A History of British Rebellions
(Or, No Revolutions, Please, We’re British)
Britain has never really been happy under the rule of one central authority. Attempts to conquer the islands and unify them under one rule have never succeeded. Scotland was joined with the English crown in 1707 to form the United Kingdom, and Ireland was unified with the UK in 1800. This union came at the height of the British Empire’s power, and ended after the Irish War of Independence resulted in a treaty giving most of Ireland its independence in 1922.
The majority of rebellions that have occurred since the Romans began a written record of British history were to preserve native or regional forms of cultural independence. In this sense, we can read the recent attempts at Scottish Independence as the latest in a series of attempts to re-establish Scottish autonomy from the controlling influence of the English-centred state which goes back to the Jacobite rebellions, Medieval wars and even the Roman inability to pacify the Caledonians and Picts of the Highlands.
There is a commonly held belief that British people are not inclined towards revolution. There was no enlightenment revolution in the 18th century and Britain was not affected by the wave of European revolutions in 1848. Yet there was violence when the Parliament ignored the will of ordinary people for reform, such as when the Reform Act was rejected by the conservative House of Lords in 1831. The Chartist movement to enlarge the franchise subsequent to this did contain radical elements, but was notable for the generally rather polite way in which it pressed its demand for reforms, mainly via petitions of hundreds of thousands of people.
After the Irish War of Independence culminated in Ireland gaining its independence in 1922, armed insurrection generally gave way to non-violent political movements more like that of the Chartists. During the First World War, as the British government attempted to keep its huge empire together, the labour movement, suffragists and Irish Republicans all achieved significant progress within a short time.
That is not to say that government mismanagement and poor decision making never produces a violent backlash anymore. The Brixton Riots, Miners’ Strikes, Poll Tax Riots and more recently the Student Fees Protests and even the 2011 London Riots were all symptoms of the disenfranchisement of particular groups which the government of the time were economically burdening or socially excluding.
The United Kingdom managed to demonstrate a remarkable ability to slowly grant reforms in order to avert revolutions. As JFK said, “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.” These reforms were built on the back of imperial exploitation, and the legacy of colonialism leads to the financial power and political immunity of the City of London. This concentration of capital has drawn labour from all over the world, and has made London one of the most unequal and overcrowded parts of Western Europe. This is a fertile ground for social disruption, and one which the political system will need to be responsive to if it is to continue to avoid future violent rebellions.
The following is a list of the most important revolts, rebellions, riots, coups and protests which have taken place in Britain over the last 2000 years.
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43–51 — Caratacus sets up guerrilla resistance to the Roman invasion.
Caratacus was eventually captured and pardoned by Emperor Claudius, dying in exile in Italy.
61 — Iceni rebellion against Roman rule under Boudica.
83–84 — Caledonian resistance to Roman rule
After conquering the south of Britain, they faced tough resistance from a Caledonian confederation led by Calgacus, the first Highlander to be recorded in history. Tacitus invented a speech he is supposed to have given before being defeated by the Romans in which Calgacus is supposed to have said of Rome, “they make a desert and call it peace.”
367–8 — The Great Conspiracy
A coordinated attack on Roman Britain by invading Picts, Saxons and Franks
450–550 — Romano Celtic resistance to Anglo-Saxon occupation
If you read the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the period after the Germanic invasions of Britain reads like an extended slaughter of the Celtic natives. Ambrosius Aurelianus was a Romano-Celtic warlord who commanded the victorious Britons at the Battle of Badon Hill, as related by Gildas in his 6th century work On the Ruin and Conquest of Britain. The Saxons had pushed the Britons further and further west until this battle, but it was to be a temporary halt to the Germanic conquest of the islands. The story of King Arthur dates from this period and is probably inspired by it.
870–80 — Alfred the Great
Viking invasions lead to the Danish conquest of all the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of the Heptarchy period, leaving only Wessex under Alfred. Managing to unite the remaining Anglo-Saxons, he retook London and established a border with the Danes along the Thames. This is not traditionally seen as a rebellion, but is a good example of a successful resistance to conquest.
1068–75 — Rebellions against the Norman Conquest
This period included a number of violent confrontations including the Siege of Exeter, the Harrying of the North, the rebellion of Hereward the Wake and the Revolt of the Earls.
1135–1154 — The Anarchy
A succession crisis following the reign of Henry I, between his daughter Matilda and nephew Stephen de Blois — led to rebellions by Scottish, Welsh and English nobles against Stephen’s rule.
1211 — Welsh Uprising
Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, after recovering from a military defeat to King John, managed to unite many of the Welsh princes and win back his lands.
1215–17 — First Barons’ War
After the unpopular King John was forced to make legal concessions to the nobility with the signing of The Magna Carta, both sides reneged on their promises. The Barons invited Prince Louis of France to intervene, and he occupied London and much of the rest of the country. King John died and his 9-year old son was crowned Henry III. He reissued the Magna Carta and many nobles switched to his side and helped to defeat Louis, who gave up his claim to the English throne in 1217.
1321–2 — Despenser Wars
A rebellion of the Marcher Lords against Edward II.
1381 — The Peasants’ Revolt
After the Black Death in the 1340s, the peasant population was greatly reduced. The government tried to fix wages at pre-plague levels and levy poll taxes to pay for the Hundred Years War with France, which was going badly and becoming very expensive. The rebels marched from Kent into London, where Richard II sought to calm tensions by agreeing to many of their demands. However, an argument broke out between the rebel leader Wat Tyler and the King’s retinue, who stabbed and decapitated Tyler, before displaying his head on a pike at London Bridge, ending the rebellion.
1400–15 — Welsh Revolt
Owain Glyndŵr, the last native Prince of Wales, rose in rebellion against the usurper King Henry IV, the Welsh barons having been loyal to his predecessor Richard II.
1450 — Kent Rebellion of Jack Cade
Despite Cade’s attempt to keep his men under control once the rebel forces had entered London they began to loot. The citizens of London turned on the rebels and forced them out of the city in a bloody battle on London Bridge. To end the bloodshed the rebels were issued pardons by the king and told to return home.[3] Cade fled but was later caught on 12 July 1450 by Alexander Iden, a future High Sheriff of Kent. As a result of the skirmish with Iden, Cade was mortally wounded before reaching London for trial.
1455–87 — The Wars of the Roses
Aristocratic feuding between rival branches of the royal family erupted in a number of bouts of open warfare, due to the weak rule of Henry VI and the expense of England’s unsuccessful bid to hold its territory in France. The Lancastrians under Henry Tudor eventually defeated the last Yorkist king, Richard III in 1485. The depletion of the aristocracy caused by the wars may have accelerated the decline of Feudalism while increasing government centralisation and the power of the merchant classes.
1497 — The Cornish Rebellion
Impoverished peasants from Cornwall rose up against the imposition of war taxes to support Henry VII’s campaign in Scotland. These taxes overturned rights granted to the Cornish Stannary Parliament, which exempted Cornwall from all taxes of 10ths or 15ths of income.
The rebels marched to London, growing to an army of 15,000 but unsure how to proceed with the refusal of the King to concede to their demands. They eventually met a royal army of 25,000 at Deptford and without the supporting cavalry or artillery, were easily defeated. The leaders of the rebellion were hung at Tyburn, now Marble Arch.
1534–5 — Silken Thomas Rebellion, Kildare, Ireland
Thomas Fitzgerald was left as Deputy Governor of Ireland when his father was summoned to London by Henry VIII. Hearing rumours that his father had been executed, he renounced his allegiance to Henry and rebelled against the crown. Fitzgerald did not win the local support he expected and was eventually arrested and executed.
1536 — Lincolnshire Rising and the Pilgrimage of Grace
Protests against the policies of Henry VIII and the confiscation of monastic lands. The risings were suppressed and the leaders executed in 1537.
1549 — Kett’s Rebellion
Rebels opposing land enclosures stormed Norwich and defeated a small government force before being defeated by an army under the Earl of Warwick.
1549 — Prayer Book Rebellion
A rebellion in Devon and Cornwall against the introduction of the Church of England’s Book of Common Prayer.
1554 — Wyatt’s Rebellion
Sir Thomas Wyatt and other Protestant noblemen led a popular uprising against Mary I’s decision to marry the Catholic Philip of Spain.
1569 — Rising of the North
An unsuccessful attempt by Catholic northern Earls to depose Elizabeth I
1594–1603 — Nine Years War in Ireland
An uprising of Irish chieftains against the English. The chieftains were defeated and exiled, and the English decided to colonise Ulster with settlers from the mainland.
1605 — The Gunpowder Plot
Catholic gentry attempted to assassinate James I by blowing up the House of Lords, but the plot was foiled and its leaders executed.
1607–46 — The Levellers
In the Midland Revolt of 1607, the name was used to refer to those who levelled hedges in enclosure riots — against the enclosure of common land. The revolt culminated in the Newton Rebellion where 40–50 were killed when local landowners engaged rioters on 8 June who were attempting to remove enclosures.
Leveller ideas percolated in radical groups within Cromwell’s New Model Army during the English Civil War. Army agitators published a pamphlet which led to the Putney Debates, in which the army radicals were invited to state their case before a general Council of the Army, led by Cromwell himself. Cromwell and his supporters refused to consider the overthrow of the King and the principle of universal male suffrage. The debates led to the publication of the Agreement of the People, setting out the Levellers’ demands. However, Charles I escaped captivity, restarting the Civil War, and after he was executed in 1649, Cromwell refused the right of the Army to petition Parliament and crushed Leveller opposition within the army.
1641 — Irish Rebellion
An attempted coup by Irish Catholic gentry turned into an ethnic and religious conflict between Protestants and Catholics called the Irish Confederate Wars.
1642–51 — English Civil War
Landed gentry fought with Royalist aristocracy over the manner of government of the state, with the Parliamentarians under Cromwell eventually victorious over Charles I’s absolutist monarchy.
1688 — The Glorious Revolution
A propagandistic misnomer for a royal coup replacing James II with the Protestant William and Mary
1688–1788 — Jacobite rebellions
Supporters of the deposed Stuart dynasty attempted a number of uprisings and reinvasions with French support, including the Williamite War in Ireland and the Dundee Rising in Scotland.
1798 — Irish Rebellion
The Society of United Irishmen, comprised of both Protestant and Catholic reformers inspired by the French and American Revolutions, attempted to rebel with French support. A French army failed to land in Ireland in 1796, but despite a large British military presence, widespread rural resistance occurred in 1798 with a small French force landing in the North West and creating the short-lived Republic of Connacht before being defeated by British forces.
1803 — Irish Rebellion of Robert Emmet
An abortive republican revolution led by a Protestant Irish nationalist. It was badly organised and Emmet was arrested and executed for treason, making a famous final speech which inspired other Irish republicans.
1817 — Pentrich Rising
A small force of men marched on Nottingham with a set of unfocused revolutionary demands. The rising was probably encouraged by government spies trying to bring revolutionaries into the open and was easily crushed.
1819 — Peterloo Massacre
Cavalry charged a protest of 60–80,000 protesting for parliamentary reform, killing 15.
1820 — Scottish Insurrection or Radical War
Revolutionary demands suppressed during the Napoleonic wars returned and were exacerbated by an economic downturn. A week of strikes and unrest were easily put down, and it was again clear that government agents had encouraged dissent to bring radicals into the open after paranoia surrounding a conspiracy to assassinate government ministers in London.
1831 — Second Reform Bill riots
Following the rejection of the Reform Bill which would have increased the franchise, public riots broke out in many cities, with rioters occupying Bristol for three days.
1838–58 — Chartism
The Reform Act, while producing some electoral reform and enfranchising more middle class people, only encouraged those still disenfranchised to ask for their rights. The Chartists wanted to extend the suffrage to all men, which was proposed with the 1838 People’s Charter.
This was not a rebellion in the sense of an armed insurrection, but a political movement making demands which were eventually realised without the use of violence.
1839 — Newport Rising
Chartist sympathisers marched on Newport to free imprisoned Chartists. Troops opened fire, killing 22 protesters, and the leaders were given death sentences which were later commuted to transportation for life.
1867 — Fenian Rising in Ireland
The Irish Republican Brotherhood attempted to gain US support for a general insurrection, but it was poorly planned and quickly suppressed by the British government.
1903–18 — Women’s Suffrage Movement
The foundation of the Women’s Social and Political Union by Emmeline Pankhurst in 1903 began a more militant phase of the call for votes for women, which had been growing through the end of the 19th century. The Suffragettes used militant tactics like vandalism, arson, bombing and hunger strikes, with one member committing public suicide by throwing herself under the King’s horse at a race in 1913. The movement was wound up when some women were enfranchised in the 1918 Representation of the People Act, before all women over 21 were given the vote in 1928.
1916–21 — Easter Rising and Irish War of Independence
The Irish Republican Brotherhood and other revolutionaries fought the British army for five days in Dublin in 1916 before surrendering, the leaders later being executed. However, the rebellion reignited armed resistance and led to the Irish War of Independence from 1919–21.
1948 — The National Health Service and The Welfare State
Like the Chartist movement which led to full adult suffrage by 1928, the creation of the National Health Service was the culmination of a long campaign for social assistance for all of British society. As the Labour Party gained power and the enlargement of the franchise gave them a bigger pool of working class voters, the Liberal Party was encouraged to introduce social reforms in order to prevent the mass social unrest which was precipitating violent revolutions in other parts of Europe. Pensions were introduced in 1908, and following the Labour victory in the 1945 election, the NHS gave citizens free universal healthcare for the first time.
1979–91 — Thatcherism
If the creation of the Welfare State was a kind of revolution, so was its destruction. In the Middle Ages there were many elite rebellions, and Thatcherism certainly had revolutionary implications. Ideologically opposed to the socialist trend of social reform which had predominated throughout the 20th century, Thatcher used populist rhetoric to strip back the size of the public sector, privatise industry and make huge cuts to income and corporation tax, allowing private companies to run public services for profits rather than as social goods.
Thatcherism is reminiscent of the creation of Feudalism, where elites used their power to build castles and force peasants into debt bondage in exchange for protection. By slowly reducing the size of the welfare state and encouraging people to take on large debts to go to university or to buy a house, modern capitalist societies have replicated with wage slavery the condition of Serfdom for medieval peasants. This idea goes back to Marx, but the negative effects of such a system are becoming increasingly apparent.
1984–5 — Miners’ Strike
The closures of mines and pay restraint led to a confrontation between the National Union of Mineworkers and the Thatcher government. The strikes were notable for their high levels of violence, with three people killed and violence both from pickets and police. It culminated with a series of confrontations at Orgreave in Yorkshire where thousands of miners tried to close the pit and faced off against a similar number of police.
2003 — Iraq War Protests
The biggest peaceful protest ever seen in the UK opposed Prime Minister Blair’s decision to invade Iraq with the US, with between 1–2 million people marching in London on February 15. Of course, the government completely ignored this outpouring of public opinion and the consequences are still being felt today.
2010 — Student protests against tuition fees
A number of demonstrations by student groups took place in November and December 2010 against the proposed increase in university tuition fees. The protests were strongly suppressed by police, who used the tactic of kettling to forcibly detain hundreds of people for hours. The protests often turned violent, with some students occupying and vandalising the Conservative Party headquarters.
2011 — London Riots
London has seen numerous riots, sometimes over concerns as minor as the price of theatre tickets (you can see a complete list here), but those in 2011 were notable for their scale and duration (6–11 August). Hundreds of people were arrested, 5 people died and there was massive damage to property after police in North London shot dead a man who they falsely accused of shooting at them. The riots escalated as many people took advantage of a perceived breakdown in state control to destroy and loot property. While the riots were condemned by the media as opportunistic, acquisitive violence, many looters stole food, and it was considered by others to be a deeper expression of underlying social alienation.
201? — The outbreak of widespread public opposition to government policy and social problems is not a case of if but of when. There’s certainly no shortage of wood waiting to be lit by the appropriate spark.
