History oF CHINA

A SHORT HISTORY OF CHINA
by kashyap pathak

THE RISE OF CHINESE CIVILISATION

The Beginning

Chinese civilisation developed independently of others because it was separated from them by deserts and by sheer distance. After 10,000 BC people in China lived by hunting and gathering plants. Then, about 5,000 BC, the Chinese began farming. From about 5,000 BC rice was cultivated in southern China and millet was grown in the north. By 5,000 BC dogs and pigs were domesticated. By 3,000 BC sheep and (in the south) cattle were domesticated. Finally horses were introduced into China between 3,000 and 2,300 BC.

By 5,000 BC Chinese farmers had learned to make pottery. They also made lacquer (a kind of varnish made from the sap of the Chinese lacquer tree). The early Chinese farmers also made baskets and wove cloth (before sheep were domesticated hemp was woven). The Chinese also made ritual objects from jade such as knives, axes and rings. The wheel was invented in China about 2,500 BC.

A More Advanced Society

By 2,000 BC a more advanced society emerged in China. By then the Chinese had learned to make bronze. They probably started by making copper in pottery kilns then experimented by adding tin, so creating bronze. At first bronze was only used for weapons. (It was probably too expensive for other things).

Warfare was becoming more common. Walls of earth, which was rammed till it was hard, surrounded some settlements. Warfare probably became more common because these early societies were becoming richer. As wealth grew so did the temptation to attack your neighbours and steal their goods. By 2000 BC there was also a growing gulf between the classes. Before then the Chinese practised subsistence agriculture. They only grew enough for themselves and their families. After about 2,000 BC they began to produce a surplus (which their rulers could take off them!). People were buried with their goods and some people were buried with far more than others.

By 2000 BC human sacrifice was practised in China. The bodies of the victims were buried under the foundations of buildings. By 2,000 BC fortune telling was carried out by heating bones till they cracked then interpreting the cracks. Between about 2,000 and 1,750 BC the semi-legendary Xia ruled parts of China. However Chinese civilisation only really began with the Shang Dynasty.

THE SHANG DYNASTY

The Shang dynasty created a highly organised state. Though they ruled only a part of China their cultural influence spread through most of it. Writing was invented in China about 1,500 BC. The earliest evidence of it comes from bones used for fortune telling. Bones were touched with a red-hot piece of bronze so they cracked. The cracks were then interpreted and the predictions were written on them. The form of writing invented during the Shang era remained unchanged for thousands of years.

The Shang practiced polytheism (worship of many gods). The most important god was called Di. During the Shang dynasty the practice of ancestor worship began. Ancestor worship is the belief that the dead can intervene in the affairs of the living. Offerings were made to them to keep them happy. Ancestor worship became part of Chinese culture for thousands of years. The Shang probably invented the Chinese calendar.

Silk was probably first made during the Shang era. It was made by 1300 BC. During the Shang era bronze was more widely used. Previously it was only used to make weapons. After 1700 BC bronze vessels were made. However tools such as sickles, ploughs and spades were usually made of wood and stone.

The Shang built the first real cities in China. The first capital at Zhengdou had walls more than 6 kilometres long. (Later the capital was moved to Anyang). The Shang also built palaces and temples. The Shang nobles were very fond of hunting and no doubt had enjoyable lives. A slaves life, on the other hand, was horrid.

During the Shang era slavery was common in China. Prisoners of war were made into slaves. Human sacrifice was still practiced. When a Shang emperor died his servants and slaves either committed suicide or were killed to accompany him into the afterlife. Because of the need to capture slaves warfare was common. After 1200 BC chariots pulled by 2 or 4 horses were used in Chinese warfare. Their neighbours the Zhou overthrew the Shang about 1022 BC. So began the Zhou dynasty.

THE ZHOU DYNASTY

The dynasty ruled China from about C. 1022 BC to 221 BC. The first part of the Zhou era from C. 1022 BC to 771 BC is called the Western Zhou (because the rulers had their capital in the west of China). The second part of the era, from 770 to 476 BC is called the Spring and Autumn period. The last part of the era from 476 to 221 BC is called the Warring States period.

In those days because transport and communications were very slow it was difficult for a ruler to control a wide area. The Zhou kings solved this problem by creating a feudal state. They gave their followers land. In return the followers provided chariots and soldiers in time of war. Soon the follower's positions became hereditary. Below them were officials who worked as generals and administrators. At the bottom of society were the peasants who provided the food supply.

The peasants had to spend some of their time working on the Lord's land. Usually land was divided into 9 sections. Individual families worked eight sections. Everybody had to work on the ninth section but the crops from it went to the Lord. After 600 BC coins were used in China and some peasants paid their Lord taxes rather than work on his land. Under the Shang there were many slaves in China but under the Zhou there were few of them.

There were some important technological changes during the Zhou period. The most important was the invention of iron. It was used for weapons as early as 650 BC. By about 500 BC iron was used for all kinds of tools. By about 400 BC Chinese farmers used iron ploughs drawn by oxen.

About 300 BC the Chinese invented the horse collar. Previously horses were attached to vehicles by straps around their necks. The horse could not pull a heavy load because the strap would constrict its neck! The horse collar allowed horses to pull much heavier loads.

During the Zhou dynasty the Chinese invented kites. The compass was invented in China in the 3rd century BC but at first it was used for divination (a spoon like object made of magnetite was placed on a board and watched to see which way it would turn). It was not used for navigation till much later. Tea was first mentioned in China during the Zhou dynasty (although it may have been drunk much earlier). The umbrella was invented in China in the 4th century AD. Covered in oiled paper it sheltered the user from both sun and rain.

Warfare also changed. Previously chariots dominated it. However after 600 BC cavalry began to replace chariots. Furthermore rulers began to raise large armies of infantry. Peasants were conscripted to provide them. About 500 BC a general called Sunzi wrote a book called the Art of War, which was the world's first military manual. About 400 BC the crossbow was invented in China.

Although warfare was frequent during the Zhou era trade and commerce flourished and Chinese cities grew larger. Furthermore agriculture was greatly improved by iron tools and by irrigation, which became more common. As a result of more efficient agriculture the population of China grew rapidly in the Zhou period.

During the Zhou era parts of the Great Wall of China were built. There was not a single wall, at first, but different states built their own walls to keep out 'barbarians'. Later they were joined together. In 486 work began on digging the Grand Canal. At first only one section was built but the canal was extended by later dynasties.

Zhou Philosophy

Human sacrifice ended during the Zhou era but divination continued. At that time the Chinese concept of heaven emerged. Heaven was a kind of universal force. Heaven chose the emperor to rule but it was a moral force. If the king or emperor were evil heaven would send natural disasters as a warning. If the emperor failed to heed the warnings heaven would withdraw its mandate. Social and political order would break down and there would be a revolution. Heaven would choose somebody else to rule.

Kong-Fuzi

During the Zhou period there was a class of officials who advised kings and rulers on the right way to behave and also how to carry out rituals. The most important of these was Kong-Fuzi (known in the West as Confucius). During his lifetime the old feudal social and political order was breaking down. Appalled by this state of affairs Kong-Fuzi tried to restore ancient principles.

Kong-Fuzi taught that everybody should accept their role in life and duties towards others. Rulers had a duty to be benevolent while subjects should be respectful and obedient. Children should honour their parents and everybody should honour their ancestors. Kong-Fuzi also believed that rulers should set a good example for their people.

Most of all Kong-Fuzi taught consideration for others. At the heart of his teaching was 'ren' which is usually translated goodness or benevolence. Kong-Fuzi said 'do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself'. Kong-Fuzi also taught the importance of courtesy and moderation in all things. Kong-Fuzi also taught that women should submit to their father when young, to their husband when married and to their son if widowed. Later women in China were taught values such as humility, submissiveness and industry.

Kong-Fuzi never wrote any books but after his death his followers collected his sayings and wrote them all down. In the centuries after his death his philosophy became dominant in China and profoundly influenced its culture for more than 2,000 years.

One disciple of Kong-Fuzi was Mengzi (372-289 BC), known in the west as Mencius. He stressed the goodness of human nature. He also emphasised the ruler's duty to look after the well being of his subjects. Mengzi was opposed by Xuni (298-238 BC). He believed human nature tended to be evil and must be restrained.

Legalism

Not everyone agreed with Kong-Fuzi that rulers should rule by example. Legalists believed that rulers should be autocratic. The ruler's word should be law. Legalists believed that rulers should be fair but firm and unwavering. One of the Chinese states, Qin, followed legalist teaching. The Qin rulers at first shared power with hereditary nobles but they changed the system so that the parts of their realm were governed by officials appointed by the ruler.

They also organised families into groups of 5 or 10 people. The members of each group were made responsible for each other's behaviour. Legalists believed that since people are naturally evil punishments should be severe. The people must be made afraid of breaking the law. They also distrusted merchants and believed that only people who owned or worked on the land were trustworthy.

Taoism

Taoism began during the Zhou era. Confucianism was a system of ethics. Taoism is a religion. Taoists believe in the Tao, which means the way. The Tao is an indescribable force behind nature and all living things. Taoists believe in Wuwei or non-action, which means going with the natural flow or way of things like a stick being carried along on a stream. Taoism also teaches humility and compassion. Taoists worship a pantheon of gods.

Ancient Chinese Beliefs

The Zhou period is sometimes called China's formative period because so much of Chinese philosophy developed at that time. The Chinese form of divination called I Ching was probably developed during the early part of the Zhou era. The idea of Yin and Yang also appeared during the Zhou dynasty. The ancient Chinese believed that all matter is made of 2 opposite and complimentary principles. Yin is feminine, soft, gentle, dark, receptive, yielding and wet. Yang is masculine, bright, hard, hot, active, dry and aggressive. Everything is a mixture of these 2 opposites. The ancient Chinese also believed there were 5 elements, wood, fire, earth, metal and water. During the Zhou period the Chinese art of acupuncture was invented.

The End of the Zhou Dynasty

In 771 the Rong, a people from the west, invaded and the Zhou moved their capital to Luoyang. Afterwards the power of the Zhou kings declined. The Zhou state broke up into separate states (although it was still nominally a single state with a Zhou king at its head). The nobles under the Zhou king effectively became independent rulers. The different states went to war and the stronger ones swallowed the weaker till there were only a few left. Finally one state, the Qin, conquered its rivals and its ruler became emperor of China. So began the Qin dynasty.

THE QIN DYNASTY

The first Qin emperor was determined to unite China. He called himself Qin Shuangdi and insisted on being called the emperor of China. He introduced standard weights and measures and even insisted that axles should be a standard width!

There were, at that time, some local variations in Chinese writing. The emperor insisted that all educated people must use one standard version. Some Chinese scholars opposed the emperor and quoted from old books to do so. Qin Shuangdi burned many of the books in China to stop them. He ordered that all books except those on useful subjects such as divination, medicine and agriculture should be burned. Any scholars who opposed him were (if they were lucky) branded and sent to work as labourers on the Great Wall. However the emperor also had 460 scholars buried alive. (Being sent to work on the Great Wall was often a death sentence anyway as many men died of exhaustion and exposure).

The Qin emperors also continued their legalist policies. They banned private ownership of weapons and they ordered many aristocratic families to move to the capital, Xianyang (where they could be easily controlled). China was divided into 34 areas called commanderies. A civilian governor ruled each but each also had a general in charge of the soldiers in the region. (The Qin emperors were keen to keep civil and military power in separate hands!). All officials were appointed by the emperor and were and were answerable to him.

The Qin emperors also built roads and irrigation canals. Parts of the Great Wall of China already existed but the first Qin emperor had them joined together. The ordinary people were forced to work on his projects. Qin rule was harsh and cruel punishments were common. When Qin Shuangdi died he was buried in a tomb with over 7,000 terracotta warriors. This 'army' was discovered in 1974.

Not surprisingly the cruel punishments introduced by the Qin emperors together with he heavy taxes and forced labour caused much resentment. In northern China a rebellion broke out led by 2 peasants, Chen Sheng and Wu Yang. Later a second rebellion began further south led by Ixang Yu. The northern rebellion was defeated but the southern one succeeded. The last Qin emperor was executed. However Xiang Yu quarrelled with his lieutenant Liu Bang. A civil war began which ended when Xiang Yu was killed and Liu Bang became the first Han emperor.

THE HAN DYNASTY

The Zhou dynasty was China's formative period when its philosophies emerged. During the Han dynasty Chinese civilisation crystallised. During this era China was one of the most brilliant civilisations in the world. Han inventions include the watermill and the chain pump (this pump was worked by feet and helped to irrigate the rice fields).

The first Han emperor was called Gaozi. He was more humane that the Qin emperors and he abolished many of their savage punishments. He kept some of the legalist policies of his predecessors but he also adopted some Confucian policies. His successors came to favour Confucianism more and more. In 165 BC the emperor decreed that anyone wishing to become an official must sit an exam, which would test his knowledge of Confucian teaching. In 124 BC another emperor founded an imperial academy where candidates studied Confucian classics (The Book of Changes, The Book of Rites, The Book of Documents, The Book of Songs, and the Spring and Autumn Annals). If they passed their exams they were given posts as officials. China came to be governed by a civil service trained in Confucian thought.

Like the Qin the Han emperors distrusted merchants and taxed them heavily. In 119 BC the emperor made the manufacture of salt, iron and alcohol state monopolies (previously they were the most profitable industries).

Under the Han agriculture continued to improve partly due to an increasing number of irrigation schemes, partly due to the increasing use of buffaloes to pull ploughs and partly due to crop rotation which was introduced into China about 100 BC.

The population of China continued to grow and a census in 2 AD showed it was 57 million. During the Han era large amounts of silk were exported to the west. It passed through many hands to the Roman Empire. In return merchants brought gems, glass and vines to China. The ships rudder was invented in China in the first century AD.

About 100 AD a man named Cai Lun invented paper (previously people had written on silk or bamboo). Then in 132 AD a man called Cheng Hang invented the seismometer (a device for measuring the strength of earthquakes and locating their centre). Buddhism first reached China in the 1st century AD but it took a long time to be accepted. During the Han era Feng Shui was developed. Elements of the craft existed before then but it was during this period that Feng Shui became a coherent philosophy.

The Fall of the Han Dynasty

After 168 AD the Han dynasty declined. Internal fighting weakened it. (When an emperor died there was usually a struggle to see who would replace him). The dynasty was also undermined by natural disasters and popular discontent. Two rebellions began in 84 AD, the Yellow Turbans rebellion and the Five Pecks of Grain rebellion. Both of these were crushed but the generals sent to defeat them began to act independently of the emperor. They started to fight each other. In 189 AD one general captured the capital, Luoyang and killed 2,000 eunuchs. After that the emperor became a puppet ruler. A general pulled the strings. The last Han emperor was removed in 220 AD. Afterwards China split into 3 parts each ruled by a general.

THE ERA OF DIVISION

After the fall of the Han dynasty China split into 3 kingdoms. The Wei kingdom in the north, the Shu kingdom in the west and the Wu kingdom in the south. In 263 AD the Wei kingdom conquered the Shu kingdom. In 280 the Wul kingdom was also conquered and China was briefly reunited. However peace was short lived.

In the 1st and 2nd centuries AD a people called the Xiongnu raided northern China. In the 2nd and 3d centuries the Chinese emperors allowed them to settle inside China's borders, hoping they could be assimilated. The emperors employed the Xiongnu as soldiers. However in 304 the Xiongnu turned on their masters. They took the city of Luoyang in 311 and then took Changan in 316. Eventually they overran northern China. The north of the country then split into rival kingdoms, all with non-Chinese rulers. This period is called the 16 kingdoms.

Many Chinese fled from the north to the south of the country. However Chinese civilisation did not disappear from the north. The Xiongnu were only a small minority of the population. Most of the people were Chinese and they carried on as they had for centuries. In the south Chinese emperors continued to reign but they were unable to capture the north.

Then in the late 4th century the Torba, a Turkish people from central Asia, started taking over northern China. By 386 they had conquered it all. The Torba then adopted the Chinese way of life. They adopted Chinese costume and Chinese writing and many of them married Chinese people. Their rulers learned to speak Chinese. Slowly this 'barbarian' people were assimilated. However a civil war began in northern China in 524. After a decade of fighting the north split into 2 parts, east and west. They were reunited in 577. In that year the Chinese invented matches. Then in 581 a general seized the throne and quickly conquered the south.

In 589 he began the short-lived Sui dynasty. There were only 2 Sui emperors, Wendi and Yang. The 2 Sui emperors attempted to invade Korea 4 times. Each time they failed. They also undertook expensive public works such as rebuilding cities and extending China's Great Canal. The Great Canal was extended in 605-609 using forced labour so that it connected north and south China. After Yang's death China split into warring states again.

Changes in Society

The disorder in China and weakness of emperors meant the aristocracy gained more wealth and power. Many of them amassed huge amounts of land. At the same time many of the peasants were reduced to serfdom. Often they were forced to turn to the lords for protection and the price was serfdom.

During the era of division Buddhism went from strength to strength in China and many temples and monasteries were built. The Chinese upper class became more sympathetic to Buddhism and the rulers of the north of China made it their official religion. Taoism also developed during this period. Many Taoist scriptures were written at that time. In 618 AD after several years of war the different parts of China were reunited by the Tang dynasty

THE TANG DYNASTY

The Tang dynasty that lasted from 618 to 907 was one of China's greatest eras. During this period China was probably the most advanced civilisation in the world. Under the Tang emperors the arts flourished. Chinese poetry and lacquer making blossomed. Perhaps the greatest poet was Li-Bo (701-762).

The Tang emperors extended their ruler over central Asia and foreign influences seeped into China. As well as Buddhists there were Muslims in the capital Changan. There were also Zoroastrians (followers of a Persian called Zoroaster), and followers of a branch of Christianity called Nestorianism.

Trade and commerce also flourished under the Tang. Gunpowder was probably invented around the year 900 AD. At first it was used for rockets, grenades and bombs that were placed against the wooden gates of enemy cities. Printing with wooden blocks was also invented during the Tang era. The earliest printed book is the Diamond Sutra, printed in 868 AD.

Although the first Tang emperor, Gaonzu (618-626) was enthroned in 618 it took him another 6 years of fighting before he brought all of China under his control. When he did China entered a period of peace and stability. One of the most remarkable Tang emperors was the Empress Wu, the only woman ever to rule China. She was a concubine of the emperor Gaozong (643-683). (In those days the emperor had one wife, the Empress, but he had many concubines. One emperor had 6,000 of them!). Wu is said to have murdered her own baby daughter then accused the reigning empress of being the murderer. Wu then replaced her as empress. In 660 the emperor suffered a stroke. After that Wu effectively ran the country.

When Gaozong died in 683 his son Zhongzong succeeded him, but not for long. Wu forced Zhongzong to abdicate in favour of another son, who was effectively her puppet. In 690 Wu did away with puppet rulers and took the throne herself. She reigned until 705. Then, when she was an octogenarian, she was forced to abdicate. Wu was a very powerful woman and she was utterly ruthless. She had no scruples about murdering her enemies or anyone who stood in her way.

However from the middle of the 8th century the Tang dynasty declined. In 751 the Chinese were defeated by the Arabs at the battle of Talas River. Afterwards China lost control of central Asia. Then in 755 a general named An Lushan led a rebellion. It was the beginning of a civil war, which lasted for 8 years. The civil war only ended with help from the Uighurs, a Turkish people. The fighting caused a great deal of destruction in China. The Tang dynasty never really recovered.

By the 9th century Buddhism had grown very influential in China. However monks were exempt from paying taxes and the emperor Wuzong (840-846) resented this. There was also a shortage of copper in China to make coins. The Buddhist monks were blamed because they used so much copper to make bronze statues, bells and chimes. In 845 Wuzong ordered that monasteries should hand over their land and property like iron and bronze artefacts. All monks under the age of 40 were ordered to return to civilian life. Many temples were destroyed. The order was rescinded in 846 but it was a severe blow to Buddhism in China.

Then in 874 another rebellion began. The rebels captured Gunagzhou (Canton) and massacred foreigners. They captured the capital Changdan in 880. However the emperor was not entirely defeated. He asked Turkish 'barbarians' for help. The emperor recaptured the capital in 884. However the power of the Tang emperors was failing. The last Tang emperor was removed in 907. The Tang was replaced by the Song dynasty.

To read about life in Ancient China click here.

THE SONG DYNASTY

After 907 China split into separate states once again. The north of China was ruled by 5 short-lived dynasties. The northeast was an independent kingdom ruled by the Qidan Liao dynasty. The south split into 10 kingdoms. In 960 Taizu became emperor of the north. He managed to persuade all but 2 of the southern states to submit to him. His son Taizong captured the remaining 2 and by 979 China was once again re-united (except for the north-east which remained independent).

During the Song era China's economy boomed. A new form of early ripening rice from Vietnam improved agriculture. Irrigation was also extended. The result was a population boom. Meanwhile trade and commerce prospered and towns and cities grew much larger. Industries like iron, ceramics, silk, lacquer and paper making flourished. China was probably the richest country in the world. Overseas trade also grew. The compass had been used for divination for centuries but by the 11th century it was being used to navigate ships.

However Song China was not militarily strong. Powerful enemies surrounded it. The result was a suspicion and dislike of anything foreign. Buddhism declined in popularity because it was a foreign religion. Under the Song Confucianism underwent a revival. Educated people saw it as a way of strengthening Chinese culture. Scholars wrote commentaries on Confucian classics and a new philosophy called Neo-Confucianism was worked out which dominated China for centuries.

The Song emperors created a powerful beauracracy to rule China. The civil service was greatly expanded. There were state schools in China where men could study in order to sit exams for the civil service. Under the Song the number of schools was greatly increased. China came to be ruled by an elite of scholar-officials.

North-east China was still independent. It was ruled by the Qidan Liao dynasty. They also ruled over a people called the Jurchen. However in 1114 the Jurchen turned on their masters and by 1125 they had captured the entire northeast. They attacked the rest of China. In 1127 they captured the capital, Kaifeng. The Jurchen overran all of northern China but they were unable to capture the south.

In 1141 the Chinese emperor made a treaty with them by which they kept the north and he kept the south. For this reason the Song dynasty is divided into 2 periods, the Northern Song period before China was split in two and the Southern Song period afterwards. However the Chinese soon absorbed the Jurchen. They kept the civil service entrance exams and appointed Chinese men as officials. The Jurchen also began to wear Chinese costume and speak the Chinese language. After 1191 the Jurchen were allowed to marry the Chinese and many of them did so. In 1206 the southern Chinese invaded the north. However the native Chinese in the north had grown used to Jurchen rule and they did not rise in rebellion. The invasion was defeated.

THE YUAN DYNASTY

However in the early 13th century there was a new threat-the Mongols. Under their leader Genghis Khan they raided northern China in 1213-14. In 1215 they sacked and burned Beijing. Then they turned their attention west. After the death of Genghis Khan in 1226 the Mongols invaded northern China and by 1234 they had conquered it all. However in the south the Song emperors managed to hold the Mongols at bay for some decades.

In 1264 Kublai Khan, the grandson of Genghis made Beijing his winter capital (the summer capital was in Mongolia). In 1272 he began calling himself Yuan or great founder. So began the Yuan dynasty. Kublai invaded southern China in 1268 and conquered it in a campaign lasting 9 years. In 1275 the Mongols captured the strategically vital city of Xian yang. That proved to the turning point. The old Song dynasty finally came to an end in 1279 when the Mongols won a naval battle.

However Kublai realised it would be more profitable to rule China and tax it rather than plunder it. He also realised that in order to rule he would need to win over the Chinese. (According to legend an advisor told him that you can conquer China on horseback but you cannot rule it on horseback). Kublai enlisted Chinese officials to help him rule (although the most senior officials were all Mongols).

Nevertheless the Mongols were never absorbed by the Chinese, unlike previous invaders. They always stood aloof and did not accept Chinese customs. The Chinese remained second-class citizens. Society was divided into 4 classes. The Mongols were at the top, and then below them were other non-Chinese people. Below them were the northern Chinese (who were more accustomed to foreign rule) then the southern Chinese at the bottom. The Mongols also extended the Great Canal to their winter capital at Beijing.

The period of Mongol or Yuan ruler was not a happy one for China. The population of China fell significantly and the country became less prosperous. In the 1350s rebellions broke out in China and Yuan rule began to break down. In 1368 the last Yuan emperor fled to Mongolia and the Yuan dynasty was replaced by the Ming dynasty.

THE MING DYNASTY

The first Ming emperor Hongwu captured Beijing in 1368 but he moved the capital to Nanjing. It was some time before he ruled all of China. Not till 1387 did he rule all the country. A later emperor, Yang Lo, decided to move the capital back to Beijing. Between 1406 and 1421 he built the great palace called the Forbidden City. Outside it was the Imperial City was built for officials. Outside was the outer city for the ordinary people.

Under the Ming emperors China once again became prosperous and powerful. (Despite the inevitable famines, which occurred from, time to time). In the 16th century new crops were introduced from the Americas, sweet potatoes, maize and peanuts. These new foods were very useful because they would grow where other crops would not. The Ming also rebuilt the Great Wall.

During their reign industry and trade flourished in China. Vast quantities of cotton were spun and huge amount of porcelain were made. In the early 15th century the emperor sent ships on 6 expeditions. They sailed to India, Arabia and the east coast of Africa. One of them brought back the first giraffe ever seen in China. However the Ming emperors became increasingly inward looking and tried to isolate China from the outside world. (Perhaps the period of Mongol rule increased their distrust of foreigners and their dislike of foreign influences). The Portuguese reached China by sea in 1514. In 1557 they were allowed to settle in Macao. However the emperors were determined to limit contact with Europeans.

The period of prosperity in China ended in the early 17th century. In the 1630s Ming rule began to break down. China was struck by famine and epidemics. Rebellions broke out and the government was unable to suppress them. The rebels took city after city. Finally in 1644 the last Ming emperor committed suicide. However there were 2 rebel factions and the leaders of both claimed to be emperor. Neither could restore order. Furthermore there was another claimant to the throne. Northeast of China lived a people called the Manchu's (they gave their name to Manchuria). In 1618 they began to conquer the Chinese who lived north of the Great Wall. They from 1636 their leader claimed to be the true emperor of China and took the name Qing. In 1644 a Chinese general believed the Manchu's or Qing were more likely to restore order in China than the rebel leaders so he let them through the wall. They quickly defeated the rebels, in the north, and their leader installed himself as emperor. So began the Qing dynasty.

THE QING DYNASTY

The Qing or Manchus easily took control of northern China but it took much longer for them to conquer the south. They did not control all of China until 1660. A rebellion occurred in 1673 but it was eventually crushed. In 1683 the Qing captured Taiwan (the last stronghold of people loyal to the Ming dynasty). The Qing commanded all men to shave the front of their heads and tie the hair at the back into a queue. At first the Qing confiscated much land from the native Chinese and the two races were segregated. However the Qing gradually adopted Chinese ways and the Chinese eventually accepted them (to a certain extent) as a legitimate dynasty.

The Qing created a strong and prosperous state. By 1697 they had conquered Mongolia and in 1720 Tibet was made a protectorate. The population of China grew rapidly in the 18th century. This was partly due to new crops introduced from he Americas. It was partly due to new forms of rice which made it possible to grow 3 crops a year in some parts of China.

In the 18th century trade and industry boomed in China. The iron industry prospered and vast quantities of cotton were made. China also made huge amounts of porcelain. Much of this was exported to Europe. Increasing amount of tea was exported to Britain. The Chinese imported some iron goods and wool from Britain but the British had to pay for most of their tea with silver. After 1750 they were confined to Guangzhou and were not allowed to trade in any other port. In 1793 they sent Lord McCartney to try and negotiate a trade treaty with the Chinese emperor. However the emperor made it clear he was not interested in manufactured goods from Europe and he refused to change the terms of trade.

However although China was once a very advanced civilisation she was now falling behind Europe in technology. Soon she would be weaker than the European powers. The Chinese policy of isolating the nation from outside influences proved disastarous in this respect.

Worse the British found it increasingly hard to pay for tea and other goods with silver. So they exported increasingly large amounts of opium into China. Imports of opium were banned in 1800 and in 1813 smoking opium was made illegal. However the British soon joined forced with Chinese smugglers. The British ships anchored off the coast and Chinese boats took tea out to them. They brought British goods back to the shore. Increasingly the British resorted to exchanging opium for tea. Soon there were many opium addicts in China.

The Opium Wars

The Opium Wars were a shameful episode in British history. The Chinese government took action to combat this menace. In 1839 an official called Lin Zexu was sent to Guangzhou to stop the opium smuggling. He commanded the British to hand over their stores of opium. Reluctantly they obeyed. However the British government sent a fleet to blockade Guangzhou and the ports of Ningbo and Tanjin. In 1841 a Chinese official negotiated a treaty. He agreed to give the British Hong Kong and pay what it cost the British to send a fleet to China. However neither side was satisfied with this treaty and the war resumed.

The British sent a second fleet and occupied several ports. This time the Chinese were forced to pay a much larger amount of money. They were also forced to open 5 ports to British merchants (Guangzhou, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Ningbo and Shanghai). British citizens were to answer only to the British authorities if they committed any crime while they were in China. Chinese tariffs on British goods were to be only 5%. Soon afterwards the Chinese were forced to sign similar treaties with other European countries. Unfortunately the Chinese had fallen behind in military technology and they were no match for the European forces.

The first Opium War of 1840-42 was followed by a second conflict. Neither side was satisfied with the treaty of 1842. The Chinese naturally resented the treaty. The British accused Chinese officials of 'dragging their feet' and obstructing trade. Conflict came to a head in 1856 when the Chinese boarded a ship called The Arrow. In 1858 the British sent another fleet to China and the Chinese were forced to sign another treaty. Ten more ports were opened to trade and foreigners were to be allowed to travel around China.

In 1859 British officials returned to ratify the treaty but they were prevented from entering China. However in 1860 the British sent another expedition. This time the British burned the emperor's summer palace. China was forced to open ports in the north to trade and to pay a large sum of money to Britain.

The Decline of the Qing Dynasty

By the late 18th century the Qing dynasty was in decline. This was partly due to a rise in the population. The population of China began to outstrip its resources and the peasants grew poorer. As a result rebellions broke out. In the years 1796-1804 the White Lotus sect led a rebellion. Although that rebellion was eventually crushed it was followed by another rebellion in 1813 led by the Eight Trigrams sect. This rebellion cost 70,000 lives before it was defeated.

However by far the most serious rebellion was the Taipeng rebellion of 1850-1864, which is estimated to have cost 20 million lives. Hong Xichuan who believed he was the Son of God and the younger brother of Jesus led it. He preached a mixture of some Christian beliefs and some communism. His followers sold their property and put the money in a common fund. Land was distributed among his followers. He also banned foot binding, smoking opium and wearing the queue. His followers also destroyed Buddhist and Taoist temples. He took Nanjing in 1853 and led a long rebellion. It took the Qing more than a decade to crush it. Furthermore other rebellions broke out in China. It took another 4 years to put down bandits in the north called the Nanin. There were also rebellions by Muslims in outlying areas. These were not defeated until 1873.

In the late 19th century the Chinese government made some attempts to introduce European technology. None of them were very successful. In partnership with Chinese merchants the government opened coalmines, started a steam shipping company and opened iron works and cotton mills. They also built a telegraph network and a small network of railways.

However all these efforts at reform met with resistance from traditional Confucian scholars. Worse in 1893 the Empress Cixi took some money intended for the navy and used it to build a marble ship in the shape of a paddle steamer. China remained fundamentally unchanged in the late 19th century, unlike Japan, which changed rapidly. China paid a high price for her failure to industrialise.

In 1894 came war with Japan. A rebellion broke out in Korea in 1894 and Chinese troops were sent there. However the Japanese navy sank a Chinese troop carrier, provoking war. The Japanese army and navy quickly won stunning victories and the Chinese were forced to sign a humiliating treaty. They were forced to cede Taiwan to Japan and to allow the Japanese to build factories in China. The Chinese were also forced to pay a large sum of money. Afterwards European powers took advantage of China's weakness by forcing her to cede more territory to them.

After the shock of the Sino-Japanese war many Chinese realised that China must modernise otherwise she would be carved up between the foreign powers. In 1898 some officials persuaded the emperor to decree a series of reforms. However the Empress Dowager (a retired empress) Cixi put a stop to it. She arrested most of the reformers and executed them on the trumped up charge that they were plotting to overthrow the government.

The Boxer Rebellion

In 1900 Chinese resentment of foreigners boiled over into the Boxer rebellion. It began with a secret society called the Harmonious Fists. They detested Christian missionaries and hated foreign influence. The society grew rapidly after 1898 and friction between them and the missionaries grew. Afraid, the British sent 2,000 men to protect their nationals in Beijing.

However the Boxers cut the railway to Tianjin and the British were forced to withdraw their soldiers. Cixi decided to join the Boxers and she declared war. The foreigners in Beijing shut themselves in their buildings and the Chinese lay siege. However a force of 20,000 European soldiers marched into Beijing and sacked it. Afterwards the Chinese were forced to pay a large sum of money to the Europeans as compensation.

The Fall of the Qing Dynasty

In 1901 the Empress Dowager, Cixi, changed her mind and decided some reform was needed after all. Primary and secondary education was changed to include western subjects. Then in 1905 the civil service entry exams, which had been used for 2,000 years, were abolished. Some attempt was made to reform the army and navy. In 1908 she agreed to make the Chinese monarchy a constitutional one. She promised to call a parliament in 1916. In 1909 provincial assemblies were elected. However only a limited number of men were allowed to vote and the assemblies had little power. After 1910 there was a national assembly but it too have very limited power. The limited reforms of the Qing satisfied nobody and in 1911 they were swept away by a revolution. The Qing were followed by a republic.

THE CHINESE REPUBLIC 1911-1949

The Revolution

In the early 20th century many people decided the only thing to do was to sweep away the old order. Leading the revolutionaries was Sun-Yat-Sen (1866-1925). He put forward 3 principles, nationalism, democracy and socialism. In 1905 he formed the Revolutionary Alliance of Tongmen Hui. Some soldiers in Wuchang with revolutionary ideals formed an organisation called the Literary Society. In 1911 they were planning revolution. However they accidentally set off a bomb. Realising the government would now be alerted they decided to start the revolution immediately.

The revolution soon gathered pace and spread across southern China. Province after province seceded from the Qing Empire. However the Qing turned to a man named General Yaun Shikai. This man had been a regional governor but the Qing dismissed him, as they feared he was growing too powerful. Now they recalled him and gave him wide powers to crush the revolution.

However when his forces were repulsed at Nanjing the general decided to change sides. He made a deal with the revolutionaries. He would make China a republic if he could be President. Sun Yat-Sen and the other revolutionaries feared that a divided China would be easy prey for the foreign powers so they agreed to his terms. The Qing were persuaded to abdicate in February 1912. Yuan Shikai became president of China. A parliament was elected in February. The largest party were the nationalists of Kuomintang with Sun Yat-Sen at their head.

However the general had no intention of sharing power with parliament and soon made himself dictator. The Kuomintang were banned at the end of 1913 and parliament was closed in January 1914.

The Warlord Years

When General Yuan died in 1916 China descended into semi-anarchy. Central government had little power and warlords controlled the provinces. In 1916 the Japanese took over the German 'sphere of influence' in Shangdong. After the war, in 1919, it became clear that the victorious powers intended to let Japan keep it. This news provoked 3,000 students to demonstrate in Beijing on 4 May 1919. They burned the Minister of Communication's house. Although the police moved to suppress the demonstration in Beijing similar protests took place elsewhere in China. The protest gave rise to a movement called the Fourth of May movement which rejected Confucian values and sought to modernise China.

Although the Kuomintang were banned in 1913 they simply moved their base to Guangzhou and continued to operate. In 1921 the Chinese Communist Party of CCP was founded. One of its leading lights was Mao Tse-Tung (1893-1976). By 1935 he became head of the new party. At first the Communists decided to co-operate with the Kuomintang. That may seem surprising but the Russians urged Communists in colonial countries (including China) to work with 'bourgeois-democratic' movements. For a time the two joined forces.

China was changing in the early 20th century. Industry was expanding rapidly (although the country remained overwhelmingly agricultural) and China saw a wave of strikes and labour unrest in the 1920s. Then in 1926 the Kuomintang decided to unite China. From their base in the south they sent an army of 150,000 men into the north. The warlords in some of the northern provinces were defeated and by the end of 1926 large parts of northern China were brought back into the fold. In 1928 the Northern Expedition was renewed and in April Kuomintang forces entered Beijing. China was reunited.

Meanwhile the Kuomintang and the Communists fell out. Ideological differences made this inevitable. In the autumn of 1927 Mao Tse-Tung led a peasant rebellion called the Autumn Harvest Uprising. However it was crushed. In December 1927 there was an uprising in Guangzhou and a Communist government was very briefly established in the city but government forces soon crushed the movement.

In 1930 the Kuomintang decided that China was not ready for democracy. Soon it became a military dictatorship led by Chiang Kai Shek. In 1930 Li Lisan led another Communist rebellion but it was easily crushed. However in the countryside Mao-Tse-Tung adopted a much more successful policy. From his base in a mountain range he carried out guerrilla warfare. He created a well-disciplined force that conducted 'hit and run' raids and hid whenever the enemy advanced, avoiding pitched battles. His men were able to wear down and demoralise them. Guerrilla warfare proved to be extremely successful in the 20th century.

In 1934 the Kuomintang attempted to encircle the Communists. Mao decided to break out. About 90,000 soldiers escaped the trap and embarked on a long march to the north of China. This Long March became legendary although less than 20,000 of those who took part survived the march. Then in 1937 Communists and Kuomintang agreed to a temporary truce to fight the Japanese.

In 1931 the Japanese occupied Manchuria. In 1932 they created a separate state with a puppet government called Munchuko. In 1937 the Japanese invaded the rest of China. The invasion began with the 'rape of Nanjing' when tens of thousands of people in that city were murdered. Women were raped and buildings were burned. However the Japanese were unable to conquer China due to its sheer size.

In the 1930s some modernisation occurred in the coastal cities. Many new railways were built and many more roads were metalled. The amount of electricity generated increased 7 times over. Industrial output was small but it was growing. Coal mining boomed. Cotton spinning also grew. However the interior of China remained overwhelmingly agricultural. When the Japanese invaded in 1937 Chiang Kai Shek attempted to evacuate many people, especially skilled workers to the unoccupied areas of China. Industrial machinery was also evacuated west. The Chinese managed to hold their own during the Second World War. However to finance the fighting the Kuomintang were forced to print money. The result was rampant inflation which undermined their support.

The Communist Takeover

In August 1945 Russia declared war on Japan. As a result Russian troops occupied Manchuria after the Japanese surrender. When they withdrew the Communists were left in control of Manchuria. In 1946 the civil war resumed between Communists and Kuomintang. At first the Kuomintang were successful and they recaptured southern Manchuria and other parts of northern China. However the Communists turned to guerrilla warfare and successfully harassed the Kuomintang and their lines of communication.

Most importantly the Kuomintang failed to win over the people whereas the Communists had abundant support among the peasants. From the middle of 1947 the Communists were winning the war. Then in November 1948-January 1949 the Communists won a decisive victory at Huai-Hai. They encircled an army of 300,000 Kuomintang and eventually forced them to surrender. After that the Kuomintang position swiftly collapsed and many of their soldiers deserted. The Communists took Beijing in January 1949. In April they took Nanjing and in May Shanghai. The remaining Kuomintang then fled to Taiwan and in October Mao-Tse-Tung declared the Peoples Republic of China in Beijing.

MODERN CHINA

The Early Years of the Peoples Republic

Before 1949 the Communists had begun confiscating land from the rich landlords and redistributing it. This policy continued after they took power and was complete by 1952. Then in 1953 came the first 5-year plan. The peasants were encouraged to pool their resources and form their small farms into co-operatives.

At first capitalists were allowed to keep their businesses but gradually these were brought into state ownership. During the first 5-year plan great efforts were made to expand heavy industry with considerable success. China's industrial output doubled. Industry had always been located near the coast. During the 1950s factories were built in central China.

There was also great progress in education. The number of children in primary education increased from 24 million to 64 million. The number in secondary education increased from 1 million to 6 million and the number of students in higher education tripled.

Meanwhile the government also made great strides in health care. Infant mortality was reduced and diseases like dysentery and cholera became less common. In 1950 a law was passed giving women equal rights with men in divorce and custody of children. They were also given equal property rights. Prostitution and keeping concubines were outlawed.

In 1956 the party welcomed constructive criticism. Mao said 'let a hundred flowers bloom, let a hundred schools of though contend'. Between February and May 1957 newspapers and posters criticised the party and some of its policies but the government came to feel that the situation was getting out of hand and some people were going too far. Some intellectuals were publicly rebuked and the movement was ended.

In 1958 came the Great Leap Forward, an attempt to greatly increase output of farming and industry. However the Great Leap Forward was too ambitious. It simply wasn't possible to transform a poor, agricultural country into a rich, industrial one in a few years. Unrealistic targets were set for both industry and farming. Agricultural co-operatives were joined together to form larger units called communes. Creches and nurseries were set up so women could work. Communes were encouraged to make steel in their own makeshift furnaces. Unfortunately most of the steel was of very poor quality. The Great Leap Forward had to be abandoned. Unfortunately there was also a drought in China in 1959-62 which caused famine.

The Cultural Revolution

In 1966 some students began attacking their teachers in posters at universities. Mao feared that revolutionary fervour was flagging and he encouraged the movement. The students began to call themselves the Red Guard and they held rallies in Beijing. Soon a movement began to root out old habits, beliefs and attitudes and cause a cultural revolution. The Red Guard began to attack intellectuals and also officials. In 1967 the forced the mayor and other officials in Shanghai to resign. The same thing happened in other cities as well. The Red Guard had become very powerful. Many party officials were purged and removed from power.

However in 1968 Mao decided that things were getting out of hand. The Red Guard was disrupting industry and agriculture. Mao ordered them to disband. Mao himself died in September 1976. So ended an era.

China's Economic Miracle

In recent years China has become a tremendous success story. The economy grew very rapidly in the last years of the 20th century and by the mid-1990s China had become an affluent society. Consumer goods like TVs and fridges became common. In the last years of the 20th century the government switched to a market economy. Peasants in communes were given contracts. They were given a certain amount of land and agreed to grow a certain amount of crops. If they grew any excess they could sell it. In industry factories were given more autonomy. They were allowed to make their own agreements with their suppliers and their customers. If they made large profits they could pay their workers bonuses. The new slogan was 'To be rich is glorious!'. Four special economic zones were formed in the east. The result was a huge increase in Chinese industrial output and a great improvement in Chinese standards of living.

In 2005 there was a significant sign of China's growing economic power when Shanghai overtook Rotterdam as the largest port in the world. China is predicted to become the world's largest economy by 2040.

In 2008 the Olympic Games were held in Beijing, a sign of China'a increasing importance on the world stage.

Today the population of China is 1.34 billion.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF INDIA

A BRIEF HISTORY OF INDIA

By kashyap pathak

THE INDUS VALLEY

The first Indian civilisation arose in the Indus valley about 2,600 BC. It actually straddled modern India and Pakistan. By 6,500 BC the people of the area had begun farming. By 5,500 BC they had invented pottery. By about 2,600 BC a prosperous farming society had grown up. The farmers used bronze tools. They grew wheat, barley and peas. They also raised cattle, goats and sheep. Water buffalo were used to pull carts. The people spun cotton and they traded with other cultures such as modern day Iraq. Some of the people of the Indus Valley began to live in towns. The two largest were at Mohenjo-daro and Harrapa.

Mohenjo-daro probably had a population of 35-50,000. By the standards of the ancient world it was very large. It consisted of two parts. One part was a citadel. It contained a public bath and assembly halls. It also held a granary where grain was stored. The lower part of the town had streets laid out in a grid pattern. The houses were 2 or even 3 stories and were made of brick as stone was uncommon in the area. Bricks were of a standard size and the Indus Valley civilisation had standard weights and measures. The streets had networks of drains.

Life in Mohenjo-daro was obviously highly civilised and ordered although most of the people of the Indus Valley civilisation were farmers outside the towns. The Indus Valley civilisation had a form of writing but unfortunately it has not been deciphered so nothing is known of their political system or their religion. However many engraved seals and terracotta figurines have been found. The Indus Valley civilisation was at its peak in the years 2,300-1,700 BC. Then after 1,700 BC it declined.

The reasons for this are not clear. Perhaps there was a climatic changed and the area grew cooler and drier. It has also been suggested that rivers changed course. In those days less rainfall or a changed in the course of a river would have had severe consequences for farming and of course, like all early civilisations the Indus Valley depended on farming. Civilisation was only possible if the farmers made a surplus. They could exchange their surplus with craftsmen for manufactured goods. They could also exchange some for goods from far away. However if the farmers no longer made a surplus they could no longer support the craftsmen who lived in the towns. The populations of the towns would drift away to the countryside. Trade and commerce would decline.

As society grew less prosperous people would return to a simpler way of life and the invention of writing would disappear. The Indus Valley civilisation vanished and it was forgotten. It was not rediscovered until the 1920s.

THE ARYANS

After the collapse of the Indus Valley civilisation a new wave of people entered India. The Aryans came from central Asia and they probably entered India through Afghanistan after 1500 BC. There were probably waves of invasions over a period of time rather than just one. The Aryans were a semi-nomadic race of pastoralists.

At first they wandered about with their herds of cattle rather than live in one place. They had 2-wheeled chariots which allowed them to subdue the native people. By 1,000 BC they had learned to use iron. However in time the Aryans settled down and became farmers.

Slowly a more ordered and settled society evolved. Tribes became kingdoms. The Aryans became the priests, rulers and warriors, free peasants and merchants. The subdued people became the slaves, labourers and artisans. In time this stratified society crystallised into the caste system.

The Hindu religion also evolved at this time. The sacred literature called The Vedas was created. (At first they were orally transmitted. Later they were written down.)

In time the Aryans learned to farm rice rather than crops like barley. By 600 BC rice cultivation was flourishing in India. With a more settled and ordered society trade and commerce flourished. In time people began to live in towns again and writing was re-invented. By 600 BC a highly civilised society had emerged in India.

Although Buddha was born in India about 483 BC the religion he founded failed to take root in the country. At approximately the same time the Persians captured the extreme North-west of India. Alexander the Great destroyed the Persian Empire and penetrated the far North-west of India.

However after his death in 317 BC the Greeks withdrew. The Persians and Greeks had little affect on Indian civilisation. The various Indian kingdoms had begun to conquer one another and after 322 BC the first great empire arose.

THE MAURYAN EMPIRE

In 322 BC Chandragupta Maurya became king of the powerful and highly centralised state of Magadha in the North of India. Aided by his able advisor Kautilya Chandragupta created an empire. After Alexander the Great died his empire had split up. Seleucos took the eastern part. He attempted to reclaim the Indian provinces one ruled by Alexander.

However his army was stopped by Chandragupta in 305 BC. Seleucos was then forced to cede most of Afghanistan to Chandragupta, who also conquered parts of central India.

This new empire was rich and trade thrived. Its capital was one of the largest cities in the ancient world. In 296 Chandragupta abdicated in favour of his son Bindusara who pushed the frontier of the empire further south.

The greatest Mauryan ruler was Ashoka or Asoka (269-232 BC). He conquered Kalinga (modern day Orissa). Afterwards he declared he was appalled by the suffering caused by war and decided against any further conquest.

Asoka also converted to Buddhism. He decreed that the Buddhist principles of right conduct should be engraved in stone pillars or on rocks throughout his kingdom to teach the people how to live. Asoka set about pacifying and consolidating his empire. However despite his conversion to Buddhism Mauryan rule was authoritarian and punishments for wrongdoers were severe.

After his death the Mauryan empire declined, as all empires do. It suffered an economic decline and political instability as different brothers strived to become king. A general assassinated the last Mauryan ruler in 185 BC. The general then took over running the empire and founded the Shunga dynasty. However in 73 BC the last Shunga ruler was, in turn, assassinated. They were replaced by the Kanva dynasty which ruled from 73-28BC.

The influence of the Mauryans penetrated into Southern India. In the time of the Mauryans the farmers there became more advanced. By the first century BC organised kingdoms had grown up and trade and commerce were flourishing there.

THE INDO-GREEKS

After Alexander the Great's death his empire was split between his generals. The various successor states fought each other until a strong state emerged in Bactria (roughly modern Afghanistan). The Greek rulers of Bactria attempted to control Northwest India.

About 185 BC King Demetrius invaded India. About 160 BC one of his successors, King Menander conquered most of northern India. However after the death of Menander this empire broke up into separate states and Indian civilisation developed without European influence.

THE KUSHAN

India now faced a new invader. Nomads from Central Asia conquered Bactria in about 120 BC. They then settled down and gave up their nomadic lifestyle. They were split into 5 tribes. One of the tribes, the Kushanas conquered the others. They then turned their attention to Northern India. Gradually they conquered more and more territory. Successive kings carved out a bigger and bigger empire in Northern India.

The Kushan Empire reached its peak under King Kanishka (about 78 AD to 114 AD). During his reign Northern India was prosperous and did much trade with the Roman Empire. Kanishka was also a patron of the arts, which flourished. However after his death the empire declined and broke up. By the early 3rd century AD India was once again split into small states.

THE GUPTA EMPIRE

A new empire was founded early in the 4th century AD by Ghandragupta. After his death in 335 AD his son Samudragupta (335-375) conquered the whole of Northern India and much of Central India. India once again became prosperous and stable and much trade was done with China. Mathematics, astronomy and medicine flourished. Literature also blossomed. This was the age of the great poet Kaidasa.

However Gupta rule was less strict then Mauryan rule. Punishments were less harsh and provinces of the empire were given some autonomy. The Gupta Empire reached a peak under Chandragupta II 375-415 AD. However it then went into decline. The Gupta Empire broke up in the early 6th century.

THE HUNS

In the mid 5th century AD, the Huns, a fierce and warlike people from Central Asia invaded Northwest India. However about 460 AD they were repulsed by Skandagupta (454-467). Nevertheless the Huns returned at the end of the 5th century. This time they conquered most of North-western India.

However their rule lasted no more than about 30 years. About 528 AD the Indians, led by a ruler called Yashodharman defeated them in battle and drove them out.

HARSHAVARDANA

The next great ruler in Indian history was king Harshavardhana (606-647). He created an empire to rival the Guptas. Harsha began as ruler of the kingdom of Thanesar, north of India. He then carved out an empire in Northern India. However in 630, when he attempted to conquer Southern India he was severely defeated by a king called Pulakesin (610-643). (By this time the South of India was definitely equal to the North).

Despite this setback Harsha remained a powerful ruler. During his reign his biography was written. It was called the Harschacharita. Nevertheless Harsha's kingdom really depended on his personality to hold it together. After his death it quickly broke up.

India once again became a land of several kingdoms, which were frequently at war with each other. The three most important dynasties were the Rajputs, the Pallavas and the Chalukyas. However in the 9th century a new empire arose in Southern India - the Cholas.

THE CHOLAS

In the late 10th century the Chola king Rajaraja I began to expand his kingdom. He conquered his neighbours and took Sri Lanka and the Maldives. The next king, Rajenda I took more territory including the Ganges and the Andaman Islands. The Chola was a prosperous empire with many merchants organised into guilds to protect their interests. Trade with Southeast Asia thrived. So did trade with the Arabs.

The empire of the Cholas, although powerful, was less centralised than older empires such as the Gupta. Rulers, once conquered were often reinstated as vassals called samantas and they were allowed a certain amount of autonomy. In some ways this political system resembles European feudalism. Of course there was always a risk that a samanta would rebel!

THE TURKS

In the 10th century Turks from central Asia conquered Afghanistan. Under their ruler Mahmud 971-1030 they conquered Punjab. He led raids deep into India and plundered temples. The Turks returned in 1191, this time as conquerors not raiders. They were led by Sultan Muhammad. He was defeated in 1191 at the battle of Tarain but he returned the following year. This time he prevailed. The Turks were able to conquer large parts of Northern India and they created a powerful state - the Delhi Sultanate

THE DEHLI SULTANATE

Under the Sultans Qutubuddin 1206-1211 and Iltumish 1211-1236 the Sultanate flourished. However Iltumish was succeeded by his daughter Raziyyat. She reigned for only 3 years before she was deposed and later murdered. The Sultanate reached a peak under Alauddin 1296-1316. In 1298 he conquered Gurjarat. In 1309 he invaded Southern India. He looted southern cities and forced rulers there to submit to him and become vassals.

Meanwhile a new threat came from the North - the Mongols. In 1296-97 they raided Northwest India. The Mongols returned in 1299. This time they penetrated as far as Delhi then, like a swarm of locusts they disappeared. The Mongols returned in 1306 but this time they were repulsed.

Muhammad Tughluq 1324-1351 extended the Sultanate still further. He decided he wanted a new, more central capital and he moved it to Daulatabad. However he was later forced to move his capital back to Delhi. The Sultanate of Delhi declined rapidly in the late 14th century.

The final blow came in 1498 when Timurlane, a descendent of Genghis Khan sacked Delhi and massacred many of the inhabitants. In the early 15th century independent Sultanates appeared and the Delhi Sultanate became one of several. Under Sultans Bhalul 1451-1489 and Sikander Lohdi 1489-1517 Delhi revived to a certain extent but it never regained its former importance. Meanwhile another empire arose in the South - the Vijayangar.

THE VIJAYANGAR

The Vijayangar Empire was founded by 2 brothers, Harihara and Bukka. According to legend they were officers of Muhammad Tughluq. They were sent to crush a rebellion in the South. Instead they broke away and founded their own kingdom. Harihara was crowned king in 1346. His brother Bukka I ruled after him, 1357-1377. The Vijayanagar Empire is named after its capital city (Its name means city of victory). The rulers of Vijayanager gradually conquered more and more territory and the empire reached a peak early in the 16th century. However in 1564 Vijayngar was utterly defeated in battle. By then a new empire had arisen - the Mughals.

THE RISE OF THE MUGHAL EMPIRE

This great empire was founded by Babur 1483-1530, a descendant of Genghis Khan. From 1504 he was ruler of part of what is now Afghanistan. From the Turks he had learned to use cannons and muskets. Guns enabled him to win great victories over the Indians who were still using traditional methods of warfare. He had also learned new cavalry tactics from the Turks. Instead of charging straight at the enemy Babur's cavalry rode round their flanks and attacked from the rear.

Babur first raided India in 1517. In 1525 he invaded. In 1526 Babur crushed the army of Ibrahim Lhodi at the battle of Panipat. Babur made a barricade of carts. Behind them he positioned his cannons and musketeers. The enemy attacked but they faced withering cannon and musket fire. Babur's cavalry then rode around the enemy army and attacked from the rear. The Indians were routed.

Other Indian rulers now united against Babur but they were crushed at the battle of Khanau in 1527. Babur placed his cannons and guns behind ramparts. The Indians attacked on horseback again and again but were mowed down. Babur then became ruler of Northern India.

He was succeeded by his son Humayan 1508-1556. However in the 1530s an Afghan ruler named Sher Shah attacked the empire. By 1540 Sher Shah prevailed and made himself ruler of much of Northern India. Humayan went into exile and wandered from place to place. Then in 1542 his son Akbar was born. Humayan then moved to Persia. Sher Shah died in battle in 1545 and his empire split up. Humayan was then able, with Persian help to re-conquer the Mughal empire. He invaded India in 1554 and by 1556 was in control of the North. Unfortunately he died after falling down some stairs.

However his son Akbar 1556-1605 was, perhaps, the greatest Mughal ruler. He took Gujarat in 1574, Bengal in 1576, Kashmir in 1586, Orissa in 1592 and Baluchistan in 1595. Akbar also reorganised the government and he created an efficient civil service. Akbar was a Muslim but he was tolerant in matters of religion. He abolished a tax previous rulers levied on non-Muslims. He also gave Hindus high office.

Akbar admired Persian culture and promoted it in India. Persian language literature flourished in India during his reign (although Hindi literature flowered too). Persian and Hindu styles of painting merged to form a new style of Mughal painting.

Akbar was succeeded by his son Selim, who called himself Jahangir. Under him Mughal influence in the South of India increased and the empire flourished. His wife was named Mehrunissa (later she was called Nur Jahan or light of the world). She was Persian and because of her Persian culture became even more influential in the Mughal realms. During the reign of Jahangir the arts continued to flourish. An elaborate and intricate school of painting existed. It was also a great age for architecture. When Jahangir died in 1627 his wife was forced into retirement but she occupied herself by building a magnificent mausoleum for her father in Agra.

THE MUGHAL EMPIRE AT ITS PEAK

The Mughal Empire reached its zenith in the 17th century its only weakness being powers struggles among the ruling family and occasional rebellions. Shah Jahan became ruler in 1627. Under him the empire prospered. He is famous for building the Taj Mahal, one of the most beautiful buildings in the world. It was erected as a memorial to his queen Mumatz Mahal 1594-1630. Shah Jehan was devastated when she died. After her death he began building the Taj Mahal. It took an 'army' of 20, craftsmen and labourers 22 years to build. It was begun in 1631 and completed in 1653.

Aurngzeb (1658-1707) greatly expanded the empire. He conquered almost all of southern India by 1687. Under him the empire became so vast it was difficult for one man to rule. However he undid the religious toleration of his predecessors. In 1664 he banned the repair of Hindu temples and in 1669 he banned his subjects from building new ones. Also, in 1679 he reintroduced a poll tax on Hindus called the jizira. Aurangzeb also taxed his subjects heavily. The result was a series of rebellions.

Aurangzeb's greatest enemy was Shivaji, leader of the Marathas in southern India. Shivaji led a form of guerrilla warfare. His bases were in mountains but mounted on horses his men could raid caravans then fell back to the mountains.

In 664 his men raided the port of Surat. Aurangzeb sent an army to intimidate Shivaji then invited him to the capital, Delhi and tried to come to terms with him by offering him a post in the empire. However the two men fell out and Shivaji escaped from Delhi by hiding in a basket. He then returned to raiding. Shivaji was succeeded by his son Sambhaji. He was captured by the Mughals and executed in 1689 but the guerrilla war went on.

THE DECLINE OF THE MUGHAL EMPIRE

Aurangzeb was succeeded by his son Bahadur Shah 1707-1712. By his time cracks were appearing in the empire. Oppressive taxation caused more and more rebellions. After 1712 powerful nobles in the empire began to break away and form virtually independent states.

Meanwhile the old enemy, the Marathas attacked the Mughal Empire led by a man named Baji Rao. The Mughals were forced to cede territory to them. Then in 1739 disaster struck when the Persians launched an attack on the Mughal Empire. They sacked Delhi. The empire continued but its power was rapidly fading. Delhi was sacked again in 1761, this time by an Afghan kingdom.

EUROPEAN IMPERIALISM IN INDIA

The decline of the Mughal Empire caused a vacuum into which the Europeans moved. The first Europeans to reach India by sea were the Portuguese who arrived in 1498 and began importing spices from India. They formed a base at Goa in 1510. However in the 17th century the Portuguese declined and the English and Dutch took their place.

The English East India Company was formed in 1600 to trade with India. In 1639 the English established a trading base in India. Itgrew into Madras. In 1662 the English king married a Portuguese princess and he was given Bombay. In 1668 it was sold to the East India Company. In 1690 the English established a base in Bengal, which grew into Calcutta. In the late 17th century the Dutch also declined and the French replaced them. In 1673 the French established a base at Pondicherry.

In the 18th century French and English became bitter rivals and they both began to interfere in Indian politics.

The Seven Years war between Britain and France began in 1756. With the outbreak of war the Nawab (ruler) of Bengal, Siraj-ud-Daula captured the British base at Calcutta. Notoriously he forced captives into a small cell and most of them suffocated overnight. This became known as the Black Hole of Calcutta. The East India Company sent a force led by Robert Clive (1725-1774) to recapture Calcutta. They soon did so.

However Clive was not satisfied and he decided to take the whole of Bengal. Clive won a great victory at Plassey in June 1757. (The battle was won largely because one of the commanders of the Bengali army, Mir Jafar, changed sides and refused to join the battle). Clive then overthrew the ruler of Bengal, Siraj-ud-Daula and replaced him with Mir Jafar. However Mir Jafar was only a puppet.

In 1765 the company began to rule Bengal directly. Clive's victory at Plassey ensured that India would eventually become a British colony not a French one. However the Company did not take over India straight away. It was a gradual process, which took several decades. The East India Company eliminated French influence in India and began to subdue other Indian states.

British imperialism was bitterly resisted by the state of Mysore under the two rulers Haidar Ali 1761-1782 and Tipu Sultan 1782-1799. The army of Mysore was formidable fighting force. A series of wars were fought in the years 1767-1769, 1780-1784, 1790-1792 and 1799. The resistance of Mysore finally ended in 1799 and Mysore was forced to hand over half its territory.

The British then took over more territory in India. Indian states were forced to accept British 'protection'. One state, Hyderabad made a treaty with the British in 1798 and retained some independence but other states were forced to accept British rule.

In 1803 war broke out between the British and the Marathas. The British were led by Arthur Wellesley (later the Duke of Wellington). Wellesley was Governor General 1798-1805 and he was an unashamed imperialist. In 1803 the chiefs of the Marathas were disunited and the British were able to make some gains. They took Agra and Delhi. (At that time Delhi was still ruled by the last Mughal. When the British took the city the Mughal Empire was finally extinguished).

However in 1804 the British suffered some defeats and they made peace. Another war broke out in 1817. This time the Maratha chiefs were all defeated and they were forced to accept British rule. By 1819 the East India Company was in control of most of India except the North West.

Assam was annexed in stages between 1826 and 1838. There were revolts in parts of India between 1819 and 1839 but most of it was at peace. The British now began to impose their culture on India. In 1829 the custom of suttee or sati, which involved a widow throwing herself onto her husbands funeral pyre was abolished. In 1835 English was made the official language of Government and education.

Outside British control was a powerful Sikh kingdom. However the leader of the Sikhs, Ranjit Singh, died in 1839 and fighting began over the succession. In 1845-46 the British fought a war against the Sikhs. After bitter fighting they captures Lahore. The Sikhs were forced to surrender Kashmir and parts of the Punjab. However a second war was fought in 1848-49. The fighting was bitter but in March 1849 the East India Company took control of all of Punjab.

THE INDIAN MUTINY

The East India Company had long employed Indians as soldiers. There were supposed to be not more than 4 Indian soldiers to every British one. However the British had withdrawn troops to serve in conflicts elsewhere. By 1857 there were only 40,000 British troops in India and 311,000 Indians. The mutiny began on 10 May 1857. The spark that lit the fire was the fact that soldiers were issued with a new rifle - the Enfield. It was said that the cartridge was greased with fat from a cow (sacred to Hindus) or pigs (unclean to Muslims).

The mutiny began at Meerut or Mirat 60 miles from Delhi.The soldiers massacred the British and the uprising spread rapidly. The rebels took Delhi and proclaimed the restoration of the old Mughal Empire. The rebellion spread across Central and Northern India but the south did not rise. Soldiers in Madras and Bombay stayed loyal to the British. Eventually the British were able to re-establish control.

Rebels besieged the British in Cawnpore and Lucknow. The British in Cawnpore surrendered on 27 June 1857. They were then massacred. However the British quickly sent reinforcements to India. Sir Henry Havelock led a force to relieve Lucknow. He defeated the rebel leader Hana Sahib at Cawnpore on 16 July 1857. Havelock reached Lucknow on 25 September 1857. However he then found himself besieged by the rebels. A relief force was sent under Sir Colin Campbell (1792-1863). He reached Lucknow on 16 November and the garrison escaped. Campbell decisively defeated a rebel force outside Cawnpore on 6 December.

Meanwhile the British recaptured Delhi in September. The British recaptured Lucknow in March 1858. Sir Hugh Rose took the rebel stronghold of Jahnsi on 3 April. He decisively defeated a rebel leader, Tantia Topi, on 19 June 1858 at the battle of Gwalior. This blow broke the back of the rebellion. The British then 'mopped up' the remaining rebels. By the end of 1858 the rebellion was over. However the East India Company lost control of India. On 1 September 1858 control was transferred to the British government.

INDIA IN THE LATE 19th AND EARLY 20th CENTURIES

After the lesson of the Indian Mutiny the British became a little more respectful of Indian culture. However the desire for independence did not die. On the contrary it slowly grew. The Indian National Congress was founded in 1885. The Muslim League was founded in 1906.

In 1861 legislative bodies was formed for India. However the members were not elected. They were appointed by the governor-general or by provincial governors. Most of their members were British. Furthermore after the mutiny the ratio of British soldiers to Indians was increased. In 1877 Queen Victoria was made Empress of India.

In the late 19th century the British created a network of railways in India. By 1900 there were 25,000 miles of railway in India. The first train made in India was built in Bombay in 1865. The British also built new roads across India. Improved communications meant the different parts of India were bought closer together and Indians began to feel a greater sense of national identity. In the late 19th century many newspapers were founded and they helped to mobilise public opinion.

In 1905 the British divided Bengal. They did this to make it easier to rule. This move provoked unrest in Bengal. People demonstrated and boycotted British goods.

In the late 19th century India was an agricultural society. Jute, raw cotton and tea and coffee were exported to Britain. In return textiles and other manufactured goods were imported from there. The Indian textile industry could not compete with cheap, mass produced British goods. However in the early 20th century Indian industries began to develop. It was still an overwhelmingly agricultural country but it was just beginning to change.

At the same time Britain was in decline. In the mid-19th century Britain was the most powerful country in the world but by the end of the century other powers such as Germany and the USA had caught up. Britain was weakened by the first world and continued to decline in the 1920's and 1930's. As Britain declined Indian nationalist feeling grew stronger.

Indian public opinion was embittered by the Amristar massacre, which took place on 13 April 1919. A crowd of thousands gathered in a square named Jallianwalla Bagh to protest against recent legislation. General Reginald Dyer decided on a show of force. Dyer told his men to open fire. They did so, killing 379 people and wounding about 1200 more.

At this point a remarkable individual rose to be the leader of the struggle for independence. This was Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948). Gandhi was a lawyer. For a time he lived in South Africa and became the leader of the Indians in that country. In 1915 he returned to India and soon emerged as the leader of the nationalists. In 1920 he launched a campaign of non-co-operation with the British. This included boycotting British textiles and their schools. Against Gandhi's wishes some people turned to violence. Gandhi was arrested in 1922 and remained in prison for 2 years.

Not everyone agreed with Gandhi's desire for peaceful campaigning. Nevertheless his skill as a politician and his personal charisma ensured that he became the leader of the independence movement. In 1930 he began a campaign to end the governments monopoly of salt production. He led a march to the sea to collect salt. The British arrested Gandhi and tens of thousands of others. However in 1931 they were forced to back down. They released Gandhi and most (not all) of the other prisoners. They also allowed people to make salt for their own personal use. In 1932 the army began to recruit Indian officers.

In 1931 the capital of India was moved from Calcutta to New Delhi.

Gandhi continued campaigning. He was arrested again in 1932 and in 1933 but both times was soon released. By 1935 the British realised that Indian independence was inevitable, sooner or later. In that year they granted a new constitution. When it came in effect, in 1937, Indians were allowed to elect provincial assemblies. (Although the British retained control of central government).

In 1939 the Viceroy of India declared war on Germany, without consulting the Indians, much to their chagrin.

INDIAN INDEPENDENCE

By 1940 the Muslims demanded their own separate state made up of those provinces where Muslims were the majority.

In 1942 the National Congress demanded that the British quit India. The British responded by imprisoning their leaders, including Gandhi, who was released in 1944.

In 1946 the Viceroy appointed an interim cabinet with Jawaharlal Nehru as prime minister. However the divide between Muslims and Hindus had become unbridgeable. The leader of the Muslims, M A Jinnah declared a 'day of action' on 16 August 1946. In Calcutta the 'day of action' led to violence between Muslims and Hindus. About 5,000 people were killed in what became known as 'The Great Killing'.

Mountbatten was then made viceroy. He quickly realised the Muslims must be granted their own state (modern Pakistan and Bangladesh). India became independent on 15 August 1947. Mountbatten agreed to stay in India as Governor-general for an interim period.

Unfortunately some provinces had mixed populations of Muslims and Hindus and violence broke out between them. Many Hindus fled to India and Muslims fled to Pakistan but about half a million people died in the violence.

The violence threatened to overwhelm New Delhi but Gandhi managed to prevent it by fasting and threatening to fast to death unless the violence stopped. It did but some extreme Hindus became angry with Gandhi. One of them murdered Gandhi on 30 January 1948.

In December 1946 a Constituent Assembly met to draw up a constitution for India. The new constitution came into force in January 1950. India became a secular state. Prime minister Nehru made the economy a 'mixed economy' of some state owned industry and some private enterprise. Industry was strictly regulated. Unfortunately this restricted free enterprise.

Nevertheless in the 1950s a series of 5 year plans were devised. The first increase irrigation and boosted agriculture. The second and third plans boosted industry. On the other hand India's population grew rapidly. Poverty and illiteracy remained common.

INDIA IN THE LATE 20th CENTURY

In the 1960s India fought two wars. In 1962 there was a conflict with China. There were clashes along the border between India and Tibet in the late 1950s. Then on 20 October 1962 Chinese troops attacked along the North-eastern border of India. They quickly captured key mountain passes and redrew the border. On 21 November the Chinese declared a ceasefire.

India also fought a war with Pakistan in 1965. The two countries always disagreed over the border. On 1 September 1965 Pakistani troops attempted to capture Kashmir. However the Indians won a tank battle and drove them back. On 27 September both sides agreed to a ceasefire.

Nehru died in 1964 and Indira Gandhi became prime minister in 1966. At first she proved to be a popular politician.

In 1971 India fought another war with Pakistan. At that time Pakistan was divided into two parts, West and East Pakistan (modern Bangladesh). Then in March 1971 East Pakistan broke away and declared its independence. West Pakistan refused to accept the move and sent troops to force the East to submit. Refugees flooded into India.

Then on 3 December 1971 the Pakistani air force attacked air bases in North West India. Pakistani ground forces attacked but were unable to make much headway. Meanwhile on 4 December Indian troops entered East Pakistan. The Pakistani forces in the East, under General Niazi surrendered on 16 December. Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire on 17 December 1971. Bangladesh then became independent.

In 1974 India exploded an atomic bomb.

However in 1973 oil prices rose sharply triggering rapid inflation in India. That harmed agriculture by making fertiliser much more expensive. Indian industry also entered a recession. Growing discontent in India led to strikes such as a railway strike in 1974.

Then a High Court declared that Mrs Gandhi's election in 1971 was invalid because of election malpractice. However Mrs Gandhi persuaded the president to declare a state of emergency on 17 June 1975. Civil liberties were suspended and Mrs Gandhi's opponents were arrested. Her son Sanjay led a mass sterilisation campaign in Northern India to combat the population explosion. The emergency was lifted in January 1977. During it inflation was curbed and industry revived.

Elections were due to be held in 1976 but they were delayed until March 1977. However Mrs Gandhi lost anyway. The Janata party held power from 1977 to 1980 when Mrs Gandhi returned.

In the early 1980s India, like the rest of the world, entered a recession. Worse was to come. Sikhs in Punjab were demanding independence. A man named Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale (1947-1984) and his supporters took over the Golden Temple in Amristar. Then in May 1984 the Indian army surrounded the temple. They attacked the fundamentalists in the temple but in the process they destroyed the holiest place in the Sikh religion. Two of Mrs Gandhi's Sikh bodyguards killed her in revenge.

She was succeeded by her son Rajiv. He started to deregulate industry and the Indian economy began to grow rapidly. However Rajiv was assassinated in 1991.

In the 1990s the Indian economy was deregulated further and today it is booming. There is still considerable poverty in India but there is every reason to be optimistic and to believe that India is becoming another 'tiger economy'. Between 1997 and 2007 the Indian economy grew at a rate of over 7% a year

Today the population of India is 1.1 billion.


k.p

A BRIEF HISTORY OF ENGLAND

A BRIEF HISTORY OF ENGLAND

By kashyap pathak

Stone Age Hunters

The first people lived in England about 450,000 BC. At that time England was much warmer than it is today. Animals like elephants, lions and rhinoceros lived in England alongside deer, horses, bear and wolves. The humans made simple stone tools and lived in caves.

In 15,000 BC people were still living in caves but they made much more sophisticated tools of bone and stone. They also made clothes from animal skins and they made 'jewellery' of animal teeth and shells. These early people hunted animals like horse, deer and wild cattle.

In those days England was covered in tundra but about 8,500 BC the climate grew much warmer. Forests spread across England. At the same time England was cut off from Europe.

About 7,500 BC a group of humans lived at Star Carr in Yorkshire. They were hunter-gatherers. They hunted deer, wild cattle, pigs and elk. They also ate birds, fish and shellfish. By this time humans had also domesticated dogs. They may also have made boats.

Stone Age Farmers

Then about 4,500 BC farming was introduced into England. Using stone axes the farmers began clearing the forests that covered England. They grew crops of wheat and barley and they raised herds of cattle, pigs and sheep. However as well as farming they also hunted animals such as deer, horse, and wild boar and smaller animals such as beavers, badgers and hares. They also gathered fruit and nuts.

At the same time the early farmers mined flint for making tools. They dug shafts, some of them 15 metres (50 feet) deep. They used deer antlers as picks and oxen shoulder blades as shovels. They also made pottery vessels but they still wore clothes made from skins. They erected simple wooden huts to live in.

Moreover the early farmers made elaborate tombs for their dead. They dug burial chambers then lined them with wood or stone. Over them they created mounds of earth called barrows. Although were stone was easily available they made mounds of stones called cairns. Some of these barrows still survive.

From about 2,500 BC England the Neolithic (new stone age) farmers made circular monuments called henges. At first they were simple ditches with stones or wooden poles erected in them. The most famous henge is, of course, Stonehenge. It began as a simple ditch with an internal bank of earth. Outside the entrance stood the Heel Stone. The famous circles of stones were erected hundreds of years later. Stonehenge was altered and added to over a thousand year period from 2250 BC to 1250 BC before it was finished.

After 2,500 BC a new culture had spread across England. The inhabitants are known as the Beaker People because of the pottery beakers they made. They were bell shaped and were often decorated with bone or cords. However it is not known if the Beaker People were a new race who migrated to England from Europe or if the people of England simply adopted a new culture.

Bronze Age England

At any rate by 2,000 BC English society was changed by the invention of Bronze. Metal artefacts appeared in England as early as 2,700 BC although it is believed they were imported. By about 2,000 BC bronze was being made in England.

Bronze is made of 9 parts copper and one part tin. It is, of course, harder than stone and provided more efficient tools and weapons. The Bronze Age people also rode horses and they were the first people in England to weave cloth. Bronze age women held their hair with bone pins and they wore crescent shaped necklaces.

In the late Bronze Age (1,000 BC-650 BC) forts were built on hills so warfare was, it seems, becoming common. This may have been because the population was rising and fertile land was becoming harder to obtain.

Meanwhile the Bronze Age people continued to build barrows, although cremation was practised. The dead were buried with useful artefacts. Presumably the living believed the dead would need these in the afterlife. Unfortunately since they had no written records nothing is known about the Bronze Age religion.

We know that Bronze Age people lived in round wooden huts with thatched roofs but nothing is known about their society or how it was organised. However there were almost certainly different classes by that time. Tin and copper were exported from Britain along with animal hides. Jet and amber were imported for the rich.

Celtic England

Then about 650 BC iron was introduced into England by a people called the Celts and the first swords were made.

Warfare was common during the iron age and many hill forts (fortified settlements) were built at that time. (Although there were also many open villages and farms). The Celts fought from horses or light wooden chariots. They threw spears and fought with swords. The Celts had wooden shields and some wore chain mail.

Most of the Celts were farmers although were also many skilled craftsmen. Some Celts were blacksmiths (working with iron), bronze smiths, carpenters, leather workers and potters. (The potters wheel was introduced into Britain c.150 BC). Celtic craftsmen also made elaborate jewellery of gold and precious stones. Furthermore objects like swords and shields were often finely decorated. The Celts decorated metal goods with enamel. The Celts also knew how to make glass and they made glass beads.

Celtic society was hierarchical. At the top was a class of nobles headed by a king or chieftain. Below them were the craftsmen (of whom metalworkers were the most important). Then came the farmers who provided the food supply and also fought for the chief. There was also a class of slaves in Celtic England. However the Celts were divided into tribes. There was no political unity among them and a great deal of fighting.

Trade with Europe was common. Metals like copper, tin, iron and lead were exported from England. Wool, cloth, skins and grain were also exported. Luxury goods like fine pottery and expensive metal goods were imported from Europe. At first the Celts used iron bars as a form of currency but by about 50 BC they were using gold coins.

The Celts lived in round houses. They were built around a central pole with horizontal poles radiating outwards from it. They rested on vertical poles. Walls were of wattle and daub and roofs were thatched. Around the walls inside the huts were benches, which also doubled up as beds. The Celts also used low tables.

Celtic men wore tunics and trousers and women wore long dresses and mantles. They used bronze mirrors. Women wore belts around their dresses made of cloth, leather or bronze rings. Celtic men soaked their hair in limewater to make it stand up straight. They wore moustaches but not beards. Wealthy Celts wore gold ornaments around their necks called torcs or torques.

The Celts made dyes from plants, woad, for blue, madder, for red and weld for yellow.

For amusement Celts played board games. They were also very fond of music and played flutes and lyres. In good weather they held horse or chariot races. The Celts also enjoyed hunting wild boar on horseback.

The Celts had priests called Druids. The Druids were very important in Celtic society. As well as being priests they were scholars, judges and advisors to the kings. The Celts were polytheists (they worshipped many gods and goddesses). They did not build temples but instead worshipped at natural sites such as groves of trees, springs, rivers and lakes. Sometimes the Celts sacrificed valuable goods by throwing them into lakes and rivers.

In Celtic times the practice of building barrows died out. Instead people were interned in individual graves. They were still buried with grave goods showing the Celts had a strong belief in an afterlife.

They believed that when you died your spirit went to a place called the Otherworld.

The Romans claimed the Druids practiced human sacrifice but this claim is doubtful. The main Celtic festivals were Imbolc at the beginning of February at the start of the lambing season, Beltane at the beginning of May, when cattle were sent out to graze in the fields after being kept indoors and fed on hay during the Winter, Lughasad in August when the crops were growing ripe and Samhain at the beginning of November. That was the time when animals were brought in from the fields for the Winter. The Celts could not grow enough hay to feed them all so those not needed for breeding were slaughtered.

The Celts grew crops in rectangular fields. They raised pigs, sheep and cattle. They stored grain in pits lined with stone or wicker and sealed with clay.

The Celts also brewed beer from barley.

Although the Romans despised the Celts as barbarians they created a sophisticated and advanced society. Women certainly had more rights than in Roman society and Celtic craftsmen were superb.

The Roman Conquest of England

The written history of England really began in 55 BC when Julius Caesar led an expedition there. Caesar returned in 54 BC. Both times he defeated the Celts but he did not stay. Both times the Romans withdrew after the Celts agreed to pay annual tribute.

The Romans invaded England again in 43 AD under Emperor Claudius. The Roman invasion force consisted of about 20,000 legionaries and about 20,000 auxiliary soldiers from the provinces of the Roman Empire. Aulus Plautius led them. The Romans landed somewhere in Southeast England (the exact location is unknown) and quickly prevailed against the Celtic army. The Celts could not match the discipline and training of the Roman army. A battle was fought on the River Medway, ending in Celtic defeat and withdrawal. The Romans chased them over the River Thames into Essex and within months of landing in England the Romans had captured the Celtic hill fort on the site of Colchester.

Meanwhile other Roman forces marched into Sussex, where the local tribe, the Atrebates were friendly and offered no resistance. The Roman army then marched into the territory of another tribe, the Durotriges, in Dorchester and southern Somerset. Everywhere the Romans prevailed and that year 11 Celtic kings surrendered to Claudius.

Normally if a Celtic king surrendered the Romans allowed him to remain as a puppet ruler.

Aulus Plautius was made the first governor of Roman Britain.

By 47 AD the Romans were in control of England from the River Humber to the Estuary of the River Severn.

However the war was not over. The Silures in South Wales and the Ordovices of North Wales continued to harass the Romans. Fighting between the Welsh tribes and the Romans continued for years.

Meanwhile the Iceni tribe of East Anglia rebelled. At first the Romans allowed them to keep their kings and have some autonomy. However in c. 50 AD the Romans were fighting in Wales and they were afraid the Iceni might stab them in the back. They ordered the Iceni to disarm, which provoked a rebellion. However the Romans easily crushed it. In the ensuing years the Romans alienated the Iceni by imposing heavy taxes. Then, when the king of the Iceni died he left his kingdom partly to his wife, Boudicca and partly to Emperor Nero Soon, however Nero wanted the kingdom all for himself. His men treated the Iceni very high-handedly and they provoked rebellion. This time a large part of the Roman army was fighting in Wales and the rebellion was, at first, successful. Led by Boudicca the Celts burned Colchester, St Albans and London. However the Romans rushed forces to deal with the rebellion. Although the Romans were outnumbered their superior discipline and tactics secured total victory.

After the rebellion was crushed the Celts of southern and eastern England settled down and gradually accepted Roman rule.

Then in 71-74 AD the Romans conquered the north of England. In the years 74-77 they conquered South Wales. Then in 77 AD Agricola was made governor of Britain. First he conquered North Wales. Then he turned his attention to what is now Scotland. By 81 AD the Romans had captured the area from the Clyde to the Forth. In 82 they advanced further north. In 83 the Romans won a great victory at Mons Graupius (it is not known exactly where that was). However in 86 the Romans withdrew from Scotland.

In 122-126 the Emperor Hadrian built a great wall across the northern frontier of Roman Britain to keep out the people the Romans called the Picts. However under the Emperor Antonius Pius the Romans again invaded Scotland. In 42-43 they defeated the Picts. The Romans then built a wall of turf with a stone base to protect their conquests. However the Antonine Wall, as it was called, was abandoned about 163. The Roman army withdrew to Hadrian's Wall.

The End of Roman Britain

By the middle of the 3rd century the Roman Empire was in decline. In the latter half of the 3rd century Saxons from Germany began raiding the east coast of Roman Britain. The Romans built a chain of forts along the coast, which they called the Saxon shore. The forts were commanded by an official called the Count of the Saxon shore and they contained both infantry and cavalry.

However the Saxon raids were, at first, no more than pin pricks and most of Roman Britain remained reasonably peaceful and prosperous.

Then in 286 an admiral named Carauius seized power in Britain. For 7 years he ruled Britain as an emperor until Allectus, his finance minister, assassinated him. Allectus then ruled Britain until 296 when Constantius, Emperor of the Western Roman Empire invaded. Britain was then taken back into the Roman fold.

In the 4th century the Roman Empire in the west went into serious economic and political decline. The populations of towns fell. Public baths and amphitheatres went out of use.

In 367 Scots from Northern Ireland, Picts from Scotland and Saxons joined to raid Roman Britain and loot it. They overran Hadrian's Wall and killed the Count of the Saxon shore. However the Romans sent a man named Theodosius with reinforcements to restore order.

In 383 some Roman soldiers were withdrawn from Britain and the raiding grew worse.

The last Roman troops left Britain in 407. In 410 the leaders of the Romano-Celts sent a letter to the Roman Emperor Honorius, appealing for help. However he had no troops to spare and he told the Britons they must defend themselves.

Roman Britain split into separate kingdoms but the Romano-Celts continued to fight the Saxon raiders.

Roman civilisation slowly broke down. In the towns people stopped using coins and returned to barter. The populations of towns were already falling and this continued. Rich people left to be self-sufficient on their estates. Craftsmen went to live in the countryside. More and more space within the walls of towns was giving over to growing crops. Roman towns continued to be inhabited until the mid-5th century. Then most were abandoned. Some may not have been deserted completely. A small number may have still had a very small population who lived by farming land inside and outside the walls. However town life as such came to an end.

In the 5th century Roman civilisation in the countryside faded away.

The Saxon Conquest of England

The Saxon conquest of England began in the middle of the 5th century. At that time England was inhabited by the Celts. For more than 360 years the Romans had ruled them. However Roman rule in England was really only superficial. After the Roman army left in 407 Roman civilisation faded away. Towns were abandoned. Villas in the countryside were also abandoned. The Celts returned to living in hill forts, protected by ditches, earth ramparts and wooden stockades.

Meanwhile the Saxons began raiding England in the 3rd century. However as the Roman Empire collapsed they turned to conquest.

We have three main sources of information about the Saxon conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is not always accurate and it should be taken with a pinch of salt. Other sources are Gildas, a 6th century Welsh monk and Bede an early 8th century Saxon monk.

By the 5th century the Romano-Celts had broke up into separate kingdoms but a single leader called the Superbus tyrannus had emerged. At that time and possibly earlier they were hiring Germanic peoples as mercenaries. According to tradition the Superbus tyrannus brought Jutes to protect his realm from Scots (from Northern Ireland) and Picts (from Scotland). According to Gildas he was also afraid the Romans might invade Britain and make it part of the Empire again. The Superbus tyrannus may have been called Vortigern. At any rate he wanted Britain to remain independent. He installed the Jutish leader, Hengist, as king of Kent. In return the Jutes were supposed to protect Britain.

However after about 7 years the Jutes and the Romano-Celts fell out. They fought a battle at Crayford and the Jutes won a decisive victory. The war went on for several more years but the Celts were unable to dislodge the Jutes.

According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle Saxons led by their ruler Aelle landed in Sussex in 477. (Some historians think this date is wrong and it was actually 457). At any rate the Celts resisted them bitterly but after about 15 years the Saxons had conquered all of Sussex. They gave the county its name. It was the kingdom of the south Saxons.

Meanwhile at the end of the 5th century or the very beginning of the 6th century more Jutes landed in eastern Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. At the same time Saxons landed in western Hampshire. They founded the kingdom of Wessex (the West Saxons).

Then in the late 5th century a great leader and general arose among the Celts. We know him as Arthur. Very little is known about him but he defeated the Saxons in several battles. His victories culminated in the battle of Mount Badon, about 500 AD. (We do not know exactly where the battle took place). The Saxons were crushed and their advance was halted for decades.

Meanwhile in the early 6th century the West Saxons, of western Hampshire, annexed the Jutes of eastern Hampshire. About 530 they also took over the Isle of Wight.

Then in 552 the West Saxons won a great victory somewhere near modern Salisbury and they captured what is now Wiltshire. In 577 they won another great victory. This time they captured Bath, Cirencester and Gloucester. They also cut off the Celts of southwest England from the Celts of Wales.

Meanwhile in the mid-6th century other Saxons invaded Essex. (The kingdom of the East Saxons). A people called the Angles landed in East Anglia. Obviously they gave East Anglia its name. They also gave England its name (Angle land).

Other Angles landed in northeast England and founded kingdoms there. Also in the later 6th century Saxons sailed up the Thames and landed in what is now Berkshire. They gave Middlesex its name. (The land of the middle Saxons). They also landed on the south bank of the River Thames. They called the area suth ridge, which means south bank. In time the name changed to Surrey.

The Conquest of Western England

So by the late 6th century all of eastern England was in the hands of Angles and Saxons. In the 7th century they continued their relentless advance. In 656 the Saxons of the east Midlands won a battle on the River Wye and captured the west Midlands.

Further South in 658 the West Saxons won a great battle and drove the Celts back to the River Parret in Somerset. In 664 they won yet another battle. This time they captured Dorset.

By about 670 AD the West Saxons had captured Exeter.

Then in 710 Saxons from eastern Somerset invaded western Somerset. At the same time Saxons from southeast Devon marched north and west. The two groups advanced in a pincer movement and soon occupied Devon and western Somerset.

However the Saxons never gained effective control of Cornwall. Because Cornwall was the last part of Celtic England to be conquered by the Saxons it retained far more of its Celtic culture and also kept its own Cornish language.

The Saxon Kingdoms

By the 7th century there were 9 kingdoms. In the south there were Kent, Sussex and Wessex (Hampshire and Wiltshire). In the early 9th century Wessex gained control of Sussex and Kent.

Eastern England was divided into Essex, East Anglia and a kingdom called Lindsey roughly modern Lincolnshire.

The Midlands was ruled by a kingdom called Mercia. In the late 8th century a great king called Offa ruled Mercia. He built a famous dyke (ditch) to keep out the Welsh. He also absorbed the kingdom of Lindsey (roughly Lincolnshire).

In 600 the north was divided into two kingdoms. Deira (roughly modern Yorkshire) and Bernicia further north. However in 605 the two were united to form one powerful kingdom called Northumbria.

So by the mid-9th century England was divided into just four kingdoms, Northumbria in the north, Mercia and east Anglia in the centre and Wessex in the south.

The Conversion of the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity

When the Angles, Saxons and Jutes conquered England Christianity vanished. However it continued to flourish in Wales. In time Ireland and Scotland were converted. Cut off from Rome a separate Celtic church continued to exist in those countries. The work of converting the Anglo-Saxons was shared by the Celtic and Roman churches.

The Anglo-Saxons were polytheists (they worshipped a number of gods). Some of our weekdays are named after Saxon gods, Tiw, Woden, Thunor and Frigg. Easter takes its named from the Saxon goddess of Spring, Eostre.

According to tradition Pope Gregory the Great saw boys on sale in the slave market in Rome. He is supposed to have asked about them and when told that they were Angles he replied not Angles but angels When he became Pope he was keen to convert the Anglo-Saxons. In 596 he sent a party of about 40 men led by Augustine to Kent. They arrived in 597.

At the end of the 6th century the king of Kent, Aethelberht, married a Christian princess named Berta or Bertha. It was partly due to her influence that Kent was converted to Christianity.

Aethelberht permitted the monks to preach and in time he was converted. Furthermore his nephew, Saeberht, the king of Essex was also converted.

In 627 King Edwin of Northumbria and all his nobles were baptised. (He may have been influenced by his wife, Ethelburgh, who was a Christian). Many of his subjects followed. A preacher named Paulinus became the first bishop of York. (There was no Archbishop of York till 735). Paulinus also began converting the kingdom of Lindsey (Lincolnshire).

However things did not go smoothly in Northumbria. King Edwin was killed at the battle of Hatfield in 632. Most of Northumbria reverted to paganism. They had to be converted all over again. This time it was the work of Celtic monks from Scotland. In 634 monks led by a man called Aidan went to Northumbria to preach.

However there was disagreement among the Christians in Northumbria. The Celtic church differed with Rome over the date of Easter. Celtic monks also had a different tonsure (hairstyle) from Roman monks. After Northumbria was converted for the second time there was disagreement over whether to follow the Celtic custom or the Roman. A synod or church meeting was held at Whitby in 664. The Northumbrian king decided his people should follow the Roman way rather than the Celtic.

Further south in 630 a Christian called Sigeberht became king of East Anglia. He asked the Archbishop of Canterbury to send men to help convert his people.

Meanwhile Pope Honorious sent a man named Birinus to convert the West Saxons of Hampshire.

Then in 653 Paeda, son of Penda king of Mercia was baptised. His father allowed Christian missionaries to preach in Mercia and gradually the realm was converted.

The last part of England to be converted to Christianity was Sussex. It was converted after 680 by St. Wilfrid.

Finally by the end of the 7th century all of England was at least nominally Christian. However some people continued to secretly worship the old pagan gods as late as the 8th century.

The Vikings In England

In 787 three Danish ships landed at Dorset. A royal official called a reeve went to meet them. He assumed the strangers had come to trade. Instead they killed him and sailed away.

Then in 793 when Norsemen (possibly Norwegians) raided a monastery at Lindisfarne. There followed a respite until 835 when the Danes descended on the Isle of Sheppey.

However although the Viking raiders were fearsome they were not invincible. In 836 the Danes joined forces with the Celts of Cornwall. However they were defeated by Egbert, king of Wessex, at Hingston Down.

Nevertheless the Danes continued raiding England. In 840 a force of Saxons from Hampshire crushed a Danish force at Southampton. However the same year Saxons from Dorset were defeated by the Danes at Portland.

In 841 the Danes ravaged Kent, East Anglia and what is now Lincolnshire. In 842 they sacked Southampton. Further Viking raids occurred in 843 and 845. In the latter year the Saxons defeated the Danes in a battle at the mouth of the River Parret in Somerset.

Then in 850-51 the Vikings spent the winter of the Isle of Thanet. In the spring they attacked the Mercians and defeated them in battle. However they were later defeated by an army from Wessex.

In 854 another Danish force wintered on the Isle of Sheppey before raiding England.

There then followed a relatively peaceful period in which the Vikings raided England only once.

However the Danes eventually stopped raiding and turned to conquest. In the autumn of 865 an army of Danes landed in East Anglia. In the following year, 866, they captured York. The Northumbrians attacked the Vikings occupying York in 867 but they were defeated. The Danes then installed a man named Egbert as puppet ruler of Northumbria.

The Danes then marched south and they spent the winter of 867 in Nottingham. In 869 they marched to Thetford in East Anglia. In the spring of 870 they crushed an army of East Anglians.

The Danes were now in control of Northumbria, part of Mercia and East Anglia. They then turned their attention of Wessex. At the end of 870 they captured Reading. The men of Wessex won a victory at Ashdown. However the Danes then won two battles, at Basing and at an unidentified location.

Then in the spring of 871 Alfred became king of Wessex. He became known as Alfred the Great. The Saxons and the Danes fought several battles during 871 but the Danes were unable to break Saxon resistance so they made a peace treaty and the Danes turned their attention to the other parts of England.

In 873 they attacked the unoccupied part of Mercia. The Mercian king fled and was replaced by a puppet ruler. Afterwards Wessex remained the only independent Saxon kingdom.

In 875 a Danish army invaded Wessex again. However they were unable to conquer Wessex so in 877 they withdrew to Gloucester. In 878 they launched a surprise attack on Chippenham. King Alfred was forced to flee and hide in the marshes of Atheleney. Alfred fought a guerrilla war for some months then took on the Danes in battle. The Danes were routed at the battle of Edington. Afterwards Guthrum, the Danish leader, and his men were baptised and made a treaty with Alfred. They split southern and central England between them. Guthrum took London, East Anglia and all the territory east of the old Roman road, Watling Street. Later this Danish kingdom became known as the Danelaw. Alfred took the land west of Watling street and southern England. However in 886 Alfreds men captured London.

Moreover the wars with the Danes were not over. In 892 some Danes who had been attacking France turned their attention to Kent. In 893 the Saxons defeated them and they withdrew into Essex (part of the Danelaw). Meanwhile in 893 another group of Danes sailed to Devon and laid siege to Exeter. They withdrew in 894. They sailed to Sussex and landed near Chichester. This time the local Saxons marched out and utterly defeated them in battle.

War with the Danes continued in 895-896. Danes from the Danelaw marched into what is now Shropshire but they were forced to withdraw. There then followed a few years of peace.

During his reign Alfred reorganised the defence of his realm. He created a fleet of ships to fight the Danes at sea. (It was the first English navy). He also created a network of forts across his kingdom called burhs. Finally Alfred died in 899. And he was succeded by his son Edward.

Late Saxon England

In the mid-9th century there were 4 Saxon kingdoms, Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia and Wessex. By the end of the century there was only one left, Wessex. In the 10th century Wessex gradually expanded and took over all the Danish territory. So a single united England was created.

The process began under King Edward. The treaty of Wedmore in 879 gave King Alfred control over western Mercia. However the people of that area still saw themselves as Mercians not Saxons or Englishmen. In time they merged with the people of Wessex. Meanwhile in 915-918 King Egbert defeated the Danes of Eastern England. He took control of all England south of the River Humber.

By 954 all of England was ruled by Alfred the Greats descendants.

In the late 10th century England enjoyed a respite from Danish raids. England was peaceful although a young king, Edward, was murdered at Corfe in Dorset in 978. His brother Aethelred replaced him.

Despite this in the late 10th century there was a religious revival. A man named Dunstan (c.1020-1088) was Archbishop of Canterbury. He reformed the monasteries. Many new churches and monasteries were built.

Then in 980 the Danes returned. They attacked Thanet, Southampton and Cheshire. In 981 they raided Devon and Cornwall and in 983 they attacked Dorset.

The Danes continued to raid England. They returned in 991, 992, 993 and 994. In 997 a Danish army came and systematically raided southern England over a period of 3 years. The Danes sailed to Normandy in 1001 but they returned to England in 1002.

Meanwhile in 1002 King Aethelred married the sister of the Duke of Normandy. This was the beginning of Norman influence in Saxon England.

Afterwards the Danes continued to raid England. In 1003 they raided the southwest and in 1004 they plundered East Anglia. In 1006 they raided southeast England. In 1009-1012 they ravaged eastern England.

The Saxons paid the Danes to stop raiding and return home. However the amount the Danes demanded increased each time. In 991 they were paid 10,000 pounds to go home. In 1002 they were paid 24,000 pounds in 1007 they were paid 36,000 pounds. England was drained of its resources by paying these huge sums of money called Danegeld (Dane gold).

King Aethelred or Ethelred also, stupidly, enraged the Danes by ordering the massacre of Danes living in his realm. He was persuaded they were plotting against him and he ordered his people to kill them on 13 November 1002. This terrible crime, the St Brices Day Massacre ensured that the Danes had a personal hostility towards him.

Eventually the Danes turned to conquest. In 1013 the Danish king Swein invaded England. His fleet sailed up the Humber and along the Trent to Gainsborough. The people of northern England welcomed him. Swein marched south and captured more and more of England. King Ethelred fled abroad. Swein was on the verge of becoming king of England when died in February 1014.

Incredibly some of the English invited Ethelred back (provided he agreed to rule more justly). When he arrived the Danes withdrew.

However they were soon back. In 1015 Sweins son Canute or Cnut led an expedition to England. They landed at Poole Harbour and occupied southern England. Ethelred finally died in April 1016.

There was then a struggle between Canute and Ethelreds son Edmund, known as Edmund Ironside. The people of the Danelaw accepted Canute as king but London supported Edmund. England was split between the two contestants. They fought at Ashingdon in Essex. Canute won the battle but he was not strong enough to capture all of England. Instead he made peace with Edmund. Canute took the north and midlands while Edmund took the south. However Edmund conveniently died in November 1016 and Canute became king of all England.

Canute turned out to be a good king. Under him trade grew rapidly and England became richer. When Canute died in 1035 England was stable and prosperous.

Canute divided England into four Earldoms, Northumbria, East Anglia, Mercia and Wessex. Each earl was very powerful.

Unfortunately after Canute's death there were seven years of fighting over who would rule England.

Then in 1042 Edward, known as Edward the Confessor became king. During his reign, which lasted until 1066 England grew increasingly prosperous. Trade grew and English towns flourished. England was stable and well governed. Edward also built Westminster Abbey.

However Edward's mother was Norman and Norman influence was increasing in England. The next king, Harold, was to be the last Saxon king.

Edward the Confessor died without leaving an heir. William Duke of Normandy claimed that Edward once promised him he would be the next king of England. He also claimed that Harold had sworn an oath to support him after Edwards death. If Harold ever swore such an oath it was only because he had been shipwrecked off the Norman coast and was coerced into swearing an oath.

In Saxon times the crown was not necessarily hereditary. A body of men called the Witan played a role in choosing the next king. Nobody could become king without the Witans support. In January 1066, after Edward's death, the Witan chose Harold, Earl of Wessex, to be the next king. Duke William of Normandy would have to obtain the crown by force.

The End Of Saxon England

However William was not the only contestant for the throne. Harald Hardrada, king of Norway, also claimed it. He sailed to Yorkshire with 10,000 men in 300 ships. The Earls of Northumbria and Mercia attacked him but they were defeated. However King Harold marched north with another army. He took the Norwegians by surprise and routed them at Stamford Bridge on 25 September 1066. That ended any threat from Norway.

Meanwhile the Normans built a fleet of ships to transport their men and horses across the Channel. They landed in Sussex at the end of September. the Normans then plundered Saxon farms for food. They burned Saxon houses.

Harold rushed to the south coast. He arrived with his men on 13 October.

The Saxon army was made up of the house-carles, the king's bodyguard. They fought on foot with axes. They wore coats of chain mail called hauberks. Kite shaped shields protected them. However most Saxon soldiers had no armour only axes and spears and round shields. They fought on foot. Their normal tactic was to form a 'shield-wall' by standing side by side. However the Saxons had no archers.

The Norman army was much more up to date. Norman knights fought on horseback. They wore chain mail and carried kite shaped shields. They fought with lances, swords and maces. Some Normans fought on foot protected by chain mail, helmets and shields. The Normans also had a force of archers.

The battle of Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066. The Saxons were assembled on Senlac Hill. The Normans formed below them. Both armies were divided into 3 wings. William also divided his army into 3 ranks. At the front were archers, in the middle soldiers on foot then mounted knights.

The Norman archers advanced and loosed their arrows but they had little effect. The foot soldiers advanced but they were repulsed. The mounted knights then charged but they were unable to break the Saxon shield wall. Then the Saxons made a disastrous mistake. Foot soldiers and knights from Brittany fled. Some of the Saxons broke formation and followed them. The Normans then turned and attacked the pursuing Saxons. They annihilated them. According to a writer called William of Poitiers the Saxons made the same mistake twice. Seeing Normans flee for a second time some men followed. The Normans turned and destroyed them.

The battle was now lost. Harold was killed with all his housecarles. Those Saxons who could fled down the north side of Senlac Hill. However they managed a counterattack. In the failing light some Norman knights followed the fleeing Saxons. The Saxons were able to ambush and kill many of them.

Nevertheless the battle was lost and the surviving Saxons melted away. William captured Dover and Canterbury. He then captured Winchester (a very important town in those days). Finally he captured London and he was crowned king of England on 25 December 1066. The Saxon era was over.

William I

William, Duke of Normandy, was crowned King of England on 25 December 1066. However at first his position was by no means secure. He had only several thousand men to control a population of about 2 million. Furthermore Swein, king of Denmark also claimed the throne of England. At first the Normans were hated invaders and they had to hold down a resentful Saxon population.

One method the Normans used to control the Saxons was building castles. They erected a mound of earth called a motte. On top they erected a wooden stockade. Around the bottom they erected another stockade. The area within was called the bailey so it was called a motte and bailey castle. The Normans soon began building stone castles. In 1078 William began building the Tower of London.

Rebellions Against the Normans

William stayed in Normandy from March to December 1067. When he returned to England his first task was to put down an uprising in the Southwest. He laid siege to Exeter. Eventually the walled town surrendered on honourable terms.

Although Southern England was now under Norman control the Midlands and North were a different matter. In 1068 William marched north through Warwick and Nottingham to York. The people of York submitted to him- for the moment and William returned to London via Cambridge and York.

However in January 1069 the people of Yorkshire and Northumberland rebelled. William rushed north and crushed the rebellion However the rising in the north fanned the flames of rebellion elsewhere. There were local risings in Somerset and Dorset. There was also rebellion in the West Midlands. Furthermore a Saxon called Edgar, the grandson of Edmund Ironside, a previous Saxon ruler led a force of Irishmen to North Devon. However local Norman commanders crushed the uprisings and drove out the Irish.

It was not over yet. In the autumn of 1069 King Swein of Denmark sent an expedition to England. When the Danes arrived in Yorkshire the people of Yorkshire and rose in rebellion once again. William marched north and captured York. The Danes withdrew from northern England. This time William adopted a scorched earth policy. William was determined there would not be any more rebellions in the north. In 1069-1070 his men burned houses, crops and tools between the Humber and Durham. They also slaughtered livestock. There followed years of famine in the north when many people starved to death. This terrible crime was called the harrying of the north and it took the north of England years to recover.

Meanwhile the Danes sailed south. They plundered Peterborough and took the Isle of Ely as a base. Many Saxons joined the Danes. These Saxon rebels were led by a man called Hereward the Wake.

Changes in Society
However in June 1070 King William made a treaty with King Swein and the Danes left. The Saxons kept on fighting in the Fens but by 1071 they were forced to surrender. Hereward escaped. William was now in control of all of England

After the Norman Conquest almost all Saxon nobles lost their land. William confiscated it and gave it to his own followers. They held their land in return for providing soldiers for the king for so many days a year.

William also changed the church in England. In those days the church was rich and powerful and the king needed its support. William replaced senior Saxon clergymen with men loyal to himself. Lanfranc, an Italian, replaced Stigand, the Saxon Archbishop of Canterbury. (With the agreement of the Pope). Lanfranc then deposed Saxon bishops and abbots and replaced them with Normans.

Among the lower ranks of society there were also changes. In late Saxon times the peasants were losing their freedom. This process continued under the Normans. On the other hand slavery declined. (It died out by the middle of the 12th century).

In 1085 William decided to carry out a huge survey of his kingdom to find out how much wealth it contained. The result was the Domesday Book of 1086.

William died in 1087 and he was succeeded by his son, also called William (he is sometimes called William Rufus because of his reddish complexion). His brother Robert became Duke of Normandy.

William the Conqueror was a ruthless man. However a writer of the time did say this about him; 'he kept good law'. The eleventh century was a lawless age when a strong ruler who kept order was admired.

William Rufus

Rufus was definitely not a supporter of the church and was deeply unpopular with the clergy. Among other things they criticised him and his courtiers for having long hair. (In his father's day short hair was the fashion). The clergy thought long hair was effeminate.

However in many ways Rufus was a capable king. Under him the barons were in an awkward position because most of them held land in Normandy as well as in England. Many of them wanted a single man to rule both. So in 1088 there was a rebellion in eastern England. The rebels hoped to dispose of Rufus and make his brother Robert ruler of both England and Normandy. However Rufus crushed the rebellion. A second rebellion in 1095 was also crushed.

Meanwhile Rufus captured the area we now called Cumbria from the Scots (until his reign it was part of Scotland). Rufus also forced the Scottish king to submit to him as his feudal overlord.

William Rufus was hit by an arrow while hunting in the New Forest. We will never know for certain if it was an accident or (as seems more likely) he was murdered.

Henry I

Following the 'accidental' death of William Rufus his brother Henry seized the royal treasure in Winchester and was crowned king of England. His brother Robert became Duke of Normandy.

Henry I was born in 1068 and he was well educated. When he seized the throne he issued a charter promising to rule justly. He also gained favour with his Saxon subjects by marrying Edith, a descendant of Edmund Ironside. Very importantly he also had the support of the church.

Henry proved to be a capable monarch. He frequently quarrelled with his brother Robert, Duke of Normandy. In 1101 Robert invaded England, landing at Portsmouth Harbour but by the treaty of Alton he agreed to go home again. However the peace did not last long. In 1105 Henry invaded Normandy. In 1106 he won the battle of Tichenbrai. (His Saxon subjects saw this as revenge for the battle of Hastings). Henry also captured his brother Robert. He was held captive until 1134 when he died at the age of 80.

Henry also formed a royal zoo in England with exotic animals such as lions, leopards, lynxes, camels and a porcupine.

Meanwhile Henry he had many illegitimate children but he only had one legitimate son called William. In 1119 The king of France recognised William as the heir to the English throne and heir to the Dukedom of Normandy. However William drowned in 1120 when his ship, the white ship, sank. Henry was left without an heir. Before he died in 1135 Henry made the barons promise to accept his daughter Matilda as queen.

However when Henry died of food poisoning at the age of 67 many barons felt a woman could not rule England and they supported Henry's nephew Stephen. So Stephen was crowned king of England. Yet Matilda would not give up her claim to the throne and she had many supporters too. As a result a long civil war began in 1135, which went on till 1154. These years were called the 'nineteen long winters'.

The fighting only ended when, shortly before his death, Stephen agreed to recognise Matilda's son Henry as his heir. Following Stephen's death in 1154 Matilda's son became King Henry II. He proved to be a strong and capable ruler.

Henry II

Henry II was the first Plantagenet king. He was born at Le Mans in France in 1133. He was a highly educated man known for his violent temper.

However Henry did not just rule England. He also ruled large parts of France. From 1150 he was Duke of Normandy. From 1151 he was Count of Anjou. By marrying Eleanor of Aquitaine he became the Lord of that part of France. Later he also became ruler of Brittany. As an adult Henry spent more time in France than he did in England.

Henry proved to be a strong king. During the long civil war many barons had built illegal castles. Henry had them demolished. Furthermore Henry reformed the law. He appointed judges who travelled around the country holding trials called assizes for serious offences.

However clergymen had the right to be tried in their own courts. The penalties were often very lenient. Henry felt that was unfair and he tried to force the clergy to allow themselves to be tried in his courts. Not surprisingly they resisted. So Henry made his friend Thomas Becket Archbishop of Canterbury. However as soon as Becket was appointed he refused to submit to the king's wishes.

In 1170, while Henry was in Normandy he lost his temper and shouted 'will no-one rid me of this turbulent priest?'. Four knights took him at his word and they went to England and killed Becket in Canterbury Cathedral. Public opinion was horrified by the murder. Eventually Henry was forced to do penance. He walked barefoot through Canterbury while monks lashed his bare back.

Henry also had trouble from his sons because he refused to give them any real power. He had 8 children of whom 4 died in infancy (by no means unusual in the Middle Ages when infant mortality was very high). Four sons survived, Henry, Geoffrey, Richard and John the youngest. In 1173-74 Henry faced a rebellion by his four eldest sons assisted by their mother. Henry put down the rebellions and he forgave his sons. However his wife was held a prisoner for the rest of Henry's reign.

Henry's son Henry died in 1183 and his son Geoffrey died in 1186.

In 1189 Henry faced another rebellion. This time his youngest son, John joined the rebellion. That broke his heart and Henry died in 1189.

Richard I

Richard I was born in 1157. In his own time he was a popular king because he was a successful warrior. However he neglected his kingdom to fight in foreign wars.

Saladin had captured Jerusalem in 1187 and Richard was determined to win it back. He left England as soon as he could in 1190. He arrived in the Holy Land in 1191. Richard had some success but he failed to capture Jerusalem, the main prize. In 1192 he made a treaty with Saladin.

However on his journey home he was imprisoned by the Duke of Austria. Richard's subjects were forced to pay a huge ransom to release him (in 1194). After his release Richard returned to England but he soon left for Normandy. He never saw England again. While besieging a castle Richard was hit by a crossbow bolt. He died in 1199 and was followed by his brother John.
King John

John proved to be a failure. John fought a war against the king of France from 1200 top 1206, as a result of which he lost most of his lands in France. He also, in 1205, began an argument with the Pope over who should be the new Archbishop of Canterbury, John's choice or the Pope's. As a result in 1208 the Pope place England under an interdict, which meant that religious services could not be held. In 1209 he excommunicated John. Finally, in 1213, John was forced to submit.

Meanwhile John alienated many of his subjects. They claimed that he ruled like a tyrant ignoring feudal law. He was accused to extorting money from people, selling offices, increasing taxes and creating new ones whenever he wished. Matters came to a head after John tried to recapture his lost lands in France in 1214 but failed. The barons patience was exhausted. Finally in 1215 civil war broke out. In June 1215 John was forced to accept a charter known as Magna Carta at Runneymede. The charter was meant to stop the abuses. It stated that the traditional rights and privileges of the church must be upheld. It also protected the rights and privileges of the aristocracy. Merchants who lived in towns were also mentioned. However ordinary people were overlooked.

However Magna Carta did uphold an important principle. English kings could not rule arbitrarily. They had to obey English laws and English customs the same as other men. Furthermore Magna Carta laid down that no free man could be arrested, imprisoned or dispossessed without the lawful judgment of his peers or without due process of law.

To read a history of English government click here.

John had no intention of keeping the terms of Magna Carta so he appealed to the Pope who declared he was not bound by it. Rebellion broke out again and this time the rebel barons invited a French prince to come and rule England. However John conveniently died in October 1216.

However John did achieve something during his reign. He founded the port of Liverpool.

Henry III

John was succeeded by his nephew Henry. He was crowned in great haste in Gloucester by the Bishop of Winchester. (The Archbishop of Canterbury was in Rome). Henry III was only 9 years old in 1216 and at first two regents ruled on his behalf. The first problem was the French prince Louis, who had been invited by rebel barons to come and be king of England. However in 1217 Louis was forced to leave.

Henry began to rule in his own right in 1227 and he soon alienated the barons by ignoring their traditional rights and privileges. Worse, in 1254 the pope was fighting in Sicily. Henry III offered to fund the pope's wars if the pope agreed to let his son, Edmund, become king of Sicily. The pope agreed but Henry failed to provide the promised money.

In 1258 he turned to his barons for help. They were infuriated by his scheming and refused to do anything unless Henry agreed to a new charter known as the provisions of Oxford.

At first Henry reluctantly agreed but in 1260 he renounced the provisions. Civil war resulted and in 1264 rebels led by Simon de Monfort defeated and captured the king at the battle of Lewes. They also captured his eldest son Edward. Simon de Monfort called a parliament made up of representatives from each county and each borough. It was the first English parliament.

However Edward escaped and in 1265 he defeated the barons at the battle of Evesham in Worcestershire.

By then Henry was becoming senile so Edward took control of the government until his father's death in 1272.

Although he was not a great king politically Henry III was a patron of the arts. He rebuilt Westminster Abbey. Furthermore during his reign England's first university, Oxford, was founded.

Edward I

Edward was 33 when he became king. He had already taken part in a crusade in 1270-71 and was gaining a reputation as a warrior. However Edward was determined to rule not only England but also all of Britain.

Llewellyn the Prince of Wales was summoned to pay homage to King Edward several times but each time he made some excuse. In 1276 Edward declared him a rebel and sent an army to Wales. In 1277 Llewellyn was forced to accept a peace treaty by which he lost much of his territory. In 1282 the Welsh rebelled but in 1283 the rebellion was crushed and Edward became the ruler of Wales. In 1301 Edward made his son Prince of Wales.

In 1290 Edward expelled all Jews from England. Also in 1290 Queen Eleanor died at Harby in Nottinghamshire. Edward erected crosses at each of the places where her coffin rested on its way to Westminster Abbey.

Meanwhile in 1286 King Alexander III of Scotland died. His heir was his 2-year-old granddaughter. However she died in 1290 leaving the Scottish throne vacant. There were two claimants, John Balliol and Robert Bruce. King Edward (also known as long shanks because of his height) offered to mediate and decide who should rule. He chose John Balliol. However Edward was determined to make the Scottish king his vassal. Naturally the Scots objected. So in 1296 Edward invaded Scotland. He defeated the Scots and deposed John.

William Wallace led another rebellion in Scotland in 1297 but he was captured and executed in 1305.

Meanwhile in England Edward called the model parliament in 1290. As well as lords it contained 2 knights from each shire and 2 representatives of each borough.

Edward I died of dysentery in 1307. He was 68.

Edward II

From the start Edward II alienated the barons by showering gifts and honours on his or lover Piers Gaveston. As soon as he became king Edward made Gaveston Earl of Cornwall (a title with rich estates). Normally a member of the royal family was given the title and the barons were very annoyed.

Furthermore in 1307 Gaveston married the king's niece.

In 1308 Edward II married Princess Isabella of France in Boulogne. However before he left the country for France Edward made Gaveston regent to rule England in his absence.

Twice the barons forced Edward to banish Gaveston but both times he returned. Finally in 1312 some barons kidnapped Gaveston and had him beheaded.

The in 1314 Edward II suffered a total defeat at the hands of the Scots at Bannockburn. The battle assured Scottish independence and in 1323 Edward was forced to make a truce with the Scots.

Finally Edward alienated the barons by having an affair with a young man called Hugh Despenser. Isabella fled to France. With her lover Roger Mortimer, a rebel English Earl she plotted her husband's downfall. In 1326 Isabella and Roger led an army from France. The English people welcomed them.

Hugh Despenser was hung, drawn and quartered and King Edward II was taken prisoner. In January 1327 Edward abdicated in favour of his son. Edward II was murdered in September 1327.

Edward III

Meanwhile on 1 February 1327 his son Edward III was crowned.

However he did not rule until 1330 when he staged a coup. In October, with friends, he entered Nottingham Castle through a secret tunnel. He entered his mother's bedroom and arrested her lover Mortimer.

In 1337 Edward claimed the throne of France. War began in 1338. The French raided Southampton. Then on 24 July 1340 the English annihilated the French fleet off Sluys. English longbow men rained arrows down onto the French sailors. Men with swords, axes and spears fought hand to hand.

To finance his wars the king had to raise taxes and to do that he needed parliament's co-operation. As a result parliament became more powerful during his reign. In 1340 the Commons and the Lords began meeting separately.

Edward continued to have success in war. On 26 August 1346 the French were crushed by English longbow men at Crecy. Then on 17 October 1346 the Scots were severely defeated at Neville's Cross near Durham. The English army was led by William La Zouche, Archbishop of York and David II of Scotland was captured.

However in 1348-49 disaster struck. The Black Death reached England and it killed about 1/3 of the population. Afterwards there was a severe shortage of labour and as a result wages rose. Men began to move from village to village to get better wages, undermining the institution of serfdom. Parliament tried to peg wages at their 1349 level. The measure did not work and only caused resentment among the peasants.

One of the victims of the plague was the king's daughter, Princess Joan, who died in Bordeaux. The Black Death was no respecter of persons.

To read more about plague click here.

Despite his loss King Edward continued to beat the French. On 19 September 1346 the English won another great victory at Poitiers and the French king was captured. In 1360 the French were made to accept a humiliating peace treaty and pay a ransom for their king.

Finally Edward III died in 1377. He was 65.

Richard II

Richard II was just 10 years old when he was crowned.

In 1381 he was faced with the peasants revolt. It was sparked off by a poll tax.

On 13 July the rebels marched on London and sympathizers opened the gates to them. The king and his ministers took refuge in the tower of London while the rebels opened the prisons and looted the house of John of Gaunt, an unpopular noble. On 14 July the king met the rebels at Moorfield and made them various promises, none of which he kept.

The next day the king went to mass at Westminster and while he was away the rebels broke into the tower of London and killed the Archbishop of Canterbury and several royal officials who had taken refuge there. They confronted the king on his way back from mass. The mayor of London stabbed the leader of the rebels, fearing he was going to attack the king. Afterwards the king managed to calm the rebels and persuaded them to go home by making various promises.

The rebels demanded the end of serfdom. At first the king promised to grant it. However as soon as the rebels dispersed he broke all his promises. About 200 of the ringleaders were hanged.

However serfdom continued to decline of its own accord and by the 15th century it had virtually disappeared.

However the powerful men in England hated Richard's close friends. In 1388 the so-called Merciless Parliament had several of them executed. However in 1397 Richard II got his revenge. He executed two of his enemies. In 1398 he banished Henry Bolingbroke, Earl of Hereford. However in 1398 Richard went to Ireland and while he was away Bolingbroke staged a coup. Richard II was deposed and Bolingbroke then became Henry III. Richard II died in 1400. (He was probably murdered).

England in the 15th Century

Henry III reigned until 1413. It was a troubled reign. Henry III faced a major revolt in Wales at the beginning of the 15th century, which he eventually crushed.

His son, Henry V, succeeded him. This king claimed the throne of France and in 1415 he went to war. On 25 October 1415 the English longbow men won a great victory over the French at Agincourt. In 1416 the Battle of the Seine gave the English control of the Channel. Henry was a hero to his people. however he was cruel. He used cruelty to try and force the French into submission. In 1418 Henry captured Caen and his men massacred 2,000 civilians. Henry once said 'war without fire is like sausage without mustard'.

In 1419 Henry V captured Rouen, the capital of Normandy and by the treaty of Troyes, 1420, he was recognised as heir to the French throne. However Henry died in 1422.

Moreover after his death the French began to win the war. In 1429 Joan of Arc lifted the siege of Orleans. This proved to be a turning point and afterwards English fortunes waned.

In 1443 Henry VI sent the Duke of Somerset to France with an army and told him to 'use most cruel and mortal war'. However by 1453 the English had been driven out of all of France except Calais.

The Wars of The Roses

Worse England was plunged into a series of civil wars called the Wars of the Roses. In 1454 Edward VI was mentally ill and was incapable of ruling. The Duke of York became regent. However at the end of 1454 Edward VI recovered and in January 1455 York was forced to step down as regent. However York was unwilling to give up power and he gathered an army. On 22 may 1455 the forces of York (known as Yorkists) and the forces of the King (known as Lancastrians) fought a battle at St Albans. Afterwards the king was taken prisoner and the Yorkists ruled in his name.

(The Yorkist symbol was the white rose and the Lancastrian symbol was the red rose hence the name of the wars).

However in 1459 the queen gathered an army to fight the Yorkists. The two sides clashed in September 1459. Afterwards the Yorkists took Ludlow. However when they were offered a pardon most of the Yorkist soldiers deserted and their leaders fled abroad. In November 1459 Parliament condemned the Yorkist leaders as traitors (meaning the crown would confiscate their property).

Not surprisingly the Yorkist leaders returned to England with an army in June 1460. They landed at Sandwich and many people in Kent and London went over to their side. They fought a battle at Northampton on 10 July 1460 and captured Henry VI. However in 1461 Queen Margaret, Henry's wife, won a battle at Wakefield on 30 December 1460. The Duke of York was killed. Edward of March took over the Yorkist cause and he proclaimed himself Edward IV on 4 March 1461. He won a great victory at Towton on 29 March 1461 and for some years his rule was secure.

However Edward alienated his supporter the Earl of Warwick (The Kingmaker) by not allowing him enough power. Warwick turned against him and won a battle at Edgecote on 26 July 1469. In 1470 Edward was forced to flee abroad but he returned the next year.

Yorkists and Lancastrians fought at Tewkesbury on 10 May 1471. The battle proved to be a great Yorkist victory. Afterwards Edward ruled unchallenged until his death in 1483.

He was succeeded by his 12-year-old son Edward V. However before he could be crowned the Bishop of Bath and Wells announced that his parents marriage was invalid. Edward was therefore illigitimate and he could not inherit the throne. Both Edward and his younger brother Richard were imprisoned in the tower and later murdered.

Meanwhile the throne was offered to his uncle who became Richard III. However Richard's position was undermined when his only son Eustace died. Henry Tudor landed in Wales and led his army to Bosworth field where Richard III was killed in battle. A new dynasty began.

Henry VII

In the late 15th century England was torn by a series of civil wars between two dynasties, the Yorkists and the Lancastrians. The wars ended in 1485 when Henry Tudor won the battle of Bosworth and gained the throne of England.

Henry Tudor (1457-1509) was crowned Henry VII on 30 October 1485 beginning a new dynasty. In January 1486 he married Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV, uniting the dynasties of York and Lancaster.

However the Yorkists were unwilling to accept the situation. In 1487 they attempted a rebellion. They claimed that a man named Lambert Simnel was Earl of Warwick and tried to put him on the throne. The Yorkists gathered an army in Ireland and landed in Cumbria. However they were crushed at the battle of Stoke on 16 June 1487. Simnel was captured. Henry VII could have executed him but instead he made Simnel a menial servant in the royal kitchens.

Henry VII invaded France in 1492 but the French were preoccupied elsewhere and they quickly made peace. By a treaty of November 1492 they agreed to pay the English money and the French king agreed not to support any pretenders to the English throne.

Afterwards Henry VII followed a policy of peace with France. Wars were expensive and Henry was a prudent man who avoided extravagant expenditure.

Henry also strengthened government by creating the Court of Star Chamber (so called because it met in a room with stars painted on the ceiling). The court dealt with 'unlawful maintenance, giving of licences, signs and tokens, great riots, unlawful assemblies'.

Then in 1497 Henry VII faced two rebellions. First rebels from the West Country marched on London. However they were crushed by a royal army at Blackheath on 17 June 1497.

Later that year a man named Perkin Warbeck claimed be Richard, the nephew of Richard III (one of the two princes who was murdered in the Tower of London). He called himself Richard IV. He landed in Cornwall in September 1497. However royal forces quickly defeated the rebellion and Warbeck was captured in October. He was finally executed in 1499.

Meanwhile Henry VII was keen to make an alliance with Spain. In 1501 his oldest son Arthur married Catherine of Aragon. However Arthur died in April 1502.

Henry VII's son Henry now became heir to the throne. Henry married Catherine of Aragon, his brother's widow on 11 June 1509. Normally such a marriage would not have been allowed but the Pope gave a special dispensation.

Meanwhile in 1503 Henry VII's daughter Margaret married James IV of Scotland.

Among his other achievements Henry VII began the dockyard in Portsmouth. He also financed an expedition by Cabot to the New World. In 1497 Cabot found rich fishing grounds off Newfoundland.

Henry VII died on 21 April 1509.

Henry VIII

Henry was a clever and active young man. He spoke Latin and French fluently. He also performed and composed music. He was good at tennis, wrestling, and casting the bar (throwing an iron bar). Henry also enjoyed hunting, jousting and hawking. He also liked archery and bowling.

Henry was also keen to revive the glories of the previous centuries when England conquered much of France. In 1511 he launched a warship the Mary Rose. In 1514 he launched the Henry Grace a Dieu.

Meanwhile in 1512 he went to war with the French. In August 1513 the English won the Battle of the Spurs. (It was so called because the French cavalry fled without fighting). However in 1514 Henry made peace with the French and his sister Mary married the king of France.

Meanwhile the Scots invaded England to support their French allies. However the Scots were crushed at the battle of Flodden and their king was killed.

In 1515 the Pope made Thomas Wolsey (1474-1530) a Cardinal. The same year the king made him Chancellor.

In 1520 Henry met the king of France at the Field of the Cloth of Gold. Determined to impress the French king Henry had a temporary palace made and it was decorated with very expensive velvet, satin and cloth of gold. Not to be outdone the French king erected tents of gold brocade.

At the beginning of 1511 Henry had a son. Unfortunately the boy died after only 7 weeks. Catherine had four miscarriages and she only had one child who lived - a girl named Mary born in 1516. Henry was desperate to have a son and heir and Catherine could not give him one.

Henry came to believe - or said he believed - that God was punishing him for marrying his brother's widow. Normally that would not have been allowed but the Pope granted him a special dispensation. Henry now argued that the marriage to Catherine was not valid and should be annulled (declared null and void).

Not surprisingly Catherine was totally opposed to any move to dissolve the marriage.

Henry asked the Pope to annul the marriage. However the Pope would not co-operate. (He could not because Catherine's uncle Charles V of Spain had captured Rome and the pope was his prisoner). In 1529 he formed an ecclesiastical court headed by Cardinals Wolsey and Campeggio to look into the matter. However the court could not reach a verdict. (Campeggio had orders from the Pope to see that it didn't).

In the autumn of 1529 Henry sacked Wolsey and banished him to York. In 1530 Wolsey was accused of treason and was summoned to London to answer the charges but he died on the way.

Thomas More replaced him as chancellor. Thomas More persecuted Protestants. He ruthlessly imposed the anti-heresy laws. In 1530 a man named Thomas Hitton was burned at Maidstone. Thomas More called him the Devils stinking martyr. Thomas More also strongly opposed the proposed relaxation of the heresy laws.

More resigned in 1532 and was replaced by Thomas Cromwell.

Meanwhile in 1527 Henry began a relationship with Anne Boleyn. Henry was keen to get rid of Catherine and marry Anne. In 1529 Henry called the 'Reformation Parliament'. Ties between England and Rome were cut one by one. Finally he lost patience with the Pope and rejected his authority. In 1533 he obtained a decree of nullity from Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury. (He had already secretly married Anne Boleyn).

However Anne had two miscarriages. Henry tired of her and in April 1536 she was accused of committing adultery with 5 men, including her own brother. Anne and the five men were all executed in May 1536. Immediately afterwards Henry married Jane Seymour.

Jane did give Henry one son, Edward, but she died on 23 October 1537, leaving Henry devastated.

The Henrician Reformation

Meanwhile in 1534 the Act of Supremacy made Henry the head of the Church of England. The same year the Act of Succession was passed. It declared that Anne Boleyns child would be heir to the throne.

Former Chancellor Thomas More and John Fisher the Bishop of Rochester were both beheaded in 1535 for refusing to swear an oath accepting the acts of supremacy and succession.

Although Henry broke with Rome he kept the Catholic religion essentially intact. He had no intention of changing the English religion to Lutheranism. (In 1521 Henry wrote a book called Assertio Septem Sacramentorum or The Defence of the Seven Sacraments in which he attacked the ideas of Martin Luther. As a reward the Pope granted him the title Fidei Defensor or Defender of the Faith). However in 1538 Chancellor Thomas Cromwell did make some minor reforms. In 1538 he ordered that every church should have an English translation of the Bible. He also ordered that any 'idolatrous' images should be removed from churches.

Nevertheless in 1539 Henry passed the Act of Six Articles, which laid down the beliefs of the Church of England. The Six Articles preserved the old religion mainly intact.

However from 1545 Latin was replaced by English as the language of church services.

Meanwhile Henry dissolved the monasteries. Parliament agreed to dissolve the small ones in 1536. The large ones followed in 1539-1540.

To read about monasteries click here.

The monks were given pensions and many of them married and learned trades. many monastery buildings became manor houses. Others were dismantled and their stones were used for other buildings.

The vast estates owned by the monasteries were sold and fearing foreign invasion Henry used the wealth to build a network of new castles around the coast.

Changes made by Henry caused resentment in some areas. In 1536 a rebellion began in Louth. (Although it was sparked off by religion the rebels had other grievances). The rebels marched to Doncaster but no pitched battles were fought between them and the royal forces. Instead Henry persuaded them to disperse by making various promises. However in 1537 Henry hanged the leaders.

Meanwhile Henry looked for another wife. Chancellor Cromwell suggested making an alliance with the Duchy of Cleves. The Duke of Cleves had two sisters and Henry sent the painter Holbein to make portraits of them both. After seeing a portrait of Anne of Cleves Henry decided to marry her.

However when Henry met Anne for the first time he was repulsed and he called her 'the Flanders mare'. Nevertheless Henry married her in January 1540 but the marriage was not consummated. Henry divorced Anne six months later but she was given a generous settlement of houses and estates. Anne of Cleves lived quietly until her death in 1557.

For his pains, Cromwell was accused to treason and executed in July 1540.

Next, in 1540, Henry married Catherine Howard. However in December 1541 Henry was given proof that Catherine was unfaithful. Catherine was beheaded on 13 February 1542.

In 1543 Henry married Catherine Parr (1512-1548).

Meanwhile in 1536 Henry had an accident jousting. Afterwards he stopped taking exercise and became obese. Worse a painful ulcer appeared on his leg, which his doctors could not cure.

Nevertheless Henry went to war again. In 1542 he crushed the Scots at Solway Moss. In 1543 Henry went to war with the French. he captured Boulogne but was forced to return to England to deal with the threat of French invasion. The French sent a fleet to the Solent (between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight). They also landed men on the Isle of Wight. In a naval battle the Mary Rose was lost but the French fleet were forced to withdraw.

Henry VIII died on 28 January 1547. He was 55.

Edward VI

Henry was succeeded by his 9-year-old son Edward. Since he was too young to rule his uncle, Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, was made protector and ruled in his stead.

Somerset was a devout Protestant as was Archbishop Cranmer. They began to turn England into a truly Protestant country. The Act of Six Articles was repealed and in 1549 the first Book of Common Prayer, the first Anglican prayer book was issued. Meanwhile priests were allowed to marry and pictures or statues of Mary or the saints were removed from churches.

Unfortunately England now faced an economic crisis. There was rapid inflation in the mid-16th century. Also the population was rising. In the 15th century there was a shortage of workers, which pushed wages up. In the 16th century the situation was reversed and labourer's wages fell.

In 1549 Edward faced two rebellions. In parts of the Southwest the changes in religion provoked the so-called Prayer Book Rebellion. In Norfolk economic grievances led to a rebellion led by Robert Kett (the rebels took control of Norwich). However both rebellions were crushed.

The rebellions led to the fall of Somerset. He was replaced by the ruthless John Dudley, Earl of Warwick (Later Duke of Northumberland). The unfortunate Somerset was sent to the tower and in January 1552 he was executed on a trumped up charge of treason. In 1552 a second prayer book was issued. This one was much more extreme than the first.

Meanwhile England fought the Scots again. Henry VIII had suggested that his son Edward should marry the king of Scotland's daughter Mary. However the Scottish king rejected the idea. Somerset revived the plan and he sent an army to Scotland to force the Scots to agree. The English won a battle at Pinkie Laugh, near Edinburgh, in 1547. However the Scots simply sent 6-year-old Mary to France to marry the French kings son.

However Edward was sickly and it was clear he was not going to live long. The Duke of Northumberland was alarmed as the next in line for the throne, Henry's daughter Mary, was a Catholic.

Northumberland married his son to Lady Jane Grey, a descendant of Henry VII's sister Mary. When Edward died in 1553 Northumberland had Lady Jane Grey crowned queen. However the people rose in favour of Mary and Lady Jane Grey was imprisoned.

Mary I

Mary was Catherine of Aragon's daughter. Consequently when Catherine fell from favour Mary suffered. From 1531 she was kept separate from her mother. In 1533 when Anne Boleyn had a daughter, Elizabeth, Mary was asked to accept that her parent's marriage was not valid and so she was illegitimate. Not surprisingly she refused and so she was sent to be lady-in-waiting to her half-sister Elizabeth.

However in 1536, after her mother's execution, perhaps fearing for her life, she agreed her parents marriage was unlawful. Henry began to treat her more generously and in 1544 a statute restored her as heir to the throne after her half brother Edward.

Mary was a devout Catholic and she detested the religious changes of Henry VIII and Edward VI. When Edward became king she continued to attend Catholic mass in her own private chapel. When Edward ordered her to desist she appealed to her cousin, Emperor Charles V. He threatened war with England if she was not left alone.

When she became queen Mary was surprisingly lenient. The Duke of Northumberland was executed in August 1553. However Lady Jane was, at first, spared.

However Mary married Phillip of Spain in July 1554. The marriage was very unpopular and in Kent Sir Thomas Wyatt led a rebellion. He was defeated but Mary was forced to execute Lady Jane, fearing her enemies might try and place Jane on the throne.

Mary was determined to undo the religious changes of the two previous reigns. Catholic mass was restored in December 1553. In 1554 married clergy were ordered to leave their wives or lose their posts. Then, in November 1554 the Act of supremacy was repealed.

In 1555 Mary began burning Protestants, which earned her the nickname 'bloody Mary'. The first martyr was John Rogers who was burned on 4 February 1555. Over the next 3 years almost 300 Protestants were martyred. (Most of them were from Southeast England where Protestantism had spread most widely). Many more Protestants fled abroad.

However Mary's cruelty simply gained sympathy for the Protestants and alienated ordinary people. She simply drove people away from Roman Catholicism.

Furthermore in 1557 England went to war with France. In 1558 the English lost Calais, which they had hung onto since the end of the Hundred Years War in 1453. It was a major blow to English prestige.

Mary died on 17 November 1558. She was 42.

Elizabeth I

The Religious Settlement

Elizabeth I was crowned in January 1559. She restored Protestantism to England. The Act of Supremacy was restored in April 1559 and further Acts replaced Catholic practices. However it was a moderate Protestantism. Elizabeth disliked extremists. She disapproved of the Puritans. (They were people who wanted to 'purify' the Church of England of its remaining Catholic elements).

All but one of the English bishops refused to take the Oath of Supremacy (recognising Elizabeth as head of the Church of England) and were removed from their posts. About one third of the parish clergy were also removed.

However most of the population (not all) accepted the religious settlement. People could be fined for not attending church. Nevertheless some Catholics continued to practice their religion in secret.

In 1568 Mary Queen of Scots was forced to flee her own country. She fled to England and Elizabeth held her prisoner for 19 years.

In November 1569 Catholics in the north of England rebelled. The rebellion started when people in Durham Cathedral tore up a Bible. The Catholic rebels hoped to murder Elizabeth and replace her with Mary Queen of Scots. However the uprising was quickly crushed and the last battle took place on 19 February 1570. Afterwards many of the rebels were hanged.

Meanwhile in 1570 the pope issued a bull of excommunication and deposition. This papal document decreed that Elizabeth I was excommunicated (excluded from the church) and deposed. Her Catholic subjects no longer had to obey her.

Not surprisingly Elizabeth's attitude to Catholics now hardened. A law was passed in 1571 making it treason to deny that Elizabeth was the lawful queen of England or to call her a heretic, schismatic, tyrant, usurper or infidel. That put Catholics in an awkward position since according to their church she was a heretic.

Furthermore in 1581 the fines for non-attendance at Church of England services (aimed at Catholics) were greatly increased (although in some areas they were not imposed). In 1585 all Catholic priests were ordered to leave England within 40 days or face a charge of treason.

Despite these measures the great majority of English Catholics remained loyal to the Queen when the Spanish Armada sailed in 1588. (The ships that fought the armada were commanded by a Catholic, Lord Howard of Effingham).

Elizabeth's Foreign Policy

In 1562 John Hawkins started the English slave trade. He transported slaves from Guinea to the West Indies.

However in 1568 the Spaniards attacked Hawkins and his men while their ships were in harbour in Mexico. Hawkins and his cousin Francis Drake then began an undeclared war against Spain. They attacked Spanish ships transporting treasure across the Atlantic and stole their cargoes.

In the years 1577-1580 Drake led an expedition, which sailed around the world. Drake also stole huge amounts of gold and silver from the Spanish colonies but Elizabeth turned a blind eye.

Meanwhile the Spanish king ruled the Netherlands. However the Dutch turned Protestant and in 1568 they rebelled against the Catholic king's rule. Elizabeth was reluctant to become involved but from 1578 onwards the Spaniards were winning. In 1585 Elizabeth was forced to send an army to the Netherlands.

Then in 1586 there was a plot to murder the queen called the Babington Conspiracy. Because of her involvement Mary Queen of Scots was beheaded on 8 February 1587.

Meanwhile Phillip II of Spain was planning to invade England. However in April 1587 Drake sailed into Cadiz harbour and destroyed part of the fleet that was preparing to invade. Drake boasted that he had 'singed the king of Spain's beard'.

Even so the next year the invasion fleet was ready and it sailed in July 1588. The Spanish Armada consisted of 132 ships and about 30,000 men. It was commanded by the Duke of Medina Sidonia.

At that time the Spanish king ruled a large part of Northeast Europe. The plan was to send the armada to Calais to meet a Spanish army grouped there. The armada would then transport them to England.

The English fleet was gathered at Plymouth. When the Spanish arrived they sailed in a crescent formation. The English harassed the Spanish ships from behind. In Drake's words they 'plucked the feathers'. However the English were unable to do serious damage to the armada until they reached Calais.

When the armada arrived the Spanish troops in Calais were not ready to embark and there was nothing the armada could do except wait at anchor in the harbour. However the English prepared fire ships. They loaded ships with pitch and loaded guns which fired when the flames touched the gunpowder, and set them on fire then steered them towards the Spanish ships. In panic the armada broke formation. Spanish ships scattered.

Once the Spanish ships broke formation they were vulnerable and the English attacked doing considerable damage.

Finally the armada sailed north around Scotland and west of Ireland. However they sailed into terrible storms and many of their remaining ships were wrecked. Eventually the Spanish lost 53 ships. The English lost none.

Despite the failure of the armada the war went on until 1604 but neither side was able to gain a decisive advantage.

Meanwhile Elizabeth I died on 24 March 1603.

James I

In 1603 King James VI of Scotland became James I of England. He began a new dynasty - the Stuarts.

James I never had the same charisma as Elizabeth I and never enjoyed the same popularity. However among his achievements he ended the long war with Spain in 1604. He was also responsible for a new translation of the Bible, the King James Version, which was published in 1611.

However James came into conflict with parliament. The cost of government (and of fighting wars) was rising but the government's income did not keep up. Rents from royal lands could only be raised when the lease ended. Parliament was therefore in a strong position. MPs could refuse to raise money for the king unless he bowed to their demands. So the king was forced to look for new ways to raise money.

The situation was complicated by disagreements over religion. Many MPs were puritans. They wished to 'purify' the Church of England of its remaining Catholic elements. Although he was a Protestant James disagreed with many of their views.

Furthermore James believed in the divine right of kings. In other words God had chosen him to rule. James was willing to work with parliament but he believed ultimate authority rested with him.

James I died in 1625. He was 58.

Charles I

Like his father Charles I was firm believer in the divine right of kings. From the start he quarrelled with parliament.

At the beginning of his reign Charles I married a French Roman Catholic princess, Henrietta Maria. However marrying a Catholic was very unpopular move with the Puritans.

Charles also fought unsuccessful wars. In 1625 he sent an expedition to Cadiz, which ended in failure. Parliament strongly criticized his policies and refused to raise extra taxes to pay for the Spanish war.

Charles angrily dissolved parliament and raised money by levying forced loans. He imprisoned, without trial, anyone who refused to pay.

In 1627 an expedition was sent to La Rochelle in France. It was led by the king's favourite the Duke of Buckingham and it ended in failure.

By 1628 the cost of wars meant Charles was desperate for money and he was forced to call parliament. This time MPs drew up the Petition of Right, which forbade the levying of taxes without parliament's consent. it also forbade arbitrary imprisonment.

However king and parliament clashed over the issue of religion. In the 17th century religion was far more important than it is today. It was a vital part of everyday life. Furthermore there was no toleration in matters of religion. By law everybody was supposed to belong to the Church of England (though in practice there were many Roman Catholics especially in the Northwest).

In 1629 William Laud was Bishop of London. He was strongly opposed to the Puritans and Charles supported him wholeheartedly.

Parliament criticized Laud and Charles called it impertinence. (He did not think parliament had any right to do so). In return parliament refused to grant the king taxes for more than one year. Charles sent a messenger to parliament to announce it was dissolved. However members of the Commons physically held the speaker down until they had passed three resolutions about Laud and religion. Only then did they disband.

In 1633 Laud was made Archbishop of Canterbury. Laud was determined to suppress the Puritans and he sent commissioners into almost every parish to make sure the local churches came into line.

Furthermore the Puritans had their own preachers called lecturers. These men were independent of the Church of England. Laud tried to put a stop to these preachers - with some success.

Most of all Laud emphasised the ceremony and decoration in churches. These measures were strongly opposed by the Puritans. They feared it was the 'thin edge of the wedge' and Catholicism would eventually be restored in England.

Meanwhile for 11 years Charles ruled without parliament. This period was called the eleven years tyranny. Charles had various ways of raising money without parliament's consent. In the Middle Ages men with property worth a certain amount of money a year were supposed to serve the king as knights. Under this old law Charles fined their descendants for not doing so. Furthermore all wasteland had once been royal land. In time some landowners had taken parts of it into cultivation. Charles fined them for doing so. Using these dubious methods by 1635 Charles was solvent.

However matters came to a head in 1637. In 1634 the king began levying ship money. This was a traditional tax raised in coastal towns to enable the king to build ships when more were needed. However in 1635 Charles began levying ship money in inland areas.

A Buckinghamshire squire called John Hampden refused to pay. In 1637 he was taken to court and although he lost his case he became a hero. Ship money was very unpopular with the propertied class.

Worse in 1637 Charles and Laud enraged the Scots by proposing religious changes in Scotland. Laud and Charles tried to introduce a new prayer book in Scotland. There were riots in Edinburgh. In February 1638 Scottish nobles and ministers signed a document called the National Covenant.

Charles made two attempts to bring the Scots to heel. Both were humiliating failures. The first Bishops War of 1639 ended with the peace of Berwick but it was only a breathing space for both sides.

In April 1640 Charles summoned parliament again, hoping they would agree to raise money for his Scottish campaign. Instead parliament simply discussed its many grievances. Charles dissolved parliament on 5 May and it became known as the Short parliament because it met for such a short time.

The Second Bishops War followed in 1640. In August 1640 the Scots invaded England and they captured Newcastle. Charles was forced to make peace with the Scots. By the treaty they occupied Durham and Northumberland. Charles was forced to pay their army's costs.

Finally in August 1641 Charles was forced to abandon all attempts to impose religious changes on Scotland. In return the Scots withdrew from northern England.

Meanwhile, desperate for money, Charles was forced to call parliament again in November 1640. This parliament became known as the Long Parliament.

Parliament passed the Triennial Act, which stated that parliament must be called every three years. A Dissolution Act stated that parliament could not be dissolved without its consent.

Fining people who had not obtained knighthoods was declared illegal. So was fining landowners who had encroached on royal land. Ship money was also abolished

Parliament also took revenge on the king's hated advisor, Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford. They passed a special act declaring Strafford was a traitor. The people of London took to the streets demanding his execution. Charles feared for his and his familys safety and he was forced to sign the act. Strafford was executed on 12 may 1641.

Unfortunately parliament then divided. Opposition to the king was led by John Pym but many began to fear he was going too far.

In November 1641 a list of grievances called the Grand Remonstrance was drawn up but it was passed by only 11 votes. Pym then demanded that the king hand over control of the militia. For many that was a step too far. They feared that Pym might replace arbitrary royal government with something worse.

Meanwhile parliament and the country split cover religion. Some wanted to return the Church of England to the state of affairs before Laud. Others wanted to abolish bishops completely. The country was becoming dangerously divided.

In January 1642 Charles made the situation worse by highhandedly entering the Commons and attempting to arrest 5 MPs for treason. (They had already fled). No king had entered the Commons before and his actions caused outrage.

Once again Charles feared for his safety and he left London.

In March 1642 Parliament declared that its ordinances were valid laws and they did not require the royal assent.

In April 1642 king then tried to seize arms in Hull but he was refused entry to the town.

Meanwhile in London parliament began raising an army. (Although most of the House of Lords went over to the king). The king also began raising an army and he set up his standard at Nottingham in August.

The English Civil War

However most people were reluctant to take sides in a civil war and wished to stay neutral. Yet gradually people were sucked in.

From the start parliament had several advantages. Firstly it held London and the customs dues from the port were an important source of money.

Secondly most of the Southeast and East of England supported parliament. In the 17th century they were the richest and most densely populated parts of the country. Wales, most of northern England and most of the Southwest supported the king but they were poor and thinly populated.

Thirdly the navy supported parliament and made it difficult for the king to receive help from abroad.

The first clash of the civil war took place at Powicke Bridge near Worcester. It was only a skirmish but it ended in royalist victory. The first major battle took place at Edgehill near Banbury. On 23 October 1642 the parliamentarians started by firing artillery. Prince Rupert, the king's nephew then led a cavalry charge. They chased the parliamentary cavalry off the field. Then infantry then fought but neither side could gain the upper hand. By the time the royalist cavalry returned to the field it was growing dark so the battle ended indecisively.

The king advanced towards London but he was stopped at Turnham Green on 13 November 1642.

In 1643 things went better for the king. His army won victories at Adwalton Moor in Yorkshire in June 1643. They also won battles at Landsdown Hill near Bath and at Roundway Down in July 1643. However in September 1643 the first battle of Newbury proved indecisive. However the parliamentarians won a victory at Winceby in Lincolnshire on 11 October 1643.

Then, in September 1643, the parliamentarians persuaded the Scots to intervene on their behalf by promising to make England Presbyterian (a Presbyterian church is one organised without bishops). A Scottish army entered England in January 1644.

On 2 July 1644 the royalists were severely defeated at the battle of Marston Moor in Yorkshire. Following this battle the parliamentarians captured all of Northern England. (although the royalists did win a victory at Lostwithiel on 2 September 1644.

The parliamentarians then decided to reform their army. In December 1644 they passed the Self Denying Ordinance, which stated that all MPs (except Oliver Cromwell and his son-in-law Henry Ireton) must give up their commands. Early in 1645 parliamentary forces were reorganised and became the New Model Army.

The New Model Army crushed the royalists at the battle of Naseby in June 1645 and at Langport, near Yeovil in July 1645.

Afterwards the parliamentarians slowly gathered strength. Finally in May 1646 the king surrendered to the Scots.

The Scots eventually handed the king over to parliament. That left the problem what to do with the king? Most people did not wish to abolish the monarchy but it was difficult to keep the king but limit his power. Charles made things worse, as usual, by being obstinate and refusing to compromise.

Meanwhile following civil war radical ideas flourished. In November 1646 a man named John Lilburne, one of a group of radicals called the Levellers published a tract called London's Liberty in Chains. He demanded a republic and the abolition of the House of Lords. He also said that all men should be allowed to vote and their should be religious freedom.

Furthermore the army fell out with parliament. By the spring of 1647 the soldier's pay was heavily in arrears and they were not happy. In April 1647 parliament voted to disband the army and give them no more than 6 weeks pay. However the army refused to disband.

The Second English Civil War

Meanwhile in December 1647 Charles made a secret agreement with the Scots. They agreed to invade England on his behalf. However Oliver Cromwell crushed an army of Scots and English royalists at Preston.

A royalist uprising also took place in Kent. However the royalists failed to capture London and instead they marched to Colchester where they were besieged and finally defeated.

The army now felt that parliament was being too lenient with the king. They occupied London and Colonel Thomas Pride ejected about 140 members of the Commons. This action was called 'Pride's Purge'. It left a 'rump parliament' of about 60 members.

In January 1649 Charles was put on trial for treason. He was found guilty on 27 January 1649 and he was beheaded outside Whitehall on 30 January 1649.

On 17 March 1649 parliament passed an act abolishing monarchy and the House of Lords.

The Interregnum

Under Charles I those who disagreed with the Church of England were persecuted. However following the civil war they flourished. Independent churches formed.

Most of parliament wanted to make the Church of England Presbyterian. Furthermore attendance at Church of England services would remain compulsory. The army disagreed. They wanted the freedom to worship as they pleased.

After the execution of Charles I the Rump Parliament continued to meet but the army effectively held power. The most powerful general was Oliver Cromwell.

However Charles II then started another war. He made an agreement with the Scots and in 1650 he landed in Scotland. Cromwell and his army advanced into Scotland and in September 1650 they crushed the Scots at Dunbar. Cromwell then crossed the Firth of Forth, leaving the road to England open.

In 1651, led by Charles II the Scots then invaded England. However very few Englishmen supported the invasion and Cromwell routed the Scottish army at Worcester in September 1651. Charles II fled. He managed to escape to France.

Until 1660 Scotland was occupied by an English army.

The Rump parliament failed to undertake political and religious reforms so the army grew impatient. The army finally closed the Rump parliament in April 1653. The independent churches were asked to nominate men who they thought would be suitable MPs. The army then selected some of them to be MPs. This nominated parliament was called the Barebones Parliament after a member called Praise-God Barbon. However it proved just as unsatisfactory as the old Rump Parliament and it was dissolved in December 1653.

A new constitution was drawn up called the Instrument of Government. Cromwell was made Lord Protector. At first he ruled with a council but in September 1654 a new parliament was called. However the Protectorate Parliament refused to accept the Instrument of Government so Cromwell dissolved it in January 1655.

In 1654 there was a local uprising in Salisbury but it was quickly crushed.

Meanwhile in 1652-1654 England fought a war with the Dutch.

Then in 1655 the country was divided into 11 districts. Each district was ruled by a Major-General.

However in 1656 another parliament was called. However this time some members were excluded as 'unfit persons'.

In 1657 the remaining members drew up a Humble Petition and Advice to Cromwell. They suggested the old system of a parliament with two houses should be revived but this time the Lord Protector would appoint members of the upper house. They also offered Cromwell the crown. He refused but he accepted the rest of the agreement. The rule of the Major-generals ended in 1657.

However when parliament reconvened in January 1658 the members who were excluded in 1656 were allowed to take the seats. This time the members attacked the new arrangements (they would not accept the new nominated upper house) and Cromwell dissolved parliament again in February 1658.

Finally Cromwell died on 3 September 1658. He was 59.

Oliver Cromwell appointed his son Richard his successor. However Richard was a shy, unambitious man and he resigned in May 1659.

Finally in February 1660 General Monck, who commanded the English army stationed in Scotland marched south. He entered London in February 1660. Monck recalled the surviving members of the Long Parliament, which first met in 1640.

The Long Parliament voted to disband and hold fresh elections for a new parliament. This one became known as the Convention parliament.

Meanwhile, in April 1660 Charles II issued a declaration from the Dutch town of Breda. He promised a general pardon (except for the regicides who were responsible for the death of his father) and freedom of religion.

The Convention Parliament declared that the government of England should be King, Lords and Commons. Finally on 25 May 1660 Charles II landed at Dover.

Charles II

Charles II was not particularly religious but as far as he had any religion he secretly leaned to Roman Catholicism. (He had to keep this very quiet as he feared the people would rebel if they found out).

In 1662 he married a Portuguese Princess, Catherine of Braganza. However Charles was a pleasure-seeking man and he had many mistresses.

Meanwhile parliament was determined to crack down on the many independent churches that had sprung up during the interregnum and make Anglicanism the state religion again.

They passed a series of acts called the Clarendon code, a series of laws to persecute non-conformists (Protestants who did not belong to the Church of England). The Corporation Act of 1661 said that all officials in towns must be members of the Church of England.

The Act of Uniformity 1662 said that all clergy must use the Book of Common Prayer. About 2,000 clergy who disagreed resigned. Furthermore the Conventicle Act of 1664 forbade unauthorised religious meetings of more than 5 people unless they were all of the same household.

Finally the Five Mile Act of 1665 forbade non-Anglican ministers to come within 5 miles of incorporated towns. (Towns with a mayor and corporation).

However these measures did not stop the non-conformists meeting or preaching.

Meanwhile England fought another was with the Dutch in 1665-1667.

In 1670 Charles made a secret treaty with Louis XIV of France. It was called the Treaty of Dover. By it Louis promised to give Charles money (so he was no longer dependent on parliament). Charles agreed to join with Louis in another war with Holland and to announce he was a Roman Catholic (Louis promised to send 6,000 men if the people rebelled when he did so).

However the war with Holland, which began in 1672, proved to be far more expensive than anticipated and the money from Louis XIV was not enough. Eventually Charles was forced to call parliament.

Meanwhile in 1672 Charles II issued the Royal Declaration of Indulgence suspending the laws against non-conformists. (Charles believed that as king he had the right to suspend laws).

Parliament angrily declared that the king had no right to grant exemption from the law to non-conformists and Catholics.

In 1673 they passed the Test Act, which banned non-conformists and Catholics from holding public office.

In 1678 two liars, Titus Oates and Israel Tonge claimed there was a 'Popish' (Catholic) plot to assassinate Charles II and replace him with his brother James who was openly Catholic. The government began investigating their claims. One of the magistrates who investigated, called Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey was murdered. It was said to be the work of Catholics. In the panic that followed many innocent Catholics were convicted of treason and executed.

Meanwhile there was the question of exclusion. Charles II had no legitimate children and when he died his Catholic brother James was next in line for the throne. Some people, led by the Earl of Shaftesbury, said James should be excluded from the succession. They were known as Whigs. Their opponents were known as Whigs.

Charles II was strongly opposed. In 1679 when parliament proposed to exclude James from the succession he simply dissolved parliament. In 1681 another parliament planned to exclude James. Once again Charles dismissed parliament and for the last 4 years of his reign ruled without it.

Charles II died in 1685. He was 54.

Despite the religious conflicts the English economy boomed in Charles II's reign. Trade and commerce thrived. Although most people still made their living from farming trade now became an increasingly important part of English life. Industries like coal and iron also expanded rapidly.

Furthermore in 1679 parliament passed the Act of Habeas Corpus forbidding imprisonment without trial.

In the late 17th century science flourished. From 1645 a group of mathematicians and philosophers began to meet to discuss scientific subjects. Charles II was interested in science so in 1662 he gave them a royal charter. They became the Royal Society of London for the advancement of Natural Knowledge.

Perhaps the greatest scientist of 17th century England was Isaac Newton

Following the death of Charles II in 1685 his brother James became king. However Charles II's illegitimate son the Duke of Monmouth landed in Dorset and led a rebellion in Southwest England. He was proclaimed king in Taunton but his army was crushed at the battle of Sedgemoor. Afterwards George Jeffreys (1648-1689), known as the hanging judge presided over a series of trials known as the Bloody Assizes. About 300 people were hanged and hundreds more were transported to the West Indies.

The Glorious Revolution

James II promptly alienated the people by appointing Catholics to powerful and important positions.

In 1687 he went further and issued a Declaration of Indulgence suspending all laws against Catholics and Protestant non-Anglicans. In 1688 he ordered the Church of England clergy to read the declaration from the churches.

However in 1688 7 bishops wrote to James and asked to him to revise his policy on religion. They were arrested and put on trial for libel but they were acquitted to general rejoicing.

Worse in June 1688 James had a son. The people of England were willing to tolerate James as long as he did not have a Catholic heir. However his son would certainly be brought up a Catholic and would, of course, succeed his father.

Seven powerful nobles then stepped in. They invited the Dutchman William of Orange, husband of James's Protestant daughter Mary, to come to England with an army and promised to support him. William landed in Devon in November and in December James II fled to France.

Parliament declared that the throne was vacant. William and Mary were declared joint monarchs. (Although Mary died in 1694).

The Bill of Rights (1689) said that no Catholic could become king or queen. No king could marry a Catholic. Furthermore the king could not suspend laws or levy loans or taxes without parliament's consent.

Parliament also passed the Toleration Act in 1689. Non-conformists were allowed their own places of worship and their own teachers and preachers. However they could not hold government positions or attend university.

In 1702 Queen Anne began her reign. In the same year the war of the Spanish succession began. In 1704 the great general the Duke of Marlborough, won a great victory over the French at Blenheim. Also in 1704 the British captured Gibraltar - and they have held it ever since.

The Duke of Marlborough went on to win great victories at Ramillies in 1706, at Oudenarde in 1708 and at Malplaquet in 1709.

Meanwhile the Act of Union between England and Scotland was passed in 1707. From 1603 England and Scotland shared a king but they remained separate countries. The Act of Union made them one although the Scots kept their own legal system, church and educational system. Free trade was established between the two countries.

Queen Anne died in 1714. That unfortunate woman had 17 pregnancies. They either ended in miscarriages or stillbirths or if the child was born they did not survive beyond childhood.

George I became king in 1714. He was also the ruler of Hanover (part of Germany) and he much preferred to stay there. George could not speak English and was content to leave the running of Britain to his ministers.

Meanwhile in September 1714 the Highlands of Scotland rose in rebellion. In an attempt to claim his throne James Stuart (son of James II, who was deposed in 1688) landed at Peterhead in December 1714. The uprising failed after an indecisive battle was fought at Sheriffmuir near Stirling on 13 November 1715. James Stuart left Scotland in February 1716.

In 1711 the South Sea Company was formed. It was given exclusive rights to trade with the Spanish colonies in South America. (It transported many slaves from Africa to South America). In 1720 shares in the company became massively overpriced. Then the share price collapsed. (The South Sea Bubble burst) and many investors lost huge sums of money.

From 1721 Robert Walpole (1676-1745) became the king's chief minister. People began to call him Prime Minister (Originally it was a term of abuse not an official title). Walpole moved into Downing Street in 1735.

10 Downing Street became the Prime Minister's official residence in 1732.

Walpole resigned in February 1742.

George I died in 1727 and was succeeded by his son George II. Like his father George II was content to leave government largely in the hands of his ministers. However he was the last British king to lead an army into battle. He led them to victory against the French at Dettingen in June 1743.

In July 1745 Charles Stuart landed in the Hebrides. He had promised his father, James Stuart, that he would capture the throne. The Highlanders rose to support him and Charles made rapid progress. In September 1745 his followers (known as Jacobites from the Latin for James, Jacobus) captured Edinburgh (except for the castle). The Jacobites then won the battle of Prestopans.

They invaded England and in November 1745 they captured Carlisle. The Jacobite army reached Derby in December 1745 but they then turned back. Charles Stuart then headed to Inverness. However the Jacobites were crushed at the battle of Culloden in April 1746. Charles Stuart fled to France.

Also in the early 18th century England suffered from an 'epidemic' of gin drinking. Gin was cheap and drinking it was easy way for the poor to forget their troubles. However in 1751 a duty was added to gin which curtailed gin drinking.

The early 18th century was noted for its lack of religious enthusiasm. It was an age of reason rather then dogmatism and the churches lacked vigour. However in the mid-18th century things began to change. In 1739 the great evangelist George Whitefield (1714-1770) began preaching. Also in 1739 John Wesley (1703-1791) began preaching. He eventually created a new religious movement.

The Agricultural Revolution

In the 18th century there was an agricultural revolution in England. It began with Jethro Tull. In the 17th century seed was sown by hand. The sower simply scattered seed on the ground. However in 1701 Tull (1674-1741) invented the seed drill. This machine dropped seeds at a controllable rate in the straight lines. A harrow at the back of the machine covered the seeds to prevent birds eating them. Tull also invented a horse drawn hoe which killed weeds between rows of seeds.

Furthermore new forms of crop rotation were introduced. Under the old system land was divided into 3 fields and each year one was left fallow. This was, obviously, wasteful, as one third of the land was not used each year. In the 17th century the Dutch began to use new forms of crop rotation with clover and root crops such as turnips and swedes instead of letting the land grow fallow. (Root crops restored fertility to the soil). In the 18th century these new methods became common in England. A man named Charles 'Turnip' Townshend (1674-1738) did much to popularise growing turnips.

Turnips had another advantage. They provided winter feed for cattle. Previously most cattle were slaughtered at the beginning of winter because there was not enough food to keep them through the season. Now fresh milk and butter became available all year round.

Moreover in the early 18th century farmers began to improve their livestock by selective breeding. One of the most famous pioneers of selective breeding was Robert Bakewell (1725-1795).

There were other minor improvements. On light soil farmers used marl (clay with a lime content). Other farmers drained their fields with stone lined trenches. Manure has always been used as fertiliser but in the mid-18th century farmers began to build underground tanks to protect manure from the weather.

Finally in the 18th century there was a wave of enclosures. In the Middle Ages land in each village was divided into strips. Each farmer held some strips in each field. In the 16th and 17th centuries some enclosures took place. Many more followed in the 18th century. When an act of enclosure was passed commissioners divided up the land in the village so each farmer had all his land in one place, which was an inefficient way of doing things.

In 1756 Britain became embroiled in the Seven Years War (1756-1763) with France. In 1759 the British, led by General Wolfe, won a great victory at Quebec. That ensured that Canada became a British colony rather than a French one. Meanwhile in 1757 Clive won the battle of Plassey, which ensured that India became British rather than French.

Meanwhile in 1760 George II died at the age of 77. George III succeeded him. The first two George's were content to leave government in the hands of their ministers. However, according to his enemies, George III tried to gain more power for himself.

During his reign Britain lost her colonies in North America. Fighting began in 1775 and the colonists declared themselves independent in 1776. George was determined to suppress the colonists, ignoring the wishes of those who wanted reconciliation. However the Americans won a decisive victory at Yorktown in 1781, which ensured their independence. That caused George's crony, Prime Minister Lord North to fall from power.

Meanwhile London was rocked by the anti-Catholic Gordon riots in 1780. Riots were common in the 18th century. The workers could not vote and there were no trade unions so if the workers were disaffected they rioted.

The Gordon riot was the worst. Lord George Gordon (1751-1793) was an MP who led a huge crowd to parliament to present a petition demanding the repeal of a 1778 act, which removed certain restrictions on Roman Catholics. The demonstration became a riot. With cries of 'No Popery!' the rioters held London for several days until the army restored order. About 300 people died in the rioting.

At the end of the 18th century a group of Evangelical Christians called the Clapham Sect were formed. They campaigned for an end to slavery and cruel sports. They were later called the Clapham Sect because so many of them lived in Clapham.

The Industrial Revolution

In the late 18th century everyday life in Britain was transformed by the industrial revolution. Towns, industry and trade had been growing for centuries but about 1780 economic growth took off.

Economic growth was helped by vast improvements in transport. In the early and mid 18th century many turnpike roads were built. Local turnpike trusts were formed. They maintained a road and charged people to travel on it.

In the late 18th century a network of canals was built. One of the first was built for the Duke of Bridgewater by James Brindley. It opened in 1761 from Worsley to Manchester.

A number of technological advances made the revolution possible. In 1709 Abraham Darby (1677-1717), who owned an ironworks, began using coke instead of charcoal to melt iron ore. (It was a much more efficient fuel). Darby and his family kept the new fuel secret for a time but in the late 18th century the practice spread.

Meanwhile in 1698 Thomas Savery made the first steam engine. From 1712 Thomas Newcomen made steam engines to pump water from coalmines. Then, in 1769, James Watt patented a more efficient steam engine and in the 1780s it was adapted to power machinery.

The first industry to become mechanised was the textile industry. In 1771 Richard Arkwright opened a cotton-spinning mill with a machine called a water frame, which was powered by a water mill. Then, in 1779, Samuel Crompton invented a new cotton-spinning machine called a spinning mule. Finally in 1785 Edmund Cartwright invented a loom that could be powered by a steam engine. As a result of these new inventions cotton production boomed.

Iron production also grew rapidly. In 1784 a man named Henry Cort (1740-1800) invented a much better way of making wrought iron. Until then men had to beat red hot iron with hammers to remove impurities. In 1784 Cort invented the puddling process. The iron was melted in an extremely hot furnace and stirred of 'puddled' to remove impurities. The result was a vast increase in iron production.

During the 19th century Britain was transformed by the industrial revolution. In 1801, at the time of the first census, only about 20% of the population lived in towns. By 1851 the figure had risen to over 50%. By 1881 about two thirds of the population lived in towns.

Furthermore in 1801 the majority of the population still worked in agriculture or related industries. Most goods were made by hand and very many craftsmen worked on their own with perhaps a labourer and an apprentice. By the late 19th century factories were common and most goods were made by machine.

Unrest in the Early 19th Century

The early 19th century was an era of political and social unrest in Britain. In the early 19th century a group of Evangelical Christians called the Clapham Sect were active in politics. They campaigned for an end to slavery and cruel sports. They gained their name because so many of them lived in Clapham.

Then on 11 May 1812 a man named John Bellingham shot Tory prime minister Spencer Perceval. He was the only British prime minister ever to be assassinated.

Bellingham was a lone madman but in 1820 there was a plot to kill the whole cabinet. Arthur Thistlewood led the Cato Street Conspiracy but the conspirators were arrested on 23 February 1820. Thistlewood and 4 of his companions were hanged.

Meanwhile in 1811-1816 textile workers in the Midlands and the north of England broke machines, fearing they would cause unemployment. The wreckers were called Luddites and if caught they were likely to be hanged.

In March 1817 textile workers from Manchester tried to march to London to petition the Prince Regent. They were called blanketeers because many of them carried blankets. However even though the march was peaceful the blanketeers were stopped by soldiers at Stockport.

Then on 16 August 1819 a crowd of about 60,000 people gathered at St Peter's Field in Manchester to hear a man named Henry Hunt. Even though the crowd were unarmed and the peaceful the authorities sent in soldiers. As a result 11 people were killed and hundreds were wounded. Afterwards people called the event 'The Peterloo Massacre' in a grim mockery of Waterloo.

In 1830 farm labourers in Kent and Sussex broke agricultural machinery fearing it would cause unemployment. The riots were called the Swing Riots because a man named Captain Swing supposedly, led them. As a result of the riots 4 men were hanged and 52 were transported to Australia.

In 1834 6 farm labourers in Tolpuddle, Dorset tried to form a trade union. However they were prosecuted for making illegal oaths. (Not for forming a union, which was legal). They were sentenced to transportation to Australia. The case caused an outcry and they returned to Britain in 1838.

Political Reform

In 1822 a Tory government was formed which introduced some reforms. At that time you could be hanged for over 200 offences. (Although the sentence was often commuted to transportation). In 1825-1828 the death penalty was abolished for more than 180 crimes.

Peel also formed the first modern police force in London in 1829. The police were called 'bobbies' or 'peelers' after him.

From 1828 to 1830 the Duke of Wellington (1769-1852) was prime minister. He introduced the Catholic Emancipation Act (1829). Since the Reformation Catholics had been unable to become MPs or to hold public office. The Act restored those rights to them.

However Wellington was strongly opposed to any change to the electoral system.

At that time there were two types of constituency, country areas and towns or boroughs. In the countryside only the landowners could vote. In boroughs the franchise varied but was usually limited. However the constituencies had not been changed for centuries and they no longer reflected the distribution of the population. Industrial towns like Birmingham and Manchester did not have MPs of their own. On the other hand some settlements had died out but they were still represented in parliament! In 'rotten' or 'pocket' boroughs there might be only one or two voters!

In the early 19th century there were increasing demands for reforms. Most people wanted constituencies distributed more fairly and they also wanted the franchise extended but Wellington's party, the Tories, resisted.

However in 1830 the Whigs formed a government and they tried to introduced reform. The House of Commons eventually voted for a reform bill but the House of Lords rejected it. The King, William IV, warned that he would create more peers, who favoured the bill unless the Lords agreed to accept it. Eventually the House of Lords backed down and passed the Great Reform Bill. It received the royal assent on 7 June 1832.

The franchise was only extended slightly but much more importantly the new industrial towns were now represented in parliament. Before 1832 Britain was ruled by an oligarchy of landowners. After 1832 the urban middle class had an increasing say.

However the working class were excluded from the reforms. From 1838 a working class protest movement called the Chartists was formed. (They were named after their People's Charter). The Chartists had several demands. They wanted all men to have the vote. Furthermore at that time you had to own a certain amount of property to become an MP. Chartists wanted the property qualification abolished. They also wanted MPs to be paid. Chartists also wanted all constituencies to be equal in size and they wanted voting to be by secret ballot.

The first Chartist rally was held in Manchester in 1838. In 1839 the Chartists delivered a petition to parliament, which was rejected out of hand. Another petition delivered in 1842 was also rejected. Finally in 1848 another great petition was sent to parliament but it turned into a farce. Some of the signatures were obvious fakes.

Chartism then fizzled out. For one thing it lacked middle class support and had no support among MPs. For another in the late 1840s conditions for the working class in Britain were improving and discontent was declining.

However further reform did eventually follow. In 1867 most workers in the towns were given the vote and in 1872 the Ballot Act introduced voting by secret ballot. In 1884 farm labourers were given the vote.

Meanwhile in 1835 the Municipal Corporations Act reformed town governments. A uniform system of town government was formed.

The Corn Laws

During the Napoleonic Wars 1799-1815 Britain could not import large amounts of grain from Europe. That all changed in 1815. British landowners feared that cheap foreign grain would be imported so they passed the Corn Laws.

Import duties would be charged on imported wheat unless the average price of British wheat reached �4 a quarter and unless the price of British barley reached �2 a quarter. However from 1828 a sliding scale was used. Import duties were gradually increased as the price of British grain fell.

In 1839 John Bright and Richard Cobden formed an Anti-Corn Law League. Prime Minister Peel finally abolished the corn laws in 1846. (Robert Peel lived from 1788 to 1850. He was prime minister in 1834-35 and 1841-46).

Meanwhile by the 1840s public opinion changed in favour of free trade. Most people believed that government should interfere in the economy as little as possible. They also believed that countries should trade without import duties. So in the early 1840s Peel abolished many tariffs.

The Railways

The first passenger railway opened in 1825 between Stockton and Darlington. In 1830 a line was opened between Manchester and Liverpool. William Huskisson MP for Liverpool was killed but nothing could stop the growth of the railways.

By 1848 there were 5,000 miles of railways in Britain and the network continued to expand rapidly in the later 19th century.

Railways provided a great boost to other industries such as iron. They also revolutionised transport. Journeys that would have taken days by stagecoach took hours by train.

The Factory Acts

The industrial revolution created an unprecedented demand for female and child labour. Children had always worked alongside their parents but before the 19th century they usually worked part time. In the new textile factories women and children were often made to work very long hours (often 12 hours a day or even longer).

The government was aware of the problem and in 1819 they passed an act that made it illegal for children under 9 to work in cotton mills. However the act lacked 'teeth' as there were no factory inspectors to check the mills. Another ct was passed in 1833 but this time inspectors were appointed. Children under 9 were banned from working in textile mills. Children aged 9 to 13 were not allowed to work for more than 12 hours a day or a total of more than 48 hours a week. Children aged 13 to 18 must not work for more than 69 hours a week. Furthermore nobody under 18 was allowed to work at night (from 8.30 pm to 5.30 am).

In 1844 another act banned women from working more than 12 hours a day (although it also reduced the minimum age for working in a mill to 8). Then in 1847 women and children were banned from working more than 10 hours a day in textile factories.

In 1850 the law was changed slightly. Women were allowed to work for 10 1/2 hours but textile factories could not be open for more than 12 hours a day. All workers, including men, were allowed 1 1/2 hours for meal breaks.

In 1867 the law was extended to all factories. (A factory was defined as a place where more than 50 people were employed in a manufacturing process). The 1878 Factory Act defined a factory as any place where machines were used in manufacturing.

Meanwhile in 1842 the Miners Act banned women and children under 10 from working underground in mines.

By the 1860s the 10 hour day was common, but not universal. In 'sweated industries' such as making matchboxes and lace people were paid piece rates (i.e. they were paid so much for each one they made). People often worked in their own homes and very often they had to work from dawn to dusk to make a living.

Nevertheless in 1871 bank holidays were created. In the 1870s some skilled workers were given a week's annual paid holiday. (Although it was not until 1939 that everybody had annual paid holidays). However by the 1890s the weekend was common as many people had Saturday afternoon off.

19th Century Trade Unions

In 1799 and 1800 the government passed laws called the Combination Acts, which made it illegal for men to combine to demand higher wages. The Combination Acts were repealed in 1824 but it was still doubtful if trade unions were legal.

It was not until 1871 that trade unions were definitely made legal. In 1875 the Conspiracy and Protection of Property Act made peaceful picketing legal.

In the 1850s and 1860s skilled workers formed moderate trade unions called New Model Unions. In return for subscriptions members were given sickness and unemployment benefits. However the New Model Unions were keen to be seen as 'respectable' and tried to negotiate rather than strike. The TUC was founded in 1868.

In the late 19th century unskilled workers began to form powerful trade unions. In 1888 a woman named Annie Besant managed to organise a strike among the girls who worked making matches for Bryant and May. The girls were very poorly paid and they suffered from an illness called 'phossy jaw' caused by working with phosphorous. The strike was successful and the employers were forced to raise their pay. In 1889 the match girls formed a trade union.

In March 1889 the Gas Workers and General Labourers Union was formed.

Then on 14 August 1889 the Great London Dock strike was held. It lasted 5 weeks and was a great success. The Dockers demanded a minimum wage of 6 pence an hour (the 'Docker's tanner').

Also in 1889 a Seaman's Union and the General Railway Workers Union was formed.

19th Century Housing

In the early 19th century much working class housing was appalling. It was overcrowded and unsanitary. Of course, poor people's housing had always been bad. However things grew much worse when vast numbers of people lived together in a small area.

Furthermore towns had been dirty and unsanitary for centuries. In the 18th century in many towns bodies of men called Paving Commissioners or Improvement Commissioners were formed with powers to pave, clean and light the streets. However in those days England was divided into parishes and the commissioners only had powers in certain parishes.

However in the 19th century towns spread to new parishes. Huge numbers of houses were built where previously there had only been fields and small villages. The commissioners had no powers in these new 'suburbs'. In them streets were often unpaved and unlit. There were no drains and when it rained streets turned to mud. People threw dirty water in the streets and stagnant pools formed. Furthermore toilets were often shared by several houses and queues formed on Sunday mornings.

In the early 19th century in most towns there were no building regulations. Builders simply built as they pleased. Usually they tried to cram as many houses as possible onto every piece of land. Many houses were 'back-to-backs'. These houses were literally back to back. The back of one house joined the back of another. They usually consisted of two or three rooms. Worst of all were cellar dwellings. In cities like Liverpool families lived in cellars, which were damp and poorly ventilated as well as crowded. Very poor people slept on straw because they could not afford beds.

Skilled workers lived in 'through' houses, so called because you could walk through them from front to back. However in the 1840s town councils began to take action. Cellar dwellings were banned and new back-to-backs could not be built. It was impossible to demolish and replace existing back-to-backs all at once. It took decades and some people were still living in them in the 20th century.

In the early 19th century toilets were usually cesspits, which were infrequently emptied and sometimes overflowed. Or urine might seep through the ground into wells from which people drew drinking water.

Given these disgusting conditions it is not surprising there were outbreaks of cholera in many towns in 1831-32, 1848-49, 1854 and 1865-66.

In 1848 a Public Health Act was passed. The act made it compulsory to form local Boards of Health in towns if the annual death rate exceeded 23 per 1,000 or if 10% of the population wanted it. Local Boards of Health could demand that all new houses have drains and lavatories. They could also organise a water supply, street cleaning and refuse collection.

In 1875 a Public Health Act strengthened previous acts. All local authorities were forced to appoint Medical Officers of Health who could prosecute people who sold food or drink unfit for human consumption. The councils were also required to provide refuse collection.

Town councils also began to provide public parks and most passed by-laws, which laid down minimum standards for new houses. Furthermore in the 1860s and 1870s sewers were dug in most large towns. In the 1870s water supplies were created in most towns. As a result of these measures towns were much healthier and cleaner by the end of the 19th century than at the beginning.

In 1875 the Artisan's Dwellings Act was passed which gave councils the power to demolish slums but large scale slum clearance did not begin till the 20th century.

Furthermore in the second half of the 19th century living standards rose. Gradually houses grew larger. In the late 19th century 'two-up, two-downs' were common. (Houses with two bedrooms and a kitchen and 'front room'. Many skilled workers lived in houses with three bedrooms.

However even at the end of the 19th century there were some poor families still living in just one room.

The Poor Law

In 1792 well meaning magistrates met at Speenhamland in Berkshire and devised a system for helping the poor. Low wages were supplemented with money raised by a poor rate. Many areas of England adopted the system but it proved very expensive and the government decided to change things.

In 1834 they passed the Poor Law Amendment Act. In future the poor were to be treated as harshly as possible to dissuade them from seeking help from the state. In future able bodied people with no income were to be forced to enter a workhouse. (In practice some of the elected Boards of Guardians sometimes gave the unemployed 'outdoor relief' i.e. they were given money and allowed to live in their own homes).

For the unfortunate people made to enter workhouses life was made as unpleasant as possible. Married couples were separated and children over 7 were separated from their parents. The inmates were made to do hard work like breaking stones to make roads or breaking bones to make fertiliser.

The poor called the new workhouses 'bastilles' (after the infamous prison in Paris) and they caused much bitterness. However as the century went on the workhouses gradually became more humane.

Living Standards in the 19th Century

At first the industrial revolution did cause much suffering to some people. However in the end it made a much higher standard of living possible for ordinary people. In the 18th century when goods were made by hand they were scarce and therefore expensive. Machines meant that goods could be mass produced and so they became much cheaper.

It is true that in the early 19th century many people worked very long hours and they lived in appalling conditions in overcrowded towns. However by the late 19th century housing for most people was better than in the 18th century.

People were also better fed. Inventions like trains and steamships made it possible to import cheap food from abroad, wheat from North America and meat from Australia and New Zealand. For thousands of years bread was the staple diet of ordinary people. The poor lived mainly on bread. By the end of the century bread was ceasing to be the 'staff of life' and most people were eating a varied diet.

Furthermore a host of inventions made life more comfortable and convenient. Railways made travel much faster. Waterproof clothing also made life more comfortable. So did anaesthetics. Furthermore today we take street lighting for granted but in the 19th century gas street lights made going out at night much easier and safer.

We also take photography for granted but people in the 19th century thought it was wonderful. For the first time ordinary people could have pictures of their loved ones to remember them by if they lived far away.

It is true that poverty was common in the 19th century but things had always been that way. A large part of the population lived at subsistence level - or below it but that was nothing new.

The Decline of Britain

In the middle of the 19th century Britain was the richest and most powerful nation in the world. However in the late 19th century Britain's power declined. It was inevitable. Britain was the first country to industrialise. She therefore had a head start over other nations. However the other countries began to catch up. France, Germany and the USA industrialised. By the end of the 19th century Russia, Sweden, (North) Italy and Japan were also industrialising. As a result Britain became relatively less important.

British Foreign Policy in the 19th Century

The 19th century was a relatively peaceful era for Britain. After the defeat of Napoleon in 1815 Britain only fought one war with another European power, the Crimean War against Russia (1854-1846). Other wars were colonial wars involving small numbers of soldiers.

During the 19th century Britain built up a great overseas empire including South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. In 1857-58 they crushed the uprising called the Indian Mutiny and in 1877 Queen Victoria was made Empress of India.

Meanwhile in 1819 Sir Stafford Raffles founded Singapore. Britain also took Burma in stages during the 19th century.

In the late 19th century Britain took large swathes of Africa (Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Kenya and Nigeria. The British also took control of Egypt and Sudan.

Nevertheless by the end of the 19th century it was obvious that Britain was no longer as powerful as she had once been and needed allies in Europe.

Liberal reforms

Life was hard for the working class at the beginning of the 20th century. In 1900 surveys showed that between 15% and 20% of the population were living at subsistence (bare survival) level. Worse between 8% and 10% of the population were living below subsistence level. These figures seem shocking to us but remember things had always been that way. Indeed earlier in history things were worse. There had always been a large part of the population living at subsistence level or below it.

In 1906 a Liberal government was elected and they introduced a number of reforms. From 1906 local councils were allowed to provide free school meals. In 1907 school medical inspections began.

In 1908 an act limited miners to working an 8 hour day.

In 1909 the Trade Boards Act set up trade boards who fixed minimum wages in certain very low paid trades. Also in 1909 an Act set up labour exchanges to help the unemployed find work.

In 1908 an Old Age Pensions Act gave small pensions to people over 70. The pensions were hardly generous but they were a start. From 1925 pensions were paid to men over 65 and women over 60. Widows were also given pensions.

In 1911 the National Insurance Act was passed. All employers and employees made contributions to a fund. If a worker was ill he was entitled to free treatment by a doctor. (Normally you had to pay and it was expensive). If he could not work because of illness the worker was given a small amount of money to live on. However his family were not entitled to free medical treatment.

From 1911 workers in certain trades such as building and shipbuilding who frequently had periods of unemployment all contributed to a fund. If unemployed they could claim a small amount of money for a maximum of 15 weeks in any year. Again it was hardly generous but in 1920 the scheme was extended to most (not all) workers and they were given money for more than 15 weeks.

By 1912 most people had Saturday afternoon off work. However shop workers were usually forced to work all day Saturday. An act of 1912 compensated them by stating they must have half a day off during the week.

Meanwhile in 1902 Balfour's Education Act created state secondary education. In the early 20th century the upper class went to public schools. The middle class went to fee-paying grammar schools and the working class went to elementary schools. From 1907 grammar schools were given grants if they gave 25% of their places to poor pupils. Working class children could take an exam and if they passed could go to grammar school. However some children won a place but did not go because their parents could not afford to buy the school uniform and equipment.

In 1909 the House of Lords rejected Lloyd George's budget. In response the Liberals passed the Parliament Act, which stated the House of Lords, could not interfere with financial bills. The Lords could no longer veto any bills but only delay them for two years. In 1949 that was reduced to one year.

The Suffragettes

In 1897 local groups of women who demanded the vote joined to form the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS). The organisation was moderate and its members were called suffragists.

However in 1903 a more radical organisation was formed called the Womens Social and Political Union (WSPU). Emmeline Pankhurst led it and its members were suffragettes. Some suffragettes broke the law and were imprisoned. Some prisoners went on hunger strike but in 1913 the government passed the Cat and Mouse Act which allowed them to release hunger strikers then arrest them again when they recovered.

Meanwhile on 5 June 1913 Emily Davison ran in front of the horses at Epsom and she was killed. However after her death she became a martyr.

However the suffragettes halted their campaign when the war began in 1914. In 1918 women over 30 were allowed to vote. Women over 21 who owned a house or were married to a house owner were allowed to vote. Meanwhile in 1907 a new law allowed women to stand for election in borough, district and council elections. From 1919 women were allowed to sit on juries and become lawyers and magistrates.

In 1928 universal suffrage was introduced. Afterwards anyone over the age of 21 could vote.

The first Labour MPs were elected in 1906. There were minority Labour governments in 1924 and 1929-1931 but Labour did not win an overall majority in parliament until 1945.

In the 20th century Socialism became a powerful movement. Socialists believed the state should own industry and land. They also believed in economic equality. Wealth should be distributed to give everyone an equal share. However in the end socialism proved to be a failure. The redistribution of wealth never happened and in the late 20th century state owned industries were privatised. By the end of the 20th century the Labour Party had abandoned socialism.

The First World War

Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914. A British expeditionary force was sent to France, led by Sir John French. It fought the Germans at Mons on 23 August. The Germans continued to advance but the French and British halted them at the Battle of the Marne in September. The Germans tried to outflank the allies but were blocked. Both sides dug trenches to protect themselves and soon the trenches ran in a continuous line. The war became a stalemate.

In 1916 the British launched an attack on the Somme. Both sides horrific losses. However during this battle the British unleashed a secret weapon - the tank. The first tanks were too unreliable and too few in number to affect the outcome of the battle but they were a sign of things to come.

In 1917 Germany began unrestricted submarine warfare. They sank any ships from any country attempting to reach Britain. As a result food in Britain ran very short but the crisis ended when the convoy system was introduced. Merchant ships travelled in groups protected by warships. Nevertheless in 1918 rationing of meat, butter and cheese began. Furthermore as a result of the German policy the USA entered the war.

In the Spring of 1918 Germany launched a series of offensives in northern France. The allies fought on with the 'backs against the wall' and in August the British launched a counter-attack using tanks. The Germans were gradually pushed back and on 11 November they signed an armistice (cease-fire).

Trade Unions and the General Strike

By the early 20th century the trade unions had become powerful and they were increasingly militant. However they met with opposition. In 1901 came the Taff Vale case when a court decided that trade unions could be sued for damages if they held a strike. It was repealed by the Trade Disputes Act 1906. In 1909 came the Osbourne Judgement, which said that trade unions could not use member�s subscriptions to fund political parties (i.e. the Labour Party). The case was brought by a man named W. V. Osborne, who was secretary of the Walthamstow branch on the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants. It was repealed by the Trade Union Act 1913, which allowed individual trade union members to opt out of paying political fees.

From 1923 to 1929 Britain had a conservative government with Stanley Baldwin (1867-1947) as prime minister. During his time the general strike was held.

During the 1920s old industries like coal mining were declining. So in 1921 employers cut wages. In 1926 they proposed to cut wages and increase working hours. The miners leader A.J. Cooke said 'Not a penny off the pay, not a minute on the day'. the miners went on strike and appealed to the other unions to help them. The result was a general strike from midnight on 3 May 1926.

However the government was prepared. Realising trade unions might unite and call a general strike they formed the Organisation for the Maintenance of Supplies in 1925. Middle class volunteers helped to run services like buses and kept supplies moving. Troops and special constables also helped. The general strike ended on 12 May although the miners remained on strike for another 6 months. In the end they miners went back to work defeated.

In 1927 the Trade Disputes Act made general strikes illegal.

Entertainment

In 1922 the BBC began broadcasting radio programmes. Radio first became common in the 1930s. By 1933 about half the households in Britain had a 'wireless' and by 1939 most of them did. Television began in 1936. It was suspended during World War II but it began again in 1946.

In the 1920s some people went to see silent films but from about 1930 all films were 'talkies'. During the 1930s cinema-going became much more popular and many people went once or even twice a week.

The Depression

In 1929 the world was plunged into a severe economic recession. In 1931 Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald left the Labour Party to join a coalition called the National Government. It was made up of Conservative, Liberal and a small number of Labour MPs. However most Labour MPs refused to join so the Conservatives dominated the National Government. When MacDonald resigned in 1935 a Conservative, Stanley Baldwin, replaced him. He in turn was replaced by another Conservative Neville Chamberlain (1869-1940), in 1937.

Meanwhile by 1932 22.8% of insured workers were unemployed. However unemployment began to fall in 1933. By January 1936 it stood at 13.9%. By 1938 it stood at around 10%.

However in the late 1930s the North of England remained depressed and unemployment in the region remained very high. Traditional industries such as textiles and coal mining were severely affected by the depression. Yet in the Midlands and the South of England new industries brought some prosperity and unemployment was lower. New industries included making cars and aircraft and electronics.

During the 1920s and 1930s a series of 'hunger marches' were held from depression areas to London. The first was from Glasgow in 1922 but the most famous was the Jarrow march of 1936. Labour MP Ellen Wilkinson led 200 shipyard workers in a march from Jarrow to London. The hunger marches gained a great deal of publicity for the plight of the unemployed but they did not succeed in their aim of actually reducing unemployment.

However because living standards had risen so much an unemployed man in 1936 was about as well off as an unskilled worker 30 years before. Nevertheless life for the unemployed was grim. They lived in relative poverty.

Nevertheless despite the mass unemployment of the 1930s for most people with a job living standards rose substantially. That was partly due to a fall in prices. The price of essentials like food and rent fell 15% during the decade. So for most people life became steadily more comfortable during the 1930s.

Furthermore from 1939 all workers were entitled to a minimum of 1 weeks annual paid holiday. Before then the only paid holidays many people had were bank holidays.

World War II

When war began on 3 September 1939 it was feared that the Germans would bomb British cities causing great loss of life. So children from the cities were evacuated to the countryside. Altogether 827,000 schoolchildren with 103,000 teachers and helpers left the big cities. Furthermore 524,000 children below school age and their mothers left. However most of the 'evacuees' soon returned home. The bombing raid on British cities failed to materialise - at first.

Rationing in Britain began in September 1939 when petrol was rationed. As the war continued rationing became stricter and stricter. In January 1940 butter, sugar, bacon and ham were rationed. Tea was rationed from July 1940. Then in May 1941 cheese was rationed and from June 1941 eggs were rationed. From July 1941 clothes were rationed and you had to save up coupons to buy them. From July 1942 sweets were rationed.

From 1942 dried (powdered) egg arrived from the USA. Meanwhile the people were encouraged to 'dig for victory' and the amount of land under cultivation increased from 12 million acres in 1939 to 18 million acres in 1945.

On 7 September 1940 the Germans began bombing London and by 1 January 1941 over 13,000 Londoners were killed. Other cities heavily bombed during the 'blitz' included Birmingham, Coventry, Bristol, Portsmouth and Plymouth.

German bombing lessened after mid-1941 when Hitler invaded Russia. From then on most German armed forces were concentrated in the east. However in June 1944 the Germans unleashed a 'secret weapon'. It was kind of rocket called a VI flying bomb. (The British public called them 'doodlebugs'). From September 1944 V2 rockets were launched. altogether 1,115 V2s hit England and about half of them hit London. The last V2 was fired on 27 March 1945. At first the government claimed the explosions were caused by exploding gas mains (which didn't fool anybody!). They did not admit the truth until November 1944. Hitler called his new weapons Vergeltung (vengeance) weapons yet German bombing failed. It failed to dent British morale and it failed to seriously affect industrial output.

About 1 million houses were destroyed or severely damaged during World War II. About 40,000 civilians were killed. After the war Britain was left with a severe shortage of housing. The Housing Act of 1946 gave grants and subsidies for building houses. By 1951 900,000 new houses had been built.

National Austerity

Germany surrendered on 8 May 1945. Immediately afterwards a general election was held (the first since November 1935). Labour won by a landside and Clement Attlee (1883-1967) became prime minister until 1951. Labour set about introducing a welfare state. By the National Insurance Act of 1946 everyone was entitled to unemployment benefit, sickness benefit, old age pensions and widows pensions. The National Health Service was introduced in 1948. (Many of the ideas for the welfare state were laid out by a Liberal named William Beveridge 1879-1963).

During World War II Britain was run by a coalition government. In 1944 it passed the Butler Education Act. (It was named after a Conservative, Richard Butler). In future all 11-year-old children would sit an exam (it became known as the 11+). Afterwards some went to grammar school to study academic subjects while others went to secondary modern schools to study technical subjects. Both types of school were supposed to be equal. (In the official phrase they had 'parity of esteem'). However in the eyes of the public if you 'passed' the 11+ you went to a grammar school. If you 'failed' you went to a secondary modern. In 1947 the school leaving age was raised to 15.

However the period 1945-1951 was one of 'national austerity' when many goods were in short supply and long queues were common. Rationing continued and it actually grew stricter than during the war. Conditions were hardest in 1947 when there was a severe winter. Bread was rationed in July 1946 and in November 1947 potatoes were rationed.

The Labour party also nationalised certain industries (made them state owned). Coal was nationalised in 1947. So were the railways. In 1948 gas and electricity were nationalised.

Meanwhile shortages gradually lessened. Clothes rationing ended in 1949 and petrol rationing ended in 1950. However rationing of butter and meat lasted until 1954.

The Affluent Society

However in the mid-1950s Britain became an affluent society. For the first time ordinary people had substantial amounts of money to spend on luxuries. Consumer goods became common. By 1960 44% of homes owned a washing machine. In 1959 about 2/3 of homes owned a vacuum cleaner.

In the 1960s Britain became a truly affluent society. Washing machines and vacuum cleaners became near universal. Cars and fridges became common. Foreign holidays became common for the first time. Central heating, electric blankets, electric kettles and toasters and a host of other goods became common in the 1960s. By 1975 90% of homes had a vacuum cleaner, 85% had a fridge and 70% owned a washing machine. Furthermore 52% had a telephone and 47% had central heating.

Meanwhile Britain became a 'permissive' society. For decades society was becoming less puritanical. Then in the 1960s society became much more liberal and tolerant. In 1967 homosexuality was made legal between aged over 21. Also in 1967 abortion was made legal. In 1968 censorship of the theatre was abolished. In 1969 divorce was made easier.

Meanwhile in the 1950s public opinion turned against capital punishment especially after two innocent men were hanged, Timothy Evans (1950) and Derek Bentley (1953). In 1957 it was abolished for certain categories of murder. From then on only people who murdered on more than one occasion, or who murdered during a robbery or who killed a policeman or prison officer while they were on duty could be hanged. In 1965 hanging was abolished for a period of 5 years. However in 1969 it was abolished for all kinds of murder.

The birch (hitting people with birch twigs) was banned in 1948. Flogging was last used in a British prison in 1962.

Until the late 20th century teachers were allowed to physically and verbally abuse children. However the Society of Teachers Opposed to Physical Punishment was formed in 1968. During the early and mid 1970s corporal punishment was abolished in most primary schools. (It was formally abolished in London primary schools in 1973. Corporal punishment in London secondary schools was abolished in 1980). Corporal punishment ended in state secondary schools in 1987. However it was allowed in private schools till 1999.

To read more about the history of punishments click here.

Meanwhile until the mid-1970s there was full employment in most areas of Britain. For most of the period 1945-1973 unemployment was less than 5%. By 1973 it was creeping upwards but it was still only 3%.

From 1951 to 1964 Britain was ruled by the Conservatives. From 1951 to 1955 Winston Churchill was Prime Minister. Anthony Eden who was Prime Minister till 1957 replaced him. He was followed by Harold Macmillan who was prime minister till 1963.

Sir Alec-Douglas Home was prime minister for a short period in 1963-64. However in 1964 Labour won a general election and Harold Wilson became prime minister. Labour won another election in 1966. Wilson remained prime minister until 1970.

Meanwhile in the 1960s and 1970s most secondary schools became comprehensives. Also in the 1960s there was a big expansion of further and higher education. In 1945 there were only 17 universities. By the 1970s there were 46. There were also 30 polytechnics. (In 1992 they were upgraded to universities).

In 1973 the school leaving age was raised to 16. In 1988 a national curriculum was introduced.

The 1970s

Meanwhile in the years after 1945 the trade unions grew very powerful. By 1970 their membership had almost doubled. Nearly half the workforce belonged to a union.

In the winter of 1972 the coal miners went on strike and the government was forced to give in to their demands. They went on strike again in the winter of 1974. This time Heath was determined not to back down and he called an election in February 1974 on the issue 'who governs the country?'. However Heath lost the election and Wilson became prime minister again. Wilson won another election in October 1974.

Meanwhile in 1973 Britain joined the EEC (forerunner of the EU). The first elections for the European parliament were held in 1979.

By 1973 the long period of economic prosperity was coming to an end. By the spring of 1975 unemployment had climbed to 1 million. It was over 5% of the workforce. By 1977 it had risen to 5.5% and in 1979 it stood at 5.3%. Meanwhile there was also high inflation.

In 1978 in an effort to tackle inflation the government tried to persuade trade unions to limit pay rises to no more than 5%. The trade unions refused to accept the limit and Britain was hit by a wave of strikes. As a result the government's popularity diminished and in may 1979 the Conservatives won a general election. Margaret Thatcher became Britain's first woman prime minister.

The 1980s

In 1980-82 Britain suffered a severe recession. Unemployment rose sharply. By January 1982 it was 11.5%, double the May 1979 figure. Not surprisingly the government was deeply unpopular.

However in April 1982 the Argentineans invaded the Falkland Islands. The British sent a taskforce and on 14 June 1982 the Falklands were recaptured. The war greatly boosted the government's popularity and it contributed to the government's victory in the general election of 1983. (The Conservatives won a third election in 1987).

Meanwhile recession ended in the autumn of 1982 and recovery began. Furthermore unemployment levelled off. As long as unemployment was rising it was an important issue. As soon as it stopped rising it was much less important. Most people were not very worried about unemployment as long as it was stable. In other words they were not unduly worried as long as their own job wasn't threatened. (Unemployment remained very high until 1986. In the summer of that year the official figure was 14.1%. However unemployment then fell steadily. The government also succeeded in greatly reducing inflation.

Despite the mass unemployment of the 1980s most people with a job experienced a substantial rise in their living standards during the decade.

On the other hand the percentage of people living in poverty increased. That was partly due to mass unemployment. Another cause was the rapidly rising number of single parent families many of whom lived on state benefits.

The Conservatives also sold council houses cheaply and the number of council houses fell significantly. The government also privatised industries. British Aerospace and Cable and Wireless were sold in 1981. Then in 1982-83 the National Freight Corporation and Associated Business Ports were sold. British gas was sold in 1986. British telecom was sold in 1984. British gas was sold in 1986.

A showdown between the government and the trade unions took place with the 1984-85 coal strike. The National Coal Board announced the closure of certain collieries. Some Yorkshire coal miners went on strike in March 1984. However the miner's trade union leader, Arthur Scargill, refused to call a national ballot to decide if all miners should go on strike. Instead it was left to each region to decide.

That was a fatal mistake because miners in Nottinghamshire (who were much less likely to lose their jobs) stayed at work. As long as some miners kept working the strike could not succeed.

Furthermore the government was in a strong position. For one thing they had stockpiled coal. For another generating stations that usually burned coal could burn a mixture of coal and oil. Also striking miners could not claim welfare benefits. So all the government had to do was wait until poverty forced the strikers back to work.

The miners strike began to crumble in November 1984 as miners drifted back to work. By January more than half of all strikers had returned to work and the strike ended in March 1985. It was a severe defeat for militant trade unionism.

Furthermore during the 1980s the government passed a series of laws restricting the powers of the trade unions.

The 1990s

In 1990 the government introduced a new tax in England called the community charge (popularly known as the poll tax). It was very unpopular and in 1993 it was replaced by the council tax. Meanwhile Margaret Thatcher resigned in 1990. She was replaced by John Major.

In the middle of 1990 a long recession started and unemployment rose sharply. It was made worse by the government's decision to enter the exchange rate mechanism, which pegged the pound to certain European currencies. Britain was forced to leave the ERM in September 1992. Economic recovery began shortly afterwards. From 1993 onwards unemployment fell steadily and by 2000 it was at a level not seen since 1979.

Meanwhile in April 1992 the Conservatives won another general election, even though the country was in recession. Labour was forced to modernise, which meant ditching socialism.

In 1997 Labour finally won an election and Tony Blair became prime minister. He was followed by Gordon Brown in 2007. In 2009 England suffered a severe recession but by 2010 the nation was recovering and England remains a rich country.

k.p