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History and society
U n i t
The British Empire
The British
Empire in 1902,
when it was at
its largest.
The Irish question.
Relations with Ireland had always been difficult,
but they worsened during Victoria’s reign, due to recurrent famines,
especially the
potato blight
of 1845. Since the Irish economy and
people’s diet were based on potatoes, when the crops failed, emigration
to the United States or to England was the only alternative to starvation.
A
movement for Irish independence
began, led by Charles S. Parnell
(1846-91), who asked for Home Rule (self-government) for Ireland. He
convinced Prime Minister Gladstone to present the Irish Home Rule
Bill in the Houses of Parliament (1886), but it was twice rejected.
DICTIONARY
blight
a disease which makes plants
wither
European policy.
Britain’s European policy from 1830 to 1851
was shaped by the Liberal Lord Palmerston, then Britain’s foreign
minister. He was convinced that British interests – identified with
political liberalism and free trade – were opposed to those of European
monarchies such as Austria and Russia, which were absolutist and
protectionist. Britain therefore set herself at the head of the liberal forces
in Europe.
A conflict came with the
CrimeanWar
(1854-56), due to a dispute
between Turkey and Russia over their border. Britain and France sided
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