The History Teacher's Magazine, Vol. I, No. 5, January 1910Various
History
The History Teacher's Magazine, Vol. I, No. 5, January 1910
Various
History -- Study and teaching -- Periodicals; Social sciences -- Study and teaching -- Periodicals
The English struggle can be discussed along much the same lines as
the wars in France and Germany. More time should perhaps be given to
pointing out the effects of the Renaissance on England and the great
intellectual, economic, social, and religious changes which had come to
pass in the time of the Tudors. Their reigns mark the great period in
English history. The dominant characteristic of English development,
the growth of liberty, which had often placed England in sharp contrast
with the continent was never more prominently displayed than during
the period under consideration. The Great Civil War partakes of the
twofold character of the continental wars. It marks on the one hand a
struggle between two religious sects; on the other a contest between
the king and the representatives of the people. The prominence of this
second phase, the fact that it was a struggle between two Protestant
sects instead of between Catholics and Protestants, and that it took
place so long after the general upheaval following the break with
Rome, have served to isolate it more or less from the struggles on
the continent. The gains for freedom, which were the final outcome
of this struggle, differentiate it from those in France and Germany.
Henry IV and Richelieu prepared the way for the absolutism of Louis
XIV. In Germany the disorganization and demoralization of the central
government placed the destinies of the German people in the hands
of rival princes, whose political creed may be summed up in the
words of Frederick William I of Prussia, “Salvation belongs to the
Lord; everything else is my business.” The rulers of England, on the
contrary, were forced to recognize the power of parliament to control
their ministers, and more important still, to acknowledge the sovereign
people as the ultimate source of their power and authority. The
admission of this principle of government was not entirely the work of
the Puritan Revolution, but needed the additional lesson of the tyranny
and overthrow of James II. Not the least important among the benefits
which the movement of 1688 conferred upon England was the general
recognition of the principle of toleration.
The opportunity which this method affords the teacher of contrasting
English conditions with those on the continent should lead to a better
understanding and appreciation of England’s relation to and part in
general European progress. Her internal history furnishes another
illustration of the great characteristic of this period, the passing of
religious questions from the sphere of politics and the appearance of
issues of an entirely different character.
Bibliography.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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