Lecture 12 britain in the first half of the 20th century

1. The Beginning of the Century

At the beginning of the 20^th century Britain was no longer the mightiest country in the world, but it still was one of the greatest world powers. The Victorian Age was coming to an end — new ideas and life styles appeared. The Royal Dynasty also faced changes — in 1901 Queen Victoria died and her eldest son, Albert Edward became King Edward the Seventh. Edward took the family name of his father — Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

As the Prince of Wales, he took part in Brit­ish public life since 1863 — the time he took his seat in the House of Lords. Edward VII, as Prince of Wales had been a great support to the throne much before he filled it. He reigned as a constitu­tional sovereign, paying more attention to foreign affairs, military and naval matters.

During his reign Edward made a number of visits abroad uniting the countries of the Imperial Commonwealth. These countries, often called the "Overseas Dominions" were making steady pro­gress — Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand were developing as economically independent. Edward VII became known as a skilful diplomat, who paid great attention to the peaceful regulation of international conflicts.

Though on the world arena Britain managed to sustain uniformly friendly re­lations with other powers, at home the first two decades of the century were harsh. These twenty years, often called as "a period of extremism", saw the following events:

• The Liberals came to power to provide new economic policy. This party was supported by the new Labour Party, which appeared at the beginning of the century from an alliance of trade unionists and intellectuals.

• The Liberals and the Labourists provided a number of reforms aimed at es­tablishing better conditions for workers, aged and unemployed people.

But despite all these reforms, the 1900's and 1910's were full of bitterness, strikes and general extremism. There were strikes of workers, because work­ing conditions became worse and the Suffragettes (women demanding the right to vote) damaged property to draw attention to women's needs and de­mands. There were also Nonconformists, who demanded the disestablishment of the Church in Wales and the Irish Nationalists, who tried to make their country independent.

• The Trade Unions were getting more support among the working class. By the last years before the First World War they had already developed a politi­cal programme. The strikes organized by the Trade Unions, were of great im­portance— for they stopped the fall in wages and brought thousands of workers into the Union.

2. Death of Edward VII. King George V

In 1909 the political situation in Britain was developing into a constitutional crisis brought about by the refusal of the Conservative majority in the House of Lords to pass the Liberal budget of 1909. This crisis involved the Crown into seri­ous difficulties — King Edward was disturbed in mind and health by the progress of events.

The public hoped that the King's tact and experi­ence would help to bring order, but Edward's illness progressed. Finally, he died on May 6, 1909 of the heart failure. For his successful negotiations with many for­eign countries resulted in friendly relations Edward VII got the title “Edward the Peacemaker”.

After Edward's death his eldest son George V was made his heir to the throne. Later he changed the family name of his father Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor, be­cause during World War I it was thought better for the British king not to have a German-sounding name.

George V's reign began amid the constitutional crisis — now the House of Lords refused to pass a Parliament Bill limiting its powers. Finally, with the help of the new King this crisis was overcome.

George V ruled the country from 1910 to 1936, in difficult years of World War I and after it. He played a conciliatory role in conflicts with Ireland and in General Strike. After his death his eldest son Edward became the English King Edward VIII. Edward, who was a profes­sional pilot, created the King's Flight (now known as 32 The Royal Squadron) in 1936 to provide air transport for the Royal family's official duties.

In 1930, the Prince met and fell in love with a mar­ried American woman, Mrs. Wallis Simpson. She ob­tained a divorce in 1936, and it was clear that Edward was determined to marry her. Edward had to choose between the Crown and Mrs. Simpson, who as a twice-divorced woman would not have been acceptable as the Queen.

On December 11, 1936 Edward abdicated— he and any children he might have were-excluded from succession to the throne. In 1937, Edward was created Duke of Windsor and married Wallis Simpson.

After Edward's abdication the Crown passed to his young brother George, who was crowned as George VI.