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The Creation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707
Historian article
Why did both the parliaments of Scotland and England vote themselves out of existence in 1707 in order to create a new ‘United Kingdom of Great Britain’? From an English perspective, there was always a strong feeling that this union did not create a new kingdom and that it certainly...
The Creation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707
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A Crusading Outpost: the City and County of Edessa - 1095-1153
Article
Edessa is not now to be found on maps of the Near East; instead there is Urfa, the Turkish name for the former Christian city lying in the upper region of the Euphrates valley some two hundred and fifty kilometres from the Mediterranean. Like Christian Edessa, Moslem Urfa is a...
A Crusading Outpost: the City and County of Edessa - 1095-1153
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Personality & Power: The individual's role in the history of twentieth-century Europe
Article
What role do individuals wielding great power play in determining significant historical change? And how do historians locate human agency in historical change, and explain it? These are the issues I would like to reflect a little upon here. They are not new problems. But they are inescapable ones for...
Personality & Power: The individual's role in the history of twentieth-century Europe
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The ideological contribution of 'The Times' in favour of motherhood in Great Britain between 1910–1920
Historian article
During the early years of the twentieth century, the New Liberals spread a political ideology which was much closer to socialism than to Victorian liberalism. Indeed, they preached State intervention in favour of social welfare, national prosperity and imperialistic strength; that social policy which logically required extra care and increased...
The ideological contribution of 'The Times' in favour of motherhood in Great Britain between 1910–1920
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The Irish historians' role and the place of history in Irish national life
Historian article
The debate on the nation and its history is new to England; and there is, perhaps, a tendency to assume that what is new in England is new everywhere. In Ireland, the debate has been going on since the 1970s, fuelled by what is called ‘revisionism’; or rather, by a...
The Irish historians' role and the place of history in Irish national life
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‘Savages and rattlesnakes’ Washington, District of Columbia: A British Diplomat's view 1823-5
Historian article
Henry Unwin Addington, a nephew of the former British prime minister, Henry Addington, had joined the Foreign Office at the age of 16 in 1806. After serving in various junior diplomatic posts in Europe he learnt in 1822 that he was to be promoted to secretary of legation in Washington....
‘Savages and rattlesnakes’ Washington, District of Columbia: A British Diplomat's view 1823-5
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'The Mouth of Hell': Religious Discord at Brailes, Warwickshire, C.1660-c.1800
Article
Colin Haydon explores religious intolerance and conflict in an English village. In recent years, many historians have explored the subject of religious intolerance, and particularly anti-Catholic sentiment, in early modern and modern England. The political allegiance of ‘Papists’ was suspect: was not their allegiance to the Pope – to ‘another...
'The Mouth of Hell': Religious Discord at Brailes, Warwickshire, C.1660-c.1800
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Attitudes to Liberty and Enslavement: the career of James Irving, a Liverpool slave ship surgeon and captain
Historian article
Prior to abolition in 1807, Britain was the world’s leading slave trading nation. Of an estimated six million individuals forcibly transported from Africa in the transatlantic slave trade in the eighteenth century, almost 2.5 million (40 per cent) were carried in British vessels.2 The contemporary attitudes and assumptions which underpinned...
Attitudes to Liberty and Enslavement: the career of James Irving, a Liverpool slave ship surgeon and captain
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The strange death of King Harold II: Propaganda and the problem of legitimacy in the aftermath of the Battle of Hastings
Article
How did King Harold II die at the Battle of Hastings? The question is simple enough and the answer is apparently well known. Harold was killed by an arrow which struck him in the eye. His death is depicted clearly on the Bayeux Tapestry in one of its most famous...
The strange death of King Harold II: Propaganda and the problem of legitimacy in the aftermath of the Battle of Hastings
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The Military Historian and the Popular Image of the Western Front, 1914-1918
Article
Ian Beckett reviews recent revisionist interpretations of the Western Front. English teachers have much to answer for in terms of the enduring popular image of the Great War. Siegfried Sassoon, Wilfred Owen and Robert Graves are still pressed regularly into action as if they could possibly stand representatives of the...
The Military Historian and the Popular Image of the Western Front, 1914-1918
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To what extent was the failure of denazification in Germany 1945-48 a result of the apathy of the allies?
Historian article
To blame the failure of the denazification process in postwar Germany entirely on a vague and generalised concept such as apathy is simplistic and does not stand up to serious scrutiny. Denazification was one of the most ambitious attempts ever at provoking an artificial revolution; it is reasonable to assume...
To what extent was the failure of denazification in Germany 1945-48 a result of the apathy of the allies?
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A-Level Essay: To what extent does the art of the Edo period of Japan reflect the contentment of the classes within its society?
Article
The Edo period in Japanese history fell between the years 1600 and 1867, beginning when Tokugawa Ieyatsu, a daimyo (samurai lord), became the strongest power in Japan, and ending with Tokugawa Keiki’s abdication. The Tokugawas claimed the hereditary title of Shogun, supreme governor of Japan. (The emperor had become a...
A-Level Essay: To what extent does the art of the Edo period of Japan reflect the contentment of the classes within its society?
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The Spanish Collection
Article
For the art historian, a thorough study of works of art, their creators and the environment in which they were produced, as well as their significance then and now, is a specialised endeavour. This, nevertheless, does not exhaust the presentation of art to contemporaries, least of all in the context...
The Spanish Collection
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Louis, John, and William: the 'Dame Europa' pamphlets, 1870-1871
Article
The pamphlet printing industry in England received an unexpected boost in 1871 with the appearance of numerous works written, mainly, as commentaries, satires or allegories in Britain’s attitude regarding the Franco-Prussian War. The cause of this deluge was one particular tract, first issued on Salisbury in October 1870, whose purpose...
Louis, John, and William: the 'Dame Europa' pamphlets, 1870-1871
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Gladstone and the London May Day Demonstrators, 1890
Historian article
One hundred and twenty years ago the advent of the first red May Days caused major concern across Europe. To general surprise, in 1890 and the next few years some of the largest rallies occurred in London. In Britain the main demonstration on the nearest Sunday to May Day passed...
Gladstone and the London May Day Demonstrators, 1890
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Sporting Heritage EPQ
Article
Are you interested in both history and sport and undertaking an EPQ project?
Sporting Heritage is a not-for-profit community interest company working specifically to support the collection, preservation, access, and research of sporting heritage in the UK and wider.
Part of their remit also involves fostering interest in and dissemination...
Sporting Heritage EPQ
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Introductory film: Lenin - Interpretations
Part of the HA Interpretations Film Series: Power and authority in Russia and the Soviet Union
Log in below to preview the introductory film - available to all registered users of the website.
This open access introductory film forms part of our ongoing film series on Power and authority in Russia and the Soviet Union. All the films are available through the Student Zone with corporate secondary membership. ...
Introductory film: Lenin - Interpretations
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Introductory film: Khrushchev - Interpretations
Part of the HA Interpretations Film Series: Power and authority in Russia and the Soviet Union
Log in below to preview the introductory film - available to all registered users of the website.
This open access introductory film forms part of our ongoing film series on Power and authority in Russia and the Soviet Union. All the films are available through the Student Zone with corporate secondary...
Introductory film: Khrushchev - Interpretations
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Ending the French Revolution
Historian article
Malcolm Crook discusses why it was so difficult to end the most famous revolution of the eighteenth century and why it led to bloodshed and absolutism.
Ending the French Revolution
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The Versailles Peace Settlement
Classic Pamphlet
This classic pamphlet takes you through the Paris Peace Conference and the 'German Question', Peacemaking and the Treaty of Versailles, Europe and the German question after Versailles.
The Versailles Peace Settlement
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The Scottish Parliament by Robert S. Rait
Classic Pamphlet
This short pamphlet by the former Historiographer Royal for Scotland, Robert S. Rait, provides an introduction to the Scottish Parliament from its early origins to the Acts of Union of 1707.
The Scottish Parliament by Robert S. Rait
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John Knox
Classic Pamphlet
During his own lifetime John Knox was engaged in violent disputes, and throughout the succeeding ages his character has been the subject of acrimonious controversy. While there is an infinite variety of opinion as to his character, there is complete unanimity as to his importance.
This pamphlet discusses the life,...
John Knox
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Scottish Diplomatists 1689-1789
Classic Pamphlet
The object of this pamphlet is to show the gradual penetration of Scotsmen after the Union into a particular branch of the public service - what may be conveniently though not very accurately described as the diplomatic service.
This essay makes a study of the actual negotiations conducted by Scottish...
Scottish Diplomatists 1689-1789
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The Thirteenth Century Industrial Scene in England
Classic Pamphlet
This essay forms part of a collection of three essays on Thirteenth Century England by Professor R. F. Treharne (President of the HA 1958-61). These were originally delivered as lectures and were later edited for publication by Dr C. H. Knowles. This essay looks at the industrial scene in England during...
The Thirteenth Century Industrial Scene in England
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The Thirteenth Century Rural Scene in England
Classic Pamphlet
This essay forms part of a collection of three essays on Thirteenth Century England by Professor R. F. Treharne (President of the HA 1958-61). These were originally delivered as lectures and were later edited for publication by Dr C. H. Knowles. This essay looks at the rural scene in England during...
The Thirteenth Century Rural Scene in England
