Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 09.djvu/220

* CHEAT BBITAIN. 194 GKEAT BRITAIN. ance with France iu the Crimean War (1854-50), bj- which Russian aggression againsl Turkey was checked, was actuated by the same motives. The leading statesman iilentiiied with this aggressive policy was Lord I'ahiierston. In the early part of the reign of Victoria the British Empire in India exjianded willi giant strides, Sindli, the Punjab, and (Judh being annexed between 1843 and 1846. The so-called Opium War with Cliina (1840-42) gave Hong Kong to England. In 1857 occurred the terrible mutiny of the Indian Se- poys, the native troops in British employ. On the suppression of the mutiny, Parliament put an end to the authority of the East India Com- pany by making India a Crown colony. Its Gov- ernor-General (henceforth Viceroy) was brought directly under the British monarch. Dui-i'ng the third Derby Jlinistrj% Disraeli, its real leader, carried the Second Reform Act, by the aid of the Liberals, in 1867. This act established practical household suffrage in the towns, thus giving to the workingnien a voice in political alfairs, and greatly enlarged the suf- frage in the country. The first Jlinistry of Gladstone, which folioT'ed (1868-74), resembled the iMinistry of Earl CJrey in the number of re- forms it inaugurated. The attempted Irish revo- lutions of 18 i8 and 1867 (see Fexi.x Society) had convinced ilr. Gladstone of the necessity of the redress of Irish grievances. In 1869-71 the Irish Church was disestablished and disendowed. A Land Act in 1870 compelled landlords to com- pensate tenants for improvements in cases of eviction, and provided for Government loans to tenants wishing to buy their holdings. For- ster's Education Act provided for national pri- mary schools and for compulsory attendance, in place of the public aid which had previously been given to private institutions. The purchase of positions in the army was abolished in 1871, and the Ballot Act of 1872 instituted secret vot- ing at elections. Gladstone's foreign policy was one of non-interference in European wars and justice to the neighbors of the colonies. He set- tled the Alribnmii Claims by the payment of $15,- 000,000 to the L'nited States, in accordance with the decision of a court of arbitration which sat at Geneva in 1871. The second Jlinistry of Disraeli (1874-80), on the other hand, was noted cliiefly for its aggres- sive foreign policy. He had Qiieen Victoria pro- claimed Empress of India in 1877. His interfer- ence robbed Russia of the fruits of her victory over Turkey in 1878, and secured Cyprus for Eng- land, and in the same year he made war U])on Afghanistan, whose sovereign was leaning to- ward Russia. In Africa a controlling interest in the Suez Canal was acquired, the Transvaal was annexed (soon, however, to be set free), and the Zulus were subdued. In his second Jlin- istry (1880-85) Gladstone also was compelled to extend the Empire by suppressing the revolt of the native Egyptians under Arab! Pasha against the dual control of the finances of Egypt by France and England. As a result of this war Egypt came under British control. Forster's Land Act of 1881 provided for fair sale, fair rents, and fixity of tenure in Ireland, and the Third Reform Act in 1884 gave to the country the universal suffrage already practically estab- lished in the towns. The chief interest of English politics in recent years has centred in the local government acts. Home Rule measures for Ireland, and the South .frican War. The local government measures ( 1888, 18tl2, 18'J'J) took the local government out of the liands of the gentry by the establishment of county councils (q.v. ) elected by the people. Under this act Greater 1-ondon at last received the self-government it had so long deserved by being organized as a county. The proposed Home Rule acts were a result of the demands of the great majority of the Irish people luider the leadership of Charles Stewart Parnell. Glad- stone's first act, in 1885, was rejected by the Commons, and caused the disruption of the Lib- eral Party. A strong minority, under the lead- ership of Lord Harlington and .Joseph Cham- berlain, revolted, and, assuming the name of Liberal L'ninnists. joined the Conservatives. Glad- stone's second Home Rule measure (1895) was accepted by the Commons, but rejected by the Lords, and the ne.t general election returned the Conservatives to power with Salisbury as Pre- mier. The aggressive policy of Joseph Cham- berlain, the Colonial Secretary, involved the na- tion iu a blood.Y war with the two Dutch republics of South Africa in 1899. The begin- ning of the war was marked by brilliant vic- tories of the Boers, but the overwhelming num- bers of the British, rmder the able leadership of Lord Roberts, compelled the Boers to break up into small contingents. Though these little bands fought with bravery and persistence, and were in strategy superior to the enemy, they could ration- ally hope to accomplish little against such odds. The leaders w'cre accordingly reduced to the ne- cessity of at last signing the terms of peace, May 31. 1902. In the course of this struggle Queen Victoria died, January 22, 1901, univer- sallv lamented, and was succeeded by her son, Edward VII. One great result of this war has been the loyalty to the mother country shown by the British colonies. The growth of democracy at home and the expansion of England into a vast colonial empire abroad are the two most promi- nent features of British political development in the nineteenth century. In 1867 the cliief American colonies north of the United States were federated into the Dominion of Canada. A powerful commonwealth has grown up in Aus- tralia, and on .Tanuary 1, 1901, was formed into a federation on the model of the United States. Cape Colony, which w'as wrested from the Dutch in 1806, has giown into an important country. These and several other of the colonies have been granted home rule on democratic principles, and their federation with the mother country into a vast empire is the most important question now confronting British statesmen. BlBLTOGRP]lv. Of original sources for the his- tory of early and mediiBval England, mention may be made of the AnfjloSaxon Laws, edited by Thorpe (London. 1840) ; also the various col- lections in the "Rolls Series," the publication of which was begun at London in 1856. The best secondary sources for tile period are Stubbs, Con- stitutional IJistori/ of England (3 vols., Oxford, 1895-97). authoritative on all matters pertaining to constitutional development, but dealing only incidentally with political history. The best work for the political history of this period is the old one bv Lappenberg and Pauli, Geschichte von England '^(5 vols.. Hamburg, 1854-58); Green, nistory of thu English People (4 vols., London,