Macdermott’s war song (1878), a propaganda piece to
influence the masses against Russian involvement in Turkey, sums up the British
feeling of power as the most dominant force in Europe and thus the world.
Industrial rigour and maritime might ensured that the working classes could
sing patriotically about the successes of the nation.
We don’t
want to fight but by jingo if we do…
We’ve
got the ships, we’ve got the men, and got the money too!
It is your correspondent’s humble opinion that no place was quite
so instrumental to this meteoric rise as the forgotten county of Lancashire.
From the advocacy of free trade, in a world where protectionism was the status
quo, to the first industrial society, Lancashire led the way.
The first truly industrial city came in the form of
Manchester. The first trade union movement, which came to shape politics and socialism,
arrived in the form of the cotton mills’ unionised labour. The original
suffragette movement, which changed the demography of the electorate of the UK
and perceptions of women globally, also began in the county.
Manchester and Liverpool, then the two giants of Lancashire,
dominated the cutting edge industries of their day. Productivity and efficiency
in these cities made them some of the richest (and inequitable) cities in the
world. Technology and politics flourished too; inventors like Samuel Crompton
to prime ministers such as Balfour and Lloyd George are natives of the county.
This was an exciting time; Lancashire appeared to be on an accelerated
path to prosperity. Research by Alfred Marshall (1890) reckoned that industries
such as steel and cotton clustered in the density of one county would lead to constant
innovation and advancement. If Marshall is the latter day M. Porter, then Lancashire
was the 19th century’s California.
That very statement may furrow the brow of many a reader,
yet no one place influenced the century more than Lancashire.
This blog is a testimony to that once great county. Consider
a place which; while the majority of Germans, Americans and Frenchmen lived on
land owned by local aristocrats, in what can only be described as a feudal system;
in Lancashire, life was buzzing with industries sprouting a new middle class of
lawyers, accountants and mill owners.
Reflect on the engaging debate as Lancashire sought to
repeal the Corn Laws, advocating free trade against the demur of aristocratic
land owners. Contemplate how from the spinning Jenny to the
steam engine, Lancastrian industrial might transformed the world; muse over how
this impoverished those condemned to work in cruel conditions. Ponder how the inequitable
distribution of such a wealthy place shaped the trade union movements and
socialism of the next century.
Blogs of course were not around during Lancashire’s hay day.
The coffee house was then the place for melodramatic political discussion. This
blog does not expect nor try to emulate such conversations. It will serve merely
as a testimony to the types of discussions which might once have been. Expect
sweeping statements, polarised discussion and the odd bit of dry wit.
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