The House of Hannover(1714 – 1901)

• King George I• George II, George III, George IV• King William IV• Queen Victoria

George I (1714-1727)

• The first Hanoverian king• James II’s son wanted to return as James

III. He was Catholic. He tried to win the throne by force. The Old Pretender.

• 1715 – first Jacobite rebellion• 1745 second Jacobite rebellion led by

Bonnie Prince Charlie (=The Young Pretender, James II’s grandson, ). Defeated at Culloden in 1746.

George I

• Didn’t speak English• Didn’t get involved in British politics• Left most decisions to the Cabinet• Britain’s first PM: Robert Walpole• Walpole made sure that the power of the king would alwaysbe limited

• Another influential PM: 1756-61, 1766-86William Pitt the Elder, Earl of ChathamHis focus was on trade

The Seven Years’ War (1756-63)Britain gained control of Quebec & MontrealFrench trade interests destroyed in India- George III ended the war

George III (1760-1820)

• First Hanoverian king to be born in Britain• John Wilkes – champion of free speech• Loss of the American coloniesAmerican War of Independence (1775-83)● Australia – Captain Cook 1770, the First Fleet

arrived with convicts in 1788Hulks – prison ships

George III (1760-1820)

• 1800 – Act of Union with Ireland• New Country after 1 Jan 1801: United

Kingdom of Great Britain and IrelandThis union lasted for 120 years.

• 1707 – Act of Union with Scotland• 1603 – Union of the Crowns• 1536 – Act of Union of England and Wales

The Industrial Revolution(about 1750s - late 1800s)

• 1750 – Britain was an agricultural society• 1850 – Britain was an industrial nationSeveral influences came together at the

same time to revolutionise British industry.- iron- cotton, wool (1764 spinning machine,

1785 a power machine for weaving)- improved transport

John Wesley (1703-1791)

• An Anglican cleric• Travelled around the country preaching in

small groups to the lower classes• Had a very personal and emotional style of

preaching• The Methodist Church

-first part of the Church of England-later became a separate church

The French Revolution 1789

• Divided Britain• 1793 – Britain went to war after France

had invaded the Low Countries• 1805 – Trafalgar, Lord Nelson as

commander of Br fleet-Trafalgar Square, London- Nelson’s Column

The French Revolution

• 1815 – Waterloo• British general: Wellington• Napoleonic Wars – brought economic

prosperity. • Peace came in 1815 – everything changed• General misery. Petty crimes – severe

punishments• Workhouses – Charles Dickens• Growth of towns and cities

1832 – The Reform Bill

• It gave the vote to a large circle of middle-class men

• 1833 – reformed parliament:• 1833 – The Emancipation Act - abolition of

slavery in the British Empire William Wilberforce

• 1833 – the first effective Factory Act• 1834 – Tolpuddle in Dorset

1838 - The People’s Charter

• Equal representation, universal suffrage and vote by ballot

• = the Chartists• 1839 – riots in Newport, Wales• 1840 – the movement was defeated

1840s: ‘We must make this country a cheap country for living.’

• 1842 – abolishment of many import duties• 1846 – abolishment of the Corn Laws that

kept the price of corn higher than necessary

• Free trade instead of protectionism• PM: Sir Robert Peel

Queen Victoria (1837 – 1901)

• Crowned at the age of 18• Got married in 1840. Her husband was a

German prince, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg• Prince Albert died in 1861.• Had 9 children• Her rule was the longest of any British monarch

1851 – The Great Exhibition, Crystal Palace, London

• The world’s first international trade

The railway system

• By 1840 – about 4000 kms of track• 1851 – passenger trains

• People moved to suburbs

• The rise of the middle class

Florence Nightingale (1820-1910)

• 1854-56 – the Crimean War • The ‘lady of the Lamp’• Improved the conditions of military hospitals

Second Reform Bill - 1867

• 1 million working-class men got the vote• 1872 – the Ballot Act made voting secret• Trade unions were given a legal status• Education Act of 1870 – established

primary schools where there were no Church schools

1860s-1870s

• The modern state as we know it was built • Number of voters in 1884: 60% of men in

towns and 70% of men in the country• Civil service

• The value of monarchy was questioned• 1868: Our life in the Highlands• Balmoral Castle

Victorian values

• Associated with middle class people• loyalty, Protestant work ethic• Franz Winterhalter: Queen Victoria and her family

Prime Ministers

• Lord Palmerston (1855-58, 1859-65)

• Benjamin Disraeli (1868, 1874-1880)

• William Gladstone (1868-74, 1880-85, 1886, 1892-94)

Foreign policy

• 1815-65 – Britain was the undisputed mistress of the world

• 1854 – the Crimean War• 1839-42 – the war in Afghanistan• 1839 – the Opium War• 1857 – the Indian Mutiny

• 1877 – Empress of India

Ireland

• 1845-47 – the Irish Potato Famine• About 1 million people died, 1 million

people emigrated to the US and Britain• Population of Ireland:

5 million in early 19th c8 million in mid-19th cnow: about 6 million

• Struggle for self-government (Home Rule)

• Wales• By 1870s: Wales

became an industrial society

• Coal and steel industry in the south

• Population: 0,5 million (1800s) – 2 million (1900s)

• Scotland• Industrial area:

Glasgow and Edinburgh

• Highland Clearances

The British Empire

• 1497 – John Cabot claimed the ‘New Found Land’ for Henry VII

• Elizabeth I (1588-1603) • Sir Francis Drake – 1580• Buccaneers• Chartered companies: 1600 – English

East India Company• Virginia

North America

• 1585 – Sir Walter Raleigh• 1607 – Jamestown• 1620 – Pilgrim Fathers• Religious refugees: 1639 Connecticut,

1634 Maryland – haven for Roman Catholics

• 1664 – New Amsterdam• 1756-63 – Seven Years’ War

The Caribbean

• 1623 – Saint Christopher• 1655 – Jamaica• 1672 – the Royal Africa Company was set

up to import black slaves

• Reasons so far: trade• religious persecution• penal settlement• 1718 – Transportation Act

• 1782 – loss of the 13 American colonies

Asia

• The Indian subcontinent• 1700s – 3 trading posts• Company Rule• 1857- 8 – Indian Mutiny• Under the direct control of the Br govt• 1877 – Victoria= Empress of India• Burma• Afghanistan

Australia• 1770 – Capt Cook• 1788 – First Fleet• Convicts

• New Zealand

• Gibraltar - 1714

• 1805 – Trafalgar• Br= master of the

seas

Africa

• Dutch settlement in the south• Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815)• 1806 Britain purchased the Cape Colony

from the Dutch • 1910 Union of South Africa – dominion• ‘Scramble for Africa’• Egypt – the Suez Canal

The Middle East

• 1919 – the British Empire at its height• The Treaty of Versailles gave Britain most

of the German Empire in Africa• Collapse of the Ottoman Empire – british

acquisition of Palestine and Iraq in 1918

• Dissolution of Empire• Commonwealth of Nations

• 1887 – Golden Jubilee• 1901 – Victoria died• Edward VII (1901-10)• Liberal reforms – beginnings of the welfare

state• Lloyd George PM and his budget• George V (1910-36) • The House of Windsor

• 1911 Parliament Act• House of Lords – limited power• 1914 – WWI• Central Powers – Allies• End: 11 Nov 1918• Votes to women: 1918, 1928

• Suffragettes• Emmeline Pankhurst• Rise of the Labour Party

• The Irish problem• 1914 – Home Rule• 1916 – Easter Rising• 1921: the Irish Free State and Northern

Ireland

• 1926 – General Strike• The Great Depression 1929 –• Edward VIII abdicated because of Mrs Simpson

• George VI 1936-1952

• WWII• The Blitz

Loss of Empire

• United Nations Charter in 1945 called for progress towards self-government

• The Partition of India – 1947• 1931 – British Commonwealth of Nations• Loss of power and status on the world

stage• The old imperial spirit revived in 1982 –

Falklands War

• Elizabeth II (1952 –• Born in 1926

• Immigration • Social Darwinism

• Britain and the EU

• Margaret Thatcher (1925 – 2013)

• PM 1979-90• Thatcherism

• Northern Ireland• 1921, Ulster, 1972, The Troubles• Devolution: Northern Ireland Assembly