Historical+Background

CP Brit Poetry
=Historical Background=

The Modern Age for British literature is widely held to be from the time period of 1901-1960, although the end date of the era is up for debate. The Modern Age era was during both WWI and WWII. In WWI the British Empire lost 1 million of its soldiers. After overcoming the hardships of WWI, the world again saw the atrocities of war. Not only did England experience direct bombing from Germany, but they also saw the inhuman treatment of the Jews during the Holocaust. These factors played a big role in how people began to think during the time and what themes are expressed in British Literature. Not only was the era marked by the hardships of war but the time also included a changed way of thinking. Civil rights were big during the time. Women were given the right to vote in 1918 and were granted full equality to men in 1928. Strides toward more workers rights were made as well. In May of 1962, 2 million British workers went on strike in what would be called The General Strike. Workers stopped working when employers were threatening to lower wages and to lengthen work hours. This event showed the power of the working class and that they could come together to make change.