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England's History : Industrial Revolution to the 20th Century

The Industrial Revolution: Late 18th - Early 19th Century

The late 18th and early 19th centuries saw considerable social upheaval as a largely agrarian society was transformed by technological advances and increasing mechanisation, which was the Industrial Revolution. Much of the agricultural workforce was uprooted from the countryside and moved into large urban centres of production, as the steam-based production factories could undercut the traditional cottage industries, due to economies of scale and the increased output per worker made possible by the new technologies. The consequent overcrowding into areas with little supporting infrastructure saw dramatic increases in the rise of infant mortality, crime, and social deprivation.

The transition to industrialisation was not wholly seamless for workers, many of whom saw their livelihoods threatened by the process. Of these, some frequently sabotaged or attempted to sabotage factories. These saboteurs were known as "Luddites".

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The Act of Union of 1801 formally assimilated Ireland within the British political process, and created a new country "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland", uniting England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland.

During the early 1800s, the working classes began to find a voice. Concentrations of industry led to the formation of guilds and unions, which, although at first suppressed, eventually became powerful enough to resist.

The Victorian Era 1837 - 1901

Queen Victoria came to the throne in 1837 and reigned until her death in 1901. Her 63 year reign is longer than that of any other English monarch.

The revolutions which spread like wildfire throughout mainland Europe during the 1840s did not occur in England and Queen Victoria's reign was largely one of consensus, despite huge disparities in living standards between the few rich and the multitudinous poor.

The Victorian period saw great technological achievement which was celebrated at the Great Exhibition of 1851.

The era also saw tremendous expansion of the British Empire which at its height was to rule a quarter of the world's population and covered such a large portion of the world it was described as "the empire on which the sun never sets".

The Twentieth Century

1914-18 saw England embroiled in the First World War which claimed over 8 million lives, 908,000 of which were British Empire soldiers.

The Anglo-Irish treaty of 1921 established the Irish Free State (now the Republic of Ireland) as a separate nation, leaving Northern Ireland as part of the United Kingdom; its official name became "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland".

In 1926 the Trades Union Congress called a General Strike in support of coal miners striking over pay and conditions. The General Strike collapsed after 9 days.

England bore the full brunt of German bombing during the Second World War of 1939-45, many of its cities were badly damaged and huge amounts of infrastructure destroyed. Many children were evacuated from cities to safer rural areas.

The 1942 William Beveridge Report had identified five "Giant Evils" in society: squalor, ignorance, want, idleness and disease. After the Second World War a series of changes was put in place to deal with these "Giant Evils" The changes meant that the government recognized the responsibility to care for the people of Britain "from the cradle to the grave". The Welfare State was a commitment to health (in 1948 the National Health Service was created), education, employment and social security and remains an important principle in how Britain is governed today.

In 1979 Margaret Thatcher was elected first woman Prime Minister.

In April 1982 Argentina invaded the British run Falkland Islands. A military Task Force was dispatched and after a brief conflict June British control was restored in June 1982.

In May 1997 Tony Blair led the "New Labour" party to a landslide election victory. In August 1997 Princess Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris.

Following the 2001 9/11 terrorist attacks on the USA Tony Blair pledged that Britain would stand "shoulder to shoulder" with the United States in the "war on terror". This commitment has seen British forces participating in the invasions of Afghanistan (2001) and Iraq (2003).

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia article "History of England".