Are UK and England the same thing? England in the second half of the 19th - early 20th century Where to go in England

The modernization program was led by the 1st Lord of the Admiralty W. Churchill. Germany responded by making ironclads. The British feared a violation of the parity of the Navy.

In 1912, the British Navy from all over the world is concentrated in the North Sea. In 1914, an attempt to regulate Anglo-German relations failed.

The Irish problem in the last third of the 19th - early 20th centuries. There were 2 main problems in Ireland:

Economic. Landlords constantly raised the price for renting land, the peasants went bankrupt. The Liberal and Conservative governments in England took a number of measures to reduce the rent for land (part of it was paid by the state). The events were held during the years of the Great Depression, when the landlords themselves tried to sell the land. Thanks to these measures, the economic problem was partially resolved, many Irish received land and became farmers.

The problem of political autonomy from Britain. The struggle for the so-called "gom wheel". For the first time, a bill on it was submitted to a meeting of parliament in 1886. The initiator was the Liberal Party and Prime Minister W. Gladstone. According to the project:

The creation of a 2-chamber parliament in Dublin was envisaged;

The transfer of part of the administrative functions into the hands of the Irish themselves. Armed forces, finances, foreign policy should be concentrated in London.

The project failed because he was not supported by conservatives. At the second hearing in 1892, the project was also not adopted.

Irish organizations:

Irish league home helm. Leader - Parnel. It was believed that Ireland needed to concentrate all efforts in order to legally pass a bill of self-government for Ireland. The League waged a legal struggle, actively promoting their ideas among Irish voters.

Irish Republican Brotherhood. It was believed that the only way to achieve the independence of Ireland was by armed means. Leader - Devit. It was actively financed from the United States (military instructors from America taught street fighting, organizing terrorist attacks, and provided weapons).

Shinfeners ("shin-fein" - we ourselves). It was believed that Ireland should be independent, but should maintain a close relationship with Britain. The tactic of the struggle is non-violent resistance: not paying taxes, recalling their representatives from the British Parliament, and so on. force England to give Ireland independence.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, another attempt is made to pass a bill of self-government. The inhabitants of Ulster were worried, believing that if Ireland received self-government, then their social status would be lowered.

In 1912, for the 3rd time, the Liberal Party submits a bill on the self-government of Ireland for a hearing in Parliament (the conditions are the same). There was an open conflict between the Ulsters and the Irish. The Ulsters, in case of recognition of the self-government of Ireland, threatened to declare a union with Britain. They formed their own armed forces. Germany actively helped the Ulstermen (aviation, artillery). Already in 1912, the inhabitants of Ulster had 100,000 well-armed troops. Residents of Ireland from among the volunteers created their own armed forces. Ireland was on the brink of civil war.

Britain sends troops to Ireland, but the officers refuse to suppress the inhabitants of Ulster. August 1, 1914. The Irish Governance Act was passed, but delayed until after the outbreak of the First World War.

Labor movement. In late Victorian England, more than 10 million workers and members of their families made up the bulk of the country's population. The material situation of the British workers, in comparison with the standard of living of the workers of other countries, has always been higher. Nevertheless, real wages that did not keep up with the rise in the cost of living, long working hours of 10 or more hours, exhausting intensification of labor - all this was a manifestation of a high degree of exploitation of hired workers. The life of the workers was marked by the seal of poverty, disorder, unsanitary conditions.

However, the working class was not homogeneous. The elite, highly skilled craftsmen (in the terminology of the era - “the best and enlightened workers”, “higher class”, “working aristocracy”) separated from its broad masses.

Mechanics, machine builders, steelworkers and other workers in those industries where professionally complex, highly skilled labor was used, were in a privileged position: shortened to 9 hours, and sometimes less an average of 20 shillings), and 28 and even 40-50 shillings. However, the "Great Depression" significantly worsened the situation of all categories of workers. The main scourge of unemployment - then did not spare either highly paid or other workers.

The most common forms of organization of workers in England were all kinds of economic societies - mutual funds, insurance, loan partnerships, cooperatives. But the most influential - organizationally and ideologically - remained the trade unions, strictly centralized narrow professional powerful unions, as a rule, covering workers on a national scale. The orthodox trade unionists professed apathy, a rejection of all forms of struggle, even strikes, recognized only compromises and arbitration in the relationship between labor and capital. The trade unions were united by the British Congress of Trade Unions (TUC) established in 1868, which has been meeting every year since then at its conferences.

70-90s of the XIX century. were marked by an important phenomenon with the emergence of the "new unionism". The hard times of the "Great Depression" led low-paid workers to the need to create their own professional organizations. Then the unions of agricultural workers, stokers, workers of gas production, the match industry, dockers, the Federation of Miners and others were formed. Women were admitted to the new trade unions. They also began to form independent trade unions.

"New Unionism" significantly expanded the scope of the trade union movement: before it began, the number of members of trade unions was about 900 thousand, at the end of the century it reached almost 2 million workers. "New Unionism" opened the mass stage of the trade union movement. The new trade unions were characterized by openness, accessibility, and democracy.

The mass movement of the unemployed, their rallies, demonstrations, unorganized speeches demanding bread and work often ended in clashes with the police. They were especially intense in 1886-1887. and in 1892-1893. On February 8, 1886, the protest of the desperate unemployed in London was brutally suppressed ("Black Monday"). November 13, 1887 went down in the history of the labor movement in England as "Bloody Sunday": on this day, the police violently dispersed the rally, there were wounded. In the 1990s, the unemployed came out under openly political and even revolutionary slogans: “Three cheers for the social revolution!”, “Socialism is a threat to the rich and hope to the poor!”

Workers' strikes then became a constant factor in English life. Numerous stubborn strikes, especially those organized by new trade unions, marked the year 1889: Great strike of dock workers in London. The requirements of the "great dockers' strike" were modest: pay - not less than indicated here, hiring - not less than 4 hours, the abandonment of the contract system. The number of its participants reached about 100 thousand people. The main result - the strike gave impetus to the movement of new unionism.

The strike movement expanded in breadth, drawing in new detachments of workers. In the first half of the 1970s, the so-called "rebellion of the fields" took place - a mass action of the rural proletariat. Women's participation in the strike movement has become the norm.

In 1875, the workers achieved a partial victory: the Factories Act came into force, establishing a working week of 56.5 hours for all workers (instead of 54 hours, as the workers demanded). In 1894, a 48-hour work week was introduced for dock workers and workers in military factories. In 1872

As a result of the mass activity of workers, the laws "On the regulation of coal mines", "On the regulation of mines" were adopted, which for the first time in the history of the country's mining industry limited the exploitation of miners to a certain extent. Laws 1875, 1880, 1893 established the responsibility of the entrepreneur for industrial injuries. In 1887, the issuance of wages in goods was legally prohibited.

The desire of the proletariat to achieve political goals found its expression in the struggle for the election of workers' deputies to the parliament. Starting after the adoption of the electoral reform of 1867, it led to the creation of the League of Labor Representation and the Parliamentary Committee (1869) as the executive body of the BKT. The struggle intensified in the 1870s, and in the elections of 1874 two deputies from the workers were elected. However, the workers' parliamentarians did not become policymakers in the interests of their "own workers' party", but in fact took the position of the left wing of the liberal faction.

In the elections of 1892, three workers got into parliament. For the first time they declared themselves independent deputies, but only one of them, J. Keir Hardy, remained true to the interests of his class, without turning into a "labor liberal".

The struggle of the English in the workers in early XX. in. intensified and acquired a more pronounced political character. At the same time, economic reasons lay at the basis of the new upsurge of the labor movement: the frequent crisis state of the country's economy and invariably accompanied it; unemployment, high exploitation in conditions for the establishment of monopoly capitalism.

A wave of workers' protest in the form of strikes has already been designated in first years of the century. In 1906-1914. the strike struggle of the "great commotion", as contemporaries defined it, was more powerful in England than in any of the Western countries. It reached its highest point in 1910-1913. (impressive strike dockers in 1911, general strike of miners in 1912, etc.). workers led the struggle also for universal suffrage: the property qualification and the residency qualification deprived the right to elect in parliament of almost 4 million men, women remained excluded from voting. A significant role in the workers' movement was played by trade unions, which were more actively involved in political activities than before. On the eve of the world war in their ranks numbered more than 4 million members. The reaction of the employers to the vigorous activity of the trade unions was not long in coming. The offensive against the trade unions was most eloquently manifested by the Axis in organizing lawsuits against them.

"The Case of the Tuff Valley" (1900-1906) arose in connection with the strike of railway workers in South Wales (workers demanded the reinstatement of dismissed comrades, to reduce the duration of shifts and increase wages). The owners of the railroad company brought legal action against the workers demanding compensation for the losses caused to them during the strike, but in fact with the aim of restricting the rights of workers to strike and organize trade unions. The highest court - the House of Lords - upheld the claim of entrepreneurs. The decision of the Lords set a precedent that extended to all trade unions. The bourgeois press launched a campaign against the "aggressiveness" of the trade unions as a "national mafia". The event stirred the whole working-class England against the legal oppression of the trade unions. It took more than six years of struggle to restore the rights of the trade unions to full-blooded activities within the law and to hold strikes.

This was followed by a lawsuit in the "Osborne Case". William Osborne, a member of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Employees, filed a lawsuit against his trade union demanding that the union be banned from collecting contributions to the fund of a political party (meaning the Labor Party). The House of Lords in 1909 decided against the trade union in favor of Osborne. This decision severely restricted the rights of trade unions. It prohibited trade unions from contributing funds to the party and from engaging in political activities. The legal proceedings and the workers' counter-struggle lasted for five years. The Trade Unions Act of 1913 confirmed, albeit with great reservations, the right of trade union organizations to engage in political activity.

An event of great importance in the history of the British labor movement was formation of the Labor Party. In 1900, at a conference in London, the workers' and socialist organizations founded the Workers' Representation Committee (CWP) in order to find "means to get a larger number of workers' deputies into the next parliament." Its founders and members were most of the trade unions, the Fabian Society, the Independent Labor Party, the Social Democratic Federation.

In 1906 the Committee was transformed into the Labor Party. The party considered itself socialist and set itself the task of "achieving the common goal of liberating the vast mass of the people of this country from existing conditions." The fact of its creation reflected the desire of the workers to pursue an independent, independent policy. A feature of the organizational structure of the party was that it took shape on the basis of collective membership. Participation in its composition of trade unions provided a mass base for the party. By 1910 it had almost 1.5 million members. The annual national conference, which elected the executive committee, was recognized as the highest body of the party. His main activity was the leadership of election campaigns and local organizations of the party. The party rose to prominence after largely succeeding in overturning the Tuff Valley case.

socialist movement. Attention to socialism in England intensified at the turn of the 1970s and 1980s, when the Great Depression hit the working people hard, and the reform potential of Gladstone and Disraeli was exhausted. AT 1884 arose Social Democratic Federation, who announced that she shared the ideas of Marx. It united intellectuals close to Marxism and workers, anarchists. It was headed by lawyer and journalist Henry Hydman. The SDF was waiting for a revolution and believed that society was already ready for it. They underestimated organizational work, trade unions and rejected reforms. An attempt to get into the Parliament of England failed, because. Hydman asked for campaign money from the Conservatives. This became a stigma on the SDF.

Some members of the SDF (workers Tom Mann, Harry Quelch) did not agree with Hyndman's position and already in December 1884 separated from the SDF, forming the Socialist League. She adhered to internationalism, condemned the colonial expansion of England. The League rejected parliamentary activity, engaging in the propaganda of "pure and honest socialism."

In 1884, the Fabian Society arose. Its founders were young intellectuals who came from a petty-bourgeois milieu. They saw the achievement of the goal through evolution. Its prominent figures were B. Shaw and the spouses of Sidney and Beatrice Webb, prominent historians of the English labor movement. The Fabians proceeded from the recognition that in England the transition to socialism was gradually taking place. The main role was assigned to the state, considered as a supra-class body. In their activities, they adhered to the tactics of "impregnation". To this end, the Fabians were part of political clubs, societies, primarily liberal and radical.

In general, the SDF, the Socialist League and the Fabian Society were far from the labor movement.

By the beginning of the XX century. England lost its first place in terms of industrial production, but remained the strongest maritime, colonial power and financial center of the world. In political life, the restriction of monarchical power and the strengthening of the role of parliament continued.

Economic development

In the 50-70s. Britain's economic position in the world was stronger than ever. In subsequent decades, the growth of industrial production continued, but much more slowly. In terms of the pace of development, British industry lagged behind American and German. The reason for this lag was that the factory equipment installed in the middle of the 19th century was outdated. Its renewal required large capitals, but it was more profitable for banks to invest in other countries than in the national economy. As a result, England ceased to be the "factory of the world" and at the beginning of the 20th century. in terms of industrial production was in third place - after the United States and Germany.

As in other European countries, by the beginning of the 20th century. a number of large monopolies arose in England: the Vickers and Armstrong trust in military production, tobacco and salt trusts, etc. There were about 60 of them in total.

Agriculture at the end of the 19th century experienced a crisis caused by the import of cheap American grain and falling prices for local agricultural products. The landowners had to reduce the area under crops, and many farmers went bankrupt.

Despite the loss of industrial superiority and the agricultural crisis, England remained one of the richest countries in the world. It owned enormous capital, had the largest fleet, dominated the sea routes, and remained the largest colonial power.

Political system

At this time there was a further development of the system of parliamentarism. The role of the Cabinet of Ministers and its head increased, and the rights of the monarch and the House of Lords were even more limited. Since 1911, the decisive word in passing laws belonged to the House of Commons. The lords could only delay the approval of the bills, but were not able to fail them altogether.

In the middle of the XIX century. In England, a two-party system was finally formed. The country was alternately ruled by two large bourgeois parties, which changed their names and strengthened the organs of leadership. The Tories became known as the Conservatives, while the Whigs adopted the name of the Liberal Party. Despite differences in political orientation, both parties vigorously defended and strengthened the existing system.

For a long time, the leader of the conservative party was one of its founders, the flexible and intelligent politician B. Disraeli (1804-1881). Coming from a bourgeois-intellectual family, he nevertheless showed respect for the aristocracy and traditions. However, Disraeli was not a defender of all traditions and an opponent of all reforms. As head of the cabinet, he passed several laws in favor of trade unions and workers.

A prominent figure in the liberal party, who headed four cabinets, was W. Gladstone (1809-1898). He put his political talent and oratorical skill at the service of the party, justifying even the most unseemly actions of the government, especially in the colonies.

Domestic politics of liberals and conservatives

The ruling circles felt strong pressure from the working class and the petty bourgeoisie, who sought to improve the economic situation and expand political rights. In order to prevent major upheavals and maintain power, liberals and conservatives were forced to carry out a series of reforms.

As a result of their implementation, the number of voters greatly increased, although women and poor men did not receive the right to vote (until 1918). The right of workers to strike was reaffirmed. From 1911 workers were paid sickness, disability and unemployment benefits.

A feature of the political development of England was the expansion of democracy through peaceful reforms, and not as a result of revolutions, as in France and the United States.

But even in bourgeois-democratic England, far from all problems were solved. The national liberation struggle of the Irish did not stop. The liberals were ready to give autonomy to the Irish Catholics, but they ran into such fierce resistance from conservatives and Protestant circles that they were forced to abandon this intention. Only in 1921 Ireland (with the exception of Ulster) received autonomy.

Foreign and colonial policy

Leaders, both conservatives and liberals, sought to expand the British Empire (this is how Great Britain was called together with the colonies since the 70s of the 19th century).

One of the most staunch supporters of the expansion of the empire (they called themselves imperialists) Cecil Rode stated: "What a pity that we can not reach the stars ... I would annex (i.e., capture) the planets if I could."

In North Africa, England occupied Egypt and captured the Sudan. In South Africa, the main goal of the British was to capture the Transvaal and Orange republics, founded by the descendants of Dutch settlers - the Boers. As a result of the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902), the 250,000-strong British army won, and the Boer republics became British colonies. In Asia, England occupied Upper Burma, the Malay Peninsula, and strengthened its position in China. The wars of the British were accompanied by the ruthless extermination of the local inhabitants, who offered stubborn resistance to the colonialists.

On the eve of the First World War, the British Empire occupied an area of 35 million square meters. km with a population of over 400 million people, which accounted for more than a fifth of the earth's land area and a fourth of the world's population. (Think about these numbers and draw your own conclusions.)

The exploitation of the colonies gave England huge profits, which made it possible to raise the wages of workers and thereby alleviate political tensions. S. Rode said directly: "If you do not want a civil war, you must become imperialists."

Colonial conquests led to a clash between England and other countries, also striving to seize more foreign lands. Germany became the most serious enemy of the British. This forced the British government to conclude allied treaties with France and Russia.

Unions. Formation of the Labor Party

The economic opportunities of entrepreneurs and the state made it possible to increase the material well-being of a significant part of the population of England. Wages for the period from 1840 to 1900 increased by 50%, housing conditions and nutrition of the population improved. But wealth was distributed extremely unevenly. Poverty has persisted, although on a smaller scale than before, unemployment has not disappeared. Half of the London workers did not even have money for a decent funeral. Hundreds of thousands of Englishmen in search of a better life sailed across the ocean.

All this created the ground for the labor movement, the growth in the number and influence of trade unions. In 1868, the most massive trade union organization was founded - the British Congress of Trade Unions (TUC), which exists to this day. It included highly paid skilled workers. The BKT peacefully sought from entrepreneurs to increase wages and reduce working hours, and from Parliament to pass laws in favor of workers.

In 1900, on the initiative of the BKT, the first (after the Chartist) mass political organization of workers, the Labor (i.e., workers) party, was founded. It included not only workers, but also representatives of the petty bourgeoisie and intelligentsia, who played a leading role in the party. The Labor Party is still an influential political force today. Then she declared herself the defender of the interests of the workers and directed her main efforts to winning seats in parliament and carrying out peaceful reforms. At the beginning of the XX century. its population reached 1 million people.

THIS IS INTERESTING TO KNOW

In 1880 Irish tenants for the first time used boycott (disobedience, termination of work) as a way to fight for the improvement of their situation against the English manager Boycott. Since then, the word has become widespread.
The English General Raglan died of cholera in the Crimea during the war of 1853-1856. The style of the coat is named after him, in which the sleeves are one with the shoulder. The general wore just such a coat, as it did not hurt his wound.

References:
V. S. Koshelev, I. V. Orzhehovsky, V. I. Sinitsa / World History of the Modern Times XIX - early. XX century., 1998.

The results of Britain's involvement in World War II were mixed. The country retained its independence and made a significant contribution to the victory over fascism, at the same time it lost its role as a world leader and came close to losing its colonial status.

Political games

British military historiography often likes to point out that the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of 1939 effectively untied the hands of the German war machine. At the same time, in Foggy Albion, the Munich Agreement, signed by England together with France, Italy and Germany a year earlier, is bypassed. The result of this conspiracy was the division of Czechoslovakia, which, according to many researchers, was the prelude to World War II.

Historians believe that Britain had high hopes for diplomacy, with the help of which it hoped to rebuild the Versailles system, which was in crisis, although already in 1938 many politicians warned the peacekeepers: "Concessions to Germany will only spur the aggressor!"

Returning to London at the gangplank, Chamberlain said: "I brought peace to our generation." To which Winston Churchill, then a parliamentarian, prophetically remarked: “England was offered a choice between war and dishonor. She has chosen dishonor and will get war."

"Strange War"

On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland. On the same day, the Chamberlain government sent a note of protest to Berlin, and on September 3, Great Britain, as the guarantor of Poland's independence, declared war on Germany. Over the next ten days, the entire British Commonwealth joins it.

By mid-October, the British had moved four divisions to the Continent and taken up positions along the Franco-Belgian border. However, the section between the cities of Mold and Bayel, which is a continuation of the Maginot Line, was far from the epicenter of hostilities. Here, the allies created more than 40 airfields, but instead of bombing German positions, British aviation began to scatter propaganda leaflets appealing to the morality of the Germans.

In the following months, six more British divisions arrive in France, but neither the British nor the French are in a hurry to start active operations. So the "strange war" was waged. The head of the British General Staff, Edmund Ironside, described the situation as follows: "passive waiting with all the excitement and anxiety that follows from this."

The French writer Roland Dorgeles recalled how the Allies calmly watched the movement of German ammunition trains: "apparently the main concern of the high command was not to disturb the enemy."

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Historians have no doubt that the "strange war" is due to the wait-and-see attitude of the Allies. Both Great Britain and France had to understand where German aggression would turn after the capture of Poland. It is possible that if the Wehrmacht immediately launched an invasion of the USSR after the Polish campaign, then the Allies could support Hitler.

Miracle at Dunkirk

On May 10, 1940, according to the Gelb plan, Germany launched an invasion of Holland, Belgium and France. The political games are over. Churchill, who took office as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, soberly assessed the strength of the enemy. As soon as the German troops took control of Boulogne and Calais, he decided to evacuate the parts of the British Expeditionary Force that were in the boiler near Dunkirk, and with them the remnants of the French and Belgian divisions. 693 British and about 250 French ships under the command of the English Rear Admiral Bertram Ramsey planned to transport about 350,000 coalition soldiers across the English Channel.

Military experts had little faith in the success of the operation under the sonorous name "Dynamo". The advance detachment of Guderian's 19th Panzer Corps was located a few kilometers from Dunkirk and, if desired, could easily defeat the demoralized allies. But a miracle happened: 337,131 soldiers, most of whom were British, reached the opposite shore with little or no interference.

Hitler unexpectedly stopped the advance of the German troops. Guderian called this decision purely political. Historians differed in their assessment of the controversial episode of the war. Someone believes that the Fuhrer wanted to save strength, but someone is sure of a secret agreement between the British and German governments.

One way or another, after the Dunkirk disaster, Britain remained the only country that had avoided complete defeat and was able to resist the seemingly invincible German machine. On June 10, 1940, the position of England became threatening when fascist Italy entered the war on the side of Nazi Germany.

Battle for England

Germany's plans to force Britain to surrender have not been canceled. In July 1940, British coastal convoys and naval bases were subjected to a massive bombardment by the German Air Force, and in August the Luftwaffe switched to airfields and aircraft factories.

On August 24, German aircraft launched the first bombing attack on central London. Some say it's wrong. The retaliatory attack was not long in coming. A day later, 81 RAF bombers flew to Berlin. No more than a dozen made it to the target, but this was enough to infuriate Hitler. At a meeting of the German command in Holland, it was decided to bring down the entire power of the Luftwaffe on the British Isles.

Within a few weeks, the sky over British cities turned into a boiling cauldron. Got Birmingham, Liverpool, Bristol, Cardiff, Coventry, Belfast. For the whole of August, at least 1,000 British citizens died. However, from mid-September, the intensity of the bombing began to decline, due to the effective opposition of British fighter aircraft.

The Battle of England is better characterized by numbers. In total, 2913 aircraft of the British Air Force and 4549 Luftwaffe aircraft were involved in air battles. The losses of the parties by historians are estimated at 1547 downed fighters of the Royal Air Force and 1887 German aircraft.

mistress of the seas

It is known that after the successful bombing of England, Hitler intended to launch Operation Sea Lion to invade the British Isles. However, the desired air superiority was not achieved. In turn, the military command of the Reich was skeptical about the landing operation. According to the German generals, the strength of the German army was precisely on land, and not at sea.

Military experts were sure that the British land army was no stronger than the broken French armed forces, and Germany had every chance of defeating the troops of the United Kingdom in a ground operation. The English military historian Liddell Hart noted that England managed to hold on only due to the water barrier.

In Berlin, they realized that the German fleet was noticeably inferior to the English. For example, by the beginning of the war, the British Navy had seven active aircraft carriers and six more on the slipway, while Germany was never able to equip at least one of its aircraft carriers. In the open sea, the presence of carrier-based aircraft could predetermine the outcome of any battle.

The German submarine fleet was only able to inflict serious damage on British merchant ships. However, having sunk 783 German submarines with US support, the British Navy won the Battle of the Atlantic. Until February 1942, the Fuhrer hoped to conquer England from the sea, until the commander of the Kriegsmarine, Admiral Erich Raeder, finally convinced him to abandon this idea.

Colonial interests

As early as the beginning of 1939, the UK Chiefs of Staff Committee recognized the defense of Egypt with its Suez Canal as one of the strategically most important tasks. Hence the special attention of the armed forces of the Kingdom to the Mediterranean theater of operations.

Unfortunately, the British had to fight not at sea, but in the desert. May-June 1942 turned out for England, according to historians, a "shameful defeat" near Tobruk from the African corps of Erwin Rommel. And this is with a twofold superiority of the British in strength and technology!

The British managed to turn the tide of the North African campaign only in October 1942 at the Battle of El Alamein. Again, having a significant advantage (for example, in aviation 1200:120), the British Expeditionary Force of General Montgomery managed to defeat a group of 4 German and 8 Italian divisions under the command of the already familiar Rommel.

Churchill remarked about this battle: “Before El Alamein, we did not win a single victory. Since El Alamein, we haven't suffered a single defeat." By May 1943, British and American troops forced the 250,000th Italo-German grouping in Tunisia to capitulate, which opened the way for the Allies to Italy. In North Africa, the British lost about 220 thousand soldiers and officers.

And again Europe

On June 6, 1944, with the opening of the Second Front, British troops had the opportunity to redeem themselves for their shameful flight from the Continent four years earlier. The overall leadership of the allied ground forces was entrusted to the experienced Montgomery. The total superiority of the allies by the end of August crushed the resistance of the Germans in France.

The results of Britain's involvement in World War II were mixed. The country retained its independence and made a significant contribution to the victory over fascism, at the same time it lost its role as a world leader and came close to losing its colonial status.

Political games

September 30, 1938 in Munich, Britain and Germany signed another agreement - a declaration of mutual non-aggression, which was the culmination of the British "appeasement policy". Hitler succeeded quite easily in persuading British Prime Minister Arthur Chamberlain that the Munich Accords would be a guarantee of security in Europe.

"Strange War"

The French writer Roland Dorgeles recalled how the Allies calmly watched the movement of German ammunition trains: "apparently the main concern of the high command was not to disturb the enemy."

Miracle at Dunkirk

Battle for England

mistress of the seas

Colonial interests

And again Europe

In a different vein, events unfolded in December 1944 near the Ardennes, when a German armored group literally pushed through the lines of American troops. In the Ardennes meat grinder, the US army lost over 19 thousand soldiers, the British no more than two hundred.

This ratio of losses led to disagreements in the camp of the allies. American Generals Bradley and Patton threatened to resign if Montgomery did not relinquish leadership of the army. Montgomery's self-confident statement at a press conference on January 7, 1945, that it was British troops who had saved the Americans from the prospect of encirclement, jeopardized the conduct of a further joint operation. Only thanks to the intervention of the commander-in-chief of the allied forces, Dwight Eisenhower, the conflict was settled.

By the end of 1944, the Soviet Union had liberated a significant part of the Balkan Peninsula, which caused serious concern in Britain. Churchill, who did not want to lose control over the important Mediterranean region, proposed to Stalin the division of the sphere of influence, as a result of which Moscow got Romania, London got Greece.

In fact, with the tacit consent of the USSR and the USA, Great Britain crushed the resistance of the Greek communist forces and on January 11, 1945, established full control over Attica. It was then that a new enemy clearly loomed on the horizon of British foreign policy. “In my eyes, the Soviet threat has already replaced the Nazi enemy,” Churchill recalled in his memoirs.

According to the 12-volume History of the Second World War, Great Britain, along with the colonies, lost 450,000 people in World War II. Britain's spending on the war accounted for more than half of foreign investment, the Kingdom's external debt by the end of the war reached 3 billion pounds. The United Kingdom paid off all its debts only by 2006.

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Slides captions:

England in the second half of the 17th century

Plan. 1. The period of the Cromwellian Republic. 2. Cromwell's protectorate and the restoration of the Stuarts. 3. "Glorious Revolution" and its results.

Period of the Cromwellian Republic

After the revolution, the situation of the common people did not improve. The confiscated lands of the king, his supporters and his bishops were sold in large plots. Only 9% of these lands fell into the hands of wealthy peasants, the rest were bought up by the urban bourgeoisie and the new nobility. The peasants did not receive land and were not exempted from dues.

The civil war led to the decline of economic life in the country: economic ties between the counties were interrupted, this was especially hard on London, the center of industry and trade. Difficulties in marketing cloth led to mass unemployment. Therefore, part of the population was not satisfied with the reforms of the parliament. Protest movements broke out across the country.

The Diggers, led by Gerard Wistanley, called on the poor to occupy the wastelands and farm freely, based on the principle that every person has a right to land. How do you think the levellers and diggers substantiated their views? (They proceeded that God created people equal and property and legal differences must be overcome.) ?

Everywhere diggers were dispersed, arrested, severely beaten; destroyed their crops, destroyed their huts, maimed their livestock. Why do you think? The propertied classes saw in these peaceful workers the most dangerous enemies of bourgeois property. ?

Having suppressed the movement of the Diggers in England, Cromwell went in August 1649 at the head of an army to suppress the Irish uprising, but in essence to reconquer the "Green Island". Of the one and a half million population in Ireland, a little more than half remained. The ensuing mass confiscations of the lands of the rebels transferred 2/3 of the Irish territory into the hands of the English owners.

In Scotland, on February 5, 1649, the son of Charles I was proclaimed King Charles II. Cromwell with his army went there and by September 1651 the Scottish army was completely destroyed, the king fled and soon crossed over to the continent.

Cromwell understood that the army was the main pillar of power. Therefore, heavy taxes were entirely preserved in the country in order to maintain a standing army, the number of which in the 50s had already reached 60 thousand people.

England was ravaged by crop failures, a drop in production, a reduction in trade, and unemployment. The new owners of the land infringed upon the rights of the peasants. The country needed legal reform and a constitution.

Cromwell's protectorate and the restoration of the Stuarts

A conflict was brewing between Cromwell and Parliament. In 1653 Cromwell disbanded the Long Parliament and established a regime of personal dictatorship, assuming the title of Lord Protector for life. A new constitution was adopted in the country - "Instrument of Management", according to it, Cromwell received the highest power for life. The protector commanded the armed forces, was in charge of foreign policy, had the right to veto, etc. The protectorate was essentially a military dictatorship. Protectorate - a form of government, when the head of the republic was the Lord Protector for life.

The country was divided into 11 districts, each of which was headed by a major general subordinate to Cromwell. The Lord Protector forbade public festivals, theatrical performances, work on Sundays. - Why do you think? (Oliver Cromwell was a convinced puritan, and, in his opinion, various amusements were contrary to Christian principles.) ?

September 3, 1658 Cromwell died, and power passed to his son Richard, but in May 1659 Richard leaves his post. The British political elite did not want a new dictator. Why do you think? (Military dictatorship was not the goal of the English Revolution. In addition, Cromwell's regime did not have serious support in society: he was condemned by royalists, Catholics, and moderate Puritans. The Lord Protector relied solely on the army.) ?

In 1660, a bicameral parliament was again convened, mostly from Presbyterians. The rich were afraid of a "new turmoil", they needed legitimate power. In this environment, a conspiracy in favor of the "legitimate dynasty" of the Stuarts was becoming more and more mature.

General Monk entered into direct negotiations with the son of the executed king, the emigrant king Charles II, on the conditions for the restoration (restoration) of the monarchy. On April 25, 1660, the new Parliament approved the return of the Stuarts; a month later, Charles II solemnly entered London. General Monck Charles II

England during the Stuart Restoration

Charles became king under certain conditions. He confirmed the rights won by the new nobility and bourgeoisie. He was deprived of royal lands, but was assigned an annual allowance. The king did not have the right to create a standing army. Do you think his power was absolute? But he rarely convened parliament, patronized Catholics, re-established the position of bishop, and began persecution of active participants in the revolution. Charles II?

Whigs - a party to which the bourgeoisie and gentry belonged, who defended the rights of parliament and advocated reforms. The Tories are a party to which large landlords and clergy belonged, who advocated the preservation of traditions. In the 70s. two political parties began to form.

"Glorious Revolution" and its results

After the death of Charles II, his brother James II took the throne. He did everything to reduce the role of parliament and establish Catholicism. This caused outrage in the English public. In 1688 The Glorious Revolution took place, as a result of which James II was overthrown from the throne, and the ruler of Holland, William III of Orange, and his wife Mary Stuart, daughter of James II, were proclaimed king and queen. James II

At the same time, William and Mary accepted the crown on special conditions. They recognized the Bill of Rights, according to which the powers of the king and parliament were demarcated. The Bill of Rights also guaranteed freedom of religion throughout the kingdom. The "Bill of Rights" (bill - bill) finally laid the foundation for a new form of statehood - a constitutional monarchy. William III of Orange

The affirmation of the principle "the king reigns, but does not rule" meant that all the most important issues would be decided in a parliament consisting of representatives of the bourgeois parties. The party that wins the majority of seats in the House of Commons forms the government headed by the prime minister.

The form of government in England is a parliamentary monarchy Legislative power Executive power Parliament House of Lords House of Commons King Government Prime Minister Elections based on property qualification What is the name of the form of government that developed in England after the revolution?

After the death of William III and his wife, the throne passed to the daughter of James II, Anna Stewart (1702-1714). During her reign in 1707, a union was concluded between England and Scotland. The Scottish Parliament was dissolved, and representatives of this region sat from that moment on in the English Parliament. Anna Stuart (1702-1714)

The main stages of the bourgeois revolution in England.

Questions to reinforce: 1. Why did the new owners decide to restore the Stuarts? 2. What made it necessary to finally remove the Stuarts from power? What did they interfere with and what threatened their rule? 3. What was the difference between the events of 1688-1689. from the events of 1642-1649. ? Why are they called "glorious revolution"? 4. What is the essence of the parliamentary monarchy regime? What form of government exists in England today? 5. What is the reason for the durability of the two-party system? ?

Following are the causes of the revolution in England. Enter the wrong answer. The dissatisfaction of Parliament with the desire of the Stuarts to rule alone. Dissatisfaction of Parliament with the economic policy of the Stuarts. Embezzlement and bribery in the royal court. Translation of the Bible into English and conducting services in this language.

With a “yes” or “no” sign, mark whether you agree with these judgments: 1 2 3 4 5 The revolution in England destroyed absolutism. The English Revolution established a parliamentary monarchy in the country. After the revolution, capitalism began to develop in the country. The English Parliament became unicameral. Catholicism became the state religion in the country. yes yes yes no no

Glossary of terms and dates: 1688 - coup d'état in England, overthrow of the Stuart dynasty. 1689 - adoption of the "Bill of Rights" - the beginning of a parliamentary monarchy in England. RESTORATION - restoration. PROTECTOR - patron, protector.

Homework: prepare for testing on the topic "English Revolution of the 17th century."