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already begun, with the heroic relief of the siege of Orleans by Joan of Arc in 1429. Between 1450 and 1453 the English were driven out of Gascony and Normandy, amid the escalating domestic turmoil in England that preceded the Wars of the ROSES. One way of viewing this long and tortuous experience is that an English state, taken by the Normans in 1066, had been a rival to the French monarch as overlord of various dominions on the continent, and only such a long and complex struggle could resolve the contest. In the end, England lost all continental holdings except CALAIS, which was controlled by the Crown until 1558. Although English kings continued to style themselves “king of France” until 1802, England was henceforth a government which had to focus on its island territories.

Hunt, Henry (1773–1835) radical politician

A gentleman farmer from Wiltshire who became one of the most important figures in the struggle for FRANCHISE reform, Hunt was in favor of universal suffrage and the ballot. He emerged as a prominent figure in the post-Napoleonic period and a main speaker at the mass demonstrations at SPA FIELDS in 1816 and 1817. He presided at the meeting in St. Peter’s Fields near Manchester in 1819 (see PETERLOO MASSACRE) and was imprisoned for two and a half years as a result. Known as the “Orator,” Hunt was a formidable agitator, who believed that the power of large public demonstrations would force the government to accept reform. Ironically, when he himself entered PARLIAMENT (1830–33), he could not support the reform bill of 1832, a measure which, he correctly observed, did nothing for the working class.

Huskisson, William (1770–1830)

Liberal Tory

The son of a squire in Warwickshire, Huskisson went to live with a relative in Paris because his family’s means were limited. He became private

secretary to Lord Gower, the ambassador, and returned when he was recalled in 1792. He was made under secretary for war in 1795, before his election to PARLIAMENT in 1796. He became an advocate of FREE TRADE, and his most important work was at the BOARD OF TRADE in the 1820s, where he promoted the reform of the CORN LAWS, the opening of colonial trade, and relaxation of the NAVIGATION ACTS. He attended the opening of the Liverpool-to-Manchester railway in 1830 and was tragically run down by the locomotive, the Rocket.

husting

A platform constructed for a parliamentary election, from which candidates would address the electors, and upon which the SHERIFF or other officers would take the poll. In the event that the voice vote was not conclusive, each voter would come forward and declare his choice (until the BALLOT ACT in 1872). The term hustings, in common usage, came to stand for election proceedings in general.

Huxley, Aldous (1894–1963) novelist, mystic

The grandson of T. H. HUXLEY, Aldous Huxley graduated with distinction from OXFORD UNIVER- SITY, and he published a volume of poems in 1917. His early novels Crome Yellow (1921) and Antic Hay (1923) addressed the conditions of postwar Britain. His more important works were

Point Counter Point (1928) and Brave New World

(1932). Later works included Apes and Essence (1948), Devils of Loudoun (1952) and his utopian Island (1962).

Huxley, T(homas) H(enry) (1825–1895) zoologist

A prominent Victorian scientist who studied medicine and served as a naval surgeon, Huxley became famous as the defender of Charles DARWIN’s Origin of Species. In one notable debate

at OXFORD UNIVERSITY with Bishop Wilberforce, he said he would rather be descended from an ape than from a BISHOP. Huxley coined the term “agnostic” as a way of describing his own religious beliefs.

Hyde, Edward See CLARENDON, EDWARD

HYDE, EARL OF.

Hyndman, Henry (1842–1921) socialist

A wealthy businessman and heir to a West Indian fortune, Hyndman was a convert to Marxism. He

composed a summary of Das Kapital that he called England For All (1881), and he convened a conference to form what became the SOCIAL DEMO-

CRATIC FEDERATION. Karl MARX himself was not

pleased that Hyndman failed to acknowledge his authorship of the ideas that were now being touted to English would-be socialists. The federation was but one of the vocal bodies of intellectual socialists that, with others like the FABIAN SOCIETY, joined with the trade unionists to form the Labour Representation Committee in 1900 and begin the electoral construction of a workingman’s socialist political party.

immigration

For most of its early history, Britain was inhabited by large numbers of immigrants, and there has always been movement between parts of the British Isles and the nearby parts of the European continent. But in the modern era, when the BRITISH EMPIRE was growing in the 18th and 19th centuries, the movement of population was mainly outward, and only since the end of the empire, in the second half of the 20th century, has there been sizeable movement of former colonial peoples into GREAT BRITAIN. That has created a multiracial community in many large cities, a condition that appears to be utterly new, but in reality it is a throwback to a much earlier time.

imperial conference

The idea of an imperial conference arose from a movement for closer coordination within the BRITISH EMPIRE, or an imperial federation. At Queen VICTORIA’s golden JUBILEE in 1887 there was a pioneer gathering, a “colonial” conference, followed up in 1894 and 1897. At the latter, it was agreed to hold regular meetings of prime ministers. At the 1911 meeting the name was changed to “imperial conference,” and at the 1926 meeting the new definition of the British Commonwealth was drafted, later incorporated in the Statute of WESTMINSTER (1931). From 1944 the meetings became Commonwealth conferences. The meetings became annual in 1969, and they were no longer exclusively in LONDON.

impeachment

A trial before the HOUSE OF LORDS on articles presented by the HOUSE OF COMMONS. The method was pioneered in the 14th century in order to challenge the king’s ministers. It fell into disuse but was revived in the 17th century and used on a number of occasions (1621–1710). The last cases (Warren HASTINGS, 1788, and Henry DUN- DAS, 1806), like most of their predecessors, ended in acquittals. However, the accusers may have been just as interested in the intimidation which the procedure could produce as in convictions.

See also BACON, FRANCIS, VISCOUNT ST. ALBANS;

CLARENDON, EDWARD HYDE, EARL OF; CRANFIELD,

LIONEL; DANBY, THOMAS OSBORNE, EARL OF; LAUD,

WILLIAM; SACHEVERELL, DR. HENRY; STRAFFORD,

THOMAS WENTWORTH, EARL OF.

Imperial Defence, Committee of

The British government formed a committee (1902) to oversee strategy for the BRITISH EMPIRE. It was chaired by the PRIME MINISTER, and it recommended allocation of resources. This advisory body was absorbed by a CABINET committee in 1947. It should not be confused with the Imperial War Cabinet, a body created by David LLOYD GEORGE in 1917, which was designed to coordinate the DOMINIONS during the late stages of WORLD WAR I and the postwar peace conferences. That body was disbanded in 1918.

imperialism

The term imperialism developed in the later 19th century, although for ENGLAND the history behind it reaches back to the 16th century. The

basic definition is extension of power over other peoples and territories; the means might be military, economic, or cultural. Victorian political leaders of all parties were enthusiastic supporters of England’s mission to spread Anglo-Saxon civilization. The vehicle was powered by the economic resources of empire: raw materials, markets, and investment opportunities. The last features were harshly criticized in J. A. HOBSON’s Imperialism: A Study (1902), which was taken further in V. I. Lenin’s Imperialism as the Highest Stage of Capitalism (1915). The main solvent of imperialism was not Marxist ideology, though it was often invoked. The desire for independence drove more and more colonies (as it had the DOMINIONs before them) to seek self-rule. After the WORLD WAR II, the oldest of the former colonies, the United States, pressed GREAT BRITAIN to allow the process to accelerate.

imperial preference

In the 1890s some of GREAT BRITAIN’s leaders were shaken by the economic problems of the Great DEPRESSION and worried by the developing naval arms race with Germany and the race for colonial power in AFRICA and Asia. Joseph CHAM- BERLAIN and others felt that the policy of FREE TRADE was harming Britain’s interests, and that a policy of TARIFF protection, jointly applied by the BRITISH EMPIRE, would solve their problems. The debate at first went in favor of free trade, and the LIBERAL PARTY won a huge majority in the 1906 general election. But a form of imperial preference was in fact adopted during the depression of the 1930s, and it remained the basic British policy for 40 years until Britain entered the

EUROPEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY in 1972.

Inchiquin, Murrough O’Brien, earl of

(1614–1674)

Irish soldier

An Irish Protestant commander in the CIVIL WAR, O’Brien fought for CHARLES I against the Catholic confederacy in Munster (1642–44), then switched his allegiance to PARLIAMENT. He rejoined

the royalists in 1648 and left IRELAND when Oliver CROMWELL invaded. During exile in France, he converted to the Catholic faith. He returned to Ireland in 1663.

income tax

Tax on individual income was first used in 1799, as an emergency wartime measure, and it was abolished in 1816. As TARIFFs were reduced, and the approach of FREE TRADE seemed inevitable, the income tax was revived in 1842. It was portrayed as a temporary measure, but continued expenses and changing policies assured its survival. It became a major revenue source by 1900, it was crucial to the funding of the wars of the 20th century, and by 1950 it was a critical support for the expanding WELFARE STATE.

See also TAXATION.

independent

A term to describe the opponents of the king in the 1640s. It applied to the religious reformers who rejected central authority, whether of an

ANGLICAN type or even the PRESBYTERIAN order

promoted by the Scots. These independents were kin to the PURITANS of Massachusetts, and were forerunners of 19th-century CONGREGATIONAL- ISTS. The political label of independent applied to Oliver CROMWELL and many of the men in the NEW MODEL ARMY and the Council of State, who were equally suspicious of political authority.

Independent Labour Party (ILP)

In 1893 Keir HARDIE convened a conference in Bradford, Yorkshire, at which delegates from Scotland and northern England formed a workers’ socialist party, called the Independent Labour Party. At this point, the only workers to be

elected to PARLIAMENT had run as LIBERAL PARTY

candidates (sometimes called “Lib-Labs”), and the leaders of most TRADE UNIONs were not interested in the new plan. But by 1900, as the unions lost some major court decisions (see TAFF VALE CASE), they joined with the socialists to form a

Labour Representation Committee to pool their resources and coordinate campaigning. This grouping led to the birth of the LABOUR PARTY (1906), though until 1918 the only political party through which individuals could support labor was the ILP. After membership in the Labour Party was opened, the ILP declined, and its last

MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT lost his seat in 1959.

India

The home of ancient civilizations, Hindu and Buddhist, India saw waves of invasions, first from the north by Islamic rulers, notably the Mogul emperors in the 16th century. Europeans followed—Portuguese, Dutch, French, and English—during the 16th and 17th centuries. For more than three centuries the ties between GREAT BRITAIN and India were woven into a complex bond at the center of the BRITISH EMPIRE, a bond which had powerful effects in both countries. The connection was born in trade, it evolved through political transformations, and it made profound impressions on the respective cultures. The bond was finally broken by a powerful nationalist movement that brought independence, and partition, in 1947.

TRADE

The EAST INDIA COMPANY originally set out to develop trade in spices, not looking to the subcontinent until conflicts with the Dutch pushed them in that direction. Because English goods were not in demand in Asia, the early trade had to be supported by the export of bullion, in opposition to the dictates of MERCANTILISM. By the 18th century, many English merchants were making great fortunes in India, less from trade than from their dealings with local princes. The pattern of trade soon involved China, with opium and other goods from India, for tea and other Chinese exports to Britain. The great expansion in British cotton production found a ready market in 18th century India, and in the next century a series of industrial exports, notably railroad construction, offered further profits for British investors, and employment for Indian workers.

POLITICS

The government of India was in the hands of Mogul emperors at the beginning of the 18th century, but internal weaknesses in that empire and encroaching European power broke the subcontinent into a collection of principalities. The East India Company became a militarypolitical organization as it expanded its activities from the trading centers of Bombay, CALCUTTA, and Madras. As the company power expanded, especially in BENGAL, the British government intervened and established a governor-general (1773) and a board of control (1784). That intervention guaranteed a continuing British interest in institutions, frontier disputes, and consolidation of power.

At the end of the 18th century, Charles CORN- WALLIS became governor-general and inaugurated a number of reforms that led to the formation of the Indian Civil Service, a betterregulated body of administrators which operated in a structure with reformed revenue collection, new laws on land tenure, and a new penal code. During the early 19th century there was progressive expansion of British authority in the interior of India, and there were continuing skirmishes across the vast and rugged frontiers: in Nepal (1815); in BURMA (1823, 1856, annexation in 1886); in the AFGHAN WARS (1838, 1878, 1919); the Punjab (1845–49, leading to annexation); and in Tibet (1904).

The role of the British government grew during the 19th century. In the first place, the East India Company was brought under closer supervision, by acts limiting its authority (1784, 1813, 1833, 1853). The company’s role ended in 1858, after the INDIAN MUTINY. From that point it was the direct responsibility of the British government to manage the affairs of the COLONY. This was not something easily done, as the colorful creation of Queen VICTORIA’s title “Empress of India” seemed to imply. A long series of attempts were made to adjust India’s government, and the role of Indians in it. Councils were created (1861) and modified (1892, 1909). Reformers seemed sure that self-government would come, but no one knew how or when.

CULTURE

The biggest stumbling block to progress was a cultural chasm that blocked the path to political reform. First the elemental racial differences prevented most British in India from understanding and accepting autonomy for the native peoples of India. This gap was vividly seen in the British efforts to stamp out Indian customs like suttee (widow burning) and thuggee (ritual murder). The more effective level of cultural engagement came with the English language and English-style schooling. For a deeper level of penetration, strenuous efforts were made to bring wholesale reform by an impartial legal system, with the codes of Thomas MACAULAY and James Stephen. (It should be noted that codification was never successful in ENGLAND in the 19th century; nevertheless, it was judged appropriate for India.) Another area of incomprehension which may have surpassed the rest was in the gulf in religious belief between the Christian colonizers and their Hindu, Muslim, and Buddhist hosts. It is fair to say that Europeans and Englishmen gained more understanding of these religions in the 19th century, and that while missionaries tried to convert, there were also serious students and admirers of the alien faiths. But for the vast majority of imperialists, understanding came very slowly. Finally, the cultural differences did produce varied forms of artistic and literary expression, much of it emphasizing the blending and interaction which was taking place: James MILL’s History of India (1817) was an early attempt to comprehend the rich past of this exotic region; Rudyard KIPLING’s stories and poems at the end of the century illuminated the imperial servants’ work and knowledge of India and the special identity they derived from that. But at the end of the 19th century, powerful forces were beginning to change the colonial condition.

INDIAN NATIONALISM

An unauthorized Indian National Congress met in Bombay in 1885, and the idea quickly spread across other regions. The general object of the

members was greater self-government, and there were slow and grudging reforms in that direction. The Indian Councils Act in 1909 brought in both Hindu and Muslim elected members. In the aftermath of WORLD WAR I and the AMRITSAR MASSACRE, 1919 saw the creation of a bicameral Indian legislature. But the move to self-rule was much too slow, and at this point Mohandas GANDHI’s passive resistance campaigns greatly expanded the involvement of the population in the reform effort. The next major stage came with the Government of India Act in 1935, much delayed by resistance in PARLIAMENT and division among Indian communities. This promised a form of DOMINION status, but the slow implementation and then the advent of WORLD WAR II, allowed time for a strong separatist Muslim movement to develop. When independence came after the war in 1947, the hurried partition into India and PAKISTAN led to violent clashes between Hindus and Muslims and the deaths of as many as 500,000. The tragic end of British rule in India also marked the first successful colonial independence movement in the 20th century.

The new states, with Pakistan being divided into West and East Pakistan (the latter became BANGLADESH in 1971), decided to remain within the British Commonwealth, and when they were later declared republics, that membership was continued.

Indian Mutiny (1857–1858)

In what appeared to be a violent reaction to westernizing influence, soldiers in the army of India mutinied in 1857 at Meerut, and the revolt spread to Delhi and other parts of BENGAL. A Mogul emperor was proclaimed, and English colonists were captured and massacred, but there were sufficient loyal army units to put down the rebels by July 1858. Within weeks the government of INDIA was transferred to the Crown. The EAST INDIA COMPANY was stripped of its authority, and a new secretary of state for India was created to govern the COLONY.