Nope: I talked about revolution in France providing some motivation and context to extension of the UK franchise. No idea how this becomes ‘The French Revolution in 1787/1789 caused the 1832 reform act’. You’re implying that France only had revolution for a year or two, that the UK only had one reform act and that I’m claiming a clear line of causation: none of these are the case. As it happens, there was a revolution in France in 1830, shortly before the Great Reform Act, and others across the 19th century. Revolution was something of a general theme.
Again, this was about government putting forward compromises to avoid what happened, not backing it. The 1832 reform act removed the worst excesses of rotten boroughs which made the electoral system an easy target. The 1867 reform act aimed essentially to bring as many ‘respectable’ people on board as possible to make it easier to block the more radical calls for reform.
In terms of steadfast opposition: there’s also evidence suggesting that the radical campaigns of the Suffragettes created more steadfast opposition to women’s suffrage. Usually, dramatic pressures of this kind don’t have a clear single effect. They increase opposition, provoke groups of support and create an incentive to find some way to drive a compromise.
Nope: I talked about revolution in France providing some motivation and context to extension of the UK franchise. No idea how this becomes ‘The French Revolution in 1787/1789 caused the 1832 reform act’. You’re implying that France only had revolution for a year or two, that the UK only had one reform act and that I’m claiming a clear line of causation: none of these are the case. As it happens, there was a revolution in France in 1830, shortly before the Great Reform Act, and others across the 19th century. Revolution was something of a general theme.
Again, this was about government putting forward compromises to avoid what happened, not backing it. The 1832 reform act removed the worst excesses of rotten boroughs which made the electoral system an easy target. The 1867 reform act aimed essentially to bring as many ‘respectable’ people on board as possible to make it easier to block the more radical calls for reform.
In terms of steadfast opposition: there’s also evidence suggesting that the radical campaigns of the Suffragettes created more steadfast opposition to women’s suffrage. Usually, dramatic pressures of this kind don’t have a clear single effect. They increase opposition, provoke groups of support and create an incentive to find some way to drive a compromise.