- Next read your text pp.300-309 and answer questions 1-3 on page 309
Compare and contrast the styles and policies of British Prime Ministers William Gladstone and Benjamin Disreali. Which politician would you have supported? Explain your choice.
In 1867, Prime Minister Benjamin Disreali and the Conservatives passed a Second Reform Act, which granted the vote to the male urban working class householders, thereby adding one million voters to the list. Unlike, his party, Benjamin Disreali was an optimist and knew how to seize opportunity, his optimism rested on his belief that a natural alliance existed between a paternalistic landed interest and a deferential working class. In a famous speech at the Crystal Palace in 1872, Disreali redefined the appeal of conservatism across class lines by calling on tradition, patriotism and paternalism, embodied in three key terms: monarchy, empire, and social reform. When he became Prime Minister in 1874, he based his policies on these three principles. First he persuaded Queen Victoria to come out of her reclusive widowhood after the death of her husband Prince Albert in 1861. Through Disreali’s influence, the modern royal family became symbols of tradition closely attached to the values of the Conservative Party. Disreali also appealed to pride in empire. He made Queen Victoria the empress of India and purchased shares in the Suez Canal. He persuaded an aggressive colonial policy, engaging in the wars in Afghanistan and southern Africa. His ministry also passed the most innovative social reforms of the second half of the nineteenth century, improving the legal status of trade unions and introducing legislation on consumer protection, industrial safety, and public housing. On this basis, Disreali helped build the modern Conservative Party by identifying it with traditional institutions such as the monarchy, by making it the party of imperialism, and by linking it to a program of social reform.
Where as in 1884 Prime Minister William Gladstone and the Liberals extended the vote on the same terms to male households in rural constituencies, thereby adding another two million voters to the list. Throughout the second half of the nineteenth century, however, Britain witnessed a struggle between the forces of change- as social reform- and the forces of community, in support for the monarchy and other conservative traditions. His Liberals were supported by a natural animosity between the workers and middle class. Under the leadership of Gladstone, the Liberals’ rallying cry was “Peace, Retrenchment and Reform.” By “peace” they meant free trade and opposition to costly foreign and colonial adventures. By “retrenchment” the Liberals meant a laissez faire policy in which the role of government was strictly limited, and the costs and taxes were reduced as far as possible. By “reform” they had in mind doing away with outmoded laws that benefited the privileged. Accordingly, the Liberals reformed the army and the civil service to eliminate patronage, enabled students who were not Anglicans to graduate from Oxford and Cambridge Universities, and in 1870, introduced national primary education. Ultimately, it was their own slogan of peace that proved to be their undoing. When more than 12 000 Bulgarian Christians were killed by Turkish forces in 1876, Disreali, for strategic reasons, backed to Ottoman Empire in its war with Russia. The public’s enormous interest in these moral and strategic questions was given a renewed charge by William Gladstone. For the first time in British and European history, a politician embarked on a modern political campaign. In his Scottish campaign on 1879, Gladstone travelled by train to Liverpool to Edinburgh, stopping at towns on the way, and delivering speeches the condemned the immorality and costs of Disreali’s imperial policy. After a second Scottish campaign in 1880, the electorate tossed out the Conservatives, and gave Gladstone and his Liberals a majority. Gladstone, who had supported the cause of national liberation in Europe, wrestled with Britain’s imperial conflicts in Africa against the Boers, and nationalism in Ireland. When he introduced his Irish Home Rule Bill in 1886, he split the Liberal Party. As a result, the Conservatives- the party of patriotism and empire- and their leader Lord Salisbury, became the dominant party in British politics for the next two decades.
The politician that I would have supported is William Gladstone. The reason for this is that he supported education for everyone. He believe in Peace, Retrenchment and Reform.” By “peace” they meant free trade and opposition to costly foreign and colonial adventures. By “retrenchment” the Liberals meant a laissez faire policy in which the role of government was strictly limited, and the costs and taxes were reduced as far as possible. By “reform” they had in mind doing away with outmoded laws that benefited the privileged. Accordingly, the Liberals reformed the army and the civil service to eliminate patronage, enabled students who were not Anglicans to graduate from Oxford and Cambridge Universities, and in 1870, introduced national primary education.
Explain why many believe the seeds of World War I were planted in the late nineteenth century by listing, in order of importance, four important causes of war.
Many believed the seeds of World War I were planted in the late nineteenth century by with the spread of industrialization and the mounting economic competition between European states, national rivalry and imperial ambition led to an arms race and the foundation of diplomatic alliances in anticipation of war. Nationalism aroused not only loyalty toward an individual’s own state and people, but also antagonism toward states and peoples perceived to be threats. National and imperial rivalry put new pressures on domestic politics within states. The Prussian aristocracy, which dominated the offices of state and the army, identified its own power with the pre-eminence of the German nation. With the backing of industrialists anxious to profit from the arms race, politicians and generals wrestled with the problem of Germany’s encirclement with Central Europe. They began to see the inevitability of a Great War as the way for Germany to assume its rightful and dominant place on the Continent. Consequently, during critical weeks on crisis diplomacy in July 1914, there was a willingness to believe that the time had come for a lasting peace through a victorious war. In Britain, rivalry with Germany, especially in the naval arms race, fostered a constitutional crisis. The Liberal government needed to finance both warships and new social measures, such as old-age passions. The People’s Budget of 1909, proposed by Chancellor of the Exchequer David Lloyd George, introduced taxes on inherited wealth. In response, the landed aristocracy in the House of Lords defeated the budget and brought down the government. This constitutional crisis, whereby a hereditary peerage brought down a popularly elected government, reflected a new willingness of conservative, traditional interests to challenge the authority of the state.
How does woman today different from those that women experienced in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century face the inequities?
The inequities faced by woman today are different from those women experienced in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century by in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century woman faced horrible things such as women were not allowed to vote, they could not have the same jobs as men. They could not even work, they were not equal before the law, were not legal before marriage, could not own their own property, could not have access to birth control and so on. Where as now a days women can do whatever they want to do, they can vote, have the same jobs as men, can work whenever they want, are equal before the law, have the right to own their own property and have the right to birth control and day care for their children.
PART B- CULMINATING ACTIVITIES
- Complete activity #3 on page 328.
The nineteenth century has been called an age of transition for European Society- a transition which paved way from aristocracies to democracies, from elite culture to mass culture, and from cottage industries to industrial factories. Defend or refute the view of the nineteenth century as an age of transition using examples from this chapter.
The nineteenth century brought mass changes throughout the world. For instance the rights of women changed. It saw about the banding of a nation and state and paved the way from aristocracies to democracies, from elite culture to mass culture and from cottage industries to industrial factories. It survived the Industrial and many other revolutions across Europe and the modernization and nationalization of each and every country. The nineteenth century was the century in which many transitions occurred due to the many influences brought about by the Industrial Revolution.
Changes that were brought about were the changes for women. Such as they are now allowed to vote, own their own property, can have jobs and maintain them too, with equal treatment towards them, they are legal before marriage, and now have access to birth control and can put their children in day care if they wish to go back to work. Women are now seen as equals, instead of being the ones who cooked, cleaned, and took care of the home and children whole the man worked and earned a living.
Another thing that changed was the fact that not only nationalism but also democracy had broken out too. Democratic principles were being adopted to varying degrees in different nations, bringing them closer to the nations we know today. Between 1850-1914, most countries implemented a broad franchise, if not universal male suffrage. In 1871 both the new German Empire and the new Third Republic in France had elections based on “democratic: suffrage of adult male citizens. In Great Britain, after 1867, urban male householders could vote in parliamentary elections. By 1914 even autocratic Russia and Austria had introduced universal male suffrage.
The Industrial Revolution came about in the nineteenth century and saw about many changes in cities and rural areas. For instance many people started moving their families to the city to live in deteriorating places so that they could find work. People were forced to work long hours for minimal pay and had to work in horrible conditions such as poor lighting, few breaks a day, smoky and cramped places and had no insurance to help cover the costs of injuries. If a worker was sick or hurt, he could not go to work and could not make a living for their family, thus they would starve until he could go back to work. The Industrial Revolution also saw the appearance of child labour, in which children would work in factories, plantations and coal mines for up to twelve hours a day, and get paid about 2 dollars. It also saw women working to help support their families, if their husbands died or left them. The Industrial Revolution brought about many changes, which were not good for society but were what helped shape the world today.
The nineteenth century was century full of ultimate changes that had an impact on the world for the rest of its entirety. It brought about women rights, nationalism, democracy and the Industrial Revolution, which was not very good for most people. It was a time when cities were formed, high mortality rates were actually seen for consecutive years and the poor of the world flourished. However it was a time that made our world was it is today. The nineteenth century did in fact pave the way from aristocracies to democracies, from elite culture to mass culture, and from cottage industries to industrial factories.
The impact of nationalism, in the last 150 years, has extended well beyond Western society. Create a Venn diagram or comparative chart that shows the similarities and differences between the nationalist movement of a European country in the 1800’s with that of a non-European country in the 1900’s.