Download England`s Constitutional Monarchy

England’s Constitutional Monarchy
The period of reestablishment of the English monarchy was called the Restoration and was greeted
with great joy in England. Before the 1660s came to an end, London experienced an outbreak of the
Bubonic Plague (1665) and a fire (1666), which destroyed the center of the city. Despite such challenges,
Charles II proved to be a capable monarch in the face of difficult times. Upon the death of Charles II, his
brother James II came to the throne in 1685. James II did not work out, so the leaders of the Tories and
Whigs offered the throne to the king of the Netherlands, William of Orange (his wife, Mary, was the
daughter of James II). When William agreed, Parliament officially offered both him and Mary the crown.
William of Orange came to the English throne as William III [1688 –1702], along with his wife Mary,
through a bloodless revolution. This marked the second time during the 1600s that the English threw off
their monarch and replaced him. In an age when the rulers of other European states lived by the creed
of Absolutism,
England’s royal ruled as constitutional monarchs. During William & Mary’s
first year
on the throne, Parliament passed an act known as the 1689 Bill of Rights.
This act
was held jointly by the monarchy, the House of Lords, and the House of
Commons. Under this declared structure, the crown could not raise an
army without the approval of the Houses of Lords and Commons. He
or she could not make laws or order new taxes.
The theory behind these acts was not new to England’s royal
history. The Magna Carta, signed by King John in 1215, had
limited the power of the monarchy. This decision by Parliament
simply expanded the limitations of kings and queens. In addition to the Bill of Rights, Parliament also
passed a much needed law called the Toleration Act of 1689. Officially, this declaration brought all
religious persecution to an end in England. (However, while Catholic persecution ended, Catholics did not
receive equal civil rights with Protestants until the 19th century.)
For six years (until Mary’s death),William and Mary ruled jointly. While William was not an
outstanding king, he faced problems head on. He fought pro–James II forces in Ireland in 1690. He fought
a long war with France on behalf of the Netherlands (where he was still king). William also reformed
England’s finances, allowing for the creation of the Bank of England in 1694. When William died in 1702
after falling off his horse, his heir had already been determined. Since William and Mary were childless,
Parliament passed (in 1701) the Act of Succession which granted the right of the throne to Mary’s sister
Anne, who became queen. Queen Anne [1702 –1714] (the younger daughter of James II) was not an
inspired or inspiring woman. She was very large and suffered from poor eyesight. Anne faced many
problems during her reign. She was forced to put down a revolution in Scotland in 1708.
During Anne’s reign, Parliament created the United Kingdom. This change brought England and
Scotland together under one monarchy. The parliamentary act was known as the Act of Union (1707).
Anne’s years on the throne were marred by a continuing animosity between Catholics and Protestants.
The queen was a faithful Anglican. Upon her death, the throne passed to George I of Hanover [1714 –
1727]. The great-grandson of James I, George was born in Germany. In fact, he never bothered to learn
English. He was the first British monarch of the House of Windsor, the family which occupies the throne
of Great Britain today.
Directions: Answer all questions completely.
1) What was the Reformation?
2) What restrictions did the 1689 Bill of Rights put on the Monarchs?
3) Why is England also called the United Kingdom?
4) What language did the English King George I of the Winsor family speak?
Age of Conflict
The result of the many wars of the period in Europe from 1650 to the late 18th century was an upset of the balance
of power. As with all wars, there were winners and losers—those states which gained power and those which lost it.
So many wars were fought during this period that not a single decade passed without war somewhere in Europe.
One of the most significant wars of that period occurred between 1618 and 1648.
The Thirty Years' War. The war is actually divided into four periods: The Bohemian
(1618–1625), the Danish (1625–1629), the Swedish (1630–1635), and the French
(1635–1648) and were fought mainly for religious reasons, part of the continuing
struggle between Protestants and Catholics. Later fighting became more
political and the conflict ended as a struggle for power, with the French and
the Swedes fighting against the Habsburgs. During the last period of the
fighting, took place in the German state and was the most destructive
phase of the war. Whole towns were destroyed, and the countryside was
laid waste. Millions of people were killed, children starved, and wolves roamed the
deserted streets of unfortunate German communities. After repeated battles, the Swedes and the German Protestant
princes finally negotiated the end of the conflict. The treaty, called the Peace of Westphalia, officially ended the
Thirty Years War.
The Dutch Wars (1652–1678) were largely naval wars fought between the Dutch and the English over trade. Three
naval wars were fought between these two commercial powers. In 1670, the French and English secretly allied against
the Dutch Republic. Spanish and German troops aided the Dutch. By 1674, the English navy had been defeated and
four years later the French signed a peace treaty with the Netherlands. During the later Dutch War, the leader of the
Netherlands was William III, prince of Orange. In 1688, he became king of England as well. The next year, the Dutch
sided with the English and others against France in two wars fought from 1689–1697 and 1701–1713. The 1689–1697
war was known as the War of the League of Augsburg. The war developed when, in 1686, Austria, Sweden, Spain,
and three German electors formed the League of Augsburg against France (then the most powerful nation in Europe
under the reign of Louis XIV). England and the Dutch were added to the league in 1689. The fighting was
insignificant, ending in a stalemate. The Treaty of Ryswick did not bring about any important changes in the balance
of power in Europe.
At the beginning of the 18th century, another war developed known as the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–
1713). When the retarded king of Spain, Charles II (ruled 1665–1700) died without an heir, his brother-in-law, Louis
XIV of France claimed the throne for his grandson, Philip of Anjou, which had been Charles’s wish.
A rival soon rose—another brother-in-law of Charles II, Leopold I (ruled 1658 –1705), ruler of Austria and the
Germany. He, too, claimed the throne. An alliance led by England, the Netherlands, and Austria went to war against
France again. (These nations did not want to see a combined kingdom of France and Spain.) English forces, led by the
duke of Marlborough, defeated the French in battle in 1704, 1706, and 1708. By 1713, the war was over. The peace
negotiations produced the Treaty of Utrecht. Under it, the English gained parts of French Canada, including
Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and the Hudson Bay region. But Louis XIV was allowed to place
Philip of Anjou on the Spanish throne as Philip V. However, France was greatly weakened by the long and costly war.
This war brought England and Austria to stronger positions of power at France’s expense. Smaller wars were fought
during the 1720s and 1730s, but these were not significant conflicts and little changed as a result of them.
By the 1740s, another international conflict loomed. Known as the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748), it
involved the major players in Europe. Brought on by the death of Emperor Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire
when his daughter Maria Theresa of Austria rose to the throne, Frederick I of Prussia seized Austrian Silesia. When
other nations (including Spain and France) challenged Maria’s right to the throne (because she was a woman), the war
spread. At the war’s end, with the Treaty of Aixla- Chapelle, Maria kept her Austrian throne, but agreed to the loss of
Silesia to Frederick.
5) Why was the 30 Years War fought{include whom}?
6) What were the effects of the last period of the 30 Years War?
7) What were the results of the Treaty of Utrecht?
8) Give two reasons why you think Europe was always fighting.