On the Rise and Fall of Great Britain

On the Rise and Fall of Great Britain

ID: 2010211740 Name:陈紫忻 Class: 10级7班 Score:

中文摘要

英国,又称大不列颠及北爱尔兰联合王国，是由英格兰、苏格兰、威尔士和北爱尔兰组成的联合王国。英国采用君主立宪制政体，王国政府所在地为英国首都伦敦。英国本土位于欧洲大陆西北面的大不列颠群岛，被北海、英吉利海峡、凯尔特海、爱尔兰海和大西洋包围，气候温和湿润。国土面积约为24.5万平方公里，人口超过六千万，位居欧洲第三。英国拥有英国是工业革命的发源地，也是第一个现代化的国家，是一个具有多元文化和开放思想的社会的国家。通过工业革命和殖民扩张，它在19世纪和20世纪早期是世界上最强大的国家，被称为“日不落帝国”。但是经过两次世界大战和20世纪下半叶大英帝国的崩溃，早已失去昔日的荣光。不过，英国仍然是一个在世界范围内拥有巨大影响力的政治、经济、文化和军事强国。

Abstract in English

Great Britain, also know as The United Kingdom of Great Britain and North Ireland, is made up of England, Scotland, Wales and North Ireland. The British system of government is known as constitutional monarchy and the government is located in its capital city London. Lying in the British Isles to the northwest of Continental Europe, Britain was surrounded by the North Sea, the British Channel, Celtic Sea, Irish Sea and the Atlantic Ocean with a mild and moist climate. It occupies an area of about 245,000square kilometers and has a population of more than 60.0 million people which ranking third among European countries. Britain is the birthplace of industrial revolution and the first modernized country in the world, with a society of multi-culture an open mind. It once had been the most powerful country in the world through Industrial Revolution and Colonial Expansion and was called the Great Empire on which sun never set, but its splendid past was gone forever in the wake of two World Wars and the decline of the empire of the early 20th century. Nevertheless, Britain is still a political, economical, cultural and military great power which has great influence on the world.

关键词：革命；扩张；帝国；世界大战；衰落

Key words: Revolution; Expansion; Empire; World War; decline

1. The Rise and Development of the Bourgeoisie

1.1 The Rise and Development of the Bourgeoisie The

decline of feudalism made the merchants and craftsmen, the forefather of the Bourgeoisie, gradually showed their importance. The shortage of labor resulting from the Black Death and the Peasant Uprising thus served to weaken the feudal bond over the peasants and pave the way for capitalist development. A lot of nobles had lost their heads during the War of the Roses and many big feudal households had been destroyed. As a result, the position of the Tudor Monarchy was greatly strengthened and the influence of the new-born bourgeoisie increased.

With the development of the profitable clothing industry, more wood was needed and many land owners wanted more lands, so England witnessed the Enclosures. The dispossession of the peasantry caused much suffering to tenants and resulted in peasant uprising in 1549. Though it failed, it slowed down the spread of the hated enclosures. Feeling the impact resulting from the shortage of gold and silver, England started great voyages of discovery. The discovery of new lands and adventurous voyages not only enlarged man’s field of vision and sped up social and economic development, but also enabled the landed gentry and the merchants rapidly accumulate wealth and become the forefather of the English bourgeoisie.

1.2 The Bourgeoisie Revolution After the great mental emancipation movement Renaissance which raised the main stream of humanism and promoted the development of science, more advanced persons came to doubt and challenge the old dogma of the church, which gave rise to the Henry Ⅷ’s Reformation. The Reformation was actually a reflection of the class struggle waged by the new rising bourgeoisie against the feudal ruling class and its ideology. What’s more, it had criticized those religious doctrines which served feudal relations and deprived the church of its lands and wealth, weakening one of the mainstays of feudal order. During Elizabeth’s tenure, she

created a strong united country in which there should be no religious persecution and Protestantism gradually became the dominant faith. In foreign affairs, she also made an effort to avoid wars and knocked open foreign markets which in turn stimulated Britain’s domestic development of industry and commerce by granting charters to merchants for the establishment of monopoly companies. At last, sea fights between Spanish and English ships ended with the failure of Spanish ships—the Invincible Fleet, which established the position of England as a major sea power. Foreign trade had been expanding and colonial plunder increasing too. Her policies met the need of the rising bourgeoisie and large amounts of wealth flowed into England. The foundation of the empire was already laid then and it was going to take shape soon.

The conflict between the bourgeoisie and the crown escalated in the early years of the 17th century. When James Ⅰ reigned, the class contradictions became acute and complicated. After Charles Ⅰ ascended to the throne, the Civil War broke out. Till after the Glorious Revolution, William succeeded his brother Charles II, the constitutional monarchy in English began which brought with it the establishment of the capital system: the feudal nobles had ceded power to the bourgeoisie.

2. Industrial Revolution and Colonial Expansion

2.1 The Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was a necessary result of social development in Britain. It was an outgrowth of social and institutional changes brought by the end of feudalism after the English Civil War in the 17th century. The Enclosure Movement and the Agricultural Revolution were driving more and more peasants off their lands; as a result, they had to seek new employment to survive. Through colonial expansion of the 17th century with the accompanying development of international trade, the greedy English capitalists accomplished their “primitive accumulation of

capital”. All these factors combined to make England the first country to undergo the Industrial Revolution.

The Industrial Revolution in Britain first began in the textile industry because of the short supply of yarn. Lots of inventions were made to improve thread-making techniques and the productivity was increased by 200 times. As the 18th century began, coal came to replace wood in the productive process. The crucial development of the Industrial Revolution was the use of steam for power, and the James Watt’s invention of the steam engine led to the fast development of the iron, steel and coal industries. The expansion of production and trade promote the transportation revolution. Afterwards, the first steam locomotive was built in 1814 by Stephenson. The Industrial Revolution turned Britain into the “workshop of the world”. English products flooded the world market. The English bourgeoisie amassed large amounts of wealth through trade, plunder and colonization. No country was strong enough to match England in the 19th century. The Industrial Revolution simplified the class structure in Britain. Revolution pushed the middle class to the dominant position in the country though the noble class was still prominent in Parliament and bureaucracy. However, as the urban workers were more completely dependent on the will of the employer, relations between capital and labor were aggravated and the contradiction between two classes became the major problem in English society. The gravitational center of the English economy also changed. The agricultural South became less important than areas in central and north England, owing to their raw materials and cheap labor for industry. The industry had replaced agriculture as the main source of national income and wealth. The Industrial Revolution had profound significance on England; it enabled Britain to go far ahead of all the other countries. It became the workshop of the world and London became the financial center of the world trade and the English language was used in many parts of the world. The empire came into being during the Industrial Revolution.

2.2 The Colonial Expansion In a sense, foreign plunder, expansion and aggression were both cause and effect of the Industrial Revolution which enabled the British bourgeoisie to establish the largest empire that history has ever seen. English colonial expansion began with the colonization of Newfoundland in 1583. After Elizabeth ascended the throne, she encouraged the foreign colonization and granted charters to merchants for the established companies, such as the East Indian Company, to knock open foreign markets which in turn stimulated Britain’s domestic development of industry and commerce. The destruction of Invincible Fleet Armada not only established the position of England as a major sea power but also paved the way for its foreign expansion. When Victoria reigned over the English empire, aggression reached its peak. Encouraged by Britain’s control of seas, especially by the rising tide of emigration, Britain colonialists stepped up their expansion to Canada., Australia and New Zealand.

Owning to the expansion, large amount of wealth flowed into Britain, leading to economic prosperity and social civilization. Towards the end of 19th century, the world was already partitioned, with old colonial countries such as England and French taking the lion’s share. Britain had built up a big empire, “on which the sun never set”.

3.3 The Great Empire When the British Empire was in its prime of life, it occupied 33million square kilometers, taking up one fifth of the world dry land. The area was about 135 times as large as Great Britain. It ruled over a population of 560 million, which was more than 10 times as large as that of Britain. What’s more, the Britain fleet controlled the main sea routes and the strategic spots along them. The British Empire was on its crest and became the most powerful and important country in the world. That’s “the sun never setting” Great Empire-Britain.

3. World WarⅠ and World WarⅡ

3.1 World WarⅠ Towards the end of the 19th century, some other countries also established their large manufacturing industries. They were also in need of foreign markets and raw materials. But the world was partitioned and most was colonized by England and France. But some younger capitalist countries became very aggressive, they demanded more lands. As a result the contradiction between repartition and anti-repartition became extremely fierce. In the beginning, Britain had maintained her “splendid isolation” policy which was aimed at preserving balance of power in Europe. However, Britain found it impossible to sit on the fence in the changed world, so she signed the Triple Entente with France, Russia and U.S.A against the Triple Alliance including Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy.

The First World War broke out in 1914 and ended in 1918. Though Britain and its Allies won the war and Britain got more colonies from Germany, Britain was also a loser. During the war, Britain lost over 1 million people and its 70% of its merchant ships. To finance the war, Britain government borrowed 100million dollars from America. This caused Britain to become a debtor nation. London was consequently replaced by New York as the world’s most important financial center. Britain’s foreign trade declined to about only half of the prewar total. The clearest manifestation of Britain’s weakened position in the world was the Washington Naval Conference which limited the number of American, British, and Japanese war ships to the ratio of 5:5:3. Britain lost its position of the world’s leading shipping nation and entered an era of social change, economic recession and large scale unemployment. By 1921 there were over two million unemployed. There were strikes and hunger marches. The effects of the New York Stock Market crash at 1929 soon spread throughout Europe and by 1931 Britain was entering the Great Depression. Of course, Britain could still claim to be among major powers, but it was no longer the strongest power in strength.

3.2 World WarⅡ The First World War did not remove the basic contradictions between imperialist powers. In 1929, another serious economic crisis started in America and soon spread to other countries. Banks failed, factories closed down and foreign trade declined sharply. Endless demonstrations and strikes caused by large unemployment shocked the whole capitalist world. Thinking it unjust for Germany to pay a large war indemnity, Adolf Hitler who made use of the desperate situation started military expansion and war preparations. At start, British government followed a foreign policy of non-intervention or appeasement. After Britain made many compromise, she found it impossible to satisfy Germany’s demands. Britain thus was forced to declare war on Germany and the Second World War broke out in 1939. However, Britain was ill-prepared for war. To deal with this serious situation, the whole nation was mobilized and industries were centered on war production. Externally, Britain entered into alliance with anti-fascist countries to form a united internal front. After six years of fierce fighting, the Second World War came to an end with Britain and its allies winning the war.

The Second World War indicated in the last stage of the disintegration of the British Empire. During World War II, Britain suffered great loss and London was repeatedly bombed. Having devoted her entire strength into the war, Britain was left gravely impoverished. She lost one-quarter of her national wealth and entered upon a period of economic and financial difficulties. Its financial was greatly weakened and it had to rely on America aid for its economic reconstruction. On the other, awakened and tempered by the war, consequently, most if its colonies in the world swept a large scale of independence movement. By the year 1970, Britain had lost all its former colonies except Hong Kong.

3.3 Postwar Britain After the two World Wars, much burden was

laid on her and the Great Empire had gone downhill. Britain was no longer in the leading class in the world’s economy and underwent enormous economic

difficulties. She lost the privilege in the industrial technology. Its financial was greatly weakened and it had to rely on America aid for its economic reconstruction. On the other, awakened and tempered by the war, consequently, most of its colonies in the world swept a large scale of independence movement. By the year 1970, Britain had lost all its former colonies except Hong Kong. Because its economy relied heavily on foreign markets and imports of raw materials, the losses of its colonies impose a great influence on Britain. She lost expansive lands and a large amount of British population, which weakened its power and was out-competed by other countries.

Conclusion

Looking back from Britain’s rise to fall, it is not difficult for us to find that Britain can become the European most powerful country and then the strongest country is a result of its new policy, technology and expansion. The rising bourgeoisie gave rise to the end of the feudal system and ushered a new stage to come. The Industrial Revolution turned Britain into the “workshop of the world” and England was the world’s economic center. And after the colonial expansion, wealth flooded in Britain and the great empire on which the sun never set was established. However, as we all are concerned, one’s previous glory doesn’t guarantee her a brilliant future. When the British were resting on their laurels, the world situation changed. When other countries were researching advanced technology and developing their economy, England was unwilling to adopt new technology and new equipment, she thus lost the monopolize position in the world’s industry and sea power. After two World Wars, the Great Britain’s power declined heavily. Though she won both of two wars, she is still a loser. Many problems were emerging, economic plunge, weakened sea power, loss of foreign colonies, large unemployment, and so on. It can no longer claim to be the most powerful country in the world. However, though it had lost its landlord position, the nation as a whole was not crushed

by despair, it was still a powerful country in the world but not the strongest. Taking the rise and fall of Great Britain as an example, we may learn that a country want prosperous, it needs to go through a hard road. But after being glorious, resting on one’s laurels is a road to death. Technology is the development for all, so we must accept new things and ideas and let our mind emancipated from old stereotype!

Bibliography

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_of_Great_Britain_and_Northern_

Ireland

http://www.cnki.com.cn/

http://baike.http://m.wodefanwen.com//view/3565.htm

安来芳，英美概况，郑州：大象出版社，2004

陈 德，新编英美概况，西安：西安交通大学出版社，2008

by despair, it was still a powerful country in the world but not the strongest. Taking the rise and fall of Great Britain as an example, we may learn that a country want prosperous, it needs to go through a hard road. But after being glorious, resting on one’s laurels is a road to death. Technology is the development for all, so we must accept new things and ideas and let our mind emancipated from old stereotype!

Bibliography

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_of_Great_Britain_and_Northern_

Ireland

http://www.cnki.com.cn/

http://baike.http://m.wodefanwen.com//view/3565.htm

安来芳，英美概况，郑州：大象出版社，2004

陈 德，新编英美概况，西安：西安交通大学出版社，2008

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