In 1763, Britain emerged from the Seven Years’ War as the leading power in the world.  Rich and confident, the nation seemed secure from its rivals abroad and to offer a model to other nations of stability and progress.  Yet within a few years Britain would face great political and social challenges, both at home and abroad.  The American Revolution brought on a great imperial crisis, while the French Revolution inaugurated twenty-five years of European war.  Even more alarming, the latter struggle produced movements that questioned the legitimacy of the  social order.  British society survived these challenges, yet it was profoundly changed by the events that marked this period.

During this term we will want to examine how Britain coped with the threat of revolution, even as it experienced a profound transformation in the economic life of the country.  While Burke and some of the Romantics resisted economic and political change, the ruling classes accommodated themselves to the emerging commercial society and cooperated in the modernization of the state.  The central question we will ask ourselves throughout the term is:  How did Britain avoid a revolution, or did it have a “revolution,” only no one noticed?