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She withdrew from active political life, which may have reduced the power of the Crown or, alternatively, allowed democratic trends to proceed without serious friction.

Alexander of Tunis, Harold Rupert Leofric George Alexander, first earl

(1891–1969) military commander

Educated at Harrow and at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, Alexander served in WORLD WAR I and WORLD WAR II. In 1940, with the

BRITISH EXPEDITIONARY FORCE in France, he took

part in the DUNKIRK evacuation. He took command of British forces in the Middle East in August 1942. The next year he was commander of the ground forces in the invasion of Sicily. In December 1943 he was appointed supreme allied commander of the forces in the Mediterranean and as such was responsible for the campaigns in Italy (1943–45). He served as governor-general of Canada from 1946 to 1952.

Allen, William (1532–1594) cardinal, founder of Douai College

Educated at OXFORD UNIVERSITY, and head of St. Mary’s Hall there (1556), Allen went into exile (1561) when the was restored to Protestant governance by Queen ELIZABETH I. He returned to ENGLAND but fled again in 1565. He founded the College at Douai in Flanders to provide university education for English Catholics and to train priests who might lead the English back into the Roman church. He was made cardinal in 1587.

See also REFORMATION.

Allenby, Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby, first viscount (1861–1936)

soldier, administrator

Educated at Haileybury and Sandhurst, Allenby served in African campaigns, including the BOER WAR. During WORLD WAR I he led the cavalry divi-

sion in France in 1914 and took command of the Third Army there in 1915. In 1917 he was assigned to command the army in PALESTINE, where he led a victorious campaign against Turkish forces. After the war he served as high commissioner in EGYPT.

almshouses

Buildings designed to house the aged and infirm, established and maintained by monastic orders and later by private benefactors. Discipline, clothing, and religious observances were often spelled out in the founder’s bequest, and the almshouse was typically designed to serve a specific community.

Amboyna massacre (1623)

English settlers were tortured and executed by Dutch authorities on an island in the Moluccas in 1623. The incident was one of many collisions between the European colonizers, and as a result the EAST INDIA COMPANY withdrew from competition in the spice trade, and its activities were redirected to the Indian subcontinent. This episode remained a sore point through the DUTCH WARS of the later 17th century.

American colonies

SETTLEMENT

English, Scottish, Welsh, and Irish settlers, merchants, and proprietors came in growing numbers to the eastern shores of North America and the islands of the WEST INDIES in the 17th century. Immigrants included religious exiles, traders, indentured servants, and African slaves. Their communities were organized under various royal grants of power which authorized provincial governments. The grants were made to trading companies and to powerful individuals, and from time to time, new royal charters were issued over the first century of settlement. From the point of view of the Crown, these profitable outposts were to provide timber for ships

and consumable commodities such as tobacco, rice, and sugar. The trade established was regulated by principles of MERCANTILISM, so as to maximize the commercial strength of the British nation. This colonial production justified the military and naval forces, the protective trade legislation (NAVIGATION ACTS), and the substantial bureaucracy (BOARD OF TRADE) of His Majesty’s government.

EXPANSION

The mainland colonial population grew rapidly in the 18th century (from about 500,000 in 1715 to 2 million in 1770), causing the expansion of colonial settlements. This movement resulted in clashes with native peoples and with the subjects of other colonial powers, especially France, whose colonists had made inroads from their landing areas in the North (Quebec) and the South (Louisiana). Colonial wars were the corollaries of great power conflicts, mainly among GREAT BRITAIN, France, Holland, and Spain. Britain enjoyed an emerging naval superiority over the course of the 18th century, an edge that was enhanced by her early and rapid industrial development. Eighteenth-century American colonial society saw the growth of urban centers, complex social organization, and increasing autonomy in many areas. The colonial governments had achieved de facto independence by the middle of the century. But in the view of most Westminster politicians, the subordinate position of colonies had barely changed.

CRISES

Divergent views of the position of the colonies showed clearly in the STAMP ACT crisis (1765–66), when the LONDON government introduced a new form of taxation in the colonies to defray the cost of defense and administration after the heavy expense of the SEVEN YEARS’ WAR (1756–63). The quick repeal of the Stamp Act in response to colonial resistance indicated metropolitan weakness, which was only underscored by the provocative wording of the DECLARATORY ACT (1766), which stated that PARLIAMENT had “full power

and authority” to make laws for the colonies. The Stamp Act generated the first significant colonial political organization, and in the next decade further clashes occurred. The British government and the colonies feuded over collection of revenue, quartering of troops, and the basic powers of colonial institutions. The atmosphere became more heated by mob violence, a campaign of nonimportation, and the British suspension of colonial government.

REBELLION

After the colonists assembled a Continental Congress in 1774, the British government increased its military forces and declared a state of rebellion in 1775. The British evacuated BOSTON in 1776, and the colonists declared their independence. Although Britain faced the challenge of fighting over a great distance in dispersed areas, there was support from loyalists, and there was no assurance that the colonies could organize effective forces or that the colonists would agree to give their soldiers adequate resources.

When the American armies defeated the British at Saratoga in 1777, the colonies gained the support of France. British armies began a successful campaign in the southern colonies in 1778, but the colonial army won a key victory at YORKTOWN in 1781 and forced Britain to surrender.

See also COLONY; INTOLERABLE ACTS.

Amritsar massacre (1919)

In INDIA in April 1919, a crowd of demonstrators in the holy city of Amritsar refused to disperse. Troops led by Brigadier General Reginald Dyer were called to support police after several days of rioting over new security laws. Dyer ordered his troops to fire on the unarmed crowd, and after the ensuing panic there were 379 dead and 1,200 wounded, including women and children. An official inquiry censured Dyer’s conduct, and he was forced to resign. The incident became a symbol of British misrule and helped to spur the Indian national movement.

Anderson, Elizabeth Garrett

(1836–1917) physician, feminist

Taking inspiration from the WOMEN’S MOVEMENT, Anderson became the first woman in ENGLAND to qualify in medicine. Licensed as an apothecary in 1865, she opened a dispensary for women and children in LONDON in 1866, which later became the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital, fully staffed by women doctors and nurses.

Anglican

A term referring to the CHURCH OF ENGLAND, used especially from the late 17th century. The expression denotes the faith of the members of the church, as it was formed from the time of the REFORMATION. It ranges from the most conservative or high church position, which reveres the historic connections to the Catholic Church, to the low church or evangelical position, which admires the radical Protestant reforms of the 16th and 17th centuries. Due to the colonial expansion that began in that era, there is a worldwide Anglican communion recognizing the leadership of the ARCHBISHOP of CANTERBURY.

Anglo-Dutch Wars See DUTCH WARS.

Anglo-Irish Treaty (1921)

The denouement of British rule in IRELAND came after years of open hostilities at the end of the WORLD WAR I. There was a burst of violence during the EASTER REBELLION in April 1916. That was followed by temporary martial law and prolonged military occupation before the Irish nationalists won a major electoral victory in 1918 and chose to stay in DUBLIN to form a provisional government. This provoked violent clashes and the formation of the IRISH REPUBLICAN ARMY later in 1919. The war of 1919–21 was more a series of raids and reactions, without any formal campaigning. British forces included the infamous BLACK AND TANS, pitted against the Irish republicans’ armed guerilla fighters. During the fighting,

and due to the unease about the safety of the Protestant population in ULSTER, the British government passed a Government of Ireland Act in 1920 which included the basic features of the aborted Home Rule Act of 1914, plus separate governing provisions for Ulster. Thus a domin- ion-style parliament was opened in BELFAST, the ceremony presided over by GEORGE V in 1921.

By July 1921 a truce had been arranged in the South, and negotiations began in September. A treaty concluded in December 1921 created the IRISH FREE STATE. In January 1922 the Irish republicans split over ratification, the pro-treaty group winning by only a narrow margin in the DÁIL ÉIREANN. The ardent republicans regarded this as a sellout, and they attacked their former allies, launching a period of renewed internal bloodshed (1922–24). In those same years, the structure of an Irish republic began to take shape, and Ireland’s partition became a harsh reality.

See also COLLINS, MICHAEL; DE VALERA, EAMON;

LLOYD GEORGE, DAVID; SINN FÉIN.

Anne (1665–1714)

queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland, 1702–07, queen of Great Britain and Ireland 1707–14

Queen Anne was the second of two daughters of James, duke of York (JAMES VII AND II) and his first wife, Anne Hyde. Her schooling was Protestant, and she married Prince George of Denmark in 1683. James in the meantime had married a Catholic princess and made clear his own religious preference. When he succeeded to the throne in 1685, Anne was out of favor; when William of Orange (William III) invaded England in 1688, Anne gave her support to him, and to her sister MARY II as the new queen. The relationship with the new court soured, and Anne was again out of favor. She did succeed in bearing a son in 1689, but he died in 1700. With no heir, in spite of 17 pregnancies, Anne had to agree to an Act of SET- TLEMENT in 1701, stating that only a Protestant could assume the throne and laying out the acceptable line of succession should she fail to have an heir. She succeeded William to the throne the following year. During her reign Anne had to

deal with major problems, from the continuing warfare with France and the treaty of UTRECHT to the recurring threat of invasion from the JACO-

BITES to the union of ENGLAND and SCOTLAND. She

was a wise and capable manager of the many political factions and interests that flourished in this early age of WHIG and TORY party politics.

Anne Boleyn See BOLEYN, ANNE.

Anne of Cleves (1515–1557) queen of England, 1540

In a marriage arranged by Thomas CROMWELL, Anne of Cleves became the fourth wife of HENRY VIII in January 1540. The marriage was meant to cement a Protestant alliance, but Henry rejected the alliance and his new queen because he found them both unattractive and unnecessary. Cromwell’s policy was discredited, and he was arrested and executed in June 1540. Anne received a pension and lived the rest of her life in

ENGLAND.

Anson, George Anson, baron

(1697–1762)

naval commander, administrator

Trained in the naval service from 1712, Anson served during the long years of peace after the Treaty of UTRECHT. His great opportunity came when he led an expedition to attack Spanish shipping in the Pacific in the early 1740s. His fleet was decimated, but he was able to capture a fabulous treasure and returned, after circumnavigating the globe, to receive rapid promotion and a PEERAGE. He played an important role in leading naval development before the SEVEN YEARS’ WAR, as First Lord of the ADMIRALTY in 1751–56 and 1757–62.

Anti-Corn Law League

laws had been passed to protect the landed interests from fluctuating prices for grain, and they restricted imports when prices fell. Such regulation encouraged the cultivation of marginal LAND during the NAPOLEONIC WARS, while it deprived consumers of the possibility of low prices. In 1838 a group of manufacturers, economists, and radicals began an organized campaign to repeal the corn laws. Led by Richard COBDEN and John BRIGHT, the League was a prototype for modern pressure groups. At the time, such concerted activity by persons “out of doors” was regarded as improper, if not faintly seditious. After years of organized meetings, publications, and petitions to PARLIAMENT, the corn laws were repealed in 1846. However, the repeal was the result of a decision by Prime Minister Robert PEEL, one of the League’s great enemies, taken during the cri-

sis of the IRISH FAMINE.

See also FREE TRADE; MERCANTILISM; RADICALISM.

antislavery movement

Opposition to the enslavement of Africans and to the SLAVE TRADE, which carried the human cargo to the Western Hemisphere, became a significant phenomenon in the second half of the 18th century. Led by evangelical Christians like Granville SHARP, Thomas CLARKSON, and William WILBERFORCE, committees were formed to oppose the slave trade, petitions were presented to PARLIAMENT, and numerous pamphlets were written and distributed. By 1807 this effort produced a vote to abolish the trade in the BRITISH EMPIRE. Then the movement turned to the abolition of slavery, and an Anti-Slavery Society was formed in the 1820s. The government that took office after the reform act of 1832 passed an act abolishing slavery in 1833.

See also SIERRA LEONE; SOMERSET CASE; WEST INDIES.

Appeal, Court of

The CORN LAWS were protective tariffs on grain, which measures came under criticism by the new economists of the early 19th century. The

A branch of the Supreme Court of Judicature created in 1873. At first it was only a civil court, but in 1966 the Court of CRIMINAL APPEAL was

merged with it, creating a body with two divisions. The civil division hears appeals from the HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE and the criminal division hears appeals from persons convicted in the

CROWN COURT. The judges are the LORD CHANCEL-

LOR (and any previous chancellors), the LORD

CHIEF JUSTICE, the MASTER OF THE ROLLS, the pres-

ident of the family division of the high court, and the lords justices of appeal. Appeals from the court of appeal may be heard by the HOUSE OF LORDS appellate committees.

appeasement

In the 1930s several countries, notably Germany, Italy, and Japan, were intent on changing the terms of the postwar settlements of the 1920s. Appeasement refers to a broad policy of accommodation of these regimes, a policy meant to defuse tension, but one that ultimately encouraged more aggressive behavior. British and French leaders were foremost in pursuing this policy, particularly evident in the years 1936–39. Adolf Hitler’s Germany reoccupied the demilitarized zone west of the Rhine, and there was no attempt to stop him (nor was it clear how that might be done, as the zone was within German territory). Benito Mussolini’s Fascist government in Italy launched an invasion of Ethiopia, and there was an Anglo-French agreement to ignore the aggression. In 1937 Japan invaded China, and again the Western states did not intercede militarily. In 1938 Hitler occupied Austria in an unopposed annexation (Anschluss). Then he proclaimed that Germans in the borderlands of Czechoslovakia (the Sudetenland) were entitled to join Germany. In September 1938 in a meeting in Munich, Neville CHAMBERLAIN, French premier Edouard Daladier, Mussolini, and Hitler met to resolve the issue. The Munich Agreement called for the transfer of the disputed territory to Germany, which meant the loss of major frontier installations and the neutralizing of a significant army. This agreement, adopted by the British and French, was followed six months later by the German annexation of the rest of the Czech state. Another six months later, Hitler and Stalin signed

a nonaggression pact, which appeasement preceded Hitler’s invasion of Poland. This last, perhaps more than any other step, received the scorn of critics who blamed the outbreak of WORLD WAR II on the concessions made to the aggressor states.

apprenticeship

The period of contractual agreement between a master and an apprentice, in which the latter was trained in the skills of a trade, usually for a period of seven years, for a premium paid to the master. When completed, the new journeyman might be employed by others, or set up on his own as a master. This structure was fostered in the medieval and early modern periods by major GUILDS, or associations of craftsmen and skilled workers. It was subject to the governance of local guilds and to national regulation, such as the Statute of Artificers of 1563. Apprenticeship declined as the nature of work changed with the INDUSTRIAL REV- OLUTION, and the nature of schooling was broadened and made mandatory in the 19th century.

Arch, Joseph (1826–1919) agricultural labor leader

Born into a farmworkers’ family, Arch was a lay preacher and the founder of the National Agricultural Labourers’ Union in 1872. He led a strike of farmworkers in 1874, by which time his union numbered 80,000. The strike failed, but he continued to agitate, especially for votes for farmworkers. That goal (votes for all adult males) was achieved in 1884, and in 1885 he was elected to PARLIAMENT, the first farmworker to sit as a MEM- BER OF PARLIAMENT. Defeated the next year, he won again in 1892 and served until 1902.

archbishop

Church official presiding over a province, i.e., a group of dioceses, each headed by a BISHOP. There are two provinces in the

ENGLAND: CANTERBURY and York. There was no archbishop for WALES (the jurisdiction falling to Canterbury). IRELAND had four archbishops in