Author: Pravin Babu R

Revolution in Latin America

The regions of Latin America were conquered by the Spanish in the sixteenth century. The Portuguese and the French also had their presence there. The political power of the South American cultures such as the Incas and the Aztecs was destroyed by these colonial powers.

The colonisers (conquistadores) brought to an end the local religious beliefs and introduced the Catholic religion. The colonial rule in Latin America was brutal and was marked by widespread genocide and decimation of the indigenous population.

The native people were made to work as slave labourers in the farmlands as well as the mines of the colonial masters who exported goods such as sugar, coffee, gold, and silver to European nations. Latin America today consists of many nations such as Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Chile, Venezuela, and Caribbean countries in Central and South America.

The Haitian Revolution

Haiti, earlier known as Saint-Domingue(as the French called their colony) was the richest French colony (1659–1804) in the Caribbean Sea. Its plantations produced more sugar than all of Europe’s other Caribbean and American colonies put together.

The island’s indigenous population, forced to mine for gold, was devastated by European diseases and brutal working conditions, and by the end of the sixteenth century it had virtually vanished. Landowners in western Hispaniola imported increasing numbers of African slaves.

By 1789, the estimated 556,000 population of Saint-Domingue included 500,000 African slaves, 32,000 European colonists (whites), and 24,000 free affranchis or mulattoes (black people of mixed African and European descent).

News of the storming of the Bastille was followed by armed defiance of the royal governor. Vincent Ogé, a mulatto, who had lobbied with the Parisian assembly for colonial reforms, led an uprising in late 1790 but was captured and executed.

In May 1791 the French revolutionary government granted citizenship to the wealthier mulattoes who had even owned slaves. But Haiti’sEuropean populationdisregarded the law. Within two monthsisolated fi ghting brokeout between European whites and mulattoes.

All of them expected the black slaves to continue working, suffering and dying as if nothing had changed. But they took them by surprise when in August thousands of slaves rose in rebellion.

The European whites attempted to appease the mulattoes to quell the slave revolt. The French National Assembly granted citizenship to all mulattoes in April 1792. The country was torn by rival factions, some of which were playing into the hands of Spanish colonists in Santo Domingo or of British troops from Jamaica.

In 1793, a commissioner, LégerFélicité Sonthonax, was sent from France to maintain order. He offered freedom to slaveswho joined his army. He soon abolished slaveryaltogether, a decision ratified subsequently by the French government.

In the late 1790s, Toussaint L’Ouverture, a military leader and former slave, gained control of several areas. Napoleon sent a fleet of 12,000 troops to seize control ofSaint-Domingue fromToussaint L’Ouverture’sforces. The war which followed was prolonged and bloody. At one point the French army seemed to have won after Toussaint was misled into believing in the possibility of conciliating with the enemy.

But he was kidnapped and killed. His former lieutenant Dessalines rose to the occasion and organised black resistance. He defeated Napoleon’s army. Saint-Domingue became the independent black state of Haiti in 1804.

Venezuela and New Granada (now Colombia)

Inspired by The Haitian Revolution, slavesin Venezuela rose in rebellion in the 1790s.Creoles (persons of mixed European and black descent) wanted an expansion of the free trade that was benefiting their plantation economy. At the same time, however, they feared that the removal of Spanish control might bring about a revolution that would destroy their own power.

Therefore, they formed the strong loyalist faction in the Viceroyalty of New Granada. In 1808 Napoleon had made his brother Joseph the king of Spain after the abdication of the weak king Charles IV in favour of his son Ferdinand. Napoleon had them both imprisoned.

With Charles and Ferdinand removed from the scene, the Empire was without a stable government for six years. The political crisis in Spain provided the opportunity for the assertion of its colonies. Soon the rebels, as patriots, organised revolutionary governments that introduced some social and economic reforms in 1810.

In Venezuela, the patriots led by Simón Bolívar openly declared a break with Spain the following year. The earthquake that wreaked particular destruction in patriot-held areas in 1812 provided the pretext for loyalist forces to crush the patriots’ army, and drive Bolívar and others to seek refuge in New Granada (the heart of the viceroyalty).

Bolívar soon returned to Venezuela with a new army in 1813 and waged a campaign with the army’s motto, “Guerra a muerte” (“War to the death”). The army led by loyalist José Tomás Boves again succeeded in driving Bolívar out of his home country. By 1815, independence movements in Venezuela and almost all across Spanish South America seemed dead.

A large military expedition sent by Ferdinand VII in that year re-conquered Venezuela and most of New Granada. Yet another invasion led byBolívar in 1816 failed. The following year (1817) a larger and revitalised independence movement emerged, winning the struggle in the north and taking it into the Andean highlands.

Bolivar emerged as a strong military and political force after the struggles. At this point, a group of llaneros (cowboys) of mixed ethnicity led by José Antonio Páez joined the struggle and contributed decisively to the patriots’ military victories in1818–19. After leading his army up the face of the eastern Andes, Bolívar dealt a crushing defeat to his enemies in the Battle of Boyaca.

Consolidating victory in the north proved difficult. A congress that Bolívar convened in Angostura in 1819 named Bolívar as president of Gran Colombia, a union of what are today Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, and Ecuador.

But the sharp divisions prevailing in the region ultimately dashed Bolívar’s hopes of uniting the former Spanish colonies into a single new nation as the United States of Latin America. Furthermore, loyalist supporters still held much of Venezuela, parts of the ColombianAndes, and all of Ecuador. Conditions became favourable in 1820; troops waiting in Cádiz to be sent as part of the crown’s military campaigns revolted.

Eventually New Granada and Venezuela were liberated in 1821. A congress held that year in Cúcuta, a Colombian city, chose Bolívar president of a now much more centralised Gran Colombia.

Simon Bolivar: Bolivar belonged to an oldaristocratic Creole family in Caracas. He wasof fundamental importance to the movementas an ideologue and military leader. In hismost famous “Jamaica Letter” (writtenduring one of his periods of exile, 1815),Bolívar affirmed his undying faith in thecause of independence, even in the face of thepatriots’ repeated defeats.

While critiquingSpanish colonialism, Bolívar held the viewthat the only path for the former colonieswas the establishment of an autonomous andcentralised republican government. The typeof republic that he eventually espoused wasvery much an oligarchic one.

He believedthat a virtuous governing system wouldnot be possible if the nation was divided byethnicity. Bolivar was an inspiring figure toleft-wing and emancipatory movements inLatin America even in the latter half of thetwentieth century.

Mexican Revolution

The independence of Mexico came late. Mexico had a powerful segment of Creoles and Peninsulars, who were the colonial masters born in Spain or Portugal. For many of the powerful in Mexican society, a break with Spain meant a loss of traditional status and power.

Between 1808 and 1810, Peninsulars had acted aggressively to preserve Spain’s power in the region. Rejecting the notion of a congress that would address the question of governance in the absence of the Spanish king, leading Peninsulars in Mexico City deposed the viceroy and persecuted Creoles.

They then welcomed weaker viceroys whom they knew they could dominate. Peninsulars’ efforts could not, however, prevent the emergence of an independence struggle. The revolution in Mexico was led by a Catholic priest, Miguel Hidalgo.

He supported the poor people of Mexico and sympathised with the poor living conditions of Native Americans. His emotional speeches at the Church of Dolores called for an independent Mexico. He led a revolutionary army consisting of Mestizos against the army of Spain and Creoles.

However, he was defeated and killed in 1811. Later, the movement was led by José María Morelos, who declared independence from Spain in 1813. Hewas also defeated in 1815.

Mexican Revolution: The independence of Mexico came late. Mexico had a powerful segment of Creoles and Peninsulars, who were the colonial masters born in Spain or Portugal. For many of the powerful in Mexican society, a break with Spain meant a loss of traditional status and power.

Between 1808and 1810, Peninsulars had acted to preserve Spain’s power in the region aggressively. Rejecting the notion of a congress that would address the question of governance in the absence of the Spanish king, leading Peninsulars in Mexico City deposed the viceroy and persecuted Creoles.

They then welcomed weaker viceroys whom they knew they could dominate. Peninsulars’ efforts could not, however, prevent the emergence of an independence struggle. The revolution in Mexico was led by a Catholic priest, Miguel Hidalgo.

He supported the poor people of Mexico and sympathised with the poor living conditions of Native Americans. His emotional speeches at the Church of Dolores called for an independent Mexico. He led a revolutionary army consisting of Mestizos.

The Creoles, or the wealthy merchants, were watching the developments in Spain where a movement to overthrow the monarchy and to make a new constitution was afoot.

Thinking that this might reduce the power of the Creoles, they declared independence in 1821. It is interesting to note that the person who led the movement was the same officer who defeated the army of Maria Morelos. He declared himself as the emperor whose ruthless rule was finally overthrown. In 1824, Mexico declared itself a republic.

Independence of Brazil

Brazil was a colony of Portugal. When Napoleon invaded Portugal in 1808, thePortuguese emperorDam Joao (John VI), fled to Brazil. He had developed the colony in all aspects by introducing land reforms and establishing military, medical, and art schools.

Even after the defeat of Napoleon, the Portuguese ruler continued to stay in Brazil. But when his power was challenged, he decided to go to Portugal, leaving the colony of Brazil in the hands of his son Dom Pedro. The reliance of the Brazilian upper classes on African slavery favoured their continued ties with Portugal.

Plantation owners depended on the African slave trade, which Portugal controlled. The size of the slave population – approximately half the total of the Brazilian population in 1800 – also meant that Creoles shied away from political initiatives that might mean a loss of control over their social inferiors.

Therefore, the Portuguese authorities at home put an end to the reforms undertaken by Joaoin Brazil. They wanted Dom Pedro to return to Portugal. However, Pedro declared Brazil’sindependence and decided to stay on. In 1822, Brazil obtained independence from Portugal, and it became the only constitutional monarchy in South America, with Pedro I becoming its first emperor.

Other Revolts

The liberator of Argentina, San Martín, joined the Chilean liberator Bernardo O’Higgins, and both were able to get independence for Chile in 1818, followed by Peru in 1820. Bolivar and SanMartin met at the port in Ecuador, Guayaquil,to discuss the future course of action in Latin America and for a probable unification.

While San Martin wanted a European form of government with a constitutional monarchy in the colonies, Bolivar wanted a republican form of government. Though they could not reach any agreement, San Martin retired and allowed Bolivar to take full command. Bolivar could get independence for all South American colonies by 1826.

After the independence of all the colonies, Bolivar tried to unite all Latin American countries under one nation called Gran Colombia. However, the rugged geographical features with mountains and forests, along with power struggles, could not make it a reality.

Though most of the Latin American countries declared themselves as republics and were free from Spanish rule, they were still dependent to a greater extent on foreign powers. While Mexico was invaded by the US and France, inthe course of the nineteenth century, Britain continued to exercise its dominating influence over countries like Argentina and Chile for a long time to come. In each Latin American country, oligarchic cliques ran rival Liberal and Conservative parties and preserved unequal social structure characterised by extreme privilege to great landowners and grinding poverty to the underprivileged.

In the twentieth century, especially after World War II, South America was a troubled continent as the USA sought to control it by pliant dictatorial governments (often referred to as banana republics).

Industrial Revolution

In the aftermath of the French Revolution, when Napoleon was holding all of Europe to ransom, another revolution which was destined to affect the history of mankind was taking place in England. This was the Industrial Revolution. Industrial Revolution refers to the adoption of a system of producing commodities on a large scale in huge factories. This was opposed to the old system of making goods in the cottages or workshops by the artisans.

The first phase of the Revolution was marked by the emergence of several important inventions that revolutionised the cotton industry. The use of steam helped to abandon the old method of smelting iron by means of charcoal. The coal and iron industries made rapid progress.

Then the means of communication made great strides. The locomotive, the first passenger railway(1830), the steam boat and the use of electric telegraph(1835) came into existence. In a period of about a hundred years, England was thoroughly transformed.

The second Industrial Revolution (between1870 and 1914) witnessed new innovations insteel production, petroleum and electricity.The whole of Europe and North Americabegan to feel the impact of the first IndustrialRevolution during this period.

Main Features

The essential feature of the Industrial Revolution was the application of science to industry. The use of iron and steel, the use of new sources of energy or fuels such as coal, steam, and iron, the invention of new machines that increased production, a new method of organisation of work known as the factory system, which involved increased division of labour and specialisation of skill, and developments in transport and communication made possible the mass production of manufactured goods.

Causes of Industrial Revolution in England

The Industrial Revolution started first in Britain due to a variety of causes.

(a) The impact of Commercial Revolution. Revolution in trade and commerce brought into existence a class of capitalists who were constantly seeking new opportunities to invest their surplus wealth. As a result, more and more capital was made available for the development of manufacturing.

(b) Though a later entrant to the race in establishing colonies overseas, Britain gained supremacy over a period of time. It defeated the European powers such as Spain, Portugal, and France. In the beginning of the 18th century, Britain had colonies in one-fourth of the world and ruled over 25%of the world population in Africa, America and Asia. So there was a growing demand for industrial products from these Empire colonies.

(c) The markets at home were also expanding as the population grew. In England, population rose from four million in 1600 to six million in 1700 and nine million by the end of the eighteenth century.

(d) The drain of wealth to England from various colonies, notably from India, provided the capital necessary for investment in industries.

(e) Compared to other European countries, Britain was more liberal. Political stability also provided objective conditions for industrial development.

(f) The availability of coal and iron deposits in large quantities in England was another contributory factor. By 1800, Britain was producing ten million tons of coal, or 90% of the world’s output.

(g) Before the Industrial Revolution, Britain registered rapid agricultural growth. More land was brought under cultivation through mechanisation. Small land holdings were consolidated into larger enclosures under the control of wealthy private landowners, and the method of crop rotation along with the new farming techniques yielded more produce. But it also caused unemployment among the agricultural labourers. Pauperised peasants moved to the cities and became the workforce for various factories from the mid-eighteenth century.

(h) The British had well-established ports all across the coast which enabled easy internal and external trade.

(i) The geographical location of England, slightly away from the mainland and relatively safe from foreign invasions, was another cause for the Industrial Revolution.

(j) Finally, the temperate climate of the Britishisles was favourable for the manufacturing of cotton cloth.

Important Inventions during Industrial Revolution

The Factory System: Before the Industrial Revolution, production took place in small workshops or in the cottages of the workers. Potters, wheel makers, cart makers, spinners and weavers used their skill and strength to produce the desired goods.

With the advent of new inventions, the tasks were performed by machines that needed to be operated at regular intervals by skilled or semi-skilled people. Factories became the places where the goods were produced in large quantities.

Cotton Industries: The first factories were established in the cotton industry. This became possible due to the invention of the spinning jenny, flying shuttle, water frame andCrompton’s Mule. The flying shuttle was invented by John Kay in 1733.

Before this invention, the thread in the shuttle in the weaver’s hand had to be carried slowly across and through the other threads placed lengthwise, called the warp. The flying shuttle quickened this process and thus doubled the weaver’s output.

Spinning Jenny, invented in 1764 by JamesHargreaves, could spin eight threads at the same time, while in the traditional method only one thread could be spun. The water frame, developed in 1769 by Richard Arkwright, was able to spin 128 threads at a time. Crompton’sMule, a combination of Water Frame and Spinning Jenny, was invented by Samuel Crompton. It gave greater control over the weaving process, and as a result, spinners could make many different types of yarn.

In 1700, only 500 tons of cotton were imported by Britain. With innovations in spinning and weaving and the rise of factory production in textiles, the demand for raw cotton increased dramatically. By 1860, the country was importing 500,000 tons each year.

By the early nineteenth century, Manchester, the centre of the British textile industry, had acquired the nickname “Cottonopolis”. Iron industries: Traditionally, iron could be extracted from iron ore by heating(smelting) it. For this, a large quantum ofcharcoal was required, which was obtained by burning firewood. Sources of coal had depleted by 1700 because of deforestation.

Britain partially solved the problem, as about 1709, Abraham Darby, a coal owner inDerbyshire, discovered that coke could be used for melting. The chief obstacle to the extraction of coal was the accumulation of water in the mines. What they found useful was a device, developed first by Thomas Newcomen in 1712, to pump the water from the coal mines.

This was further improved by James Watt in 1769. He joined hands with an entrepreneur (Mathew Boulton), and together they produced more than 500 steam engines that were used to supply power to the new factories. The coming of power-drivenmachinery meant the rise of the factory system on a wide scale.

Coke was smokeless and could produce more heat than charcoal. Due to this, iron industries were set up near coal mines. Due to the rapid production of iron, many household objects such as spoons and pans were made of iron. Even the factories were built with strong iron girders.

Fascinated by the use of iron in the massive structures, the French in 1889 constructed the 324-metre-tall the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Steam Engines: The steamboat preceded the steam engine as a means of locomotion. On the Firth of Clyde Canal there was a steamboat in 1802. In 1804 the first locomotive was made. In 1830 the first passenger railway betweenLiverpool and Manchester was opened. GeorgeStephenson’s engine, “The Rocket,” functioned with a speed of over thirty miles an hour, unimaginable at that time.

In 1807, an American, Robert Fulton, made the first successful steamboat. In April 1838, the first steamships, the Sirius and the Great Western, crossed the Atlantic. Isambard Kingdom Brunel, an English Engineer, built the first fully iron ship with screw propellers called SS Great Britain in 1843.

In earlier times, instead of screw propellers, paddle wheels were used. Roads: With the increase in production, it became important to have good roads. However, the roads were of poor quality and the travelling time was long and strenuous. Due to the pressure exercised by leading industrialists, roads were maintained by turnpikes, which collected tolls from the people for the proper management of the roads. John LoudonMcAdam invented an effective and economical method of constructing roads.

In 1835 the first electric telegraph came into existence. Sixteen years later the first undersea cable was laid between England and France. In a few years the telegraph system spread throughout the world.

The modern factory with its giant chimneys began to dominate the landscape of the area around Manchester in Lancashire and Glasgow in Scotland. In 1750, England had two cities with more than 50,000inhabitants, London and Edinburgh. By 1851, the number of cities of this size had increased to 29.

Second Stage of Industrial Revolution: Germany and the USA

The significant discoveries of the Second Industrial Revolution emanated more from the laboratory of the physicist or chemist than from the brain of the individual inventor. The other essential features of the Second Industrial Revolution were the introduction of automatic machinery, and the enormous increase in mass production and a division of the labour into minute segments of the manufacturing process.

Throughout the eighteenth century there was steady industrial development and great commercial activity in Western Europe. This was exemplified by the development of banking, and improvement in internal means of communication such as roads and canals.

In France and Prussia there were factories under state patronage. Glass works at Le Creusot, and the linen manufacture of Silesia were important. On the continent of Europe, the Napoleonic Wars checked the progress of commerce and industry. But with the coming of peace, English machines were freely introduced in France and Germany.

During the thirty years that followed the fall of Napoleon, steam came rapidly into use throughout Western Europe. By 1847, in cities of France such as Paris, Lyons, Marseilles, Bordeaux and Toulouse there were great factories.

The English scientist MichaelFaraday had invented the idea of electricity, and a few years later the American inventorThomas Alva Edison had perfected his model of a light bulb for home use. This led to the making of electrical generators in the 1870s, thereby making public electricity possible.

In Germany, states led by Prussia used British techniques in industrial production and manufacturing. The Zollverein, as the union of States with free trade as their common policy, was formed by Prussia. This led to the removal of the tariff wall.

The unification of Germany in 1871 made industrial development more rapid. The invention and use of electricity, along with the invention of the diesel engine by Rudolf Diesel, helped the Germans to be the masters of the automobile industry in Europe.

Daimler and Benz became the most popular brands of automobile in Germany and the world. Germany made its mark in the iron and steel industry. Germany contributed to the use of chemicals in agriculture, dyes in the textile industry, and the electronics goods industry.

By the end of the nineteenth century, Germany emerged as the most industrialised country. It surpassed the home of the Industrial Revolution, Britain, and proved to be a competitor of the United States. In electricity, German companies like Siemens outshone their counterparts in other countries.

In chemicals, Germany excelled in the production of potassium salt, dyes, pharmaceutical products, and synthetics. Companies like Bayer and Hoechst led the chemical industry of Germany.

Industrial Revolution in USA

The USA was largely an agrarian country in the early nineteenth century.

There was an increase in population along with the number of colonies. Samuel Slater, a citizen of England, having gained the experience of operating a mill, offered his services to Moses Brown, a leading Rhode Island industrialist, who had earlier made an abortive attempt to operate a mill.

Brown agreed, and in consequence the mill became operational in 1793, being the first water-powered rollerspinning textile mill in the Americas. By 1800, Slater’s mill had been duplicated by many other entrepreneurs. Andrew Jackson, the U.S.President hailed him as “Father of the American Industrial Revolution.”

Samuel F.B. Morse’s invention of the telegraph and Elias Howe’s invention of the sewing machine came before the Civil War. After the Civil War, industrialisation went on at a rapid pace. In 1869, the first transcontinental railroad was completed to transport people, raw materials and manufactures. The invention of the electric bulb by Thomas Alva Edison (1879)and the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell (1876)changed the whole world.

The Industrial Revolution quickened the process of the transition of the United States from a rural to an urban society. Young people raised on farms saw greater opportunities in the cities and moved there. There was unprecedented urbanisation and territorial expansion in the US and, as a result, between 1860 and 1900, fourteen million immigrants came to the country, providing workers for a wide variety of industries.

Impact of Industrial Revolution

• If the Renaissance changed people’s approach to life, the Industrial Revolution changed the way they had existed since the agrarian times. The mechanisation of industry resulted in much greater production, and therefore it produced greater wealth. But this new wealth went to a small group, the owners of the new industries.
• The Industrial Revolution solved the problem of production. But not the problem of distribution of new wealth created.
• Machine-made manufactures ruined the handicrafts and rendered tens of thousands of artisans and weavers jobless.
• During the first phase of the Industrial Revolution, the introduction of machines meant that able-bodied men were thrown out of employment by the cheap labour of women and children. Moreover, many of the factories and mines were dangerous and unsanitary.
• An important outcome of the Industrial Revolution was the creation of two new classes: an industrial bourgeoisie and a proletariat. To the industrial bourgeoisie, most forms of government intervention, except protective tariffs and suppression of strikes, were allergic. They insisted that free enterprise was essential to vigorous economic growth.
• The new class of industrial workers did not simply suffer. Towards the end of the Napoleonic Wars, strong waves of agitation began. The struggle went through different phases: machine breaking, mass demonstrations and formation of collectives (trade unions).

Peterloo Massacre: In 1819, a year of industrial depression and high food prices, a great demonstration was organised by the radical leader Henry Hunt. About 60,000 persons attended, including a large number of women and children. None was armed, and their demonstration was peaceful. The magistrates, who were alarmed by the size and mood of the crowd, ordered the Manchester yeomanry (a voluntary cavalry corps) to attack the crowd. More than 700 people were injured and 17 killed. Hunt and the other radical leaders were arrested, tried, and convicted.

Tolpuddle Prosecution: The Whig government in Britain, alarmed at the growing discontent of the working-class, arrested six Tolpuddle labourers (1834) for organising the labourers against the proposed wage cuts. All the six were convicted and sentenced to seven years’ transportation to a penal colony in Australia. The six became martyrs for the cause of labour.

Great Railroad Strike of 1877 in the USA

The bad working conditions in the factories, long hours of work, low wages, exploitation of women and children contributed to the growth of labour unions in the USA. After the Civil War, workers organised strikes and one major strike was the Great Railroad Strike of 1877. Wage cuts in the railroad industry, in the context of a prolonged economic depression, led to the strike. The strike was crushed by a combination of vigilantes, National Guardsmen, and the Federal Army.

Haymarket Massacre: A labour protest took place on 4 May 1886, at Haymarket Square in Chicago. It began as a peaceful rally in support of workers striking for an eight-hour day and in reaction to the killing of several workers the previous day by the police. An unknown person threw a bomb at the police as they began to disperse the crowd. The bomb blast and ensuing gunfire resulted in the deaths of seven policeofficers and at least four civilians; scores of others were wounded. To ommemorate the Haymarket Affair 1 May 1887 is observed as the Labour Day or May Day or International Workers’ Day.

Conclusion

Oppressive taxation measures of Britain and the resistance of colonists leading to the outbreak of the American War of Independence are narrated. The course and outcome of the War along with the significance of the Revolution are assessed.

The woeful conditions of the peasantry, the financial bankruptcy of the French government, and the revolutionary ideas articulated by the intellectuals of the time leading to the French Revolution of 1789are explained.

The formation of the National Assembly and its Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen are detailed. The execution of the French king and the abolition of monarchy, and the work done by the National Convention dominated by the Jacobins are elaborated.

Revolution in the French-controlled Saint-Domingue followed by revolutions in other Latin American countries like Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico and Brazil are highlighted. The essential features and causes of the Industrial Revolution of England, the machines invented and the use of steam revolutionising cotton, and iron industries and transport and communication systems are dealt with.

The Second Industrial Revolution in Western Europe, notably in Germany, and in the US is explored.Impact of the Industrial Revolution and the incidence of state violence on organised working class movement in England and America are related.

The French Revolution

In the 18th century, Europe was ruled by monarchs of various dynasties, and they wielded absolute power. Along with the nobility and clergy, they enjoyed hereditary privileges. In France, the clergy and nobility did not pay taxes like the common people. It was in this context that the French Revolution occurred and stood for liberty, equality, and fraternity.

1789: Start of the Revolution

France in the Eighteenth Century

The political and social system of France prior to the French Revolution was called the ancien regime, meaning old order. Under the regime, everyone was a member of an estate. All rights and status flowed from three orders, namely the clergy, nobility and others, belonging to the Third Estate. France was ruled by Louis XVI,a young king of the Bourbon dynasty. He was married to Mary Antoinette, the princess of Austria. The king had absolute power, and he led a lavish lifestyle. The government taxed the poor and not the rich.

On 14 July 1789, the Paris mob, hungry due to a lack of food from poor harvests, upset at the conditions of their lives and annoyed with their king and government, stormed the Bastille fortress (a prison). The storming of the Bastille symbolised the beginning of a new age in the history of the world. There were many reasons for the outbreak of this revolution.

Conditions of Peasantry

The peasantry made up the bulk of French society. The peasants were serfs. They had to work certain days in the week for their lords without any remuneration. They could not marry or dispose of their lands without the lord’s permission.

Lords claimed certain feudal dues such as the right to levy fees even for using ovens to bake bread, and a toll on sheep and cattle possessed by the peasants. It has been estimated that the peasant paid eighty per cent of his earnings to various tax collectors.

Carlyle wrote that ‘one third ofthem had nothing but third-rate potatoes toeat for one-third of the year.

Three Estates

French society had three main divisions or estates:

• Clergy (the priestly class),
• Nobility(the landed and aristocratic class),
• and the rest, the commoners, formed the unprivileged class.

The clergy and the nobility enjoyed special privileges, and they were exempted from various taxes imposed by the monarchy. Out of the three divisions, only the third estate bore the brunt of taxation, as the other two estates were exempted from tax payment due to their special privileges.

The important taxes were the tithe, a tax exclusively collected by the church on the laity; the taille, a tax paid by the peasants; the gabelle, a salt tax; and the tobacco tax.

The peasants could not fight feudal regulations on their own. They looked for outside help and leadership. The rising bourgeoisie wanted their political power to match their economic status.

They wanted to have a voice in government. So the bourgeoisie took the lead and were instrumental in bringing about the French Revolution.

The Bourgeoisie comprised the educated middle class. Writers, doctors, teachers, lawyers, judges, and civil servants formed this class.

Financial Bankruptcy

France was in constant war with the neighbouring British Empire that proved to be too costly for the exchequer. It had spent enormous sums on the Seven Years’ War with Britain and Prussia, and more again during the American war with Britain.

The valuable assistance which the French gave to the American colonists was such as it could not really afford. The government had to pay high interest on the loan. To settle the dues, the government imposed more taxes on the common people.

The nobles and higher clergy hesitated to come forward and save the state by voluntarily giving up their claims to exemption from taxes. Matters were further complicated by the extravagance of the court and the incompetence of Louis XVI.

Role of Intellectuals

Long before the revolution of 1789, there was a revolution in the realm of ideas. Public intellectuals (who were called philosophes in the French language) who were inspired by the Enlightenment ideal of applying reason to all spheres of knowledge played a key role in preparing the soil for the outbreak of the French Revolution.

The writings of Voltaire and Rousseau acted as an impetus to the revolution.

Montesquieu (1689–1755), in his The Spirit of Laws, argued for the division of power among the legislative, executive and judiciary and opposed the concentration of power in a single hand.

Voltaire (1694-1778), in his The Age of Louis XIV, opposed the religious superstitions of the French and criticised the French administration under the rule of the monarchs.

Rousseau(1712–1778), in his Social Contract, argued that the relationship between the rulers and ruled should be bound by a contract. If the ruler ruled the country in a just manner, he would be respected by his subjects. If he ruled in an unjust manner, in violation of the contract, he should be punished.

The English philosopher, John Locke, in ‘Two Treatises of Government’, opposed the divine right and absolute monarchy. These ideas were also expressed in the writings of Diderot and the Encyclopédistes.

Rousseau is known for his famous beginning lines of The Social Contract, 'Man is born free but everywhere he is in chains'.

The French Revolution: The Beginning

The French Revolution began with the meeting of the Estates-General in May 1789. The summoning of the Estates-General became necessary because of the financial problems faced by the government.

The first two estates, namely, the clergy and nobility, had sent 300 representatives each to the meeting held at the palace of Versailles, while the 600 delegates of the third estate, mainly the business people and educated members, were made to stand behind them.

The question that was taken up at the Estates General was how they would vote. According to the norm, each estate had one vote, and Louis XVI wanted the same arrangement to continue. However, the third estate wanted one vote for each member.

Tennis Court Oath

June 1789

When this demand by the third estate was not accepted, the representatives formed the National Assembly on 17 June 1789. Then they left the Estates General and assembled at the tennis court on 20 June 1789.

They took the ‘tennis court oath’ by which they wanted to limit the power of the monarch and introduce a new constitution. In this protest, they were led by a noble named Mirabeau and a clergy, Abbé Sieyès.

The Storming of the Bastille

When the representatives of the third estate were busy with the formation of the National Assembly, the common people were suffering due to the high price of essential commodities, even as the rich merchants started hoarding the grains.

The agitated women started storming into the market area. Seeing the unrest, the king ordered the army to move into the streets of Paris. Angered by this move, the people stormed the Bastille, the great prison of the city of Paris, and after destroying the fort, released the prisoners on 14 July 1789.

14 July is still celebrated as Bastille Day or the French National Day in France.

National Assembly

The fall of the Bastille emboldened the National Assembly to abolish feudalism in the country. Shaken by the turn of events, the king also accepted the formation of a national assembly.

The Church was asked to forego its privileges and abolish the tithe. In 1791, the National Assembly drafted the constitution by which the powers of the king were limited. It also proposed to have three different organs: executive, legislative and judiciary.

The members of the National Assembly were indirectly elected by a group of electors. The electors were voted by the male citizens, who were above 25 years of age and who paid taxes. Thus the majority of the citizens did not get voting rights.

August 1789

Constitution Making

The National Constituent Assembly prepared the constitution. On 26 August 1789, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen was adopted.

It subordinated the monarchy to the rule of law and defined individual and collective rights. It maintained that no person shall be accused, arrested or imprisoned except in those cases established by the law (clause 7); and insisted that taxation could only be raised by common consent (clause 14).

Thomas Jefferson’s influence is clearly discernible in clause 1, which declares that, ‘Men are born and remain free and equal in rights’.

Women played a significant role in the French Revolution. Women from the poorer areas of Paris marched on Versailles, supported by 20,000 armed men. They broke into the palace and forced the king to return with them to Paris, where he was kept under public surveillance.

Many women were politically active. Olympe de Gouges was dissatisfied with the Declaration of Rights of Man and of the Citizen, as it excluded women. She wrote the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Citizen, arguing for equality for women.

The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen has a preamble and 17 articles.The first article contains the statement: “Men are born and remain free and equal in rights.

”The purpose of “political association,” as the Declaration states, should be the preservation of these rights, detailed as liberty, security to property, and resistance to oppression.

It also declares that both sovereignty and law should come from the “general will.” It protects the freedom of speech and of religion and insists on equal treatment before the law. It also asserts that taxes should be paid by all citizens in accordance with their means. The Declaration served as the preamble to the Constitution of 1791.

War against Austria and Prussia

While the king agreed to the constitutional monarchy on one hand, on the other hand he was secretly appealing for help from Austria and Prussia. The neighbouring kingdoms were watching the developments in France with concern.

They feared that the rise of common people might bring to an end the rule of monarchs, and so they sent their troops to France to contain the revolution. Meanwhile, the National Assembly declared war against Austria and Prussia.

On hearing this, people from various parts of France united to fight the foreign forces. A group of people from the place of Marseilles proceeded to Paris by singing the Marseillaise song.

A song for French troops from Marseilles composed (1792) by Roget de Lisle came to be called La Marseillaise. By a degree enacted on 14 July 1795, it was declared the national anthem of France

Formation of Clubs

The common people continued to suffer even after the formation of the National Assembly. The majority of the people saw the assembly as a place for rich persons, as commoners were excluded from voting.

The new armed power in Paris was in the hands of a National Guard recruited from the middle class. Lafayette, who acted as an official French adviser in the American War of Independence, was its chief.

There was a general feeling of liberation and exaltation when the king, ex-aristocrats, the middle classes and the Parisian masses jointly commemorated the first anniversary of the fall of the Bastille as a great festival.

But this sense of unity did not last long. Dissatisfied people started forming political clubs to discuss the problems they faced.

One such club which attained popularity was the Jacobin Club in Paris.

Jacobin Club

The members of the Jacobin Club were from poor sections of society – small-scale business people, artisans, servants and wage labourers. Their leader was Maximilien Robespierre. A majority of the members of the Jacobin Club wore long-striped trousers as against the trousers with knee breeches usually worn by the noble class. To differentiate from them, they called themselves ‘the people without knee breaches’(sans-culottes). Another lawyer, Dantondominated the Cordelier Club.

Girondins and Jacobins

June 1791

Lafayette’s constitutional monarchy dominated the political scene for two years. An attempt by the king to flee Paris in June 1791 to join counter-revolutionary armies congregating across the border was thwarted by the local militia.

Yet food shortages, price rises and unemployment drove the artisans and traders as well as the labourers to the point of despair. Repression could not stop the rising popular upsurge. The moderates who ran the government fell out among themselves.

Within the Jacobin Club, a group called the Girondins, also known as the Brissotins (after one of their leaders, Brissot), were less radical than Robespierre and Danton. Though there were differences of opinion among themselves, all of them, except Robespierre, believed that a war against the foreign powers would help.

Robespierre, however, argued that war would open the door to counter-revolution. But he could not stop the Girondins from agreeing with the king to form a government and then declaring war on Austria and Prussia in April 1792.

1792

National Convention

The plan of the Girondins turned out to be a disaster. The enraged members of the Jacobin Club stormed into the palace of Tuileries, the official residence of Louis XVI, and ransacked it. They killed the guards and took the king as prisoner.

A new assembly called the Convention voted that the king should be imprisoned and a new election conducted to elect a leader for the country. In this election, everyone above the age of 21 got the right to vote, without any distinction in wealth and status.

September 1792

September Massacres

After the overthrow of the monarchy, the people believed that political prisoners in the jails were planning to join a plot of the counter-revolutionaries. So the mob descended on the prisons and summarily executed those they believed to be royalists. Commencing on 2 September 1792, at Abbaye prison in Paris, it continued in the next four days in other prisons of the city.

In all, about 1,200 prisoners were killed in what came to be known as the September Massacres. The September Massacres were publicised abroad as proof of the horrors of revolution. The Girondins blamed their more radical enemies, especially Marat, Danton and Robespierre.

Work of the National Convention

On 20 September 1792 the revolutionary army halted the invading forces at Valmy. The next day the new Convention abolished monarchy and declared France a republic. King Louis XVI was brought before the People’s tribunal and executed by guillotine on 21 January 1793.

The offence he committed was his appeal to foreigners for help against his own people. Soon afterwards Marie Antoinette was beheaded.

Against a background of growing hunger in the towns and countryside alike, there were demands from the Parisians to control prices, to maintain grain supplies to feed people and to take action against hoarders and speculators.

Instead of initiating steps to meet the just demands of the Parisian masses, the Convention used the army to attack the agitating masses. The army suffered a series of defeats as its commander deserted to the enemy.

Disillusioned peasants in the Vendée region in the west of France joined a monarchist rising. Finally, moderates and royalists (29 May 1793) together seized control of Lyons, where the silk industry was thriving, and wealthy merchants from Germany and Italy had settled.

1794

Rule of Jacobins

Robespierre did not want to lose the gains made in the previous four years and hence commenced his dictatorial rule. The Jacobins sent Girondin leaders to the guillotine, the beheading machine.

Danton was beheaded. The period between 1793 and 1794 was also a time of radical reforms. On 4 February 1794, the Jacobin-dominated Convention decreed the abolition of slavery in all French Lands. Robespierre imposed a maximum ceiling on the wages of the people. Food items such as bread and meat were rationed.

Prices were fixed by the government for farm produce. The use of Sir and Madam was replaced by the use of the words male citizen and female citizen. Religious places such as churches were converted into army barracks.

Angered over the radicalisation of the government and at the base of society, his own party members turned against Robespierre. He was convicted and finally executed in 1794.

Dr Joseph-Ignace Guillotin was a French physician, who in an article wrote about a machine to quickly execute the convicts.Though he did not invent such a machine,it was named after him. The invention is attributed to Antoine Louis.

1795

The Directory

The allies who had overthrown Robespierre did not stay long in power. Those who hated the revolution began to take over the streets of Paris, attacking anyone who tried to defend the revolutionary ideals.

There were two risings in April and May 1795. But they were crushed by forces loyal to the new political group called Thermidorians. Emigres began to return to the country and boasted that the monarchy would be restored soon.

Emigres: Persons who leave their own country in order to settle in another for political reasons. In the present context, the nobles who fled France in the years following the French Revolution came to be calledémigrés.

In October 1795 the royalists staged a rising of their own in Paris. The army led by a rising officer and one-time Jacobin named Napoleon Bonaparte came to their assistance. Fearful of bloodshed, the Thermidorians agreed to concentrate power in the hands of a Directory of five men.

In four years, under one pretext or another, Napoleon gained power. In 1799 Napoleon staged a coup which in effect gave him dictatorial power. In 1804 Napoleon made the Pope crown him as the Emperor of France.

The French revolutionaries may have been defeated, but much of the revolution’s heritage survived to shape the modern world.

Impact of the French Revolution

• The French Revolution created a deep impact, not only in France but also all over Europe, and even inspired anti-colonial intellectuals and movements across the world in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
• The French Revolution brought to an end the rule of Louis XVI in France.
• It reduced social inequality. The privileges given to certain sections of society based on birth were curtailed.
• It introduced a republican form of government with electoral rights.
• The feudal system was abolished. Slavery was abolished, though it took some more years for the total abolition of slavery.
• The Church lost its supremacy, and it became subordinate to the state. Freedom of faith and religious tolerance had come to stay.
• The Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizens brought to light the importance of personal and collective rights.
• The three organs of the government, namely, the legislative, executive and judiciary, became prominent, and kept a check and balance on each other. It removed the concentration of power under a single authority.
• All over Europe, the French Revolution gave hope to the people to end the despotic rule and establish an egalitarian society.

HASTINGS (1772-1785)

The English East India Company

The English East India Company was established on 31 December 1600 as per the Royal Charter issued by the Queen of England, Elizabeth I. The Company had sent Captain Hawkins to the court of the Mughal Emperor, Jahangir in 1608 to secure permission to establish a “factory” (store house of goods) at Surat. It was turned down initially.

However, in 1613, Jahangir issued the firman permitting the East India Company to establish its first trading post at Surat. Subsequently, Sir Thomas Roe obtained more trading rights and privileges for the East India Company. Accordingly, the English set up business centres at Agra, Ahmedabad and Broach. Slowly the English East India Company succeeded in expanding its area of trade.

In 1639, Francis Day established the city of Madras and constructed the Fort St. George. On the west coast, the Company obtained Bombay on lease from their King, Charles II for a rent of 10 pounds per annum in 1668. By the year 1690, Job Charnock, the agent of the East India Company purchased three villages namely, Sutanuti, Govindpur and Kalikatta, which, in course of time, grew into the city of Calcutta.

It was fortified by Job Charnock, who named it Fort William after the English King, William III. The factories and trading centres which the English established all along the sea-coast of India were grouped under three presidencies namely Bombay, Madras and Calcutta.

After the Battle of Plassey in 1757 and the Battle of Buxar in 1764 , the Company became a political power. India was under the East India Company’s rule till 1858 when it came under the direct administration of the British Crown. Robert Clive was the first Governor of Fort William under the Company’s rule. He was succeeded by Verelst and Cartier. In 1772, the Company appointed Warren Hastings as the Governor of Fort William.

Reforms of Warren Hastings

When Warren Hastings assumed the administration of Bengal in 1772, he found it in utter chaos. The financial position of the Company became worse and the difficulties were intensified by famine. Therefore, Warren Hastings realized the immediate need for introducing reforms.

Abolition of the Dual System

The East India Company decided to act as Diwan and to undertake the collection of revenue by its own agents. Hence, the Dual System introduced by Robert Clive was abolished. As a measure to improve the finances of the Company, Warren Hastings reduced the Nawab’s allowance of 32 lakhs of rupees to half that amount. He also stopped the annual payment of 26 lakhs given to the Mughal Emperor.

Revenue Reforms

After the abolition of the Dual System, the responsibility of collecting the revenue fell on the shoulders of the Company. For that purpose, a Board of Revenue was established at Calcutta to supervise the collection of revenue. English Collectors were appointed in each district.

The treasury was removed from Murshidabad to Calcutta and an Accountant General was appointed. Calcutta thus became the capital of Bengal in 1772 and shortly after of British India. The Board of Revenue farmed out the lands by auction for a period of five years instead of one year in order to find out their real value. The zamindars were given priority in the auction.

However, certain good measures were taken to safeguard the interests of the peasants. Arbitrary cesses and unreasonable fines were abolished. Besides, restrictions were imposed on the enhancement of rent. Yet, the system was a failure. Many zamindars defaulted and the arrears of revenue accumulated.

Reorganisation of the Judicial System

The judicial system at the time of Warren Hastings’ ascendancy was a store-house of abuses. The Nawab who was hitherto the chief administrator of justice, misused his powers. Often, his judgments were careless. The zamindars who acted as judges at lower levels within their own areas were highly corrupt and prejudiced. On the whole, the judicial institution suffered from extreme corruption.

Warren Hastings felt the necessity of reorganising the judicial system. Each district was provided with a civil court under the Collector and a criminal court under an Indian Judge. To hear appeals from the district courts two appellate courts, one for civil cases and another for criminal cases, were established at Calcutta.

The highest civil court of appeal was called Sadar Diwani Adalat, which was to be presided over by the Governor and two judges recruited from among the members of his council. Similarly, the highest appellate criminal court was known as Sadar Nizamat Adalat which was to function under an Indian judge appointed by the Governor-in-Council. Experts in Hindu and Muslim laws were provided to assist the judges.

A digest of Hindu law was prepared in Sanskrit by learned Pandits and it was translated into Persian. An English translation of it – Code of Hindu Laws – was prepared by Halhed.

Trade Regulations and other Reforms

Warren Hastings abolished the system of dastaks, or free passes and regulated the internal trade. He reduced the number of custom houses and enforced a uniform tariff of 2.5 percent for Indian and non-Indian goods. Private trade by the Company’s servants continued but within enforceable limits.

Weavers were given better treatment and facilities were made to improve their condition. He also introduced a uniform system of pre-paid postage system. A bank was started in Calcutta. He improved the police in Calcutta and the dacoits were severely dealt with.

The Regulating Act of 1773

The Regulating Act of 1773 opened a new chapter in the constitutional history of the Company. Previously, the Home government in England consisted of the Court of Directors and the Court of Proprietors. The Court of Directors were elected annually and practically managed the affairs of the Company. In India, each of the three presidencies was independent and responsible only to the Home Government.

The government of the presidency was conducted by a Governor and a Council. The following conditions invited the Parliamentary intervention in the Company’s affairs. The English East India Company became a territorial power when it acquired a wide dominion in India and also the Diwani rights. Its early administration was not only corrupt but notorious. When the Company was in financial trouble, its servants were affluent.

The disastrous famine which broke out in Bengal in 1770 affected the agriculturists. As a result, the revenue collection was poor. In short, the Company was on the brink of bankruptcy. In 1773, the Company approached the British government for an immediate loan. It was under these circumstances that the Parliament of England resolved to regulate the affairs of the Company. Lord North, the Prime Minister of England, appointed a select committee to inquire into the affairs of the Company. The report submitted by the Committee paved the way for the enactment of the Regulating Act.

Provisions of the Act

The Regulating Act reformed the Company’s Government at Home and in India. The important provisions of the Act were:

• The term of office of the members of the Court of Directors was extended from one year to four years. One-fourth of them were to retire every year and the retiring Directors were not eligible for re-election.
• The Governor of Bengal was styled the Governor-General of Fort William whose tenure of office was for a period of five years.
• A council of four members was appointed to assist the Governor-General. The government was to be conducted in accordance with the decision of the majority. The Governor – General had a casting vote in case of a tie.
• The Governor-General in Council was made supreme over the other Presidencies in matters of war and peace.
• Provision was made in the Act for the establishment of a Supreme Court at Calcutta consisting of a Chief Justice and three junior judges. It was to be independent of the Governor- General in Council. In 1774, the Supreme Court was established by a Royal Charter.
• This Act prevented the servants of the Company including the Governor-General, members of his council and the judges of the Supreme Court from receiving directly or indirectly any gifts in kind or cash.

Merits and Demerits of the Act

The significance of the Regulating Act is that it brought the affairs of the Company under the control of the Parliament. Besides, it proved that the Parliament of England was concerned about the welfare of Indians. The greatest merit of this Act is that it put an end to the arbitrary rule of the Company and provided a framework for all future enactments relating to the governing of India.

The main defect of the Act was that the Governor-General was made powerless because the council which was given supreme power often created deadlocks by over-ruling his decision. However, many of these defects were rectified by the Pitt’s India Act of 1784.

Expansionist Policy of Warren Hastings

Warren Hastings was known for his expansionist policy. His administration witnessed the Rohilla War, the First Anglo-Maratha War and the Second Anglo-Mysore War.

The Rohilla War (1774)

Rohilkand was a small kingdom situated in between Oudh and the Marathas. Its ruler was Hafiz Rahmat Khan. He concluded a defensive treaty in 1772 with the Nawab of Oudh fearing an attack by the Marathas. But no such attack took place. But, the Nawab demanded money. When Rahmat Khan evaded, the Nawab with the help of the British invaded Rohilkand. Warren Hastings, who sent the British troops against Rohilkand was severely crticised for his policy on Rohilla affair.

First Anglo-Maratha War (1775-82)

The Marathas were largely remained disunited since the Third Battle of Panipet (1761). The internal conflict among the Marathas was best utilized by the British in their expansionist policy. In 1775, there was a dispute for the post of Peshwa between Madhav Rao and his uncle Ragunatha Rao. The British authorities in Bombay concluded the Treaty of Surat with Raghunatha Rao in March 1775. Rahunatha Rao promised to cede Bassein and Salsette to the British but later when he was unwilling to fulfill his promise, the British captured them.

This action of the Bombay Government was not approved by Warren Hastings. In 1776, Warren Hastings sent Colonel Upton to settle the issue. He cancelled the Treaty of Surat and concluded the Treaty of Purander with Nana Fadnavis, another Maratha leader. According to this treaty Madhava Rao II was accepted as the new Peshwa and the British retained Salsette along with a heavy war indemnity.

However, the Home authorities rejected the Treaty of Purander. Warren Hastings also considered the Treaty of Purandar as a ‘scrap of paper’ and sanctioned operations against the Marathas. In the meantime, the British force sent by the Bombay Government was defeated by the Marathas. In 1781, Warren Hastings dispatched British troops under the command of Captain Popham.

He defeated the Maratha chief, Mahadaji Scindia, in a number of small battles and captured Gwalior. Later in May 1782, the Treaty of Salbai was signed between Warren Hastings and Mahadaji Scindia. Accordingly, Salsette and Bassein were given to the British. Raghunath Rao was pensioned off and Madhav Rao II was accepted as the Peshwa.

The Treaty of Salbai established the British influence in Indian politics. It provided the British twenty years of peace with the Marathas. The Treaty also enabled the British to exert pressure on Mysore with the help of the Marathas in recovering their territories from Haider Ali. Thus, the British, on the one hand, saved themselves from the combined opposition of Indian powers and on the other, succeeded in dividing the Indian powers.

The Second Anglo-Mysore War (1780-84)

The first Anglo-Mysore War took place in 1767-69. Haider Ali emerged victorious against the British and at the end of the War a defensive treaty was concluded between Haider Ali and the British. After eleven years, the Second Mysore War broke out and the main causes for the second Anglo-Mysore War were:

1. The British failed to fulfill the terms of the defensive treaty with Haider when he was attacked by the Marathas in 1771.
2. There was an outbreak of hostilities between the English and the French (an ally of Haider) during the American War of Independence.
3. The British captured Mahe, a French settlement within Haider’s territories.
4. Haider Ali formed a grand alliance with the Nizam of Hyderabad and the Marathas against the British in 1779.

The War began when the British led their forces through Haider’s territory without his permission to capture Guntur in the Northern Sarkars. Haider Ali defeated Colonel Baillie and captured Arcot in 1780. In the next year, Warren Hastings, by a clever stroke of diplomacy, divided the Confederacy. He made peace with the Nizam, won the friendship of Bhonsle and came to an understanding with the Scindia (both Marathas).

Consequently, Haider was isolated without any alliance. He was defeated by Sir Eyre Coote at Porto Novo in March 1781. In December 1782, Haider died of cancer at the age of sixty and his death was kept secret till his son Tipu Sultan assumed power. The Second Mysore War came to an end by the Treaty of Mangalore in 1783. Accordingly, all conquests were mutually restored and the prisoners on both sides were liberated.

Pitt’s India Act, 1784

The Regulating Act proved to be an unsatisfactory document as it failed in its objective. In January 1784, Pitt the Younger (who became Prime Minister of England after the General Elections) introduced the India Bill in the British Parliament. Despite bitter debate in both the Houses, the bill was passed after seven months and it received royal assent in August 1784. This was the famous Pitt’s India Act of 1784.

Main Provisions

• A Board of Control consisting of six members was created. They were appointed by the Crown.
• The Court of Directors was retained without any alteration in its composition.
• The Act also introduced significant changes in the Indian administration. It reduced the number of the members of the Governor-General’s Council from four to three including the Commander-in-Chief. Pitt’s India Act constitutes a significant landmark with regard to the foreign policy of the Company. A critical review of the Act reveals that it had introduced a kind of contradiction in the functions of the Company. The Court of Directors controlled its commercial functions, whereas the Board of Control maintained its political affairs. In fact, the Board represented the King, and the Directors symbolised the Company.

The Impeachment of Warren Hastings

The Pitt’s India Act of 1784 was a rude shock and bitter disappointment for Warren Hastings. The Prime Minister’s speech censuring the policy of the Government of Bengal was considered by Warren Hastings as a reflection on his personal character. His image and reputation were tarnished in England. Therefore, he resigned and left India in June 1785. In 1787, Warren Hastings was impeached in the Parliament by Edmund Burke and the Whigs for his administrative excess. Burke brought forward 22 charges against him.

The most important of them were related to the Rohilla War, the Case of Nanda Kumar, the treatment of Raja Chait Singh of Benares and the pressures on the Begums of Oudh. After a long trail which lasted till 1795, Warren Hastings was completely acquitted. He received pension from the Company and lived till 1818. Nanda Kumar was an influential official in Bengal.

He was hanged to death by the verdict of the Supreme Court at Calcutta for a petty offence of forgery. The English law was applied in this judgement. It was contended that Warren Hastings and Sir Elija Impey, the judge of the Supreme Court conspired against Nanda Kumar. Warren Hastings imposed heavy penalty on the Raja Chait Singh of Benares for his delay in payment of tribute and deposed him in an unjust manner.

The Begums of Oudh were mother and grand mother of the Nawab of Oudh. Warren Hastings helped the Nawab by sending his troops to the help of Nawab who squeeze money from the Begums. This was a highhanded policy.

Estimate of Warren Hastings

He was a gifted personality endowed with ‘strong will, great energy and resourcefulness’. His long stay in Bengal ‘in the shadow of the Mughal cultural tradition’ gave him, enough opportunity to learn oriental languages such as Bengali (the local language) and Persian (the diplomatic language) and to develop ‘oriental tastes’. Since he considered Indian culture as a basis for sound Indian administration, he patronised the learning of Indian languages and arts. His task

was a challenging one since he was surrounded by hostile forces. “He faced his external enemies with unflinching courage and unfailing resource, and his internal opponents with extraordinary patience and firmness.” It was on the foundation which Warren Hastings laid down, that others erected a ‘stately edifice’.