HISTORY 



53 





in dealing with Turkey, France and Great Brit- 

 ain formed an alliance against Russia, March L'S. 

 Is.") \. Tin- invasion of the Crimea followed; sev- 

 eral important battles (Alma, Balaclava, Inker- 

 man took place, resulting in favor of the allies, 

 till at length Sebastopol fell (1855), and peace 

 was signeu the following year at Paris. Russia 

 a part of Bessarabia to Turkey, and con- 

 sented to the free navigation of the Danube and 

 the neutrality of the Black Sea. 



>-ly was the Crimean war over when 



Britain was threatened with the loss of her pos- 



ua in India through the mutiny of the Se- 



For a time the authority of government 

 was entirely suspended throughout the greater 



Bengal, the whole of Oude, and a large 

 I><>rtiim of Central India; but in a comparatively 

 .short time 70,000 British troops poured in from 

 Burmah. Mauritius, the Cape, and elsewhere, 

 and entirely suppressed the rebellion. One result 

 of the mutiny was that, by a bill passed August 

 2, 1858, the sovereignty hitherto exercised over 

 the British possessions in India by the East 

 India Company was transferred to the British 

 crown. 



Two wars with China (1858 and 1860), during 

 which Canton was bombarded and Peking taken 

 by united forces of Britain and France, opened 

 up five new Chinese ports to trade, with other 

 advantages. The great Civil War in America 

 occurred between 1861 and 1866, and had for 

 a time a disastrous effect on the cotton-trade in 

 Lancashire, causing widespread distress. Be- 

 tween 1861 and 1867 the Fenian movement, 

 which had for its object the separation of Ire- 

 land from the United Kingdom, occasioned some 

 excitement. 



Parliamentary reform was attempted by sev- 

 eral governments without success, until the gov- 

 ernment of the Earl of Derby in 1867 passed a 

 measure establishing the principle of household 

 This year also saw the passing of the 

 act by which the Dominion of Canada was con- 

 stituted. In 1867, the Abyssinian expedition 

 set out, and elYectod its object the relief of 

 Knirlish captives in the spring of 1868. In the 

 -ame year Lord Derby was succeeded by Mr. 

 Disraeli as leader of the Conservative party, 

 then in otlice. Before the end of the year a gen- 

 eraleleetion put the Liberal.- in |X)wer. In 1869, 

 Mr. Gladstone's administration passed a bill for 



establishment of the Irish Church. In 



Iri-h I. and Law Hill, ha ving foritsobiect 

 regulation of the relation- bet \\een landlord 



the 



and tenant, became law ; and during the same ses- 

 sion the act of parliament establishing a national 

 of education for Finland was passed. 

 In 1871. the purchase- ions in the army 



was abolished. Next t..ll..\\ed the Ballot \. : t 



and the Scotch Kducation Art. I ; :i rly in I s7 I . 



idstone dissolved Parliament, and a large 



majority being returned. Mr. 1 >i>- 



raeli Karl ..I |',eac"H field ) again 



mier. Tl un the 



IS brought to a succe fill 

 in IS71. In ix7ii. the till.' , 



press of India was added to the title- <.| tin- 

 During tl R I'urki-h War ( .f ]s77 



tin remained neutral, but took an impr 



rt in the settlement effected 1 



Congress, and acquired from Turkey the right to 

 occupy and administer Cyprus. Then followed 

 a war in Afghanistan, a war with the Kaffirs of 

 Zululand, and a brief war with the Boers of the 

 Transvaal. 



A new parliament was returned in 1880 with 

 a large Liberal majority, and Mr. Gladstone once 

 more became premier. This parliament 



a land-act for Ireland (1881), an act for putting 

 down crime in Ireland (1882), a reform act equal- 

 izing the borough and county franchise 

 and a redistribution of seats act (1885) ail 

 important acts. The intervention of Britain 

 in Egyptian affairs led to the bombardment of 

 Alexandria by tjie British fleet (July. Isv 

 the sending of an army into Egypt to ,j tu -ll the 

 rebellion headed by Arabi Pa-ha. which was 

 soon accomplished; while the rising under the 

 Mahdi in the Soudan caused British troops to be 

 despatched to Suakim. and another force to be 

 sent by way of the Nile un the autumn of 

 1884) to relieve General Gordon at Khartoum, 

 an object which it was too late to accomplish. 

 A new parliament wa- elected in the end of 1885, 

 and for a brief period Lord Salisbury was premier 

 as he had latterly been in the preceding parlia- 

 ment, but in February, 1886, he made way for 

 Mr. Gladstone. On 29th March. Mr. Gladstone 

 gave notice of his intention to introduce a bill 

 which, among other things, would establish a 

 separate Irish legislative body, and withdraw the 

 Irish members from the ImjK-rial Parliament. 

 A determined opposition was organized, and a 

 section of the Liberal party, headed by men 

 mostly old colleagues of Mr. Gladstone, oj>erated 

 with the Conservatives and succeeded in throw- 

 ing out the bill on its second reading. The 

 result was the resignation of the Gladstone min- 

 istry, and a general election, in which the I'nion- 

 ists, or those opposed to the bill, had : 

 majority. The Con-eivative party assumed 

 oflice, with the Marquis of Salisbury 

 criminal law amendment act tor Ireland (1887), 

 and a local government act for Fngland (1888), 

 were passed. In 1887 the jub'.l 

 was celebrated. The elections in 1S92 resulted 

 in a Liberal victory and Mr. tilad-tone l>ecame 

 again premier. In 1S1W. Lord Salisbury was 

 returned to power. October 11, 1899, war was 

 declared by the Boers of the Transvaal and 

 Orange Free State, the aim being the destruc- 

 tion of the British paramount y in South 

 . \irica. this led t< thosestates 



by the British, after a IK '.in 1900. 



In 1900. a new parliamei. 1 which 



iji|Mrted the Con-ervative mim-tr 

 a slightly increased majority. \ died 



January 22. 1901, and was succeeded by Fxlwnnl 

 VII. 



In 1002 a new mini-try was formed wit 

 Balfour as prem Balfour n 



succeeded in 1905 by tl 

 Bannerman 



many in I'.MMl. and of FmjH-ror \\ illia! 



land' in the latter part did much to 



re an amicable understanding those 



The chief event r itain's 



colonial relation- durum the year last 

 was tl complete aut 



