The long 18th century is a phrase used by many British historians to cover a more natural historical period than the simple use of the standard calendar definition. They expand the century to include larger British and Western European historical movements, with their subsequent "long" 18th century typically running from the Glorious Revolution and the beginning of the Nine Years' War in 1688 to the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815.[1][2] Other definitions, perhaps those with a more social or global interest, extend the period further to, for example, from the Stuart Restoration in 1660 to the end of the Georgian era.[3][2][4] Possibly the earliest proponent of the long eighteenth century was Sir John Robert Seeley, who in 1883 defined the eighteenth century as "the period which begins with the Revolution of 1688 and ends with the peace of 1815".[5]
The Institute of Historical Research hosts a seminar series on "British History in the Long 18th Century".[6]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Olsen, John Andreas; Gray, Colin S. (2011). The Practice of Strategy: From Alexander the Great to the Present. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199608638.
- ^ a b Baines, Paul (2004). The Long 18th century. London: Arnold. ISBN 978-0-340-81372-0.
- ^ O'Gorman, Frank (1997). The Long Eighteenth Century: British Political and Social History 1688–1832 (The Arnold History of Britain Series). Hodder Arnold. ISBN 978-0-340-56751-7. OCLC 243883533.
- ^ Marshall, P. J. (2001). "Introduction". Oxford History of the British Empire. Volume II: The Eighteenth Century. Oxford University Press. p. 1. ISBN 978-0-19-924677-9. OCLC 174866045.
- ^ J. R. Seeley, The Expansion of England; Two Courses of Lectures, second edn. (London: Macmillan, 1914), 25.
- ^ "British History in the Long 18th Century | Institute of Historical Research". www.history.ac.uk. 23 October 2011. Retrieved 10 May 2024.