Scarica La fine dell'era vittoriana e la prima guerra mondiale e più Appunti in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! 19th- 20th CENTURY - FIRST WORLD WAR The death of Queen Victoria in 1901 represented the end of a long era of stability for England. In this year, her son, Edward VII, ascended to the throne. His reign, from 1901 to 1910, was seen as an “Indian summer”, a period of greatness, beauty and peace, just like an appendix to the Victorian Age. However it was only an appearance because there were already some problems that led to the 1st World War. HOME POLICY During the Victorian Age the society was characterized by the Victorian Compromise that was the acceptance of the gap between the very rich and the very poor people. These last ones were exploited by industrialists in workhouses. In the 19th century there were the 3 Reform Bills that were proposals of laws which gave the possibility to vote to the male lower class. Moreover, the payment of members of parliament was established, in order to give the possibility of election to the poorest part of the population, who needed money to survive. As for the development of the parties system, in this period there was the Liberal Party in opposition to the Conservative Party, but in 1892 also the Independent Labour Party was born. It was the party of workers that defended the interests of the lower part of the population. (PS. during Civil war 1642-1649= royalists or cavaliers (supported king, anglicans, nobles) // parliamentarians or Roundheads (supported Parliament, puritans, lead by Oliver Cromwell)→ during Restoration (1660-1714) and Hanoverian Dynasty (1714-- today “Windsor”) = Whigs or Liberal (aristocrats, against king) //Tories (conservatives, supported king) Even the beginning of the 20th century was characterized by reforms and social changes that led to the Welfare State, which looked after every person from the cradle to the tomb. Firstly, in 1906 the Independent Labour Party turned officially into the Labour Party, replacing the Liberal Party. In this year there was also the “Workmen compensation act” that covered accidents at work so people were not laid-off anymore for this reason. Secondly, in 1908 there was the “Old age pension act” that permitted poor aged people to not go to workhouses. Finally, in 1911 there were the “National insurance act” and the “Parliament act”. The first one allowed the working class to be insured against sickness and unemployment thanks to taxes imposed on aristocrats. The second one established the end of the right to veto for Lords: from that moment they had to pay taxes in order to increase the conditions of poors, even if they didn’t want to. In fact, until this act, the House of Lords managed the financial questions, so they rejected all the bills that increased the taxes on themselves. Moreover they were aristocrats and members of the Church who had a seat only for hereditary right. Only from the end of the 20th century, members of the House of Lords had to be elected. In addition to that, England had to face the Irish question. In fact Ireland, the first English colony, wanted to be independent from the mother-country. The British rule of Ireland began with Henry VIII in 1500, then it went on with Oliver Cromwell (1649-1660) and in 1690 in the Battle of the Boyne William III of Orange brutally suppressed a rebellion of Irish Catholics. Today there are fanatic Irish protestants that go along the streets with orange flags to celebrate this defeat. Between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, the irish population was divided in two parts: the catholic nationalists, who were the main part and wanted the separation from England, and the protestant unionists, who were in the northern part and wanted to stay with England. Only in 1914, the British government decided to issue the Home Rule Bill and it was about to pass but the 1st WW postponed the question. In this way, a group of catholic rebels was born, it was called “Sinn Fein” that means “our self alone”. In 1916 they decided to rebel against England, guided by Michael Collins and Edmond de Valera, so the “Easter Rising” broke out in Dublin: they occupied some of the cententral buildings of the city and proclaimed the “Irish Republic''. However they were suppressed and 16 rebels were killed. Following the failure of the rebellion the Sinn Fein created an army
