HISTORY. GREAT BRITAIN.

18TH CENTURY
POLITICS AND FINANCE
*Who was the last of the Stuarts? What conflict derived from their death?
*Who was the next monarch? Which dynasty did he belong to?
*Was the government formed by Tories or Whigs? Why?
*Who was more powerful: the king or the government? Why?
*Who is considered Britain’s first prime minister?
*How did the Bank of England originate?
*What was the “South Sea Bubble”? What important change derived from this problem?
*How did Walpole restructure governmental administration? What two important rules developed from this reform?
*What limits were there to monarchy?
*Why did Walpole increase taxes? Was it a good measure?
*Who was William Pitt? What was his idea of a good national economy? How did he intend to get it? What resulted
from his action? Who ended the war? Why?

WILKES AND LIBERTY

*How did George III differ from his father and grandfather?
*What’s the role of Parliament in Britain? Who did they represent?
* What were John Wilkes’ ideas and actions in politics? Did they achieve good results?

RADICALISM AND THE LOSS OF THE AMERICAN COLONIES (see American history)

IRELAND
*What were the causes of the hatred between Protestants and Catholics? What happened in the 1770s and in 1801?

SCOTLAND
*Who was “Bonnie Prince Charlie”? Why wasn’t he able to become the king of Scotland?

LIFE IN TOWN AND COUNTRY

TOWN LIFE
*What were the English towns like in the 18 th century? How did the government try to improve them?
*Who were the Nonconformists?
*Which were the four main social classes?

THE RICH (no questions)

THE COUNTRYSIDE
*How did the countryside change in the 18 th century? (Explain as briefly and concisely as possible).
*What were the problems of the landless class?

THE YEARS OF REVOLUTION

INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
*What factors contributed to the development of industry?
*Explain the following diagram:
 countryside

food landless
production people

factory
town
workers

*How did the invention of simple machines affect the economy? Explain the phrases: “mass production” and
“division of labour”.
*Who were John Wilkinson and James Watt?
*Which were the most important English products at the time?
*What were the social effects of the industrial revolution? How did the workers try to protect themselves? Did
government support the workers? Who were the Luddites?

SOCIETY AND RELIGION

*Which new religious movement prevented revolution? How did it work?
*How did the “evangelical revival” influence society?

REVOLUTION IN FRANCE AND THE NAPOLEONIC WARS

*Why did the British fear the effects of the French revolution? How did it affect society?
*How and why were the British able to defeat Napoleon?