The Beginning of the Century

At the beginning of the 20-th century Britain was no longer the mightiest country in the world, but still was one of the greatest world powers. The Victorian Age was coming to an end – new ideas and life styles appeared. The Royal Dynasty also faced changes. In 1901 Queen Victoria died and her eldest son, Albert Edward was crowned. Edward took the family name of his father – Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. As the Prince of Wales, he took part in British public life since 1863, when he took his seat in the House of Lord. Edward VII, as Prince of Wales, had been a great support to the throne much before he filled it. He reigned as a constitutional sovereign, paying more attention to foreign affairs, military and naval matters.

During his reign Edward made a number of visits abroad uniting the countries of the Imperial Commonwealth. These countries often called the “Overseas Dominions” were making steady progress – Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand were developing as economically independent. Edward VII became known as a skilful diplomat, who paid great attention to the peaceful regulation of international conflicts. Though on the world arena Britain managed to sustain uniformly friendly relations with other powers, at home the first two decades of the century were harsh. These twenty years are often called “a period of extremism”. The Liberals came to power at that time. They did their best to provide new economic policy. This party was supported by the new Labour Party, which appeared at the beginning of the century from an alliance of trade unionists and intellectuals. The Liberals and the Labourists provided a number of reforms aimed at establishing better conditions for workers and unemployed people. But despite all these reforms, the 1900`s and 1910`s were full of bitterness, strikes and general extremism. There were strikes of workers, because working conditions became worse and the Suffragettes demanded property to draw attention to women`s needs and demands. There were also Nonconformists, who demanded the disestablishment of the Church in Wales and the Irish Nationalists, who tried to make their country independent.

The Trade Unions were getting more support among the working class. By the last years before World War I they had already developed a political program. The strikes organized by the Trade Unions, were of great importance – for they stopped the fall in wages and brought thousands of workers into the Union.