Introduction

Abstract

The dominant theme of this volume is the question of whether there was or was not a substantial crisis in Edwardian society. Hence the book is subtitled Conflict and Stability. Naturally every age contains elements of both but the Edwardian period merits special attention. Sir Edward Grey’s declaration in 1914 that the ‘lights are going out all over Europe’ has been seen as especially pertinent to Britain. After 1918, as A. J. P. Taylor has noted in The Struggle for the Mastery of Europe, 1848–1918, Europe was subordinate, even irrelevant, in the world. But Grey’s comment reflects the nostalgia common amongst Englishmen for the time when their country was, or at least seemed to be, supreme. Today neither Europeans nor Americans have been quite so pessimistic about the post-Edwardian years in their respective countries as contemporary observers were. The idea that the Edwardian years represented a final golden age in society is largely a parochial British concept, although such aspects as the attacks on liberal values; the attempts to pep up an ill performing economy; the quest of Irishmen and women for a different role in society and politics; and the steps towards the construction of the so-called welfare state do have a much wider fascination and importance.