city; but only a fragment of his vast army returned to the Bad food, illness, snow, and severe cold had done what Russian soldiers could not do. west. The Battle of the Nations. 1813. Prussia now rose in revolt (1813). Austria declared war on Napoleon later in the year. The genius of the great Corsican and the valor of the French were as great as ever; but Napoleon's resources were now almost exhausted. At Leipsic, in the Battle of the Nations, his new army was crushed; his capital was seized; he was forced to abdicate and was allowed to retire to Elba,1 a little island of less than one hundred square miles in area. It proved too small to interest the mighty Napoleon; in less than a year he was again in France. The return from Elba. The European powers at once prepared to drive him from Europe. The final campaign was fought in Belgium where the allies had two armies, one commanded by Wellington and composed chiefly Waterloo. of English and Hanoverian troops, and a Prussian June 18, 1815. army under Blücher. The last battle was fought at Waterloo, where Wellington was the victor. Napoleon was exiled to the rock of St. Helena.3 Results of the French Meanwhile the rulers and diplomats of Europe had gathered at Vienna to reconstruct the map of Europe. In this so-called "congress" England was represented by Castlereagh; Wellington joined him later. It was the purpose of the congress to restore as far as possible the conditions that prevailed before 1789. In this, however, the reactionary diplomats were not wholly successful. The French Revolution had given the old absolutistic régime a blow from which Revolution. it never recovered. The movement had swept away feudal privileges, inefficient institutions, and much wornout governmental machinery, and these could not be restored. On the other hand, the Revolution had built up a new governmental régime for France based on popular consent; and to a large extent the new constitutional system and guarantees were 3 Cheyney, No. 404. 1 Robinson, No. 218. 2 Bates and Coman, 379-380 (Byron). allowed to remain. During the Great War the principles of the Revolution found their way into almost every part of western Europe, where they took root and produced a harvest of important changes in due time. Especially was this true of the countries that had for a time come under the direct or indirect control of Napoleon.1 488. Colonial Expansion. One of the results of the Great War was the annexation of certain very important colonial possessions to the British Empire. From the Growth of the French England took the island of Mauritius. British Empire. Trinidad and Tobago, two islands in the West Indies, were taken from Spain. Cape Colony at the southern extremity of Africa and what is now called British Guiana in South America were taken from the Dutch. The large and valuable island of Ceylon became a British possession in 1795. Malta in the Mediterranean Sea was seized by Napoleon when on the way to Egypt; two years later it was occupied by the English and was never returned. During the war there had India. been much trouble in India; in the end, however, the English were victorious everywhere and large territories in Southern India and in the Ganges Valley were added to the dominions of the East India Company.3 489. Summary. The French Revolution began in 1789, but England was not drawn into the struggle before 1793. During the first four years of the war, England and the allied states had but slight success; but in 1797 began a series of naval victories that swept the power of France and her allies from the ocean. The series includes the battles of St. Vincent, Camperdown, the Nile, Copenhagen, Trafalgar, and many lesser engagements. Unable to overcome England in any other way, Napoleon sought to ruin the country by crushing its trade. The commercial warfare lasted for several years but failed in its purpose. In 1808 Spain rose against Napoleon and the 1 On the larger European aspects of the French Revolution see Robinson, Western Europe, cc. xxxv-xxxviii, especially 567-574, 599-600, 622. 2 Gardiner, 844, 858-859. 3 Cheyney, No. 450. "Wars of Liberation" began. In these England had a large part; it was Wellington who drove the French out of Spain and it was Wellington who finally defeated Napoleon at Waterloo. Great War. The chief results of these wars for English history were three: (1) they left England without a rival on the ocean; (2) the Results of the British Empire was widely extended at the expense of the other colonizing powers; (3) the war consumed all the energies of the nation to the neglect of domestic matters, and when peace finally came, England had the problems of a generation to solve. REFERENCES . THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. Cross, History of England, 812-828; Innes, History of England, 712-717; Ransome, Advanced History of England, 854861; Rosebery, Pitt, c. vi; Tout, Advanced History of Great Britain, 593–597. IRELAND AT THE CLOSE OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. Fletcher, Introductory History of England, II, ii, 91-105; Jenks, Parliamentary England, 248255; Ransome, 876-878; Rosebery, 172–188. THE UNION WITH IRELAND. Fletcher, II, ii, 105-109; Innes, 738-742; Jenks, 308-317; Johnston and Spencer, Ireland's Story, c. xxvi; Lawless, Ireland, c. liv; Ransome, 878-880; Rosebery, 188–200. TRAFALGAR. - Fletcher, II, ii, 61-67; Innes, 746-749. PITT. Rosebery, c. xv. THE CONTINENTAL SYSTEM. THE WATERLOO CAMPAIGN. Fletcher, II, ii, 234-242; Innes, 749-753. Innes, 767-774; Morris, Wellington, c. ix; Ransome, 906-910. COLONIAL GROWTH DURING THE GREAT WAR. the British Empire, 296–301. Woodward, Expansion of CHAPTER XXV SOCIAL AND POLITICAL REFORMS 490. The Nineteenth Century. The nineteenth century was a period of vast changes in the social, political, and industrial arrangements of the United Kingdom. In general these changes have grown out of a purpose to give the masses a The growth of larger share in the government of the kingdom, in democracy. the rewards and wages of industry, and in the social benefits of the age. The keynote of the nineteenth century is democracy. The process of change has not been continuous, nor has it wholly been the work of the reforming elements of the nation. At times the interest in foreign affairs and in the problems of the empire has diverted the attention from domestic ills; but the agitation for reform has never been quieted, and the process still goes on. Of the many elements that have contributed to the reconstruction of English society, the industrial revolution was doubtless the greatest. The changes in the meth- The revolution ods of manufacturing, the increase in production in industry and agriculture. and commerce, and the shifting of the population to the northern counties of England have been sketched in an earlier chapter.1 The revolution in industry and agriculture went on for half a century or more, but no legal adjustment came before the close of the period. The old laws were applied to the new conditions, and the result was that much hardship had to be endured. For this failure to recognize the new conditions in legislation, the French Revolution and The French the consequent wars were largely responsible: the Revolution and excesses committed by the government of the new republic shocked the ruling classes in England and produced a 1 Review secs. 462-468. the reaction. violent reaction even among men of liberal minds.1 The Englishmen who were invested with authority steeled themselves against all changes that might seem to favor the laboring multitudes. The only important reform during the twenty-two years of war with the French was the abolition of the slave trade (1807). 491. Distress and Discontent.2 But after the Congress of Vienna had brought peace and quiet to the distracted nations Peace followed of Europe, the distressed condition of English by distress. society was brought home to English minds. The men who had been sure that peace would bring happiness and prosperity were keenly disappointed to find that misery seemed to be even more widely felt, and that in many quarters there was actual starvation. In country and in town the conditions were very much the same. Large meetings were held which sometimes ended in riots. Laborers who were out of work and could get no employment went about smashing machines. Loud protests came to the government from every part of the Governmental realm. The ministry, which was Tory of the sort repression. that worships the past and all existing institutions, replied with repression. Every movement that threatened the cozy quiet of the ruling classes was put down with unusual severity. distress. The causes of this general discontent were various, but they may be grouped under three heads. (1) The long war had on Causes of the the whole been beneficial to agriculture and industry, for the government had spent a vast amount of money every year in purchasing provisions and other supplies for the army and the navy. When the war ended, there was no longer any demand from this direction, and many workmen suddenly found themselves out of employment. The soldiers and sailors who were now dismissed were another disturbing factor in the labor market. (2) The crop of 1816 was a failure, and in the summer of that year food products sold at a higher price than perhaps ever before in English history. (3) But the 2 Gardiner, 876-879. 3 Cheyney, No. 408. 1 Review sec. 475. |