Innovation: The History of England Vol. VI, Ackroyd - B

               The  20th century opened with the UK in crisis after the frustrations and failures of the Boer Wars. An army not up to the usual standards barely defeated a guerrilla insurgency, while opening concentration camps in which thousands of civilians died. No longer did the populace believe that the empire was bringing prosperity and civilization to the world; they realized that the empire was primarily exploitive. The UK's economic dominance was fading, with its share of worldwide manufacturing dropping from 30% in the 1870's to 10% thirty years later.  The rise of Germany, in conjunction with England's slow decline, was an ongoing cause for concern. As the Germans spent more and more on its armies and navies, the kingdom had to respond. The UK also faced many domestic challenges including worker demands for a safer and better life, strikes, women's suffrage, parliamentary reform, class struggles, increased duties on the aristocracy, the health and welfare of the poor and an agricultural depression. But there was no greater challenge to the foundation of the British state than that of Ireland. England's dominion over Ireland was without the consent of the people who wanted home rule. The Liberals introduced their third attempt at a Home Rule Bill in 1912 and were met with fierce Tory opposition. Indeed, the Tory leader suggested that, if necessary, violence in the streets would stop the bill if it passed. The Unionists in the four northeastern counties of Ireland would never submit to Dublin rule, nor would their Tory supporters approve of their being subjugated to Catholics. A bill passed in 1914, but was not implemented because of the impending war.

             The UK declared war on Germany in August. The war was an unmitigated catastrophe for all of Europe's participants.  Kitchener's volunteers only army was supplemented when conscription was introduced in 1916. That spring saw the famous Easter Rising in Dublin, which was a complete failure and led to the imposition of martial law. Although the rebels failed, they stirred the emotions of an Irish populace that had been meekly waiting for home rule. The endless slaughter on the western front began to sap morale across the country, as it was perceived to be a case of the upper class sending their underlings to doom. The war that historians later called the catastrophe that begat all the later catastrophes ended in November, 1918. Peace and victory were met with recession, a vast national debt, and a reemergence of the Irish question. In 1919, Ireland declared its independence. The IRA began to wage guerrilla war against the occupiers. Lloyd George recruited unemployed veterans to 'police' Ireland and the Black and Tans proceeded to hunt down and execute the rebels. Martial law was proclaimed. At the urging of the King, the PM offered dominion status to the Irish Free State and for the six counties in the north, to continue in the UK. A year of civil war followed as many in Ireland wanted total independence. In the end though, the Irish reluctantly accepted the terms offered.

             The 1920's was a decade of economic, political and social turmoil. The kingdom's place in the world was slipping, the empire was fraying and the bitterness over the slaughter in the trenches continued. A general strike was declared in 1926. An attempt at Keynesian economics couldn't muster enough support. The coup de grace came with the market crash in 1929, followed by a worldwide depression.  By taking the pound off the gold standard, the country set the stage for a reduction in interest rates and a decrease in the costs of imports. For many, a recovery was underway. However, unemployment continued for the lower classes, who referred to the 30's as 'the devils decade'. The UK generally supported the League of Nations, focused on its empire, and took a hands-off approach to the rising of fascism on the continent. After all, the larger threat was always communism. When Italy attacked in northern Africa, the League sought sanctions, but Baldwin demurred, and King George, fearful of another continental bloodbath, supported the PM. Baldwin was followed by Chamberlain whose policy of trying to appease Hitler failed. September 1939 saw Europe once again facing the abyss. The war was a challenge for the UK, but one that was met with pluck, aplomb and bravery. Churchill led the country in its finest hour, and with Russia and America on his side, triumph followed. 

         The June 1945 election turned out Churchill and opted for Labour's platform of a new welfare state. The nation was in a state of "material haemorrhage." Austerity Britain followed with rationing that lasted almost a decade. The crowning achievement of Labour's tenure was the introduction of the National Health Service in 1948.  As Britain struggled, it saw the empire begin to vanish. Most important was India, which achieved independence in 1947. Palestine was left to its own devices the same year. The Mau Mau's rebelled in Kenya. The failure of Eden's foreign policy when Nasser took over the Suez Canal in 1956 highlighted the UK's impotence on the world stage. 

        England's status in the world took a turn for the better in the 60's thanks to the Beatles, Stones, the Who and the Kinks. The author suggests that there was so little to do for youngsters growing up in the 50's that playing your own music was one of the few creative outlets. The government of Harold Wilson vastly expanded educational opportunities affording opportunity for the less well off. Wembley in 1966 was the highpoint of the decade for sports fans, as the host country defeated Germany for a victory in the World Cup. The following decade saw Heath at 10 Downing Street, where he was met with a fusillade of labor woes. A miners strike opened 1972, only to be followed by a docker's strike that led to the first of four declarations of a state of emergency. Oil shortages and a ramping up of inflation came next. Inflation soon dropped the value of the pound to the point that reserves were so low that the government had to borrow from the IMF. The emboldened unions pushed for wages because of the relentless rise in prices, but the country couldn't afford to pay them. All came to a head in the 1979 election that brought in the country's first and only female PM.

      The Thatcher revolution would not juggle "incompatible priorities," but rather it would crush inflation, the power of the national unions, and reduce taxes. Industry was privatized and home ownership rose. Thatcher unleashed a "capitalist revolution." She reclaimed the kingdom's pride in the 1982 Falklands War. She made the first overtures to Gorbachev. Her tenure began to come apart in the late 80's as the party struggled with the forthcoming adoption of a common currency in the EU. She resigned in 1990 and viewed her actions as not overturning the postwar settlement, but rather "had withdrawn it to frontiers of the feasible." She was succeeded by Major, who sided with the US in the First Gulf War and signed the Maastricht Treaty further integrating Europe. The Tories had pegged the pound to the Deutschmark and interest rates rose because of  German unification. That led to a 1992 run on the pound that was the first crack in the foundation of Tory rule. The following year, the PM announced that Charles and Diana were separating. Throughout the decade, troubles with the IRA, EU issues, immigration, and the wars in the former Yugoslavia battered the ruling party. May of 1997 saw the end of an eighteen year Tory run with the introduction of the Blair ministry and Cool Britannia. A few months later, the nation, indeed the world, was shocked by the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. The decade closed with the adoption of the Good Friday Accords, a step in the right direction hopefully pointing toward a resolution of the kingdom's most intractable issue. The Millennium Dome was built and the twentieth century came to an end. "It may be that as the millennium progresses, the English will recover what was once their glory - a capacity for awe."

     The author is one of the great writers in the English language. He has done a fine service with this six volume narrative. I have rated four B, one C and one A. Interestingly, the first one, Foundations, which stretched from Roman times to the Tudors was the one I liked the most. I felt that the volumes on the 20th, and in particular the 19th, centuries bogged down in partisan political issues of no consequence to an American. That said, the series is superb.