
England and Scotland in
the 17th century
A) regional difference
B) religion
C) revolution 1688
D) Act of Union

Developments in Ireland
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George III. and the
American revolution
A) domestic politics
B) colonial unrest

Act of union with Ireland
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Rise of GB in 18th century
A) Society
B) Politics
British colonial expansion
A) first British Empire
B) wars
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Revolution and War
A) French revolution
B) Napoleonic Wars
Industrialization and
Progress
A) The impact of
Industrialization
B) Political reforms

A union of England and Scotland seemed unlikely at the
beginning of the 17th century. The two nations had been
periodically at war with each other for almost 700 years
as a result of disputes over control of border regions and
occasional attempts by the English to expand northward
into Scotland. In order to protect its independence,
Scotland maintained a traditional alliance with France,
England’s primary enemy on the European continent.
When Elizabeth I of England died childless in 1603,
James VI of Scotland, a member of the royal house of
Stuart and a relative of Elizabeth, inherited the English
throne. In addition to ruling as James VI of Scotland, he
now became James I of England
Regional Differences
 Scotland
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James held royal authority in two kingdoms that were very different:
Scotland was:
sparsely populated
its land was largely barren and infertile. Rocky soil, a cold and wet climate,
and insufficient irrigation prevented agriculture from thriving. A long
tradition of self-sufficient farms and estates discouraged trade and limited
the growth of industry.
Scotland was divided into two distinct regions, the Highlands and Lowlands.
By far the largest concentration of population in Scotland was in the
southern Lowlands around the two principal cities: Glasgow and the capital
city, Edinburgh. The Lowlands were fully integrated into royal government;
the king ruled with little opposition.
Scotland’s Parliament met rarely and dealt with limited issues. In the
Highlands, however, the royal government had little direct influence.
Clans—social groups based on extended family ties—still dominated the
region.
England
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In contrast, England at the beginning of the 17th century was a dynamic
society, growing rapidly in population and wealth. England’s south and east
had fertile agricultural land. In the north and west, estates carried out sheep
herding on a large scale. A thriving export trade existed in wool, grain, and
other products. England’s capital city, London, was one of the largest cities in
the world.
The Tudor monarchs, who ruled England from 1485 to 1603, had effectively
centralized English government by the early 17th century. The nobility—the
once powerful class of landowning aristocrats—no longer formed a powerful
independent political force, but instead served the Crown and became
dependent on royal support. The gentry—landowners with country estates—
formed the core of royal government in the countryside, enforcing the law as
sheriffs or serving as justices in the local courts.
Although the Tudors centralized administration, they failed to implement a
financial system to pay for the escalating costs of government. Rents on royal
lands, supplemented by limited taxes on imports and on the church, barely
financed government administration. During wars or times of emergency, the
monarchy had to request funds from Parliament, which alone had the right to
approve additional taxes and to pass new laws
Religious Differences
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

Religious issues also separated the two nations. Both
the Church of Scotland and the Church of England were
Protestant churches. However, in England the monarch
reigned as head of a compliant, centralized church.
Henry VIII had established the Church of England in
1534 with the monarch as its supreme head. His
successors maintained tight royal control over church
affairs and held the final say in matters of religion.
John Knox preached a form of Protestantism to the
people of 16th-century Scotland. Later called
Presbyterianism, this religion became a symbol of
Scottish nationalism. Church leaders strongly resisted
efforts by Scottish monarchs to establish control over
the church.
James had less control over Scotland’s church.
Protestantism had made major gains among the
people, and a Presbyterian system, built upon
independent local church organizations, formed without
royal approval. In 1560 the Scottish Parliament
accepted the Presbyterian form of Protestantism as the
official religion. James appointed bishops to establish
his authority over the church, but the Presbyterian
system remained intact on the local level and continued
to decide many religious matters independently of the
king and the bishops.
Revolution of 1688


Protestant political leaders launched a revolt against James II. The
Revolution of 1688 deposed James in favour of his nephew,
William of Orange. William was a Dutch Protestant noble who had
married James’s daughter Mary. An act of Parliament made Mary II
and William III joint monarchs in 1689.
The revolution deeply divided the Scots. As the head of Scotland’s
royal family, James II continued to attract loyalty, especially in the
Highlands. The most powerful Scottish politicians and aristocrats
were willing to accept William III only if he gave Scotland greater
freedom to govern itself. William granted the Scots a nearly
independent Parliament and pledged not to interfere in the
Scottish church. William later made several overtures for a political
union, offering the Scots the benefits of free trade with England,
participation in the emerging English Empire, and guarantees to
preserve Scotland’s legal, religious, and political institutions. The
Scots rejected these proposals.
The Act of Union

William and Mary were childless,
as was Mary’s sister, Anne, who
succeeded to the throne in 1702.
To assure a smooth transition of
power to a Protestant monarch, in
1701 the English Parliament
passed the Act of Settlement,
which stated that a German
branch of the royal family, the
Hannovers, would succeed Anne
as the monarchs of England. The
Scottish Parliament refused to
ratify the act, creating the
potential that the two kingdoms
would split after more than 100
years under the same monarchs.
Queen Anne
Anne, queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland, based
much of her administration on the advice of her ministers.
Anne had no children, and her ministers, fearful that
Scotland might ally with the French following her death,
pressured the Scottish Parliament into agreeing to merge
the two nations into a single kingdom.
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The English feared that an independent Scotland might ally itself with
France and provide a backdoor for a French invasion of England. The
English fear of an invasion was especially strong at the beginning of the
18th century. At this time, England led a coalition of nations that were
struggling to prevent Louis XIV of France from gaining mastery over
Europe. After 1701 the stakes increased as Louis attempted to establish his
grandson on the throne of Spain. The ensuing War of the Spanish
Succession (1701-1714) engulfed most of western Europe as England, The
Netherlands, Denmark, Austria, and later Portugal formed an alliance
against France and Spain.
To avoid facing an enemy on the northern border, Anne’s ministers
threatened the Scottish Parliament. They warned Scotland that they would
treat all Scots as aliens in England, stop all trade between the nations, and
capture or sink Scottish ships that traded with France. These threats led the
Scots to accept the union with England.
In 1707 Great Britain was born. Fear had led the politicians of both nations
to a union that would prove durable for hundreds of years. The Act of
Union of 1707 created a single national administration, removed trade
barriers between the countries, standardized taxation throughout the island,
and created a single Parliament. However, England and Scotland continued
to have separate traditions of law and separate official churches.
Developments in Ireland

Catholics had gained hope of a return to power in Ireland during the
reign of James II, who appointed Catholics to positions of authority
in the royal administration and the military hierarchy of the island.
Following the Revolution of 1688, James II fled to Ireland, where he
raised an army of Catholic supporters. William III defeated the
Catholics and once again imposed the firm rule of Protestant nobles.
Although Ireland had its own Parliament, which was composed of
Protestant landowners, the real power lay with royal officials, who
administered the island based on orders from London. The
Protestant rulers of Ireland instituted a series of highly restrictive
laws that excluded Catholics from owning land or firearms, from
practicing certain professions, and from holding public office. These
discriminatory laws united Ireland’s Catholic population in opposition
to Protestant.
Rise of Great Britain

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Great Britain emerged from the War of the
Spanish Succession (1701-1714) as one of the
world’s great military powers. Traditionally a
naval power, Britain had built a modern,
professional army during the reign of William
III. This army, under the brilliant military
leadership of John Churchill, 1st duke of
Marlborough, led the anti-French alliance to
decisive victories. On the seas, the British navy
captured the island of Minorca in the
Mediterranean and the strategic fortress of
Gibraltar, which guards the entrance to the
Mediterranean, on the southern coast of Spain.
These victories gave Britain control over the
Mediterranean.
In 1713 and 1714 a series of treaties known as
the Peace of Utrecht brought the war to a
formal conclusion. As a result of the war, Britain
gained Gibraltar and important trade
concessions from Spain, including a monopoly
on the slave trade to the Spanish colonies. From
the French they won the colonies of Nova
Scotia, Newfoundland, and Hudson Bay
John Churchill, 1st Duke of
Marlborough
John Churchill, known as
Marlborough, was one of
England’s greatest military
commanders
18th-Century Britain

British society was stratified in the
18th century, with a tiny
aristocracy and landed gentry at
the top and a vast mass of poor at
the bottom. For the aristocracy,
the 18th century was its greatest
age. British lords who controlled
large estates saw their wealth
increase from a boom in
agricultural production, an
expansion of investment
opportunities, and the domination
of the government by the
aristocracy. They built vast palaces
and developed new areas of
London, Edinburgh, and Dublin.
The monarchy almost exclusively
appointed aristocrats to the most
important political offices.

Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire,
England, was designed in 1705 by
British architects Sir John
Vanbrugh and Nicholas
Hawksmoor. Blenheim is an
example of the stately mansions
constructed during the 18th
century by England’s increasingly
wealthy aristocracy.

In contrast to the aristocracy, the gentry lost much of the political and
financial influence it had wielded since the days of the Tudor monarchs. Many
holders of small estates found that land was no longer the secure source of
wealth it had once been, especially with the high taxes imposed on
landowners to finance Britain’s wars. The immense estates of Britain’s
aristocratic class provided their owners with a constant flow of funds, while
higher taxes often consumed the profits generated by the smaller estates of
the gentry. Although the gentry’s status in the local community was secure,
merchants who traded luxury commodities overseas soon eclipsed the gentry
in wealth and influence on the national level during the 18th century.


Society in the 18th century was becoming more fluid than in the past, in part
because of the growth of the middle classes in towns and cities. Middle-class
families earned their livings in trade or in professions, such as law and
medicine. They valued literacy, thrift, and education, ideas that were spread
by thinkers of the Age of Enlightenment. Especially influential were
philosophers John Locke and David Hume and economist Adam Smith. Locke
and Hume stressed the importance of the senses and the environment in
shaping the individual. Locke also described the human mind as a blank slate
that was to be filled by education and experience. Smith, in his book The
Wealth of Nations (1776), demonstrated how the efficient organization of
economic activity created wealth.

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Increased literacy and education spread throughout the country. In towns, the middle
classes established lending libraries to distribute books, clubs to discuss ideas, and
coffeehouses to debate politics. Newspapers became the most popular form of media, and
more than 50 towns produced their own newspapers by the end of the century..
The newest form of literature was the novel. Pamela; or Virtue Rewarded (1740) by
Samuel Richardson was one of the first works of this genre. The writings of novelist Jane
Austen were popular toward the end of the century. The rise of the middle class was also
seen in the most important religious movement of the era, Methodism. Founded by
theologian John Wesley, Methodism encouraged the population at large to believe personal
salvation could be achieved without relying on the formal rituals of the Church of England.
Wesley directed his energies to labourers and the poor, but his message was derived from
the attitudes of the middle class.
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Poverty dominated the lower reaches of British society, especially as the
population grew and food prices rose in the middle of the century. Towns
swarmed with homeless families, the sick, and individuals with disabilities.
The government and charitable organizations established orphanages and
hospitals, as well as workhouses where the unemployed could find
temporary work. While women and children were left to live in poverty, the
government forced able-bodied men into military service by the thousands.
London experienced the worst of this situation. Poor migrants flooded the
city seeking work or charity; most found an early death instead.
Paradoxically, improvements in sanitation, medicine, and food production
allowed many poor people to live longer lives, increasing the population of
poor and adding to the problems. The epidemics of plague and smallpox,
which had routinely killed a third of the people in towns during earlier
centuries, were now a thing of the past. The production of cheap alcoholic
beverages, such as gin and rum, eased some of the pain of the poor, but
increased alcohol consumption also raised the level of violence and crime.
Crime was so common in 18th-century Britain that Parliament made more
than 200 offences punishable by death. Executions were weekly spectacles.
To deal with excess prison populations, the British government deported
many inmates to British overseas colonies. The government sent tens of
thousands of convicts to the Americas as indentured servants and
established the colony of Australia as a prison colony at the end of the
century.
Penal Colony
The Port Arthur penal settlement in Australia was in service from 1830 to the
1870s. The high-security colony housed 2000 prisoners at a time and was known
for its harsh discipline. It was restored in 1979 and today is a popular tourist
destination.
18th-Century British Politics

Following the union with Scotland,
the British government functioned
according to an unwritten
constitution put in place after the
Revolution of 1688. This
agreement between the monarchs
and Parliament provided for the
succession of Anne’s German
Protestant cousin, George of
Hannover, and his heirs. It
excluded from the throne the
Catholic descendants of James II
who now lived in France and who
periodically attempted to regain
the throne. Their supporters were
known as Jacobites, and they rose
in an unsuccessful rebellion in
1715. The Church of England
remained the official religious
establishment, but most
Protestants who belonged to other
churches enjoyed toleration.

The revolution also resolved the
struggle for power between the
monarch and Parliament, which
had been an ongoing issue under
the Stuarts. Parliament emerged
as the leading force in
government. The Hannoverians
ruled as constitutional monarchs,
limited by the laws of the land.
During the 18th century, British
monarchs ruled indirectly through
appointed ministers who gathered
and managed supporters in
Parliament..

The Hannoverian monarchs associated
the Whig Party with the revolution that
brought them to power and suspected
the Tory Party of Jacobitism. As a result,
the Whigs dominated the governments
of George I (1714-1727) and his son,
George II (1727-1760). Neither king was
a forceful monarch. George I spoke no
English and was more interested in
German politics that he was in British
politics. George II was preoccupied with
family problems, particularly by an
ongoing personal feud with his son.
Although they both were concerned with
European military affairs (George II was
the last British monarch to appear on a
battlefield), they left British government
in the hands of their ministers, the most
important of whom was Sir Robert
Walpole.
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George II
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Walpole led British government for
almost 20 years. He spent most of his
life in government, first as a member
of Parliament, then in increasingly
important offices, and finally as prime
minister. Walpole had skillful political
influence over a wide range of
domestic and foreign policy matters..
Walpole kept Britain out of war during
most of his administration. A growing
sentiment in Parliament for British
involvement in European conflicts
forced Walpole to resign in 1742.
In 1745 a Jacobite rebellion posed a
serious threat to Whig rule. Led by
Charles Edward Stuart, the grandson
of James II, the rebellion broke out in
Scotland. The rebels captured
Edinburgh and successfully invaded
the north of England. The rebellion
crumbled after William Augustus, who
was the duke of Cumberland and a
son of George II, defeated the
Jacobites at Culloden Moor in Scotland
in 1746.
British Colonial Expansion
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First British Empire
Britain already controlled many overseas areas by the 18th century. For
more than 100 years English explorers had ventured east and west in
search of raw materials, luxury goods, and trading partners. The eastern
coast of Canada gave the British access to rich fishing grounds, New
England provided timber for the Royal Navy, the southern American colonies
exported tobacco, and the West Indies produced sugar and molasses. From
Asia came coffee, tea, spices, and richly colored cotton cloth. From western
Africa came slaves who were sent to work on plantations in the Americas
and the Caribbean.
The first British Empire sprang from the enterprises of individuals and
government-sponsored trading companies. They risked money, ships, and
lives to establish England’s presence around the world. The British
government created royal monopolies—private companies to whom the
monarch granted exclusive rights to trade in a particular region or field of
commerce. For example, the East India Company had a monopoly to trade
in the east, the Royal African Company to enter the slave trade, and the
Hudson’s Bay Company to exploit the fisheries of Nova Scotia and
Newfoundland. The lands that these companies claimed became
possessions of the Crown, and investors bought shares in successful
companies on the London Stock Exchange.
Hudson’s Bay Company
For over 200 years the Hudson’s Bay Company sent explorers and traders into
the wilderness of Canada’s Northwest Territories. This 1882 illustration shows
an expedition loading up on supplies at one of the company’s trading posts.

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The most important of Britain’s imperial possessions, however, were not
trading posts but settled colonies in the Americas. In Massachusetts,
Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island, settlers established communities for
religious reasons; in Virginia and Barbados, farmers, trades people, and
merchants were in search of economic opportunity. As a result of successful
wars with The Netherlands and Spain, England acquired New York and
Jamaica, both thriving settlements. Prosperous cities sprang up along the
eastern seaboard of North America in imitation of the towns of Britain.
England’s colonies grew rapidly. The tens of thousands of settlers in the
mainland North American colonies in 1650 grew to 1.2 million inhabitants
by 1750.
The Navigation Act of 1651 regulated trade between England and its
colonial outposts. The act followed an economic philosophy known as
mercantilism. Under this system, governments regulated economic activities
by increasing exports and limiting foreign imports in an effort to generate
wealth. According to the theory of mercantilism, the value of colonies lay in
their natural resources, which could be transported to Britain and converted
into exportable products. The Navigation Act benefited British merchants by
restricting the types of products produced in the colonies, mandating that
only British ships transport products to and from the colonies, and
prohibiting direct trade between the colonies and other nations. Mercantile
policies made Britain the greatest centre of trade in the world.
Imperial Wars

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As a consequence of its military
exploits under William III and the
duke of Marlborough, Britain had
become a great power. Britain’s
military strength and its growing
prosperity created an international
rivalry among the three great
colonial powers—Britain, Spain,
and France.
Spain controlled extensive colonies
in Mexico and Central and South
America. Because the Spanish and
British empires both employed the
restrictive mercantile system to
regulate trade with their colonies,
Spanish and British colonies were
not allowed to trade directly with
one another. The Spanish navy
attacked British ships when they
attempted to trade in South
American ports. However, Spanish
traders carried on a lucrative
smuggling operation with the
British colonies, exchanging sugar,
rum, molasses, and other goods
for raw materials and agricultural
products from the British colonies.


Relations were particularly tense
between Britain and France. The
French resented the expansion of
Britain’s American colonies as well
as the ban on direct trade
between the colonies and nonBritish merchants. French
territories in the Americas included
Saint-Domingue (the largest of the
Caribbean sugar islands),
mainland North America from the
Ohio Valley to the Mississippi
River, and all but the easternmost
part of Canada. Clashes between
French and English forces became
frequent in the North American
colonies.
. In the mid-1700s Britain became
embroiled in two major wars. Both
the War of the Austrian
Succession (1740-1748) and the
Seven Years’ War (1756-1763)
were world wars, fought by great
armies on the European continent,
by navies in the Atlantic, and by
privateers in the West Indies and
the spice-rich islands of Asia.

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
The War of the Austrian Succession
erupted following the death of Charles
VI, Holy Roman emperor and archduke
of Austria. The war was fought over
the succession of his daughter, Maria
Theresa. It pitted England, The
Netherlands, and Austria, who were
trying to defend Maria Theresa’s
succession, against an alliance of
France, Spain, Bavaria, Prussia,
Saxony (Sachsen), and Sardinia. After
eight years of fighting, the conflict
ended when the Treaty of Aix-laChapelle confirmed Maria Theresa as
Charles’s heir. The treaty returned
almost all the conquered lands to their
original owners, except for the
Austrian province of Silesia, which was
ceded to Prussia.
The Seven Years’ War was one of the
greatest of all British triumphs. A
coalition of Britain, Prussia, and
Hannover fought against France,
Spain, Russia, Austria, Sweden, and
Saxony. The war began as a European
conflict, when Maria Theresa
attempted to regain Silesia from
Prussia. It soon expanded into a major
contest between Britain and France for
control of their colonial empires.

British prime minister William Pitt, 1st
earl of Chatham, engineered the
expansion of the war. Pitt was known
as William Pitt the Elder to
differentiate him from his son, William
Pitt the Younger, who served as
Britain’s prime minister in the late 18th
and early 19th centuries. Pitt’s family
made its fortune in colonial trade, and
Pitt saw clearly that Britain’s best
interest lay in enlarging its colonial
empire rather than in dominating
Europe.
In 1757 he captured Chandernagore,
the principal French settlement in
India, and at the Battle of Plassey he
defeated the army of the Indian ruler
of Bengal. These victories established
a permanent British foothold in India.
In North America, where the war was
known as the French and Indian War,
British general James Wolfe took
Québec and drove the French from the
province. At the conclusion of the war,
Britain secured all French territory in
Canada and east of the Mississippi and
acquired Florida from Spain. The
Treaty of Paris, which ended the war in
1763, represented a French surrender
around the globe.
Seven Years' War, Indian Theater
Britain defeated the French at the Battle of Plassey, thus denying
France control of Indian territories. The victory paved the way for
more control by the English East India Company, which became the
de facto government of the region.
William Pitt, the earl of Chatham
William Pitt, the earl of Chatham, led his country
to victory over France in the Seven Years' War. He
is also known for his defense of the rights of the
American colonists. His son, William Pitt, became
one of England's great prime ministers and led his
country to prosperity after the financial ravages of
the American Revolution.
George III and the American Revolutionon


Although William Pitt had become
a national hero, he did not survive
the change of monarchs in 1760.
George III came to the throne
determined to rule Britain without
the help of the Whigs. He chose
his former tutor, Lord Bute, as his
first chief minister, but quickly
replaced him with a series of
successors. George III was
determined to participate actively
in Parliament’s political decisions;
this brought him into conflict with
his own ministers, who foresaw
parliamentary opposition to a
politically active monarch. The
king also faced opposition from
critics such as political reformer
John Wilkes, a member of
Parliament who was arrested for
libel when he criticized one of the
king’s speeches.
George III
Britain’s King George III governed during
the time of the American Revolution.
Besides losing the American colonies, the
war nearly bankrupted his country. He took
an active role in the British government
and new territories were acquired to
replace the loss of the American colonies.
In his later years he suffered from bouts of
insanity.
Colonial Unrest

Britain’s role in the imperial wars cost the country a staggering amount, and
the national debt rose higher than it had ever been before. In order to
lower the national debt, the king’s ministers decided to make colonial
government pay for itself. Beginning in 1763 Parliament passed laws to tax
colonial commodities such as sugar, glass, cider, and tea. The most
controversial of these duties was the Stamp Act of 1765, which taxed legal
documents and publications. Americans not only complained about the cost
of these taxes, they also questioned the British government’s right to
impose them. They decried being taxed by Parliament when they were not
allowed representation in British government.


The American Revolution (1775-1783)
divided the governing classes in
Britain. Prominent intellectuals such as
political philosopher Edmund Burke
were accused of treachery for
supporting the colonists. However, the
government of Prime Minister Lord
North continued to try to enforce
colonial taxation. In 1775, 13 of the
American colonies rebelled against
British rule.
The American Revolution gave
France and Spain an opportunity
to strike back at the British
Empire. Both supported the
American colonists with money
and ultimately declared war on
Britain. The British army was
unprepared for war in North
America, and it suffered a series
of humiliating defeats,
culminating in the surrender of
British general Charles Cornwallis
to American forces at Yorktown,
Virginia, in 1781. When hostilities
ended, Florida was returned to
Spain, and the 13 rebellious
colonies achieved independence
as the United States of America.

The loss of the American colonies
came at great cost to Britain’s selfimage. George III was blamed for the
disaster, and he decided to withdraw
from direct control of government. He
would soon have the first of a series of
bouts with mental illness that
eventually left him incapable of ruling
the nation.
Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquis
Cornwallis
British general, who achieved initial
success against the American
continental army in the American
Revolution. But General George
Washington, with the aid of a French
fleet, surrounded Cornwallis at
Yorktown, Virginia, and forced Cornwallis
to surrender, ensuring an American
victory in the war.
Act of Union with Ireland


In Ireland, Protestants formed volunteer military groups during the
war, supposedly to defend the island from a French invasion. Backed
by these groups, the Irish Protestants pressured the British
government into granting greater independence to the Irish
Parliament in 1782. This independence did not last long.
In 1798 three antigovernment activities shook the confidence of the
Irish Protestants. A revolt broke out in May and June among
Catholic peasants, while a group of dissenting Protestants in Ulster
also rose in rebellion; in August a small French army landed in
western Ireland. All three challenges were handled by British troops.
These events caused widespread concern among the Protestant
elite about their ability to maintain political power in Ireland. In
1800 the Irish Parliament approved an Act of Union that made
Ireland an integral part of the new United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland. The Irish Parliament was dissolved, and Irish
representatives were seated in the British Parliament
Revolution and War



In 1783 the king turned power over to William Pitt the Younger, who was
only 24 when he became prime minister. Pitt, the son of a former prime
minister, immediately set about repairing the damage that had been done
to the colonial empire by the recent losses. The India Act of 1784 removed
the administration of India from the English East India Company and placed
it directly under the control of the British government. Pitt’s greatest
concern was to reduce the huge debt acquired from nearly a half century of
warfare. He encouraged the resumption of trade with the United States. Pitt
also created a fund to pay government creditors and to accumulate the
money necessary to repay long-term loans. This strategy might have
resulted in financial stability had it not been for developments in France.
French Revolution
In 1789 the French Revolution erupted. French citizens rose against their
monarch, Louis XVI, eliminated the ancient legal distinctions based on social
class, and established a republican government. The French revolutionaries
invited all of the peoples of Europe to follow their example. Conservative
monarchs throughout Europe were hostile toward the revolution. Within a
few years wars broke out between France and a number of European
powers.
Battle of Trafalgar
Britain’s warships defeated
the combined fleets of France
and Spain off Cape＠ÿrafalｧÿｲ
ÿｩÿ 1805Ｎÿÿhe victory gave
Britain maritime supremacy
that, except for clashes with
French fleets during the
Napoleonic Wars, remained
unchallenged for more than a
century.
Horatio Nelson
British naval commander
Horatio Nelson gained fame
and the gratitude of his
country when he destroyed a
combined French and Spanish
fleet led by Napoleon that
was prepared to invade
England
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In 1793 France declared war on Britain, and the final phase of nearly 500
years of warfare between France and Britain began. It was a titanic
struggle. Initially, Britain stayed out of the land war in Europe and chose
instead to focus on defending its colonial possessions and maintaining
control of the seas. In 1798 British admiral Horatio Nelson defeated the
French navy in Egypt, securing India’s safety throughout the war. The Royal
Navy captured nearly all of the important French colonies in the West Indies
and Africa. In 1805 Nelson achieved one of the greatest of all naval
victories at the Battle of Trafalgar when he defeated a combined French and
Spanish fleet.
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were fought between France and a variety of
European nations from 1799 to 1815.
Napoleon’s policy of blockading trade between Britain and the European
continent hurt British trade. In response Britain instituted a blockade of
goods going into or out of European ports controlled by Napoleon. The
British policy of stopping and searching ships suspected of travelling to
French-held areas of Europe led to the War of 1812 (1812-1815) between
Britain and the United States. The war began when the United States
insisted that Britain had no right to stop, search, or seize ships belonging to
neutral countries.
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After Napoleon invaded Russia in
1812 and suffered a disastrous
defeat, Britain mobilized its forces
for a land war and joined a
coalition with Russia, Austria, and
Prussia. The center of fighting
shifted to Spain, where a British
force under the duke of Wellington
successfully fought its way across
the country and invaded France in
1813. Two years later Wellington
led the coalition of forces that
decisively defeated Napoleon at
the Battle of Waterloo and ended
the French revolutionary wars.
The Congress of Vienna, which
ended the Napoleonic Wars, was a
great diplomatic victory for Britain.
France was left intact but its
continental neighbors achieved
security of their borders. The
treaty created a balance of power
among the nations of Europe that
led to 40 years of peace on the
continent. With peace established
in Europe, Britain was free to
spend its energy and resources on
expanding its overseas empire.
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of
Wellington
British general Arthur Wellesley,
1st Duke of Wellington, is best
known for his victory over
Napoleon at the famous Battle of
Waterloo in 1815. A leader of the
Tory party in the British Parliament
as well as a soldier, Wellington
was known as the Iron Duke for
his steadfastness.
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