- •Билет 21. The glorious revolution. The bill of rights.
- •Билет 22. The cultural history of the 17th century.
- •Билет 24. The growth of British political system in the 18th century.
- •Билет 25. The colonial wars: the League of Augsburg and of the Spanish Succession.
- •Билет 26. The beginning of the making of the British colonial empire.
- •Билет 27. The Act of Union of 1707.
- •Билет 28. The 1715 and 1745.
- •Билет 34. The Industrial Revolution.
- •Билет 35. The machine production and the population. The Speenhamland Act of 1795.
- •Билет 36. The cultural history of the 18th century.
- •Билет 37. Britain after the war of American independence.
- •Билет 38. Britain and the French Revolution. The wars with France.
- •Билет 39. Britain after Waterloo.
- •Билет 40. The liberal reforms of the 1820’s.
Билет 36. The cultural history of the 18th century.
One of the pecularities of the English culture in the 18th century is the appreciation of foreign models. Aristocrats went to Europe, mixed with the society of foreign courts and capitals and brought back statues, pictures, French literature and philosophic ideas, Italian music and poetry. Europe admired British institutions and thinkers, so the cultural links were quite strong. The growing interest in history and archaeology was responsible for Neoclassicism of the period, a return to the ancient Rome and Greece. As for the philosophy, scepticism began to develop. The new philosophy calls all in doubt: miracles, soul, existence of the God. The 1780’s formed the transition between the Classical and Romantic ages.
Literature The English drama was dying, no plays were written between 1714 and 1760. The stage lacked new material. There was a rise of the novel (Swift’s “Gulliver’s Travel”, Defoe’s “Robinson Crusoe”, Samuel Richardson, Henry Fielding) with the new method of writing in the 1st person. On the whole, the books of this period are romances rather than novels, focusing on the events more than on the characters. Documentary: books on history of music (Hawkins ans Burney), historical books. Samuel Johnson – “Dictionary” Oliver Goldsmith, Laurence Sterne 1740-1770 – brief revival of drama (Goldsmith, Sheridan)
Fine Arts and Sculpture English painting was limited to portraits (Joshua Reynolds, Allan Ramsay) Sculptors turned to portrait busts (Michael Rysbrack, Peter Scheemakers) William Hogarth – painted illustration to “The Beggar’s Opera”, “Shrimp Girl”, one of the greatest masters, but was not fashionable at that time. Thomas Gainsborough – “Mr and Mrs Andrews” – lyrical in landscapes and portraits George Romney – neoclassicist, idealist Reynolds is a remarkable master of the period. Studied in Italy, had the monumental manner 1768 – Reynolds is the President of the Royal Academy.
Architecture There came the Palladian row of town-houses, which remained standart for a century. The Palladian house soon spread to the provincial towns. (John Wood) Robert and James Adam – architectors, interior and furniture designers, recreated Roman style.
Music English musicians began to assert themselves. 1724 – Three Choirs Festival formed for charitable purposes. 1728 – “The Beggar’s Opera” was a great success. Johann Christian Bach (“The English Bach”) – the first writer of symphonies in England. The music was not treated seriously in England, Italian opera has become snobbish cult. Though the books about history of music were published.
Билет 37. Britain after the war of American independence.
The war of American Independence ended as a war of Britain against half the world. Spain and France fought it by land and sea and threatened its communication with India. Russia, Prussia, Holland and Scandinavian powers united their forces to defend the rights of neutrals against England. In Ireland Protestants and Catholic united to break the system which supressed their interests. The recovery of 13 colonies, which became the USA, was definitely impossible. All that showed that the King’s personal government was ineffective, and the Tory and right Whigs had to go, as they brought the country in such a state. 1785 – William Pitt the Younger became the PM as the head of revived Tory party. The first decade of Pitt’s ministry was the time of peace and reconstruction. Pitt reconstitued the finances of the country, restored the prestige, began to build a new British Empire, modernised and secured the governments of Canada and India. He restored the power of PM as the true governor of the land. The Tory party became the instrument of progress. George III’s attempt to revive the power of the Crown was failed, and there was a restoration of aristocratic Parliamentary government. The government depended only on the Houses of Parliament. The old Whig and the new Tory oligarchies were much the same. Everything went according to “Hanoverian” scheme of things. But the only change was that Whigs defended the existing system against Stuarts, and the Tory defended the same system against democratic movement and armed French revolution. When the parties were about to work at the issues of religious equality and Parliamentary reform, the news the French Revolution (1789-1791) came, and with the wars that followed, there were no political changes for 30 years.