My Trip to London, Spring 2019!

A brief summary of England’s Edwardian period: The Edwardian Era lasted from about 1901 until WWI started in 1910.  It marked the start of the decline from Britain’s peak power as an empire.  During this period, India was in the midst of its struggle for independence, and other nations like Japan, the US, and Germany were rising in power.  It marked several radical changes for England in a relatively short time frame.  The suffragettes began meeting in earnest and took militant action by 1905, leading to a series of demonstrations and protests.  In 1908, “Women’s Sunday” became the largest political demonstration in London, and women are arrested and go on hunger strikes the following year.  Women would not gain enfranchisement until 1918, however.  King Edward was influential in bringing to pass the Parliament Act of 1911, which solidified the relationship between the roles of the Commons and the Lords.  Before his death, he backed the “Peopl...

I'd thought I'd heard of King Henry VIII before, but only because of the catchy song, which it turns out has nothing to do with the monarch himself.  Instead of being the 8th husband of "the widow next door," Henry VIII was married six times and beheaded two of his own wives for treason.  In order to divorce his first wife (who was actually his late brother's wife before), and marry Anne Boleyn, he brought about an entire religous reformation, where the English church separated itself from Rome.  The head of the Church of England became Henry, even though earlier he had been opposed to Lutheranism and supported the pope.  During his youth, Henry was physically active but due to an accident in his adulthood and declining emotional state, he gained a ton of weight and is remembered mostly as being obese.  He executed 70,000 people during his reign, and was known for his bad temper.  Even through all that, Henry is remembered for improving England in its navy,...