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| 1876, May 1 |
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| Queen Victoria was proclaimed empress of India. This move demonstrated the strength of the new imperialism, which had been heralded by Disraeli in his Crystal Palace Speech (1871). | 1 |
| New imperialism. A growing interest in gaining and holding imperial territories in the late 19th century was championed by nationalists like Joseph Chamberlain. English interests abroad grew out of a combination of nationalism, security, and the desire to control trading routes and resources. All of these issues came to a head in the scramble for Africa, which Britain became involved in because of economic interests in Egyptian solvency, concerns over access to the Suez Canal, anti-British sentiments in both Alexandria and South Africa, and the adventures of English explorers. | 2 |
| Party reorganization. After the reforms of 1867, both Liberals and Conservatives reorganized their parties and tightened the party control. Disraeli established the National Union of Conservatives (1867) and a Conservative Central Office (1870). Chamberlain had established a strong municipal party machine in Birmingham. Its success prompted the Liberals to establish a National Liberal Federation (1877). | 3 |
| Women began to gain a significant political role. In 1869, female rate payers could vote in borough elections, and from 1870 they could sit on school boards. In 1875, they were allowed to become Poor Law Guardians. The National Society for Women's Suffrage (1869) and the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (1897) preceded the well-known Women's Social and Political Union (1903) founded by Emmeline Pankhurst. In general, women's political activities stemmed from the middle class. The Liberals and the Conservatives also saw the benefit of female organizations and thus organized the Women's Liberal Foundation and its Conservative counterpart, the Primrose League. | 4 |
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| 1880–81 |
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| First Boer War. The Boers in the Transvaal rebelled against British control and waged a guerrilla war (See 1880–81). In 1881, they attacked Majuba Hill and defeated British troops. Gladstone concluded peace negotiations, which guaranteed independence to the Transvaal, subject to British suzerainty. The latter clause was removed at the Convention of London (1884). | 5 |
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| 1880 |
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| The Liberal majority in the general election was later undermined by dissension. Charles Bradlaugh, a radical M.P. from Northampton, opposed the Church of England, claimed to be an atheist, and advocated birth control. The Liberal majority attempted to stop him from taking his seat by arguing that he could not be bound by the oath that M.P.'s took because of its religious terms. Gladstone allowed Bradlaugh to affirm his loyalty without taking the oath, but Liberals continued to try to keep him from occupying his seat. The creation of a “Fourth Party” of opposition Conservatives, including Lord Randolph Churchill, A. J. Balfour, Sir Henry Drummond Wolf, and Sir John Gorst, worked in the same manner as the Irish under Parnell to paralyze the Liberal government. | 6 |
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| 1884, Feb. 28 |
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| THE THIRD REFORM ACT extended the vote to adult male householders in the counties and thus increased the franchise to include approximately four-fifths of the entire adult male population. However, it did not assert the franchise on the basis of natural rights or establish the principle of universal male suffrage. The accompanying Redistribution Bill proved more sweeping because it created the principle of equal electoral districts and established a Commons of 670 members. Neither act stopped the practice of plural voting in which individuals might register as 40-shilling freeholders in several counties. | 7 |
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| 1885 |
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| A political crisis developed after Parnell, the leading Irish M.P., grew disenchanted with the Liberals and led a cohort of Irish nationalist M.P.’s into the opposition lobby, defeating Gladstone. Lord Salisbury formed a minority government until the election of 1885. | 8 |
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| 1886 |
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| The Irish Home Rule crisis. Parnell gained support from Gladstone while Churchill sided with Conservative Irish M.P.’s who argued that the adoption of Home Rule would leave the Protestant Irish to the whims of the Catholic majority. Gladstone advanced two Home Rule bills, but both were defeated, and his second attempt in 1892 met with a similar fate. Gladstone retired as a result (See 1885, Oct. 30). | 9 |
| The creation of a special electoral committee of the Trades Union Congress. The committee, in conjunction with the Liberals, obtained seats for 11 working-class members and established a “Lib-Lab” alliance, which continued until 1900. Labor also received an independent voice in 1892 when Kier Hardie, influenced by the socialist doctrines of the intellectual Fabian Society (1884), broke with the Liberals and sat as a Labour M.P.—even wearing a cloth cap rather than the traditional hat of the middle and upper classes. He founded the Independent Labour Party (1893), endorsed by the Trades Union Congress. | 10 |
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| 1887 |
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| The Coal Mines Regulation Act required the presence of men with at least ten years' experience in all mining operations. This requirement strengthened the Miners' Unions against strikebreakers. Unions also obtained the inclusion of a clause in the Technical Instruction Act (1889) forbidding the teaching of a particular trade in technical schools. | 11 |
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| 1889 |
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| Dockers' strike (London), following a matchgirls' strike, showed growing organizational power among unskilled workers. | 12 |
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| 1899, May 31 |
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| Naval Defense Act. Against growing naval rivalry, the British planned for their fleet to be as strong as the next two powers' fleets combined. | 13 |
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| 1899–1902 |
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| South African War (Boer War). More soldiers died of illness than of war injuries despite the efforts of female nurses. These nurses were allowed to go to South Africa on the understanding that they would work behind the lines, but, as guerrilla warfare developed, women in nursing capacities found themselves unable to remain “behind the lines.” Their service under fire enabled the directors of the Royal Nursing Corps to demand recognition and admission as a military unit. | 14 |
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| 1900 |
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| The Labour Representation Committee, established by a group of cooperative societies, socialists, and trade unions that met in London, worked to create a distinct Labour Party. J. Ramsay McDonald was elected secretary of the committee, which returned 2 seats in 1900 and 53 in 1906. | 15 |
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| 1901 |
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| The Taff-Vale decision, upheld by the Lords after being overturned by the Court of Appeal, hampered strike activity. The Taff-Vale Railway Company sued the trade union for damages resulting from the strike, which it had encouraged. The decision made strikes virtually impossible by holding the trade union financially liable for any worker's activity. The decision also encouraged union activity in the Labour Representation Committee. | 16 |
| The rise of consumerism demonstrated the growing prosperity of Britain as well as the increasing availability of products. Increased consumption of cigarettes and soap helped encourage advertising. Consumers also had access to a large number of illustrated papers and magazines including those with features meant to appeal to women or children, such as the Illustrated London News and the Boy's Own Paper. | 17 |
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