To what extent was British policy in Ireland a success in the years 1868-1886?

"To what extent was British policy in Ireland a success in the years 1868-1886? The British policy to Ireland was always a changing one with different prime ministers having different ideas, such as Peel in the 1920s first saying he doesn't want to pass catholic emancipation but then passing it. Gladstone in these years was firmly against home rule but was always open to reform. Where he gave split his own party to appease Davit and the home rule party by passing the land acts. Gladstone had started this mission by saying he needed to pacify Ireland, because the social and economic situation in Ireland had become really bad. The first bill that was passed in parliament to pacify Ireland was the Irish Church Bill of 1869, the bill proposed the Tithe not being paid to the Church of Ireland anymore as of the 5.8m population in Ireland 5.3m were roman catholic so paying the Tithe wasn't right for them. The act had a number of effects as it created unity within the Liberal party also it won Gladstone the support of the Roman Catholic leaders, it was welcomed by most Irish Catholics as it had addressed a major injustice. It also raised expectations among the Irish that other major issues such as land would now be looked at by the Liberals. It could also be looked at as one of the starting points of the demand for home rule as it gave confidence to the moderate Irish. Overall,

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To what extent was the Treaty of Versailles harsh and short-sighted?

Caroline Sims To what extent was the Treaty of Versailles harsh and short-sighted? The peace treaties of 1919, were an attempt to come to an agreement with the losing powers that they accept their blame and peace would be resolved while they pay the consequences. As Germany was a losing power of the war, she was made to sign the treaties and accept their consequences. This essay will examine the extent to which the Treaty of Versailles was harsh and short-sighted. I will begin with the reasons why the Treaty of Versailles can be justified. Firstly, there were three victorious powers who negotiated the peace treaties; David Lloyd George, for Britain, Woodrow Wilson, for America, and George Clemenceau, for France. The French suffered the most war damage, with the most brutal battles being fort there, including thousands of square miles of trenches dug up and 1.5 million casualties. Therefore, George Clemenceau opted for a considerably higher amount of reparations than the other two winning powers. However this was compromised and ended up at 6.6million, which was substantially lower than Clemenceau's original proposal. Furthermore, as stated by historian William Carr in 'A History of Germany', 'if Clemenceau had his way, the Rhineland would have become an independent State, the Saarland would have been annexed to France and Danzig would have become an integral part of

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How successfully did Elizabeth I handle her finances?

How successfully did Elizabeth handle her finances? In her reign, Elizabeth I had successes and failures throughout when it comes to looking at finance. When Elizabeth had come to the throne, she had been left a debt by her predecessor, Mary I, of £300,000. With tight control over expenditure and many other factors, by 1585 the debt had been converted to a cash reserve of £300,000. However, there were problems that Elizabeth encountered during her reign to do with finance, and it is both sides I will be looking at in this essay. The first factor to show that Elizabeth dealed with her finances successfully was the selling of crown lands. Elizabeth sold crown lands she felt were surplus because this would help contribute toward building the cash reserve she achieved in 1585. This brought in £600,000 throughout her reign. She also raised revenue by allowing the last of the monastic properties seized by Henry VIII pass into private ownership. This then meant that Elizabeth would collect money for this to because in many ways, these properties were of no use to Elizabeth so there was no harm in selling them for a profit. Elizabeth also participated in joint stock trading companies. This would help raise revenue by anything that was traded for a profit. An important figure that helped Elizabeth towards the end of her reign to make money was Francis Drake. Often described as a

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'How far did the changes of the 1960s in Britain create a 'permissive society'?'

'How far did the changes of the 1960s in Britain create a 'permissive society'?' Whilst there are slight variations amongst those who wish to define a permissive society, they all appear to agree it is a society of sexual liberation. From looking closely at the changes, for example new liberalising laws that were introduced such as the Abortion and Divorce Reform Act, it can be shown that 'sexual intercourse began in nineteen sixty-three' (Philip Larkin). The Abortion Act of 1967 legalised abortion in the United Kingdom up to 28 weeks gestation, however the question is what change this brought. When examining society prior to 1967 100,000-200,000 illegal abortion took place per year. Source C suggests that there wasn't a permissive society by claiming that although people had more freedom, they didn't use it, 'they did not necessarily exercise that freedom', however after legalisation the number of abortions increased from 35,000 a year in 1968 to 141,000 a year in 1975. Thus people were exercising their freedom, resulting in the Abortion Act creating a permissive society. Prior to the passing of the Divorce Reform Act in 1969, divorce was only granted with evidence that one party had committed adultery and statistics show that there were fewer than two divorces per 1000 married couples. The Divorce Reform Act allowed couples to divorce if they had lived apart for two years

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How serious a threat did the Puritans pose to Elizabeth I and her Church?

Top of Form How serious a threat did the Puritans pose to Elizabeth I and her Church? The rise of Puritan ideology in Elizabeth I's Church and Government was potentially an extremely dangerous threat to her power. However in practice, any attempts to promote Puritan ideas were crushed so quickly and effectively by Elizabeth that the movement never got the chance to develop into anything more serious. There was undoubtedly an increase in extreme Protestant views throughout her reign, an area of particular concern to Elizabeth being the Puritan tendencies of some of her most senior advisors. There were also some individuals from within the Church and within Elizabeth's government whose opposition to the Religious Settlement was influential to an extent, particularly during the 1570s, but all received a zero tolerance punishment and so never gained enough support to be a substantial threat to the Monarchy. Historians' views on the extent of the Puritan threat have been extremely varied, from J. E. Neale's argument for the rise of a Puritan parliamentary opposition, known as the 'Puritan Choir', to the less extreme views of those such as Michael Graves who agreed that 'the new generation of Presbyterian-Puritans did make concerted efforts to demolish the Religious Settlement', but that there was no evidence of a 'Puritan Choir'. John Guy agrees with Graves in that Neale based

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The greatest obstacle to solving the Irish question in the years 1874 - 1886 was the issue of land: assess the validity of this view.

"THE GREATEST OBSTACLE TO SOLVING THE IRISH QUESTION IN THE YEARS 1874 - 1886 WAS THE ISSUE OF LAND": ASSESS THE VALIDITY OF THIS VIEW There can be little doubt that question of land, with specific regards to tenant farmers and absentee landlords, was a major obstacle for the British government as they attempted to 'solve the Irish Question'. However, in addition to the fact that there were other issues within Ireland which also formed obstacles to resolution, such as Home Rule, one must also consider the actions of the Disraeli and Gladstone administrations in this period and assess whether they too acted as obstacles to their own attempts to deal with Ireland. The interpretation that the issue of land was the greatest obstacle has much to commend it. Some of the most serious crises in 19th Century Britain had come about as a result of 'knife and fork' issues (including the Chartist movement and the Plug Riots); the disastrous harvests of 1877-79 in Ireland which meant that many famers unable to pay the rent for their land and were subsequently evicted by the landowners resulted in similar 'knife and fork' issues and caused great Irish unrest. This unrest manifested itself in violence, most notably in Connaught and in Phoenix Park in 1882, as the immediate threat to Irish people's wellbeing sparked 'direct action' in such a way that issues such as a religion could. The

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1832 reform act

Popular pressure is a key concept in which the general public aim is to seek change from any existing government. There are two types of popular pressure. The first type being 'moral' examples of this include: picketing and petitions. The second type being 'physical' and its direct example being violence. Popular pressure played a significant part and both types of popular pressure played a key element for the passing of the Great Reform Act. Some Historians agree that popular pressure was the main reason for the passing of the Act however some disagree and argue that other factors to the passing of the Great Reform Act. As well as understanding and knowing that popular pressure contributed to the passing of the Great Reform Act we can question and yet assess to what extent how effective it was to the passing of the Great Reform Act. Popular pressure was crucial to the passing of the Great Reform Act of 1832. The involvement of the aristocrats was a key to the cause of popular pressure. However even though the aristocrats (Tories) were involved they were against any sort of reform, and believed that if Britain reformed revolution would come after. There is however evidence to suggest that Physical force contributed greatly to the passing of the Act. The French revolution played a key role in the people of Britain wanting a reform. The working class anticipated liberty and

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"Parliament was of little importance in the government of England" - How valid is this view in the years 1525 to 1566?

"Parliament was of little importance in the government of England" How valid is this view in the years 1525 to 1566? Pre reformation parliaments had shown healthy institutional growth and had succeeded in achieving cooperation with the monarch. However during the middle reign of Henry viii was a period known as the parliaments of the reformation, although occasionally called upon they did prove to be of importance in the running of the country through government. The beginning of this phase was due to the annulment with Catherine of Aragon and his infatuation with Anne Boleyn. During this period of 1529-1536 the reformation parliament only met on seven occasions. Henry's relationship with parliament was of great significance to the achievements of the parliament. Henry ruthlessly increased the power of royal government, using parliament to sanction his actions. Henry ruled through powerful ministers who like his six wives were never safe in their positions. His greatest achievement was to initiate the protestant reformation in England. He rejected the authority of the pope and the Roman Catholic Church, confiscated church lands, and promoted religious reformers to power. Beginning in 1529, Henry used parliament to exert pressure on the pope. Claiming that they were correcting abuses, the reformation parliament voted to ban payments from English bishops to Rome and to end

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Explain why Richard III was able to usurp the throne of England in June 1483

Explain why Richard III was able to usurp the throne of England in June 1483? Richard III grew up in the background of the war of the roses this was a turbulent time in which many members of the monarchy had been usurped and for whoever had the crown there was always the threat of usurpation. Monarchy at this time also caused p0roblems when they died and left young heirs of who could not rule so they had to have a regent which proves to be a problem. The attitude of people and especially the monarchy was to trust no one as anyone would try and usurp you for their shot at power, Even the great King Edward IV killed his own brother George Duke of Clarence because he threatened his sons claim to the throne by saying that they were illegitimate. When Edward died he left a young heir and with the history of the wars of the roses Edward V was not guaranteed a place on the throne. Richard III was a loyal brother to Edward IV he fought and won battles for him and in doing so he managed to achieve or be rewarded with a huge power base in the north and was trusted to rule over the north of the country and also to keep the Scottish under control. When Edward IV died, Richard felt that he should be regent for he was the king's brother but the young Edward was under the control of Earl Rivers his maternal uncle this meant that he was a Woodville. Richard did not like the Woodville's and

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How successful were the economic and social reforms of the Peel ministry in the period 1841-1846?

HOW SUCCESSFUL WERE THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL REFORMS OF THE PEEL MINISTRY IN THE PERIOD 1841-1846? When the Conservatives under Peel attained power in 1841, they inherited a nation filled with unrest and discontent (i.e. due to 'knife and fork' issues, e.g. Chartism) and a huge budget deficit (estimated at £7.5 million). The Peel Ministry (although often Peel with his ministry in tow) therefore carried out major reforms concerning welfare and trade in order to solve the problems left by the preceding Whig administration. One interpretation of these reforms is that they were successful in developing Britain as a welfare state. In terms of economic policy, Peel's boldness was manifested in the 1842 budget, when he re-introduced the income tax for those earning more than £150 a year, arguing that the poor already had to spend a lot of their income on regressive taxes on many articles of consumption (e.g. sugar), and reduced import duties, in order to boost the economy and stabilise a discontented society. His aim was to make Britain a cheaper place to live, thereby silencing the discontent. The success of these measures can be seen in the fact that the aforementioned deficit which Peel inherited was into a £5 million surplus by 1845, and the fact that after Peel was forced to resign, there was a mid-Victorian boom, a golden age of prosperity, which can attributed to these

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