Problem description:
Does anyone know the changes of British folk customs and the economic and military situation at that time? Urgent thanks.
Analysis:
/kloc-Britain in the middle of 0/9th century
/kloc-In the early 20th century, the guiding principle of British reform was laissez-faire, and the state rarely intervened in the reform, especially in social reforms other than the * * * reform. In the 1960s, the situation changed, and the country began to play a more important role in the reform. Britain carried out reforms in many fields. This series of reforms can start with Gladstone becoming prime minister in 1868, or it is an opportunity.
Gladstone served as Prime Minister from 1868 to 1874. Prior to this, Pa Max Don organized two cabinets. Pa Max Don followed the conservative tradition of the past and made few changes. He is regarded as an arrogant politician and has made no important achievements at home. Gladstone, then British Chancellor of the Exchequer, was politically ambitious and brilliant. Pa Max Don knew him very well and said to others in his later years, "If Gladstone replaces me after I die, you will see some strange things." (1) things as he expected, after the death of Pa Max Don in 1865, the reform process in Britain was accelerated. Gladstone's cabinet opposed Britain's lazy style and implemented a series of important reforms, involving civil servants, the army, education, trade unions and the judiciary, which initially laid the foundation for a modern British country.
The spearhead of the reform first points to the corrupt civil service system. /kloc-In the 20th century, the number of British civil servants has been increasing, but the work efficiency is not high. Some mediocre and incompetent people occupy important positions of civil servants under the protection of private and family rights. Gladstone served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 65438 to 0853. He ordered Stafford Northcott and Charles trevelyan to investigate the civil service system. The main content of their reform plan is to select civil servants through open competitive examinations. 1855, the Privy Council issued an order to appoint a three-member civil service committee to be responsible for "testing the qualifications of young people recommended for junior civil service positions in the Kingdom". After the examination, they were hired by the employing department as probation period. 1870, Gladstone's cabinet further reformed the civil service system on the basis of 1855, and promulgated the Second Order of the Privy Council on Civil Service System Reform, which stipulated that all civil servants except officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of the Interior should pass the open competitive examination. The examination is divided into two categories: senior civil servants who make decisions and junior civil servants who handle daily affairs. The promotion of officials depends on their achievements. Through the reform of the civil service system, the old system of selecting officials based on personal likes and dislikes and personal preferences has been basically changed. Britain has an efficient team of officials with professional skills, while promoting the reform of the education system and other systems. Senior civil servants are generally educated in universities, and junior civil servants are also educated in primary and secondary schools. With the increasing number of civil servants, Britain has gradually formed a bureaucratic system.
At this time, the army also needs reform. The system of donating officers prevails in the army, and rich nobles can pay for the positions of officers, which hinders the promotion of talented soldiers. Cruel flogging is common in the army. Regular service 12 years. There are six different organizations that manage the regular army and wrangle with each other. The weakness of the British army was exposed in the Crimean War, and then the defeat of France in the Franco-Prussian War gave Britain a greater shock. As an extension of the civil service system reform in the army, 1870, Cadwell, the secretary of the army, advocated the implementation of the army reform. It is strictly forbidden to sell ranks to those who buy them as compensation. Whipping and corporal punishment are prohibited in the army. Shorten the service period to six years. The country is divided into 69 districts. Each district has a regiment, which consists of two battalions, one at home and one overseas. The combination of various military forces is under the command of the secretary of war and the commander-in-chief, but the commander-in-chief must obey the secretary of war. The military reform is similar in nature to the civil service reform, and it is a move by * * to professionalize the ranks of officials. In the next two years, Cadwell reorganized its army, established a system of promotion according to military achievements, and the combat effectiveness of the army was improved.
1873 to carry out judicial reform and simplify and reform the judicial system. The initial judicial system was chaotic and complicated, and there were two legal systems: common law and equity. This reform provides for the simultaneous use of two sets of laws. In case of conflict, equity shall prevail. It also provides for the merger of eight independent courts-the Queen's Bench Court, the Civil Procedure Court, the Tax Court, the Chancellor's Court, the Maritime High Court, the Probate Court, the Divorce and Marriage Court and the London Bankruptcy Court-into the High Court and the Court of Appeal. The High Court exercises the right of first instance. "The court of appeal has the right of appeal, and the first instance is subject to the appeal judgment", which simplifies the judicial procedure.
In addition, on 1870, the Gladstone Cabinet also promulgated the Law on Primary Education. There used to be many schools in Britain, but there was no unified education system. Most schools are controlled by churches of different sects, and there are no schools directly managed by the state. There are serious drawbacks in education, and British industry faces competition from foreign industries. Britain will lose its industrial and technological advantages that it has maintained in the world for nearly 50 years. Some countries in continental Europe have established relatively perfect education systems. The results of the Franco-Prussian War and the American Civil War show that educated soldiers also have strong combat effectiveness. The quality of education has become the key to the further development of the country, and complex economic activities require a literate workforce. In addition, there is an active activity of a powerful pressure group "National Education Alliance", which is a non-Christian pressure group and demands compulsory and free secular education.
1870 In February, the Primary Education Bill proposed by william forster, Vice Chairman of the Education Committee of the Privy Council, was passed by Parliament. This legislation applies to England and Wales and stipulates that England and Wales are divided into several school districts, and the whole of London is a school district. Each school district should ensure that the existing primary schools in the district should have "adequate facilities suitable for all children living in the district". If the facilities are insufficient, school committees should be established in these school districts to make up for the shortage. The school committee is composed of 5- 15 people according to the size of the school district, and has the right to levy education tax and set up local public primary schools. The bill requires parents to urge children aged 5- 12 to go to school, and poor children are exempt from paying tuition fees. (2) In practice, primary schools have reduced their fees, with the maximum tuition fee not exceeding 9 pence per week, and generally 2 or 3 pence per week. The original missionary primary schools remain, and the state grants them according to their teaching effects. * * * Send someone to assess the teaching situation of the school, and the assessment content is reading, writing and arithmetic, referred to as "three R's". This kind of evaluation is much more accurate than using only abstract "moral atmosphere", "ideological status" and "overall effectiveness" before.
Foster clearly stated the purpose of this reform in the motion: "Civilized societies all over the world are gathering, and every country is competing on its own. If we want to be invincible in the forest of nation-states in the world, we must make up for people's shortcomings by increasing their intellectual strength. " The reform of primary education provides more opportunities for British children to receive education, which helps to strengthen Britain's strength in economic competition with foreign countries.
/kloc-in the middle of the 0/9th century, the trade union got rid of the control of the bourgeoisie and developed into a huge social force. After 1848, the influence of the * * * faction quickly faded, and in the following decades, trade unions took its place. Most of these trade union organizations are limited to absorbing skilled workers as members, and they have to pay 10% of their wages as membership fees. The largest trade union is the Mechanical Workers' Union, with more than10,000 members. 186 1 published the first weekly trade union magazine "Honeycomb", and issued 8000 copies four years later. However, the status of trade unions is still uncertain. 1867- a case of misappropriating trade union funds was brought to court, but the judge of the queen's court ruled that trade union funds were not protected by the cooperative law and the trade union was an illegal organization because it hindered business. Powerful trade unions cannot be recognized and protected by law.
Skilled workers won the right to vote in 1867, and their status improved, prompting * * * to consider trade union rights. 187 1 year, the parliament passed the Trade Union Law, confirming that trade union funds are protected by law as well as cooperative subsidy funds, and any trade union activities should not be regarded as illegal as long as they are limited to their professional scope, but trade unions have no right to set up pickets in * * *. When Conservative Party disraeli was in power in 1875, Parliament passed the Law on Conspiracy and Property Protection, and revised the relevant provisions of the law, stipulating that it was legal for workers to set up pickets for * * * and could not be prosecuted for conspiracy. This is very popular with trade unions, because it is impossible to * * * without picket lines, which reflects the moderate attitude of * * * towards trade unions. In the same year, the "Employer and Worker Law" was passed to replace the "Master and Servant Law", which stipulated that workers who violated the contract could not be imprisoned again and could only be fined.
At this time, Britain paid more attention to social reform. Disraeli, leader of the Conservative Party, became Prime Minister from 65438 to 0874. He is more concerned about public health and housing than his predecessor. As early as 1872, he said that "improving the people's situation" was "a great goal" of the Conservative Party. Disraeli's cabinet passed more social reform legislation than any cabinet in the 9th century.
1875, the parliament passed the Public Health Law, which is the epitome of similar bills before, and its content is relatively perfect. The bill claims to make "all towns in the country suitable for civilized social life". The specific contents include water supply and drainage, street housing management, garbage removal, food hygiene supervision, disease prevention, funeral, market management, lighting, pollution industries and so on. Three years later, the new Public Health Law was passed, which stipulated that municipalities should buy off private water supply companies. 187 1 The local Ministry of Public Health has gradually become the competent department of public health, and the affairs managed by the former Poverty Alleviation Committee, the Ministry of Health of the Privy Council and the local Ministry of the Interior are under the jurisdiction of the local Ministry of Public Health. Local governments have great powers, such as poverty alleviation, sanitation, slum cleaning, park planning, water supply and drainage, and gas supply, which are all within their supervision and jurisdiction.
One of the major reasons that affect health is the housing problem. Overcrowding and unsanitary housing are the main sources of unsanitary environment. Workers have tried to set up housing associations and put forward self-help plans to improve housing, but the effect is not great. Philanthropists have also made spontaneous efforts. 1844, "association for improving working class conditions" was established. Some rich people donate money to Gai Lou, but there are few houses and high rent, which is of little use to solve the housing problem. It is difficult to solve the housing problem through self-help and voluntary means, and * * * began to pay attention to solving this problem. 1875, the parliament passed the "Artisans' Housing Law", which authorized the city council to plan areas deemed unsanitary, force residents to buy houses, and have the right to obtain low-interest loans from the public project loan committee.
The reform in this period paid more attention to social and economic affairs, and the state paid attention to the exercise of management functions. Britain's political structure has not changed, but the activities of the state bureaucracy have increased, and various reform laws have poured in. Britain is transitioning to a modern country in all aspects.
Investigate its root cause, * * * positive reform is to eliminate the threat of revolution. As disraeli said in a speech at 1872, the primary task of the Tories "is to safeguard the state system and examine what has happened and the characteristics of contemporary related problems." I think the Tories, as a national political party, can do all kinds of things to promote the development of the party ... Another goal of the Tories is as important as maintaining the empire or ensuring our system. This is an improvement in conditions. "These reforms are concessions made by the rulers on the premise of maintaining the basic system of the country.
① Magnus, Gladstone, 1957, P. 149.
(1) David Douglas, British Historical Documents, Volume II (1), p. 545.
②GeeAdamsandH。 Stephen, Selected Works of British Constitutional History, 1935, pp. 538-539.
①JoelWiener, Great Britain: TheLionatHome, a documentoryhistoryofdo-mesticpolicy1689-1973, Vol.3, P.2 164.
① Donald read1868—1914, 1985, P. 124 in England.
(1) Paul Adelman, gladstone, Disraeliandlatervatory Politics, 1983, pp. 83-84.