The growing hostility of England towards the development of the revolution in France finally led to war between the two countries. In 1793 using the execution of the French king as a pretext England severed diplomatic relations with France and declared war. England together with Austria, Prussia and Spain already at war with France formed […]

The people of England had suffered many hardships during the Napoleonic wars, from which they expected relief with the coming of peace. Instead of relief, however, there followed a period of a severe economic and political crisis. For one thing, industry was considerably upset by the sudden change from a war time to a peace […]

The Whig party seeing the disastrous consequences of the policies of open reaction pursued by the Tories began to advocate moderate measures of reform which appealed to the industrialists. The Whig leadership began to disassociate itself from the principles of the Vienna Congress which disregarded the national interests of the peoples of Europe. Both at […]

The Reform Act of 1832 fully satisfied the interests of the industrial bourgeoisie which was set to consolidate its gains. On the other hand the Whigs who were in power and expressed the interests of the industrialists were eager to pacify the country as the workers realizing that they had been cheated stepped up their […]

 In 1836 a trade and industrial crisis broke out as a result of which thousands of workers became unemployed. In 1836 the Working Men’s Association was organized in London by William Lovett, a cabinet-maker from Cornwall. The latter, a typical representative of radical artisans was under the strong influence of such parliamentary radicals as Francis […]

By the middle of the 19th century Britain established her industrial superiority in the world as well as her dominant position in world trade. The ‘metropolis of capitalism’, as Karl Marx called England increased the number of its cotton-spinning and weaving factories from 1932 to 2483 during the 50s and 60s of the 19th century. […]

After the defeat of Chartism and in a period of industrial upsurge, the English workers’ movement assumed a purely economic character. The advantageous position of Britain as world workshop, its supremacy in trade, the tremendous profits derived from the colonies made it possible for the bourgeoisie to split the working class by bribing the top […]

The 19th century in English history crowned the effects of the Industrial Revolution. Capitalism made substantial progress. There was no mistaking that great material changes had taken place. The sight of new agricultural machinery in the fields and the flaring passage of trains across the countryside were both reminders of the progress of the century, […]

One  of  the  most  significant  things  about  the  industrial  development  of  the  eighteenth  century  was  the  requirement  of  extensive  capital  to  carry  on  industrial  undertakings  on  the  larger  scale  which  now  became  the  rule.  It  is  obvious  that  a  factory  could  not  be  built  without  a  huge  amount  of  capital  for  the  building,  the  expensive  […]

The  population  employed  in  the  cotton  factories  rises  at  five  o’clock  in  the  morning,  works  in  the  mills  from  six  till  eight  o’clock,  and  returns  home  for  half  an  hour  or  forty  minutes  to  breakfast.  This  meal  generally  consists  of  tea  or  coffee  with  a  little  bread.  The  tea  is  almost  always  of  a  bad  […]