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Jun 15, 1215
Magna Carta
Historic agreement that established that the king was not an absolute monarch. The first step towards a democratic government. -
Period: Jan 25, 1532 to Dec 25, 1536
Reformation; Establishement of the Church of England
Britain depoliticizes the church. -
Period: to
Imperial/ Colonial Mercantilism
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Period: to
Civil War and Restoration
First English Civil War broke out, largely due to an ongoing series of conflicts between Charles I and Parliament. Additionally, the monarchy was restored, in 1660, with King Charles II returning to London. -
Period: to
Glorious Revolution
Replaced reigning king, James II, with the joint monarchy of his protestant daughter Mary and her Dutch husband, William of Orange. Bill of Rights was passed by Parliament. -
Period: to
Early 1700s
Emrgence of the Prime Minister, and England and Scotland combined into the United Kingdom of Great Britain. -
Great Reform Act
Dissatisfaction with the status quo grew strong enough to force the passage of the Great Reform Act of 1832. Despite its name, only 300,000 more men gained the right to vote (aristocracy still dominated political life). -
Second Great Reform Act
Doubled the size of the electorate to nearly 3 million people. -
Reform of the House of Lords
The House of Lords stripped of its remaining power, marking the final step in the evolution of British Parliamentary Democracy. -
General Strike
Trades Union Congress (TUC) called for a general strike, and British workers walked off the job en masse (revealed the rising working class). -
Great Depression
Economic output falls tremendously following World War I. Great Depression began, which hit Britain as hard as it did any other European country (except Germany), and had both political and economic consequences. -
Beveridge Report
Beveridge Report published, which called for a social insurance program in which every citizen would be eligible for health, unemployment, pension, and other benefits that would guarantee all Britons at least a subsistence income. -
Period: to
Golden Era of British Politics
Leaders from both parties, Labour and Conservatives, agreed on a variety of policy goals, inccluding full employment, cooperation with labor unions, the provision of social services that guaranteed at least subsistence-level living conditions for all, and active government intervention to secure economic growth. -
National Health Service
The National Health Serivce created the structure of the Welfare State. -
Thatcher Elected
Conservative government led by Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s and early 1990s redefined British political life and spurred the renewal of support for free-market economics that has taken hold almost everywhere. -
Terroism
Two major terroist attacks took place in 2007 in Great Britain, one in London and the other at the Glasgow International Airport, which had significant national and international effects. -
Conservatives Win Election
The Conservatives win election, ending 13 years of Labour rule, and David Cameron becomes Britain's new Prime Minister. -
Blair Elected
Tony Blair is elected as Prime Minister. Blair and his team embarked on a radical restructuring of the party organization and a redefinition of its goals to the point that it routinely became called "New Labour".
