Template for change
No violent political revolution has occurred in Britain since the civil wars of 1642-51. Yet in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries virtually every other state in Europe has experienced at least one forcible overthrow of government and its replacement by another, from the French Revolution of 1789 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. Why was Britain different?
The fall of the Bastille prison in Paris on 14th July 1789 is a key event in European history. It symbolised the beginning of a revolution in France, leading to the overthrow of the old regime and the execution of King Louis XVI, his wife and many leading members of the French aristocracy. Within a few years, as the new order struggled to assert itself, Napoleon Bonaparte emerged in France as one of the most extraordinary military and political leaders in history.
'Britain, however, seemed impervious to revolutionary change.'
Under Napoleon's leadership, the French political, education and legal systems were fundamentally remodelled. Despite the reappearance - for a time - of the French monarchy, the Revolution reconfigured not only France but also the political contours of Europe as a whole. While the entire authority structure in France was overturned, the heady ideals of 'liberty, equality and fraternity' - proclaimed by the French revolutionaries and drawn from the European Enlightenment of the 18th century - seemed to offer a template for change across the whole of the continent, and beyond.
Britain, however, seemed impervious to revolutionary change. Though every other aspect of British life in the 19th century was transformed by industrial, social and cultural development, the country's rulers seemed somehow to avoid the mistakes of their continental counterparts. When Britain was at the peak of its imperial power at the end of the 19th century, historians charted the country's rise to greatness over the preceding hundred years or so. They were inclined to stress British genius for avoiding fundamental conflict between classes and social groups, and the country's ability to manage evolutionary, rather than revolutionary, political change.
On this analysis Britain's transformation was a major force for good. Its commercial and industrial revolutions offered the country's increasing population jobs and greater prosperity. In an age of widespread religious belief, many discerned the hand of God directing the progress of the British nation, first protecting it from invasion and then helping with its commercial and territorial expansion. In 1894, the famous imperial politician, Lord Curzon, could claim that Britain ruled, under God, over 'the greatest empire for good that the world has seen'.
Published: 2002-05-21
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