Letteratura Inglese 3

The twentieth century in Britain

The twentieth century was the era in which Britain was the biggest empire in the world: it possessed ¼ of the lands of the world, indeed it was called “the empire where the sun never sets” (since it was always daytime in one of the colonies).

The condition of the colonies were horrifying and local people had to work long hours to earn money and, moreover, they rarely participated in the political decisions of the country, and for these reasons the XXth century was the time in which local rebellions against Britain started.

India was one of the first colonies to obtain its independence. We can remember Gandhi, who was one of the most famous local leaders of the peaceful protests against the motherland. He was against the injustices of the British oppression in India and he condemned them, and also thanks to him, at the end of the 1960s, the majority of Indian territories were independent.

The way Britain colonized the territories was not peaceful: they imposed their language, their religion and their culture. That’s the most important reason why English became a global language.

The Empire not only changed the colonies, but it also changed Britain itself because many people from the colonies came to the motherland in order to improve their conditions.

Literature and culture

From a literary point of view, one of the most important English writers was Rudyard Kipling. He was Indian and spent a part of his life there, and eventually he moved to England. He started his career as a journalist and in his works he exalted the British Empire. Kipling is very known for works such as “Kim” and “The Jungle Book”.

Not all the writers used to exalt the British Empire in the same way as Kipling. The perfect example is George Orwell, who is famous for his utopian literature. His very first novel is “Burmese Days” (1954), it is set in Burma during the days in which the Empire was still strong in India, but the purpose of the novel was to portray the dark side of the British Empire. Since he was also a journalist he used an acute observation of reality in order to write his novel, which describes both the indigenous corruption and empirical bigotry.

However, the colonies were very important, since Britain imported raw materials and products from them (such as tea, which is an Indian product). Thanks to the colonies' raw materials, it was possible to organize the Great Exhibition in 1851. It was organized by Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria. It took place in a building that was considered itself a great innovation, the Crystal Palace (designed and built by Joseph Paxton).

Technological advancements

This period was very important because of the great changes in transportation, indeed it was built the new railway lines, whose most important was the Liverpool-Manchester railway. The “Railway Act” in 1921 was the most important act regarding movement and transportation.

All these changed the way of looking at reality, since there was a great passage from carriage to train. It was a real revolution (or better evolution) since it allowed people to travel quicker and safer; it also stimulated people to move more often than in the past.

The House of Windsor

After Queen Victoria died in 1901, after 60 years of reign there were:

• 1901-1910: Reign of Edward VII;
• 1910-1936: Reign of George V;
• 1936: Reign of Edward VIII;
• 1936-1952: Reign of George VI;
• 1952-2022: Reign of Elizabeth II;
• 2022-still on charge: Reign of Charles III.

After the death of Queen Victoria, her son Edward VII succeeded her on the throne, he belonged to the House Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, but during the First World War, due to an anti-German sentiment the name was “Windsor”, in 1917. Edward VII was succeeded by his son, George V. At his death, his eldest son, Edward VIII was designed to rule, but he abdicated after revealing his love affair with the American actress Wallis Simpson. He had no children, so the crown passed to George VI and then to his daughter Elizabeth II, who was the most long-lived sovereign of England. After her death, she was succeeded by her son Charles III.

It is important to highlight some events that took place during King George VI’s reign:

• The World War II (1939-1945);
• The independence of India and Pakistan (1947);
• The cruise ship ‘Empire Windrush’ brought West Indians to the U.K. (1948);
• Apartheid laws passed in South Africa (1950).

The First World War

There are 5 main causes for the outbreak of the First World War, which are:

• Imperialism > It is a situation in which one country has a lot of power and influence over others, especially in political and economical matters. Before the war, Africa and parts of Asia were points of contention among the European countries because of their raw materials. The increasing competition and desire for greater empires led to an increase in confrontation that helped push the world into WWI;
• Nationalism > It is a nation’s wish and attempt to be politically independent. Much of the origin of the war was based on the desire of the Slavic peoples in Bosnia and Herzegovina to no longer be part of Austria-Hungary but instead be part of Serbia. In this way, nationalism led directly to the War;
• Militarism > It is the belief that it is necessary to have strong armed forces and that they should be used in order to win political or economical advantages. By 1914, Great Britain and Germany both greatly increased their navies. Further, in Germany and Russia particularly, the military establishment began to have a greater influence on public policy. This increase in militarism helped push the countries involved into war;
• Mutual defence alliances > Over time, countries throughout Europe made mutual defense agreements that would pull them into battle. These treaties meant that if one country was attacked, allied countries were bound to defend them.
• The assassination of the Archduke of Austria-Hungary.

So, we can say that the immediate cause of the First World War was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary, in June 1914. This assassination led to Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia. When Russia began to mobilize due to its alliance with Serbia, Germany declared war on Russia. Thus, began the expansion of the war to include all those nations involved in the mutual defense alliances.

The Great War became a global war in August 1914, and this summer was called “the Golden Summer 1914”.

The Liberal Party decided to create measures so that the Party could explain that liberals were traditionally against war but, because of the general consensus and in order to avoid a crisis, they had to join the war. This means that both Liberal and Conservative Parties agreed on the same political choice.

David Lloyd George, the British Prime Minister, immediately decided that it was necessary the transition to a state of total war and he decided that the government should control everything, so for the first time ever the government could act quickly due to the absence of many processes, and this decision was approved even by the monarchy. Consequently, the Royal Family had to face some problems because of their bloodline, and due to this, in 1917 King George V decided to change the name of the British Royal Family into the House of Windsor.

An entire generation died during this war. A lot of young boys were recruited by the government thanks to propaganda: posters were printed that made the army look exciting, other posters told men it was their duty to join, that they would feel proud if they did and guilty or embarrassed if they didn't join. These posters were not created by designers but they were made by the Parliamentary Recruiting Committee, and they helped recruiting to remain steady during 1915 and 1916. They were also improved by the Office of War Information (OWI) in Britain.

The most common themes for recruitment posters were: patriotism and the fear of invasion. Propaganda was spread even through newspapers, which had a great importance during WWI (the most important was the “Birmingham Gazette”).

It is important to say that at that time there were 2 ways of fighting: movement and trenches. The First World War was a war of trenches, which were one of the most relevant creations of this war. This means that soldiers were forced to dig, in order to make the trenches and protect themselves. Trenches were built with sandbags, wooden planks and even stinking mud. As we can notice, the environment was not healthy, indeed a lot of soldiers used to die for the bad hygienic conditions.

However, according to some historians, the British Army was the best trained and equipped army ever sent to war. One of the most important and worst battles fought by the British Army was the Battle of the Somme (British and French Army against German Army). According to historians, it lasted 141 days.

The war was not only fought in trenches, but even throughout oceans and seas. The Royal Navy was the largest navy in the world because of the Naval Defence Act (1889), thanks to which the British Empire decided to maintain a number of battleships at least equal to the combined strength of the next two largest navies in the world, which were France and Russia. During the First World War several means were used in order to attack, but the most important were the bombs and the chemical weapons (chlorine, phosogene and mustard gas). These last ones were used in this conflict for the first time ever, and they were very dangerous since they caused serious injuries.

Women started to be laborious in order to help during the war, so they passed from being the Victorian “angel in the house” to productive women of the XXth century. They had positions in the factories and helped even in the medical field, in which there were a lot of nurses. From that moment on, we start talking about working women, who began to work at a young age. It was very important because it signed a step forward to the independence of women.

The consequences of the First World War

The WW1 was on one hand a time of great social, political and cultural change, but on the other hand it caused an industrial and political unrest. The only point of view which was advantaged by the outbreaking of the war was the military one, indeed the First World War was the catalyst for the more major military technological advancements.