English bourgeoisie, one must admit that Britain brought civilization to all those countries, a civilization which afterwards helped them to gain independence.

2) Social Conditions and Social Movements on the Eve of World War I

You can hardly imagine nowadays a country in which people lose their job if they fell ill, where they cannot use medical services or get education if they have not enough money to pay for it and where elderly people aren't provided with pensions. You'll be probably surprised to learn that all this was a reality in the British society till the very begin­ning of the XX* century.

Only around 1900 the Labour party was founded, whose aim was to protect the working people. The Labour party was immediately sup­ported by the trade-unions which soon became its collective members.

There were socialists in Great Britain but they differed from the so­cialists of Russia and other countries in the ways they tried to achieve social justice. At the end of the XIX century some middleclass intellec­tuals, the most prominent of whom were Sidney and Beatrice Webb, and the famous English writers George Bernard Shaw and H.G.Wells founded the Fabian Society[72]. Like Fabius in ancient Rome the members of the Fabian society and the founders of the Labour Party aimed at gradual changes. They were against revolutionary actions and were con­vinced that only through reforms their ideas would be slowly and gradu­ally accepted by the society. The aims of their social reforms were to make Great Britain a welfare state in which common people wouldn't live in poverty.

In 1906-11 the activity of the trade-unions and the Labour party forced the Liberal Government to carry out a number of social reforms to win the support of the working people. They included provision of medi­cal care and school meals, health and unemployment insurance.

13. Britain in World War I

The first world war was the result of the imperialist monopoly stage of capitalist development and imperialist rivalry[73] between the two main capitalist camps headed by Britain and Germany.

In the course of preparation for the war the main imperialist powers formed opposing alliances^3[74]: on the one hand it was Germany and Austria; on the other hand in 1904 the Anglo-French agreement was signed which was of great importance because both countries could join their forces against their common rival - Germany.

In 1907 the Anglo-Russian agreement was signed. By that time Russia was financially dependent on France and later on Britain. The money had been given by the bankers of Paris and London and the Bri­tish Government decided that the time had come to use Russia in the struggle against Germany.

On August 1,1914 Germany declared war on Russia, on August 3 it declared war on France. On August 4 Britain declared war on Germany. The invasion of Belgium was a pretext for the British Government to disguise[75] a war of imperialist robbery as a war for the upholding of treaty rights and the defence of small nations.

The Germans began the war in the west. Their plan was to pass fast through the Belgian capital and later to attack France and Paris before the huge Russian armies could come into action. However, the plan failed. The Russian attacks forced the Germans to bring their main forces to the east. Moreover, the Anglo-French attack in the west in September 6,1914 saved Paris and France from German invasion.

The stalemate on the Western front was, in fact, a prolonged and bloody struggle: it went on for the four years' duration of the war.

In the course of the war in England a coalition government was formed with the participation of the Liberals, the Tories and a few La­bour representatives.

On August 8, 1918 the combined forces of England and France staged a major breakthrough surrounding and destroying 16 Ger­man divisions. Germany was defeated and the Armistice was signed on November II, 1918. After the Paris peace conference the British ruling oligarchy[76] vastly extended the empire at the expense of the German colonies. Germany, Britain's main rival in trade and industry, was greatly weakened.

14. Britain between two World Wars

In England as elsewhere the first years after the war were years of industrial and political ferment[77]. During the First World War the Liberal leaders had formed a coalition government with Tories and representa­tives of the Labour party. The coalition broke up in 1922 and the Liberal party then declined rapidly as a parliamentary force. Its place was taken by the Labour party which quickly become the official opposition or alternative government.

In 1918 the right to vote was extended to all men over 21 and to women over 30. This was a compromise[78] The work of women during the war in factories and offices, in transport and hospitals, had estab­lished their right to social and political equality. The compromise of 1918 was clearly unsatisfactory, and votes for women at 21 were granted in the Equal Franchise Act of 1928.

After the end of the Liberal-led coalition in 1922 Britain was ruled by the Conservatives, except for two short intervals of Labour govern­ments under Ramsay Mac-Donald but only with the support of Liberal MPs. Labour leaders could then carry through a programme of moderate reforms, which were soon cancelled by the Conservative Government who followed the Labour-Liberal coalitions.

The main political problem in the 1930s was the fight against fas­cism. British fascism headed by Oswald Mosley was never a large movement but it was well supported with money by "big business" and could have become dangerous but for the determined struggle of the British working class. Fascist unions with supporters brought by train from all parts of Britain, were met by a call to "drown fascism in a sea of working class activity". In September 1934 the Mosley demonstration in Hyde Park had almost as many police around it as there were fascist demonstrators. All over the country Mosley suffered one serious rebuff[79] after another.

15. Britain in the Second World War

On May 10, 1940, the day on which Hitler opened his offensive on the western front, Churchill, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, warned parliament. "I have nothing to offer but blood, tears and sweat. We have before us many long months of struggle and suffering."

All the English people stood to fight with the German fascist aggression. By May 20 the German fascist forces reached the sea. The trapped British forces hurriedly evacuated from Dunkirk leaving much equip­ment and ammunitions to the enemy. The people of Britain displayed[80] outstanding patriotism and courage in helping to save the British force from complete defeat. They evacuated the soldiers on every craft that was available. After several attacks France capitulated and from that day till the 22 of June 1941 Britain was the only country at war with Nazism. Hitler began preparations to invade Britain and attached great impor­tance to victory in the air. Victory in the air was necessary to the Ger­mans before they could invade England Many British towns were bombed, destroyed, smashed. A lot of British people were killed and wounded, many were ruined and remained homeless. Nevertheless the British people never hesitated in their determination to defeat the Ger­mans. In 1941 their attacks and bombings ended for Hitler moved his forces east to prepare the invasion of the Soviet Union. On June 22 1941 Germany attacked the Soviet Union. In July 1941 the Anglo-Soviet treaty of united actions against Germany was signed in Moscow. To­gether with USA Britain opened a second front in Western Europe. Fi­rmly at Teheran Churchill (the Prime Minister of Great Britain) and Roo­sevelt (the President of USA) met Stalin to agree on a united strategy for the decisive stage of the war. On the 8th of May 1945 the war was over, which had destroyed the German fascists and Hitler's Reich.

16. Britain after World War H

Although victorious Britain in its heroic struggle against fascism had been led by the Conservative Prime minister Sir Winston Churchill, even the popularity of this prominent statesman couldn't save the Con­servatives from the defeat at the election of 1945. The majority of the British people realized that in the post-war period their rights would be protected only by a Labour Government and voted for the Labour Party.

The Labour Government under Clement Attlee during the period of 1945-49 carried out social reforms aimed at the welfare of the working people.

On the 5* of July 1948 the Labour Government declared Great Britain a state of social welfare in which no one should be allowed to live in poverty and every citizen has the right of health care and educa­tion free of charge.

According to the main principles of the Social Welfare state the British people have the right to use medical services either free of charge or at reduced costs through the National Health Service (NHS). The most commonly used part of NHS is a family doctor. Each person registers with a doctor to be provided with health care. A family doctor usually has around 3000 people for practice. He directs his patients to other spe­cialists if necessary. Doctors are paid by the Government for each pa­tient

If working people become unable to work for some reasons they can apply for payment. Benefits[81] are paid to those who have lost then-jobs (unemployment benefit), are unable to work due to illness (sickness benefit). Parents get a monthly payment for each child up to the school/college leaving age (child benefit). Old age pensions are paid to elderly people when they retire from work. All these benefits are paid according to the National Insurance scheme to which considerable con­tributions are made by the employers and the Government.

People whose income is not enough to live on are provided with benefits through the social security system. The sum of money they get depends on their circumstances.

British homes are mostly private but 30 per cent are owned pub­licly. No one in Great Britain is allowed to be homeless. Local govern­ments are responsible for providing needy people with accommodation[82] and people with low income are paid housing benefits.

In 1979 the Conservatives came to power and started a debate on the effectiveness of the Welfare State in Great Britain. The Conservative Governments of Margaret Thatcher (1979-90) and John Major (1990-97) tried to cut off some of the social benefits although they didn't dare to destroy the basis of the Welfare State. But even these attempts against the interests of the working people led to their defeat at the election in 1997 and the majority of the British people returned the Labour Party to power.

[1] Iberians – [, ai’beri hs] - иберийцы

[2] B.C. – before Christ – до рождения христа, т.е. до нашей эры.

[3] Gealic – [‘gælik] – галльский язык

[4] Tribe – [‘traib] – племя, клан.

[5] Jutes – [dзu:ts] - юты

[6] Moot – собрание свободных граждан

[7] Shires – [‘Sai z] - графства

[8] Serf – [sð:f] – крепостной раб

[9] Revival – [ri’vaivl] - возрождение

[10] Vikings – [vaikiŋz] – викинги (датчане и норвежцы)

[11] Not to be mixed up with the Normans, also a Scandinavian tribe – who had settled in the North of France.

[12] Alfred – [əl fred]

[13] To suppress - подавлять

[14] Rebellion - восстание

[15] Manor - поместье

[16] To contribute – [kδntribju:t] – содействовать, способствовать

[17] To weave – [‘wi:v] - ткать

[18] Dynasty – [‘dainэsti] - династия

[19] Plantagentes – [plæn’ tædзinits] - плантаженеты

[20] Mercenaries – [‘mɜsɪnərɪz] - наёмники

[21] Reign [‘ rein] –правление (править)

[22] Peer – равный по званию и положению

[23] To summon - созывать

[24] Clergy – [‘klә:dзi] – духовенство, top-clergy – высшее духовенство

[25] Outbreaks – взрыв, начало каких-либо действий

[26] To abolish - отменять

[27] Treacherously – [‘tretsәrәsĿi] - предательски

[28] Clothier – фабрикант сукна, торговец мануфактурой

[29] Artisans – [atiz’ænz] – ремесленники, мастеровые

[30] Enclosure – [in’kĿouзә] – ограждение, огораживание

[31] Pastures – [pa:stsәz] - пастбища

[32] To abolish – [әblis] - отменять

[33] «Ваши овцы, которые были такими ручными и покорными и так мало ели, теперь, говорят, стали настолько прожорливыми и дикими, что они поедают самих людей».

[34] Revival – [ri’vaiv’] - возрождения

[35] Squires – [skwairz] – скваеры, местные помещики.

[36] Ardent – [‘a:dәnt] - ярый

[37] To repeal – [ripi:l] – аннулировать, отменять

[38] Restore – [ris’to:] – восстанавливать, возвращать

[39] Hawkins [‘hokins], Francis Drake [‘frensiz dreik]

[40] Supremacy – [sju:’premәsi] – верховенство, верховная власть

[41] To be involved – быть замешанным

[42] Ambassador – [æm’bæsәdә] - посол

[43] Decisive – [di’saisiv] – решающий, имеющий решающее значение.

[44] Gentry – [‘dз entri] – джентри, мелкое и среднее дворянство, особенно нетитулованное

[45] Ambassador – [æm’bæsәdә] - посол

[46] Robert Catesby [‘robot ‘keitsbi], Guy Fawkes [‘gai ‘fo:ks]

[47] Lord Monteagle [‘lo:d ‘monti:gl]

[48] To be strained – быть натянутым

[49] Climax – [‘klaimæks] – высшая точка, кульминация

[50] Cavaliers – [kævəlıəz]

[51] Extradite –[ekstradait]

[52] to suppress– [səpres]– подавлять

[53] Tory Party [tori pa: ti]– Партия ТОРИ, в конце 70-х-80-х г.г. 17 в., выражали интересы наиболее реакционной части земельной аристократии и высшего духовенства англиканской церкви. В 30-х годах 19 в. Была преобразована в консервативную партию (Conservative party).

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