Concetti Chiave
- The Edwardian period was marked by political, social, and cultural unrest, with significant movements like the Suffragettes demanding women's voting rights.
- Key social reforms during Edward VII's reign included the Old Pensions Act and the National Insurance Act, providing pensions and insurance for sickness.
- The Irish Question highlighted tensions between Catholic and Protestant populations, leading to internal conflicts and the rise of Sinn Fein.
- The early 20th century saw cultural transformations with mass media advancements like cinema, radio, and gramophone influencing public perception and political movements.
- The interwar period, known as the age of modernism, was influenced by new psychological theories from Freud and scientific concepts of relativity from Einstein.
Indice
The end of the Victorian Age
When Queen Victoria died Edward VII came to the throne. His reign was not prosperous and stable but Edwardian period was a time of a political, social and cultural unrest.The women demanded the right to vote and founded an association called "The Suffragettes": "Votes fo women" was their slogan. They used violence to achieve their purpose, in fact, the right of vote for women was granted in 1928.
There were two social reforms: The Old pensions Act, that guaranteed pension to people over 70, and the National Insurance Act, that insured workers against sickness.
Edward VII died in 1910 and he was succeeded by George V.
In this period comes the Irish Question: the major part of the Irish population was Catholic and wanted an independent Parliament in Dublin, but Protestant population preferred to stay under the British rule. Internal conflicts begun and it was coined the expression "Sinn fein" that in Celtic means "Ourselves Alone".
In 1914 the First World War started and provoked economic consequences: the fall in the value of money; the rise of taxation; war industries; a stronger foreign competition; difficulties in trade and workers went on strike.
The 20th century - resolution of the Irish Question
The United Kingdom faced the Irish question. During World War One, the Irish volunteers organized a rebellion, the Easter rising. The rebellion was stopped but it became symbol of heroism and patriotism.In the 1918 election the Sinn Fein party won but, instead of going in Westminster, to represent Ireland, they set up an Irish Parliament in Ireland, the Dial, and once more proclaimed an Irish Republic.
In 1919 the Irish volunteers became the IRA and prepared the country for a civil war. As a matter of fact, Sinn Fein used terrorist methods against the British police. The war ended with the proclamation of the Irish Free State in 1921.
George V died in 1936 and he was succeeded by his son Edward VIII. After two months he abdicated to marry an American lady.
His brother George VI succeeded him.
When George VI died, he was succeeded by his elder daughter Elizabeth, who married to Philip, Duke of Edimburgh.
Culture in the 20th century
The early 20th century was a period of cultural transformation.The end of the 19th century saw an explosion of technological innovation. Cinema, radio and gramophone changed the way people perceived the world. They represented powerful tools to mass information and propaganda and they also enabled Fascism to the rise to power so quickly in Germany and Italy.
Culturally, the inner-war period was called the age of modernism.
The first set of new ideas came from psychology and science.
Freud in his work the interpretation of dreams, explained that the development of human psyche is affected by subconscious. Freud’s theory also insisted on the idea that the super-ego, that is to say, the limits and restrictions imposes on the individual by society, such as education and moral law, can alter man’s behaviour.
He also introduced a new method of investigation of human mind through the analysis of dreams and the concept of free association which influenced many writers of the modern age.
In the field of science, the old certainties were lost because of the introduction of the concept of relativity by Einstein, whose theory was based on the subjective dimensions of time and space.
Domande da interrogazione
- Quali furono le principali richieste delle Suffragette durante il periodo edoardiano?
- Quali furono le riforme sociali introdotte durante il regno di Edoardo VII?
- Come si sviluppò la questione irlandese nel 20° secolo?
- Quali furono le conseguenze economiche della Prima Guerra Mondiale nel Regno Unito?
- Quali furono le influenze culturali e scientifiche durante il periodo tra le due guerre?
Le Suffragette chiedevano il diritto di voto per le donne e utilizzavano la violenza per raggiungere il loro scopo. Il diritto di voto fu concesso alle donne nel 1928.
Durante il regno di Edoardo VII furono introdotte due riforme sociali: l'Old Pensions Act, che garantiva una pensione alle persone oltre i 70 anni, e il National Insurance Act, che assicurava i lavoratori contro le malattie.
La questione irlandese portò a conflitti interni e alla nascita del Sinn Fein. Durante la Prima Guerra Mondiale, i volontari irlandesi organizzarono la ribellione di Pasqua, che divenne simbolo di eroismo. Nel 1919, i volontari irlandesi divennero l'IRA e la guerra civile portò alla proclamazione dello Stato Libero d'Irlanda nel 1921.
La Prima Guerra Mondiale causò una caduta del valore del denaro, un aumento della tassazione, lo sviluppo delle industrie belliche, una maggiore competizione estera, difficoltà nel commercio e scioperi dei lavoratori.
Il periodo tra le due guerre fu caratterizzato dall'età del modernismo, influenzato dalle idee di Freud sulla psiche umana e dalla teoria della relatività di Einstein, che cambiarono la percezione del tempo e dello spazio.
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