The Edwardian Era

·      The name 'Saxe Coburg and Gotha' came into the British royal family in 1840, with the marriage of Queen Victoria to Prince Albert, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

Edwardian Era (1901-1914)

·         King Edward VII, who reigned for nine (09) years at the beginning of the Modern Age in the early years in the 20th century.

·         It was an age of new challenges (social, political, and economical).

·         King Edward VII was the first British monarch to travel by car. This happened when he was serving as the Prince of Wales.

·         The Edwardian Era was short but intense. During this period, society experienced significant transformations. It was an era of shift towards a more liberal attitudes, especially in the upper and middle-class.

·         There was a growing emphasis on leisure and entertainment, with advancement in art, fashion, and sports.

·         This era saw the rise of 'Suffragette' movement, advocating for women's right to vote.

·         The Edwardian Era was a time of remarkable technological progress (telephone, automobile, early airplanes, sewing machines…).

Entente cordiale

·      In 1904, King Edward signed with France, a treaty referred to as 'Entente cordiale'. It marked a significant diplomatic agreement between Great Britain and France, aimed at resolving long-standing colonial disputes.

·      This rapprochement emerged from a shared realization that mutual friendship was more beneficial than continued imperial rivalry.

Victory of liberals

·           Liberals won the election in 1906, and took some step to introduce the welfare state. They introduced reforms to three groups of people:

1.      Children from poor families (the children's charter): gave children legal protection (juvile courts).

2.      Old people: (the old-age pensions act of 1908), which introduced pensions for people over the age of 70.

3.      Workers (the National Insurance Act of 1911): free medical treatment, and unemployment pay (the dole).

Suffragette movement

·         Emmeline Pankhurst, her daughters Christabel, Sylvia and Adela, and a group of other women based in Manchester founded the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) in 1903. They aimed to 'wake up the nation' through 'deeds not words'. This was the beginning of the Suffragette movement.

·         The Suffragettes were part of the votes for women campaign that had long fought for women’s right to vote in the UK. They used art, debate, propaganda and attacks on property to fight for female suffrage. Suffrage means the right to vote in parliamentary and general elections.

 

The Irish question

·         Another historical event in the Edwardian Era was the 'Irish question'. The majority of the Irsih population was Catholic, and wanted an independent parliament in Dublin, but the Protestant population of Northern Ireland wanted to stay under British rule (more details about this event in lecture five).

Edwardian architecture

·         Many famous buildings in France and the Netherland are inspired by the Edwardian Era. Unlike Victorian Age, the Edwardian architecture was simple in design, because partly due to changes

 in taste, new methods of constructions, which made elaborate decoration more expensive.

Fashion

·      Queen Victoria was too involved with the internal matters of the empire to travel. King Edward, in contrast, wandered over the world and was exposed to other cultures and fashions. Continental Europe influenced his taste, and he picked up on their art and style.

·      The fashion trends in this era incorporated similar skirts and corsets as the Victorian era but with modern silhouettes.

·      Men used to wear tailored suits and ascot ties. In occasions, they generally wear white tie and stripped trousers.

·      Women, on the other hand, wire high collar dresses that cover their necks, large hats, and narrow skirts (fitted closely to the body).

·      Particular type of necklesses were worn by Edwardian women to reflect the nobility and the modernity of that age.

·      'The knickerbockers' was another type of trousers worn by both men and women. They are trousers that rolled up just below the knee. These trousers became familiar with the rise of 'bicyle craze' (specialized clothing for cycling).

An Age of entertainment

Entertainment was a recurring theme in Edwardian Era. Dancing parties for the upper class (Lavish Balls) were widely recognized. Moreover, music, theatre, halls, horse racing, tennis, and hunting were also common activities in leisure time.

Death of King Edward VII

·         Edward VII died at Buckingham Palace on the evening of Friday 6 May 1910, succeeded by his son Geroge V. Despite his death, the Edwardian Era continued until the beginning of WW1 (1914).

·         Only four years after Edward passed away, the lavish and proud displays of prosperity that had become such a part of Edwardian society were brought to an untimely end.

·         The Dynasty, in 1917, declared a proclamation that all descendents of Queen Victoria in the male line should adopt the name 'Windsor' (anti-German atmosphere of WW1)