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Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 1891 | - 1891—1899: Mahdist War
The Mahdist War (1881–99) was a British colonial war of the late 19th century, which was fought between the Mahdist Sudanese of the religious leader Muhammad Ahmad bin Abd Allah, who had proclaimed himself the "Mahdi" of Islam (the "Guided One"), and the forces of the Khedivate of Egypt, initially, and later the forces of Britain. Eighteen years of war resulted in the joint-rule state of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan (1899–1956), a condominium of the British Empire and the Kingdom of Egypt. The Sudanese launched several unsuccessful invasions of their neighbors, expanding the scale of the conflict to include not only Britain and Egypt, but the Italian Empire, the Belgian Congo, and Ethiopia.
The British set up a new colonial system, the Anglo-Egyptian administration, which effectively established British domination over Sudan. This ended with the independence of Sudan in 1956.
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| 2 | 1895 | - Dec 1895—Feb 1896: Fourth Anglo-Ashanti War
The Fourth Anglo-Ashanti War, also known as the "Second Ashanti Expedition", was brief, lasting only from December 1895 to February 1896. The Ashanti turned down an unofficial offer to become a British protectorate in 1891, extending to 1894. The British also wanted to establish a British resident in Kumasi. The Ashanti King Prempeh refused to surrender his sovereignty. Wanting to keep French and German forces out of Ashanti territory (and its gold), the British were anxious to conquer the Ashanti once and for all. The Ashanti sent a delegation to London offering concessions on its gold, cocoa and rubber trade as well as submission to the crown. The British however had already made its mind up on a military solution, they were on their way, the delegation only returning to Kumasi a few days before the troops marched in.
Colonel Sir Francis Scott left Cape Coast with the main expeditionary force of British and West Indian troops, Maxim guns and 75mm artillery in December 1895, and travelling along the remnants of the 1874 road arrived in Kumasi in January 1896. Major Robert Baden-Powell led a native levy of several local tribes in the campaign. The Asantehene directed the Ashanti not to resist, but casualties from sickness among the British troops were high. Soon, Governor William Maxwell arrived in Kumasi as well. Asantehene Agyeman Prempeh was unable or unwilling to pay the 50,000 ounces of gold so was arrested and deposed. He was forced to sign a treaty of protection, and with other Ashanti leaders was sent into exile in the Seychelles.
Baden-Powell published a diary of life giving the reasons, as he saw them, for the war: To put an end to human sacrifice. To put a stop to slave-trading and raiding. To ensure peace and security for the neighbouring tribes. To settle the country and protect the development of trade. To get paid up the balance of the war indemnity. He also believed that if a smaller force had been sent, there would have been bloodshed.
The British force left Kumasi on 22 January 1896, arriving back at the coast two weeks later. Not a shot had been fired but 18 Europeans were dead and 50% of the troops were sick. Among the dead was Queen Victoria's son-in-law, Prince Henry of Battenberg, who was taken ill before getting to Kumashi and died on 20 January onboard ship, returning to England. In 1897 Ashanti territory became a British protectorate.
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| 3 | 1897 | - 1897: Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria
Queen Victoria celebrates her Diamond Jubilee and sixty years as Queen.
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| 4 | 1899 | - 1899—1902: Second Boer War
Britain's attempt to annex the Dutch Boer colonies of the Transvaal and Orange Free State led to three years of guerrilla warfare in South Africa.
Three towns - Ladysmith, Mafeking and Kimberley - were besieged by the Boers, and were relieved in 1900.
Guerrilla resistance continued until 1902.
The British commander, Lord Kitchener, established concentration camps, where he tried to incarcerate much of the Boer population.
In Bloemfontein Camp it has been said there were 21 toilets to serve the needs of 7,000 interns.
At least 15,000 black South Africans were armed by the British, and served in mobile British columns that tried to track down the Boer commandos.
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| 5 | 1901 | - 1901—1910: Coronation of King Edward VII
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death
- 22 Jan 1901: Death of Queen Victoria
Queen Victoria dies at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight on 22 January at the age of 81 and a reign of almost 64 years. She is buried in the Frogmore Mausoleum at Windsor next to Prince Albert.
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| 6 | 1910 | - 1910—1936: Reign of King George V
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936
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| 7 | 1913 | - 1913: Registration of Merchant Seamen
A central indexed register for merchant seamen was re-established in 1913, after the old system had been abandoned in 1857.
Acts of outstanding gallantry by merchant seamen were rewarded with cash payments during the period of World War One.
Gallant seamen were also sometimes presented with objects such as gold watches and binoculars during World War One.
Captain Charles Fryatt was shot by the Germans on 27 July 1916, for his two gallant attempts to ram U-boats that were threatening his ship.
A new system of registration was introduced in 1941, once again to ensure a reserve pool of men for the Royal Navy.
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| 8 | 1914 | - 1914—1918: 1st World War
The Great War
- 1914—1918: World War One Munitions Work
During World War One, many women worked in munitions factories and other places that hitherto had been reserved for men.
Employed women increased from just over three million workers in 1914 to nearly five million in 1918.
A quarter of a million women worked in farming.
Over 700,000 women worked in the munitions industry.
Most women had to give up their jobs once the war ended.
- 1914: Alien Reg. Act and British Nationality Act
At the outbreak of World War One, all aliens over 16 were required to register at local police stations and to demonstrate a good character and knowledge of English. This was partly due to a fear of spies.
The Security Service (MI5) kept files on suspected German agents during the war years, including those of Mata Hari, whose file can be seen at The National Archives.
More than 32,000 alien men were interned during World War One.
German and German-Jewish public figures felt compelled to declare their support for Britain in 'Loyalty Letters' published in The Times.
28,744 aliens were repatriated at the outbreak of war, of these 23,571 were Germans.
- 1914—1918: World War One
The 'war to end all wars' - between Germany and her allies on the one side, and Britain and her allies on the other - raged from 4 August 1914 until 11 November 1918, claiming over 15 million lives worldwide.
The first British civilian casualties of the war were caused by German naval attacks on Scarborough, Whitby and Hartlepool.
The United States entered the war in 1917, after the discovery by British intelligence of secret German plans to support a Mexican invasion of the US.
By the end of the Somme campaign alone, more than one million combatants had died in battle.
By the end of World War One the British army had dealt with 80,000 cases of shell shock.
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| 9 | 1916 | - 1916: Battle of Jutland
The greatest naval battle of World War One was fought between the German and British navies at Jutland, Denmark, on 31 May 1916.
Britain and Germany were involved in a naval arms race from the time that Britain developed HMS Dreadnought, in 1906.
Since the outbreak of the war in 1914, the British naval commander Admiral John Jellicoe had sought a decisive battle, but had been unable to engage the Germans.
German warships at Jutland inflicted more damage on their British counterparts than they received. The Royal Navy nevertheless enjoyed a significant tactical advantage by the end of the action.
Reaction back in 'Blighty' was of dismay that a second Trafalgar had not been achieved.
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| 10 | 1918 | - 1918: Formation of RAF
On 1 April 1918, a new military branch was created when the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) merged to form the Royal Air Force. Now war could be fought from the air, as well as land and sea, but aeroplanes were at first used primarily for observation and reconnaissance.
Before World War One, aerial power depended primarily on balloon technology.
General John French, British commander, acknowledged that without the information provided by the RFC, the German army would have succeeded in defeating the British at Mons.
Reconnaissance missions needed a crew of two. A pilot had to fly straight and level, to allow the observer to take a series of overlapping photographs .
British civilians were bombed from the air for the first time in the Zeppelin raids of 1915-17.
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| 11 | 1926 | - 1926: The General Strike
In support of a strike by coal miners over wage cuts, the Trade Union Congress called a General Strike. It involved key industries such as ship-building, electricity and railways.
Students from Cambridge University arrived in chauffeured cars at the Dover docks, volunteering to load ships.
In Edinburgh a football pitch was used to impound vehicles that did not have trade union passes.
A Leeds rumour suggested that a bus full of non-striking workers was halted by strikers armed with guns.
The Trade Disputes and Trade Union Act was passed in 1927. It ensured that workers no longer paid their Trades Union levies as a matter of course, but 'contracted in' to pay them on a voluntary basis.
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| 12 | 1927 | - 1927: National Adoption Register
n 1927, the official registration of adoptions was introduced in England, with similar systems brought into Scotland in 1930 and Northern Ireland in 1931.
Adoption today can only take place by means of an adoption order, made by a court.
In earlier times, children were often not told that they were adopted.
In the 19th century advertisements were placed for adoption, but frequently there was no formal adoption process at all.
To this day, birth certificates obtained via the Adopted Children's Register at the General Register Office do not give a child's original surname, or the names of his or her natural parents.
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| 13 | 1937 | - 1937: Herbert Divorce Act
The introduction of new grounds for divorce, coupled with the provision of legal aid for the less well-off, caused a dramatic expansion in the number of people seeking divorce.
The terms for divorce included adultery, desertion without cause (after three years or more), cruelty, incurable insanity (after five years).
No petition for divorce could be made in the first three years of marriage except under exceptional circumstances, which would be assessed by the judge.
The Legal Assistance Plan (1949) gave legal aid to the less well-off, and caused an increase in the number of divorces.
The Divorce Reform Act (1969) made the irretrievable breakdown of a marriage the sole ground necessary for a divorce.
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| 14 | 1939 | - 1939—1945: 2nd World War
The Second World War
- 1939—1945: World War Two Employment
Many men worked in reserved occupations such as the steel industry or mining during the war. Many women who volunteered before the war joined the civil defence.
Flexible working hours and nurseries soon became commonplace, to accommodate the needs of working women with children.
From 1943 men were conscripted to work in the mines. They were called Bevin Boys after the Minister of Labour, Ernest Bevin.
From December 1941, only single women aged 20-30 were conscripted, but by mid-1943, almost 90 per cent of single women and 80 per cent of married women were employed.
Post-war food shortages meant that the Women's Land Army continued until 1950.
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| 15 | 1940 | - 1940—1944: Wartime Child Emigration
Child emigration has taken place since the first British colonies of the 17th century. During the Blitz in World War Two, thousands of British children were evacuated to safety in countries such as Canada and Australia.
Did you know?
The Children's Overseas Reception Board was established to help families send their children abroad to safety during the war.
After the war, over 3,000 children were sent to Australia under government-approved schemes - many subsequently returned.
The migrated children were referred to as 'the seeds of empire'.
'If you want to go, put your hand up' was the instruction used to select children for emigration from institutions such as the Dr Barnardo's Homes.
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| 16 | 1943 | - 1943: National Farm Survey
All farms were assessed for productivity during 1943, providing a unique snapshot of British agriculture. The survey covered 14 per cent of holdings of 5 acres and over.
The survey dealt with type of farming, length of occupation, and the managerial efficiency of occupiers - and much more.
Many Italian prisoners of war worked on the land to increase productivity.
The Community Farming Society (CFS) was founded to train conscientious objectors who wanted to work in farming.
Post-war food shortages meant that the Women's Land Army continued until 1950.
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1893 - 1944 (51 years)