14th and15th centuries, in the process of the disintegration of serfdom, Britain's emerging bourgeoisie and new noble violently drove farmers away from their land, seized farmers' land and public land, deprived farmers of their land use rights and ownership rights, restricted or cancelled the original common farmland rights and animal husbandry rights, and occupied the occupied land, turning it into private ranches and farms. This is the "enclosure movement" in British history. So, what are the causes and effects of enclosure movement in Britain?
First, the reasons for the rise
1. The rapid development of wool textile industry. /kloc-After the 0/5th century, the woolen industry in Britain developed rapidly, and the price of wool in the market began to soar. It was profitable to raise sheep, but a large area of land was needed. As a result, the nobles drove away the farmers who rented their land and occupied the land where they could raise sheep to develop the sheep industry.
2. The impact of the opening of new routes. After the opening of the new air route, the economic and cultural exchanges between various regions and nationalities in the world have been expanded. Britain is located in the center line of Atlantic shipping, and its foreign trade has expanded sharply, which further stimulated the development of British wool export industry and wool industry and promoted the development of sheep industry.
3. The existence of a large number of public lands in Britain. In Britain, forests, grasslands, swamps and wasteland have no fixed owners. Some nobles used their power to turn it into a pasture.
4. Stimulation of profit. There is a great difference between feudal customary land rent and capitalist land rent in Britain, which makes landlords see that renting land to agricultural capitalists is more profitable than feudal exploitation of farmers, thus stimulating the development of enclosure movement.
5. The result of government support. Generally speaking, the government supports the enclosure movement. For example, in 1593, Congress abolished the anti-enclosure law, which led to enclosure frenzy. 1640 after the bourgeois revolution broke out, the bourgeoisie no longer opposed enclosure. Since 1688, the government has publicly supported enclosure.
Second, the impact of enclosure movement on Britain
1. Provide free labor for the development of capitalism. The enclosure movement has separated farmers from land, making farmers less and less. Some farmers who lost their land became hired workers on farms and flowed into cities, preparing a large number of free workers for the development of British capitalism. At the same time, the enclosure movement also destroyed the cottage industry and expanded the domestic market for the industry, which greatly promoted the industrial development of Britain and made Britain a leader in European commerce in the 17 and 18 centuries.
2. Make the capitalist economy go deep into the countryside and carry out capitalist transformation of agriculture. The first is the change of land ownership: the enclosure movement destroyed the small-scale peasant economy and established capitalist agriculture, and the rural land ownership changed from feudalism to capitalist land ownership. It is a change of management mode: after the land is fenced, agricultural capitalists set up farms or pastures and hire farmers who have been deprived of their land for production. Those nobles who rented land to capitalists got no longer feudal land rent, but capitalist profits. In the past, aristocrats became new noble and farmers became agricultural workers, thus making the countryside capitalist.
3. Promoted the development of agriculture and rural productivity. Due to the concentration of land, most lords are more willing to invest in new crops, add good fertilizers, use better tools, reform the drainage system, and adopt advanced farming methods to increase production.
4. Accelerated the process of British towns. A large number of farmers who lost their land moved to cities, and the development of industry increased the number of towns in Britain. For example, after the enclosure movement began, the proportion of urban residents living in Britain with more than 6.5438 million people rose from 3.654.38+0% to 8.8%.
5. Prepared class conditions for the British bourgeois revolution. Aristocratic landlords who made their fortune by enclosure became upstarts of the bourgeoisie. They played a leading role in the later bourgeois revolution and laid a good class foundation for the bourgeois revolution.
6. Promoted the emergence of the British Industrial Revolution. The enclosure movement has created a large number of free laborers needed for the development of capitalism, accumulated capital, expanded the market and prepared conditions for the industrial revolution.
7. The enclosure movement is undoubtedly a disaster for farmers. In the enclosure movement, countless farmers lost their money and were displaced. And the government issued a bloody decree not to allow these people who lost their land to wander. From this perspective, the enclosure movement is an obvious "sheep eat people" movement.
In a word, the enclosure movement sacrificed the interests of farmers, accumulated original capital, provided cheap hired labor and domestic market for capitalism, and laid the foundation for Britain to develop into a capitalist power.