Midterm Flashcards
What did John Stewart Mill do in attempt to grant women the right to vote?
(1860s?) Pushed for “man” to be replaced with “person” so women could vote. In reality it would only allow roughly 10% to vote because of land ownership issues.
Mill loses his seat in parliament for this.
What is the Women’s Disabilities Removal Act?
(1870) put forth by Jacob Bright (MP), would allow 7-10% of women to vote at a local level and exercise power over the school board and poor law guardian (also key terms). This was conservative because women had no real power over men, just children and sick/poor
Emmaline Pankhurst
Radical, her family were all radicals that wanted women’s suffrage. Major face of women’s suffrage movement. (1890’s). Her work is recognized as a crucial element in achieving women’s suffrage in Britain. With her 3 daughters, she formed the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU). The main objective was to gain, not universal suffrage, the vote for all women and men over a certain age, but votes for women, “on the same basis as men.” This meant winning the vote not for all women but for only the small stratum of women who could meet the property qualification.
Conciliation Committee Bill
(1910) would allow women suffrage, crafted by both liberals and conservatives. Asquith (PM-liberal) doesn’t let it succeed because he’s worried that many women with the right to vote will be conservative.
Black Friday
(1910) Response to Asquith’s denial of suffrage. Large protests, police given the OK to violently assault these women because they were acting “unsexed”. Hunger strikes and arrests were two major problems, and many felt like the public weren’t aware of mistreatment going on.
Cat and Mouse Act
(1912) During protests: released starving women from imprisonment so that they can become healthy again, then they gave themselves the right to imprison them again later down the road.
Emily Davison
(1913) Dedicated suffragist, she allowed herself to be trampled to death by the king’s horse on Derby Day to publicize the abuse on women during this time.
who was William Gladstone?
He was known for his time as PM. Started off as a tory (conservative) but became liberal. He was prime minister four times and exchequer four times. Entered parliament in 1832 (the same year as the Reform Act of 1832- which he opposed as a tory). Political alliance timeline: Tory (1828–34) Conservative (1834–46) Peelite (1846–59) Liberal (1859–98). He was fiercely against the Opium Wars and as a result was reluctant to join Peele’s gov. In 1843, he resigned from Peele’s gov over the Maynooth Seminary issue, which would pay the seminary an annual fee for training Catholic priests. He still voted in favor despite the Protestant church paying other churches, but resigned after. He rejoined in 1845. After Peele’s government split, Gladstone took over as leader of the Peelites. With his takeover the Peelites move from conservative to join with the Whigs and Radicals to form the liberal party. He was chancellor of the Exchequer under PM Lord Aberdeen during 1852–1855 and again during 1859–1866 as the liberal party. His first PM (1868–1874): disestablishment of the C of E and secret voting. Second PM (1880–1885): dealt with the crisis in Egypt/Sudan as well as legal right of Irish tenant farmers, and 3rd reform act. His third PM (1886) attempted to have Irish home rule (failed). Forth PM (1892–1894): attempted second Irish home rule (failed at HoL).
who was Benjamin Disraeli?
Conservative politician, known as First Earl of Beaconsfield, served as PM twice, first from 27 February 1868 – 1 December 1868 and second from 1874 to 1880. Only PM of Jewish birth (converted to Anglicanism when he was 12). He was Exchequer when Lord Derby was party leader. Disraeli didn’t agree with free trade, but instead imperialism and nationalism were core values. Aimed to radicalize urban voters so they would be silenced. Conservatives win by landslide in 1874 election, and Disraeli passes a lot of laissez-fair policies. When first entering parliament he disagreed with Peele often. His first time in office was after the conservative party split, and was short lived since he was working with unprofessional politicians. He enacted in his 2nd gov the Artisans’ and Labours’ Dwellings Improvement Act (inexpensive loans became available to build working class homes), the Public health Act 1875 (modernized sanitation codes), the Sale of Food and Drugs Act (requirements on quality and safety of food), the Education Act of 1876 (made further provisions to elementary education). These showed his focus on helping the poor and his democratic conservatism. Victoria favored Disraeli’s Tory policies over those of his Liberal rival, William Ewart Gladstone.
Secret Ballot Act
1872: Employers and land owners had been able to use their sway over employees and tenants to influence the vote, either by being present themselves or by sending representatives to check on the votes as they were being cast. The tenants could possibly be evicted if they didn’t vote as the landlords wanted them to. The Ballot Act 1872 was of particular importance in Ireland, as it enabled tenants to vote against the landlord class in parliamentary elections. The principal result of the Act was seen in the General Election of 1880, which marked the end of a landlord interest in both Ireland and Great Britain. MPs rose to 80 MPs showing Irish want home rule.
Chancellor of the Exchequer
The chancellor is responsible for all economic and financial matters.
From 1852 to 1880:
Benjamin Disraeli-(1852 1852) Conservative under The Earl of Derby. William Gladstone (1852-1855) Peelite under The Earl of Aberdeen. ((someone else)). Disraeli(1858- 1859) Conservative under The Earl of Derby. Gladstone (1859-1866) Liberal under The Viscount Palmerston then The Earl Russell. Disraeli (1866-1868) Conservative under The Earl of Derby. After this, they alternate as PM.
Elementary Education Act (1870)
Joseph Chamberlain was a major figure in this. Some feared that universal education would lead to indoctrination. Others feared that laboring classes would begin to “think” and see their lives as dissatisfying and revolt. Allowed school teaching to be very non-denominational. All schools inspected and regulated to be up to new standards (even church schools under the C of E if they weren’t up to code). These new schools being made weren’t Anglican and were supported by local tax. The state paid for these schools to be made, and helped with finances for the poor.
Robert Peel (Not a key term but important)
Conservative PM twice (1834–1835 and 1841–1846) during Gladstone and Disraeli’s political rise. He helped form the modern conservative party. Peel’s government was weakened by anti-Irish and anti-Catholic sentiment following the controversial Maynooth Grant of 1845. After the outbreak of the Great Irish Potato Famine, his decision to join with Whigs and Radicals to repeal the Corn Laws led to his resignation as Prime Minister in 1846. His first PM was not noteworthy, but his second he was known for a lot. He reintroduced income tax to get the economy out of a slump. Also provided subsidies (gov monetary assistance to businesses to keep prices low) for food for the Irish in a time of laissez-faire which was unusual. Major movements made toward free trade.
Corn Laws (not a term but important)
Tariffs and other restrictions on imported grain after the Potato famine to support domestic producers. The laws were supported by conservative landowners and opposed by whig workers
First Irish Land Act
1870: “Irish Question” formed by Gladstone to gain supporters in upcoming election of 1868 by uniting liberal party. Nationalist feelings, especially with Fenian violence, was a big concern. As to not upset the landowner whigs, Gladstone was fairly conservative on his actions here so that he could still gain their vote. This act allowed Irish tenants to be compensated for their improvements on a land if they were evicted.
However, the wording on the price of rent was not very defining, so landlords could still raise the rent to un-payable prices and evict their tenants. For the first time in Ireland tenants now had a legal interest in their holdings.
“One Nation” Conservatism
(Roughly 1845ish. Appears on and off) Disraeli views society as organic and values paternalism (limit a group’s liberty for their own good) and pragmatism (looks at facts and not morals or ideals). He originally spoke of it in his books, but mainly spoke of it after the Reform Act of 1867, which had enfranchised the male working class. He wanted it to appeal to working class men. It’s a duty from the rich to the poor and makes the liberals look selfish. Used by Disraeli for both ethical and electoral reasons.
Joseph Chamberlain
He was a radical Liberal Party memberin politics from 1880s-1900s. He attempted to replace Gladstone as PM but was during a time of growing voteers which meant more convincing. He didn’t grow enough of a voter base. During Lord Salisbury’s PMship (conservative) he had major involvement on imperial schemes in Asia, Africa and the West Indies. He was mostly at fault for causing the Second Boer War (1899-1902) but stayed involved and was central for winning it. Old age pensions, imperial federation, get rid of free trade are main ideas of Chamberlain.
National Liberal Federation
After attempts at becoming PM, Joseph Chamberlain wanted to establish a more effective organisation for the Liberal Party as a whole, especially in the localities. It was called the National Liberal Federation (1877) and he was president. It was designed to tighten party discipline and campaigning, and it subsequently enlisted new party members, organised political meetings and published posters and pamphlets. In 1880 general election, Gladstone returned as Prime Minister with assistance from the NLF.
Opium Wars
Due to fear of economic depression, Lord Palmerston entered a war with China to open up free trade in opium. The first war began in 1839 and ended in 1842, and the second was from 1856 to 1860. It began with merchants smuggling it in to Canton, China. These sales helped Britain pay for imports from China as China wasn’t interested in any British exports, they only wanted silver. The emperor of China made several attempts to keep due to drug addictions of the citizens. With better restrictions from China Britain fell into further debt, and tensions rose. The first war set off when Chinese officials raided a British ship. With the British win, opium was now legalized, trade ports were opened, and British, French, Russian, and US citizens could travel throughout China.
Louis Riel
A political leader of the Metis, he led two resistance movements against the Canadian Government (1870s), and Riel sought to preserve Métis rights and culture as their homelands in the Northwest came progressively under the Canadian sphere of influence. Important because it shows indigenous in British colonies showing resistance and attempt at political independence. He was defeated at Fort Garry, a strong holding point, and the British were able to expand into West Canada. He was sent to exile in Montana, USA.
Coningsby, Sybil, and Tancred
Coningsby: political novel by Benjamin Disraeli published in 1844. The book is about real political events of the 1830s in England that followed the enactment of the Reform Bill of 1832. Disraeli portrays his own beliefs including his opposition to Peel, his dislikes of both the British Whig Party and the ideals of Utilitarianism, and the need for social justice in a newly industrialized society.
Sybil: 1845. Sybil traces the plight of the working classes of England. Disraeli was interested in dealing with the horrific conditions in which the majority of England’s working classes lived — or, what is generally called the Condition of England question.
Tancred: 1847. It shares a number of characters with the earlier novels, but unlike them is concerned less with the political and social condition of England than with a religious and even mystical theme: the question of how Judaism and Christianity are to be reconciled, and the Church reborn as a progressive force.
First Home Rule Bill
1886: the first major attempt made by a British government to enact a law creating home rule for part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was introduced in 8 April 1886 by Liberal Prime Minister William Gladstone to create a devolved assembly for Ireland which would govern Ireland in specified areas. The Irish Parliamentary Party under Charles Stewart Parnell had been campaigning for home rule for Ireland since the 1870s. 341 voted against it and 311 voted for it. Historians have suggested that the 1886 Home Rule Bill was fatally flawed by the secretive manner of its drafting, with Gladstone alienating Liberal figures like Joseph Chamberlain who, along with a colleague, resigned in protest from the ministry, while producing a Bill viewed privately by the Irish as badly drafted and deeply flawed.
Lord Salisbury
He was a British Conservative statesman, serving as prime minister three times for a total of over 13 years. During Lord Derby’s gov, he resigned over Disraeli’s Reform Bill that extended the suffrage to working-class men. When Disraeli became PM he returned and became foreign secretary. He became prime minister in June 1885 when the Liberal leader William Ewart Gladstone resigned, and held the office until January 1886. When Gladstone came out in favour of Home Rule for Ireland, Salisbury opposed him and formed an alliance with the breakaway Liberal Unionists, winning the subsequent general election.He remained prime minister until Gladstone’s Liberals formed a government with the support of the Irish Nationalist Party, despite the Unionists gaining the largest number of votes and seats in the 1892 general election. The Liberals, however, lost the 1895 general election, and Salisbury once again became prime minister, leading Britain to war against the Boers, and the Unionists to another electoral victory in 1900 before relinquishing the premiership to his nephew Arthur Balfour. In 1889 Salisbury set up the London County Council. His specialty was foreign affairs. He had a large involvement in the Second Boer War. At home he sought to “kill Home Rule with kindness” by launching a land reform program which helped hundreds of thousands of Irish peasants gain land ownership and largely ended complaints against English landlords.
Primrose League
An organisation for spreading Conservative principles in Great Britain. It was founded in 1883. Founded by Winston Churchill’s father, Randolph, and others. They were determined to promote the cause of Toryism. Lord Salisbury was a Grand Master in the league.
Second Irish Land Act
1881: The Land Law (Ireland) Act 1881 gave tenants real security, though by this time the Irish were demanding proprietorship. The Act established the principle of dual ownership by landlord and tenant, gave legal status to the Ulster Custom throughout the country, provided for compensation for improvements and created the Irish Land Commission and a Land Court. In Gladstone’s words, the intention of the Act was to make landlordism impossible.
This act can generally be seen as economically ineffective. Instead of cutting costs or increasing productivity, Irish farmers increasingly turned to the Irish land courts to cut their rents and jack up their dwindling incomes. The land purchase element can be described as counterproductive because the conditions tenants now enjoyed under this act gave them no incentive to buy, furthermore, some economic historians dispute the effectiveness of land purchase as a solution to the Irish land problem. Land purchase significantly reduced the amount of capital in Ireland that could have been invested to improve efficiency and competitiveness of Irish farms. Therefore, some headway is made towards lower rents but this is at the cost of lower rates of productivity growth in Irish farming
Third Irish Land Act (1885)
1885: Continued land agitations throughout the 1880s and 1890s culminated firstly with the passing of the Purchase of Land (Ireland) Act 1885, also known as the Ashbourne Act, putting limited tenant land purchase in motion. The Act allowed a tenant to borrow the full amount of the purchase price, to be repaid at 4% over 49 years.
Irish Land Act 1903
sale was to be made not compulsory, but attractive to both parties, based on the government paying the difference between the price offered by tenants and that demanded by landlords. This was the basis of the the Land Purchase (Ireland) Act (1903)
It differed from earlier legislation which initially advanced to tenants the sum necessary to purchase their holdings, repayable over a period of years on terms determined by an independent commission, while the Wyndham Act finished off landlordism control over tenants and made it easier for tenants to purchase land, facilitating the transfer of about 9 million acres up to 1914. By then 75% of occupiers were buying out their landlords under the 1903 Act .
John Stuart Mill
One of the most influential thinkers in the history of liberalism, he contributed widely to social theory, political theory and political economy. Mill was a proponent of utilitarianism, an ethical theory that supports utility as the sum of all pleasure that results from an action, minus the suffering of anyone involved in the action. Mill has a book “Utilitarianism” which he believes: It is quite compatible with the principle of utility to recognize the fact, that some kinds of pleasure are more desirable and more valuable than others. It would be absurd that while, in estimating all other things, quality is considered as well as quantity, the estimation of pleasures should be supposed to depend on quantity alone. A member of the Liberal Party, he was also the first Member of Parliament to call for women’s suffrage. He had a career as a colonial administrator at the British East India Company. Mill defended British imperialism by arguing that a fundamental distinction existed between civilized and barbarous people. Mill was against slavery, wanted a socialist economy (that co-aligns with utilitarian values), and an economic democracy instead of capitalism, and supported a worker’s right to strike.
Governor Eyre
Eyre (5 August 1815 – 30 November 1901) was an English land explorer of the Australian continent, colonial administrator, and a controversial Governor of Jamaica. He brutally suppressed the Morant Bay Rebellion in Jamaica and authorised the execution of George William Gordon, a mixed-race colonial assemblyman who was involved in the rebellion. The controlling European element of the Jamaican populace — those who had most to lose — regarded him as the hero who had saved Jamaica from disaster. Wanted Jamaica to become a Crown Colony, with an appointed (rather than an elected) legislature, on the basis that stronger legislative control would ward off another act of rebellion.
Thomas Carlyle
Carlyle (4 December 1795 – 5 February 1881) His essay “Occasional Discourse on the Negro Question” (1849) suggested that slavery should never have been abolished, or else replaced with serfdom. It had kept order, he argued, and forced work from people who would otherwise have been lazy and feckless. This and Carlyle’s support for the repressive measures of Governor Edward Eyre in Jamaica during the Morant Bay rebellion further alienated him from his old liberal allies. As Governor of the Colony, Eyre, fearful of an island wide uprising, brutally suppressed the rebellion, and had many black peasants killed. Hundreds were flogged. He also authorised the execution of George William Gordon, a mixed-race colonial assemblyman who was suspected of involvement in the rebellion. These events created great controversy in Britain, resulting in demands for Eyre to be arrested and tried for murdering Gordon. John Stuart Mill organised the Jamaica Committee, which demanded his prosecution. A rival committee was set up by Carlyle for the defence, arguing that Eyre had acted decisively to restore order. Twice Eyre was charged with murder, but the cases never proceeded.
Morant Bay
(11 October 1865) began with a protest march to the courthouse by hundreds of peasants led by preacher Paul Bogle in Morant Bay, Jamaica. Some were armed with sticks and stones. After seven men were shot and killed by the volunteer militia, the protesters attacked and burned the court house and nearby buildings. A total of 25 people died . Over the next two days, peasants rose up across St. Thomas-in-the-East parish and controlled most of the area.
The Jamaicans were protesting injustice and widespread poverty. Most freedmen were prevented from voting by high poll taxes, and their living conditions had worsened following crop damage by floods, cholera and smallpox epidemics, and a long drought. A few days before, when police tried to arrest a man for disrupting a trial, a fight broke out against them by spectators. Officials had issued a warrant for the arrest of preacher Bogle.
Governor Edward John Eyre declared martial law in the area, ordering in troops to hunt down the rebels. They killed many innocent blacks, including women and children, with an initial death toll of more than 400. Troops arrested more than 300 persons, including Bogle. Many of these were also innocent but were quickly tried and executed under martial law; both men and women were punished by whipping and long sentences. This was the most severe suppression of unrest in the history of the British West Indies.[1] The governor had George William Gordon, a mulatto representative of the parish in the Assembly, arrested in Kingston and brought back to Morant Bay, where he tried the politician under martial law. Gordon was quickly convicted and executed.
Jamaica Committee
The Jamaica Committee was a group set up in 1866, which called for Edward Eyre, Governor of Jamaica, to be tried for his excesses in suppressing the Morant Bay rebellion of 1865. More radical members of the Committee wanted him tried for the murder of British subjects (Jamaica was at that time a Crown Colony), under the rule of law. The Committee included English liberals, such as John Bright, John Stuart Mill, Charles Darwin, Thomas Huxley, Thomas Hughes, Herbert Spencer and A. V. Dicey, the last of whom would eventually become known for his scholarship on the Conflict of Laws.[1]
The counsel to the Jamaica Committee was James Fitzjames Stephen, who held that the defendants were guilty of legal murder, but extended considerable sympathy to them and intimated that they were probably morally justified.[2] From then on, Mill was cool to him.[3]
Thomas Carlyle set up a rival committee arguing in Eyre’s defence. His supporters included John Ruskin, Charles Kingsley, Charles Dickens and Alfred, Lord Tennyson.
Franko-Prussian War
1870: Last of the three wars in German unification. The German states proclaimed their union as the German Empire under the Prussian king Wilhelm I, uniting Germany as a nation-state. Germany then began to industrialize which was later than others, to their benefit, because their factories were higher quality with more workers. The unification made Germany powerful but not outright dominating.
Great Depression
1873-1896: Very slow growth of economy that began with the global gold standard. (check I.F notes) Britain is in debt from more importation than exportation. Their exports become more expensive on a global scale due to gg standard, and they become less competitive. Free trade begins to harm Britain due to creating domestic job loss. many families depended entirely on payments from local government known as the dole. Politically the Conservative Party dominated the era and the Labour Party was seriously hurt. In 1911, Asquith had put a welfare/heath insurance scheme in place, and Britain was considered advanced in welfare compared to others, but this was still temporary help and those unemployed for a long time were lacking long-term help. In August 1931, the 1911 scheme was replaced by a fully government-funded unemployment benefit system.[15] This system, for the first time, paid out according to need rather than the level of contributions. The United Kingdom was able to recover more quickly than other countries that were equally as developed, because their economic growth had been stagnant for some time. This meant that they did not have exponential growth, as the United States did, leaving them with less room to fall.
‘global’ gold standard
Can back up the pound (or dollar, etc) with equal physical gold worth the same amount. This creates a safe, mutual currency and allows Britain to have free trade which Germany, the US, and France will follow in lead. This allows Germany and the US to catch up economically while Britain slows down.
invisible exports
Intangible money made from taxes, loans, investments, etc. particularly related to foreign countries. These helped Britain become less in debt during the Great Depression.
E.E Williams, Made in Germany
He joined the Fabian Society (in March 1891), being at this time a socialist. It tells us how Germany
Made in Germany (1896) describes Germany domination in various manufactures, (ie: iron and steel, in ship-building, in textile, chemical, etc). His beliefs: (1) Retaliation; if a foreign country shuts out our products, we must paralyze her goods ; (2) federation of the Empire in respect of tariffs; (3) subsidized transport should be penalized by duties equal to the bounty; (4) competent consuls; (5) technical education; (6), doubtless chief of all, individual enterprise. These things lie beyond our province. But, beyond all question, Mr. Williams’s book calls for serious attention.
Friendly Societies
In the mid-18th century, as the Industrial Revolution hastened the growth of British towns, the friendly society system became well established. Friendlies served social, educational, and economic functions, bringing the idea of insurance and savings to those who might not have planned for the future. The social aspect of the friendlies should not be underestimated. Their meetings included lectures, dramatic performances, and dances both to inform and to entertain members.
English Culture and the Decline of the Industrial Spirit
Written in 1981 by Martin Wiener, which was a concerted attack on the British elite for its indifference to and wariness of industrialism and commercialism. Although the commercial and industrial revolutions originated in England, Wiener blamed a persistent strain in British culture, characterised by wariness of capitalist expansion and yearning for an arcadian rural society, which had prevented England – and Britain as a whole – from fully exploiting the benefits of what it had created. He was particularly scathing about the self-made industrial capitalists of the 19th century who, from the middle of that century onwards, increasingly sent their children to public schools where “the sons of businessmen were looked down upon and science was barely taught”.
Charles Booth
(1880s-1890s) Known for breaking the stereotype of the poor so that the middle class would be able to help. He did a 9 volume series about the lives of poor in London. He used science and sociology to measure poverty, and found that 30% were poor. He claims that “self-help” will not solve the problem. He blames cyclical employment from the boom-bust cycle to blame for unemployment.
Eugenics
The idea of it during the late 19th century counteracted Charles Booth’s work. Belief of designing a perfect human race through genetics. In Britain during this time, it revolved around class. Many feared that the middle class were giving birth less and that the lower class was giving birth more.
The Boer War
(20 December 1880 – 23 March 1881) British expansion into southern Africa was fueled by three prime factors: first, the desire to control the trade routes to India that passed around the Cape; second, the discovery in 1868 of huge mineral deposits of diamonds around Kimberley on the joint borders of the South African Republic (called the Transvaal by the British), the Orange Free State and the Cape Colony, and thereafter in 1886 in the Transvaal of a gold rush; and thirdly the race against other European colonial powers, as part of a general colonial expansion in Africa. The trigger for the war came when a Boer refused to pay an illegally inflated tax. Government officials seized his wagon and attempted to auction it off to pay the tax on 11 November 1880, but a hundred armed Boers disrupted the auction, assaulted the presiding sheriff, and reclaimed the wagon. The first shots of the war were fired when this group fought back against government troops who were sent after them. The Transvaal then declared independence and war erupted. The First Boer War was the first conflict since the American War of Independence in which the British had been decisively defeated and forced to sign a peace treaty under unfavorable terms. The British government, under Prime Minister William Gladstone, was conciliatory as it realized that any further action would require substantial troop reinforcements, and it was likely that the war would be costly, messy and protracted. Unwilling to get bogged down in a distant war, the British government ordered a truce.
The second Boer War
(11 October 1899 – 31 May 1902): Lord Salisbury (conservative PM) in power at this time. Great Britain defeated two Boer states in South Africa: the South African Republic (Republic of Transvaal) and the Orange Free State. Britain was aided by its Cape Colony, Colony of Natal and some native African allies. The British war effort was further supported by volunteers from the British Empire, including Southern Africa, the Australian colonies, Canada, India, and New Zealand. All other nations were neutral, but public opinion in them was largely hostile to Britain. Inside Britain and its Empire there also was significant opposition to the Second Boer War. The British were overconfident and under-prepared. The Boers were very well armed and struck first. The British quickly seized control of all of the Orange Free State and Transvaal, as the civilian leadership went into hiding or exile. In conventional terms, the war was over. Britain officially annexed the two countries in 1900, and called a “khaki election” to give the government another six years of power in London. However, the Boers refused to surrender. With the 1886 discovery of gold in the Transvaal, the resulting gold rush brought thousands of British and other prospectors and settlers from across the globe and over the border from the Cape Colony (under British control since 1806). At the end of the war the British depopulated the countryside by created concentration camps. Roughly 40,000 die due to weakness to disease. British won the war but at a cost. Effect: Many Irish nationalists sympathized with the Boers, viewing them to be a people oppressed by British imperialism. The 1900 UK general election, also known as the “Khaki election”, was called by the Prime Minister, Lord Salisbury, on the back of recent British victories. There was much enthusiasm for the war at this point (early war), resulting in a victory for the Conservative government. Having taken the country into a prolonged war, the Conservative government was rejected by the electorate at the first general election after the war was over. Balfour, succeeding his uncle Lord Salisbury in 1903 immediately after the war, took over a Conservative party that had won two successive landslide majorities but led it to a landslide defeat in 1906 due to Brits being upset by the deaths of the Boer in concentration camps (mostly women and children deaths).
Public VS Private Space
1880s: leisure activities become common with more time on their hands. Operas and public houses (pubs) were built. Pubs became the core of the working class community and always provided fires and drinks and was a meeting place for unions. Middle class looked down on working class in public space like this (getting drunk in public, letting children run around without looking after them, etc)
Domestic servants
Important because they’re one of the biggest fields of work and one of the worst positions, however they never unionized because they worked face to face with their employers.
Sectional Union Organization
Organized for middle class, people with some skill (ie trade hands) and most received benefits from their jobs. However it leaves out the working class who need it the most. Middle class wanted to help working class but felt they would drain the middle class’ money for strikes,etc.
Trade Union Congress (TUC)
Founded in 1860s. First major joining of unions, brings the middle class together. The TUC’s mission is to be a high-profile organisation that campaigns successfully for trade union aims and values, assists trade unions to increase membership and effectiveness, cuts out wasteful rivalry and promotes trade union solidarity. Meant to be a voice for the united working class.
Lib-Labs
The Liberal–Labour movement refers to the practice of local Liberal associations accepting and supporting candidates who were financially maintained by trade unions. These candidates stood for the British Parliament with the aim of representing the working classes, while remaining supportive of the Liberal Party in general. The first Lib–Lab candidates to be elected were Alexander MacDonald and Thomas Burt, both members of the Miners’ Federation of Great Britain (MFGB), in the 1874 general election.
The eight hour day
The working day could range from 10 to 16 hours for six days a week. This was a working class demand finally approved during the 1920’s. In 1884, Tom Mann published a pamphlet calling for the working day to be limited to eight hours. Mann formed an organisation, the Eight Hour League, which successfully pressured the Trades Union Congress to adopt the eight-hour day as a key goal.
Independent Labour Party
Formed in 1893 by Ramsay McDonald and Keir Hardie. Keir Hardie was a Scot who had become convinced of the need for independent labour politics while working as a Gladstonian Liberal and trade union organiser in the Lanarkshire coalfield. Working with SDF members such as Henry Hyde Champion and Tom Mann he was instrumental in the foundation of the Scottish Labour Party in 1888.
The Fabian Society
1884: Middle class intellectual group formed by Beatrice and Sydney Webb. They wanted to go after the Victorian state with research to improve the society in socialist ways.
Ramsay McDonald
One of the principal founders of the labour party, he was a lib-lab. He was secretary for the ILP, a socialist party formed by Kier Hardie. He was also the first Labour Party Prime Minister (later on).
