Transcript The Age of Mass Politics 1871-1914

The Age of Mass
Politics 1871-1914
Chapter 25-4
Great Britain
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1850-1865 Realignment of Political Parties
Lord Palmerston Whig Prime Minister and
dominant in British Politics
Tory Party became the Conservative Party
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Led by Disraeli
Whig Party became the Liberal Party
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Led by Gladstone
After 1865 expanded democracy
under both major parties
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Benjamin Desraeli wanted:
Aggressive foreign policy
 Expansion of the British Empire
 Supported (reluctantly) democratic reforms
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Wrote Sybil (1845) sympathetic to working class
Influenced by John Stuart Mill’s On Liberty:
increased democracy necessary
Desraeli
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Reform Bill of 1867 “The Leap in the Dark”:
Almost all men over 21 residing in urban areas
gained the vote
 Doubled the # of men voting
 But still not universal male suffrage
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Disraeli’s Reforms
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Eliminated more “Rotten Boroughs”
More equitable representation in the House of
Commons
1875 Reduced government regulation of trade
unions
Government regulations for improved sanitation
William Gladstone
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Most important liberal figure in 19th century
England
Supported Irish Home Rule
Free Trade
Extension of Democratic principles
Opposed Imperialism
Abolished compulsory taxes to support the
Church of England
Gladstone
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1872 Australian Ballot Act (earlier Chartist
demand)
1870 Civil Service Reform: open competitive
examinations for government positions
Reform Act of 1884 (Representation of the
People Act of 1884): Granted suffrage to male
adults in countryside
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Two million new voters
Others hoping to expand
Democracy:
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Included:
Women’s Suffrage Advocates
 Anti-imperialists
 Socialists
 Anti-nationalists
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The Fabian Society 1883
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One of the most popular
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Advocated a form of revisionist Marxism
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Wanted political democracy and economic
socialism
Keir Hardie’s Independent Labor
Party 1893
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Very popular third party
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Attracted trade unionists, socialists, and all
others who believed that Conservatives and
liberals had no genuine interests in the needs of
the general public
1905-1920’s Liberal Party
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Parliament Act of 1911:
Eliminated some powers of the House of Lords
House of Commons now center of national
power
Life-span of Parliament reduced:
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From 7 years to 5 years
Liberal Party
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The social welfare state created in the decade
prior to WWI
Was meant to guarantee all citizens with a decent
standard of living;
Right of unions to strike
 Government insurance for job-related injuries
 Unemployment insurance
 Old Age pensions
 Compulsory education laws
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Liberal Party Reforms
continued
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Taxes were increased on the wealthy to fund the
welfare state
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Representation of the People Act 1918: granted
suffrage to women over 30
All men gained suffrage
Property qualifications were eliminated
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Women’s Suffrage Movement in
England
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By the 1890’s women’s rights activists realized
that suffrage was the key to fixing their
problems
Men had not done enough to protect women
from exploitation and abuse
Many believed that women’s involvement was
needed in public affairs
Women
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Most Suffragettes came from the Middle Class
Their education had exposed them to earlier
feminist works (John Stuart Mill)
Many middle class women had servants which
freed up some time to work on feminist causes
Working class women and socialists did not trust
the middle class and worked on their own
Women
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Millicent Garrett Fawcett (1847-1929)
Led the NUWSS (National Union of Women’s
Suffrage Societies)
Demanded that Parliament grant women’s
suffrage
Helped to grow the suffrage movement
Was knighted in 1924
Women
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Emmeilin Pankhurst led militant suffragettes
Founded (along with her daughter) the WSPU
(Women’s Social and Political Union)
Beginning in 1907 destroyed RR stations, works
of art, broke store windows, chained themselves
to gates in front of Parliament
Organized parades and demonstrations
Women
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Many women were arrested and jailed
Went on hunger strikes and were force-fed
Public outrage so
Parliament passed “Cat and Mouse” Act: sent
starving women home and when recovered were
rejailed
1913 Emily Davison threw herself in front of
the king’s horse and was killed
Women
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Representation of the People’s Act 1918: gave
women over 30 the right to vote due to their
contributions during WWI
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Reform Act of 1928: Women over 21 given the
vote
The Irish Question
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1848 Young Ireland: nationalistic movement
The Irish question was the most serious and
reoccurring problem faced by Britain between
1890-1914
Gladstone had pushed unsuccessfully for Irish
Home rule
Ulster opposed Irish Home Rule: Protestant
counties in Northern Ireland
Ulster
1914 Irish Home Rule Act
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Was not supported by Ulsterites
Raised an army of 100,000+
Were supported by British public opinion
Was not put into effect until after WWI
Easter Rebellion 1916 crushed by British troops
1922 Ireland independent BYT Northern
Ireland remained part of the British Empire
The Eastern Question in the 1870’s
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A constant state of crisis in te Balkans as the
Ottoman Empire receded
Russia wanted to rule in the Balkans
Austria-Hungry wanted it too
Pan-Slavism: Russia’s dream of uniting all Slavic
peoples under one government: Russia
The Balkans
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Russia Defeated the Turks 1878 and was in a
good position to dominate the Balkans
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British sent the royal Navy to help the Turks
against Russia
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Bismarck offered to mediate the crisis
1878 The Congress of Berlin
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Russia gained very little in spite of defeating the
Turks
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Will lead to resentment against Germany
(Bismarck)
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Will lead to a new system of alliances
The Congress of Berlin 1878
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Recognition of Romania, Serbia, Montenegro as
independent states
Established the autonomy of Bulgaria (within
the Ottoman Empire)
Transferred Cyprus to Great Britain
Nothing for Russia
Due to Disraeli’s influence although Russia will
blame Bismarck