3. Britain of the 19th century

In the 19^th century Britain was more powerful and self-confident than ever. As a result of the industrial revolution, 19^th-century Britain was the “workshop of the world”. British factories were producing more than any other country in the world.

Having many colonies, Britain controlled large areas of the world. The British had a strong feeling of their importance.

The rapid growth of the middle class caused a change in the political balance. The role played by the middle class in politics and government was increasingly growing. By 1914 the aristocracy and the Crown had little power left.

Britain’s International Policy. After the defeat of Napoleon Britain enjoyed a strong place in Europe. Its strength was in industry and trade, and in the navy which protected this trade.

Britain's trading position in the world was stronger than any other country's. To defend its interests it kept ships of its navy in almost every ocean of the world. It had its ports on some islands in the Mediterranean Sea, in the Indian Ocean, in south and west Africa, in Ceylon and Singapore.

In Europe Britain did not want any nation to become too strong. Therefore it was glad that Russia's influence in Europe was limited by Prussia and the empires of Austria and Turkey. It did not want Russia to expand southwards by taking over the Slavic parts of Turkey's possessions in the Balkans and reach the Mediterranean. So Britain supported Turkey against Russian expansion.

The situation at home. At home the contradictions between the rich and the poor were growing and becoming dangerous. During the wars with Napoleon Britain's factories had produced clothes, guns and other necessary war sup­plies to sell to its allies' armies. It had given jobs to ninny workers.

All this changed when peace was declared in 1815. Suddenly there was no longer such a need for factory-made goods, and many workers lost their jobs. Besides, 300,000 men from Britain's army and navy had returned home and were looking for jobs, which made the number of the unemployed still greater.

The situation in the countryside was as bad as in the towns. New methods of farming which were being introduced reduced the number of workers needed, and many of them lost their jobs. The starving farmworkers tried to catch wild birds and animals for food. But almost all the woods had been enclosed by the local landlords, and new laws forbade hunting in enclosed areas.

The poor people did not receive enough help from the government. Only those who lived in the workhouses were given any help at all. The workhouses were feared and hated. They were crowded and dirty. The inhabitants had to work from early morning till late at night and got very little food.

Many poor people moved to the towns hoping for a better life there. Between 1815 and 1835 Britain changed from a nation of country people to a nation mainly of townspeople. In the first thirty years of the 19^th century such cities as Birmingham, Sheffield, Manchester, Glasgow and Leeds doubled in size. Several towns situated close together grew into huge cities with no countryside left in between. London remained the largest city. In 1820 it had a population of 1,25 million.

Reforming the Parliamentary system. The Whigs understood better than the Tories the need to reform the law in order to improve social con­ditions. Both the Tories and the Whigs were afraid of revolution. The Whigs believed that the country could avoid revolution by introducing reforms. The idea pf reforming the parliamentary system had appeared in the 18^th century. Early radicals had started speaking about reforms under the influence of the America War of Independence and the French Revolution.

There were serious contradictions between the con­servative Tories and the radicals as to what classes of society should be mostly represented in Parlia­ment and determine the government's policy. The Tories believed that Parliament should represent "property" and the property owners (this idea is still associated by some people with today's Tory Party).The radicals believed that Parliament should repre­sent the people. The Whigs, or Liberals as they later became known, were in the middle: they wanted to introduce some changes in order to avoid revolution, but were not ready for any radical reforms.

The Tories hoped that the House of Lords would protect the interests of the property owners. When the House of Commons passed a bill on reform, it was turned down by the House of Lords in 1830. Lord Grey formed a Whig government, and the Reform Bill was passed again. In 1832 the Lords accepted it. Of course they accepted it not because they now accepted the idea of reform. They were frightened by the riots in the streets and feared that the collapse of political and civil order might lead to revolution.

The Reform Bill was a progressive step. It gave the right to vote to many people who had previously deprived of this right. As a result of the Reform many people in Scotland, as well as many people in the towns and cities of England, got the right to vote for the first time. Scotland’s voter’s increased from 5,000 to 65,000. Forty-one English towns, including the large cities of Manchester, Birmingham and Bradford, were represented in Parliament for the very first time. The 1832 Reform Bill was a political recognition that Britain had become an urban society.

Worker’s revolts. Since 1824 workers began joining together in unions to struggle against employers for their rights and better wages. The first workers' unions were small and weak. The introduction of a cheap postage system greatly helped the unions to organize themselves across the country: for one penny a letter could be sent to anyone, anywhere in Britain.

In 1838 the workers' unions worked out a document called a People's Charter. The Charter demanded rights that are now accepted by everyone: the vote for all adults, the right for a man without property to be an MP, secret voting, and payment for MPs. The House of Commons refused to meet these demands. As a result, there was a wave of riots and political meetings. In 1839 fourteen men were killed by soldiers in a riot in Newport, Wales. Many others were sent to Britain's colonies as prisoners. The government's severe actions showed how much it feared that poor might take power and establish a republic.

In the 19^th century Britain was engaged in many "colonial wars", the purpose of which was to establish its influence in different parts of the world and to ensure the safety of its trade routes. In 1840-1842 and in 1856-1860 it waged two so-called Opium Wars against China¹, as a result of which China had to give away some of its territories and to allow Britain to carry on profitable trade in opium. Historians consider the Opium Wars to be shameful events in British colonial history.

Fear that Russia would expand southwards towards India resulted in disastrous wars in Afghanistan (1839-1842), in Sindh a part of modern Pakistan (1843) and in India (1845-1846 and 1848-1849).

Britain also feared that in the Middle East Russia would destroy the weak Ottoman Empire, which controlled Turkey and the Arab countries. It might be dangerous for Britain's sea and land routes to India. So, when Russia and Ottoman Turkey went to war in the Crimea in 1853, Britain joined the Turks against Russia.

Britain's first colonies in Africa were on the west coast. Then it took over the Cape of Good Hope at the southern point, because it needed a port there on its sea route to India.

Reports sent by European travellers and explorers of Africa increased Britain's interest in this conti­nent. The most famous of the explorers was David Livingstone, who was a Scottish doctor and a Christian missionary. He made several journeys from the east coast to the central parts of Africa. Livingstone discovered areas of Africa unknown to Europeans and "opened" these areas to Christianity, to European ideas and to European trade.

Unfortunately, Christianity became a tool for building a commercial and political empire in Africa. The governments of Europe rushed to the "Black Continent" in order to seize lands. They did it under the pretext of bringing "civilization" to the people. By 1890 Africa was divided by European countries into "areas of interest". By the end of the century several European countries had taken over large areas of Africa.

Sometimes the interests of different European countries clashed. In South Africa there were disagreements between Britain and the Dutch settlers (the Boers), which led to a war at the end of the century (the Boer War, 1899-1902).

In 1882 Britain invaded Egypt "to protect international shipping", as it was officially stated. In fact, Britain protected its own trading interests, its route to India through the newly dug Suez Canal. Britain told the world that its occupation of Egypt would only last for a short time, but it did not leave the country until it was forced to do so in 1954.

Britain had one more reason for creating colonies. From the 1830s the population of Britain was rapidly growing, and soon the small territory of the British Isles would not hold all the population. A solution to the problem was found in the development of colonies for British settlers in different parts of the world. Encouraged by the government, lots of people moved to Canada, Australia and New Zealand, settled on free land and farmed it. In all these countries there were native populations. In Canada most of them were pushed westwards. In Australia British settlers killed most of the-native inhabitants; only a few were left in the central desert areas. In New Zealand the Maori inhabitants suffered less than in Canada or Australia: not so many of them were killed, but they lost most of their land.

Soon the white colonies were allowed to govern themselves. Officially they no longer depended on Britain. But still, they accepted the British monarch as their head of state.

By the end of the 19^th century Britain controlled the oceans and much of the land areas of the world. Most British strongly believed in their right to an empire, and were very proud of it. But even at this moment of greatest power Britain was already beginning to spend more on its empire than it took from it. The empire was becoming a heavy load. And by the time when the colonies began to demand their freedom in the 20^th century, this load had become impossibly heavy.