Chapter 27 The Decline of the Nobility
The master bedroom has been greatly changed from before. Both the bedding and many furniture and decorations have been rearranged according to Barron's room before.
To be honest, even so, it is not particularly in line with Barron's preferences at this time, but considering that the entire manor will be completely renovated in the future, there is no need to adjust it now.
The room next to this bedroom is almost filled with many things, leaving only a circle of passages.
According to what the butler Sean said, it will be up to him to decide whether these things should be kept.
Among these things, the most numerous ones are a whole row of boxes. Inside these boxes are all clothes. Many of them look new and are obviously well-preserved.
In the aristocratic life of the old days, many women could change three outfits a day. You can imagine how much space was needed to store their clothes.
Therefore, including the clothes left by the old lady and many female relatives of the family, plus Barron’s father and brother, these many clothes, even if they are placed in boxes, are extremely spectacular when placed here. .
In fact, many times in this manor, Barron always has the feeling that time passes very slowly here.
The outside world is changing and developing rapidly; but in this manor, even though it has entered the new century, it still has a strong shadow of the Victorian era.
What suddenly came to Barron's mind were the words of the American mother-in-law in the previous life's "Downton Abbey":
"You British aristocrats are not only flashy, but also extremely boring. The reason why I traveled thousands of miles to I came here to participate in this kind of activity one last time before I can still move around. I feel like you are getting worse every year.”< br>
And what she said to the old lady:
"My world is an upcoming future; and your world is a history that is gradually receding."
>Barron’s soul has lived in China in his previous life, where the monarchy has long been overthrown and no aristocracy exists anymore. When I watched this show at the time, I didn’t feel deeply about it.
It wasn't until I came here, in the manor that represented the family's past glory, and as the Duke of Devonshire, that I experienced the life of the nobility, as well as the lives of many nobles at this time that I had seen and heard about, that I had Personal feelings.
Yes, the British nobility, and even the royal family, are in decline.
This decline is particularly obvious in terms of economy and power.
Traditionally, land is an important source of income for the British nobility. It can be said that the nobility once occupied a large share of the land in England!
At the end of the 18th century, 400 noble families owned 20% of the national real estate share.
By the end of the 19th century, this share reached 24%!
It is precisely because of the large amount of land owned by the nobles that they can live a luxurious life with hordes of servants relying only on land rent and not doing production.
Just like in "Downton Abbey", the old lady once asked her eldest cousin directly:
"What is the weekend?"
Well, for the people at that time For aristocrats, every day is a weekend and there is no concept of working days. Ladies can change three sets of clothes a day and party from time to time.
From the perspective of British history, the turning point in the economic strength of the aristocracy from prosperity to decline occurred in 1894.
This year, the Liberal Party cabinet announced that an 8% inheritance tax would be levied on those with property worth more than 1 million pounds.
This is the first time England has levied an inheritance tax on nobles, but it is just the beginning.
Between 1909 and 1914, the tax rate was increased to 15%, and has been increasing year by year since then.
By 1939 it had reached 60%!
After World War II, the Labor government increased the inheritance tax rate to 80% for those with a family fortune of more than 1 million pounds!
Now the nobles gave up and shouted in the House of Lords: "This is simply robbery at knifepoint!"
The result was to no avail, the tax was still collected, and defaulters had to pay an additional 8 % interest.
The Conservative government that came to power later showed no mercy and continued to implement the policy of "robbing the rich and giving to the poor".
The direct consequence of high inheritance taxes is that when family inheritance issues arise, nobles have to sell manor houses and family collections of art to make up for financial shortfalls.
After several inheritances and inheritance taxes being paid again and again, no matter how strong a family fortune is, its vitality will be severely damaged.
By 1976, the aristocracy's estates in England and Wales had dropped by 76% and their estates in Scotland by 69%.
As time goes by, the British aristocracy owns less and less real estate, and their luxurious life becomes unsustainable.
There are even many British nobles who, forced to make a living, have to put down their dignity and open their manors and private lands to the public to make a little money.
Just like the Duke of Devonshire family, their vitality was severely damaged because of this.
His grandfather encountered an inheritance tax of up to 80% at that time. Faced with this policy, many nobles began to pass on family assets in the form of trust funds, which could avoid most inheritance taxes. Barron's grandfather, the then Duke of Devonshire, inherited the family property just five years after his father established the family trust.
Because the family trust fund was established less than five years ago, it must pay inheritance tax at a rate of 80%, resulting in the then Duke of Devonshire having to pay an inheritance tax of 7 million pounds...
In order to preserve the family property, they had to sell part of the land, open the manor for the public to visit and rent, open hotels, hold horse races, etc. It took 24 years to earn the 7 million pounds and late fees, thus Let the family property belong to the family and become a model among the nobility at that time.
But in the face of such high inheritance taxes, there are not many aristocratic families who can work diligently to maintain their family business like the Devonshire family, otherwise they would not become models.
Other nobles were either lucky enough to turn their family assets into trust funds during that period, or they had to sell their properties, and many even declined.
Even the highest-ranking ducal family among the remaining non-royal nobles is not immune!
Generally speaking, the ceremonial order of the British Dukes is generally sorted according to the year when the title was conferred - the earlier the year when the title was conferred, the higher the ranking.
For example, among the 24 non-royal dukes still alive at this time, the 17th-ranked Duke of Manchester family had their family property squandered by successive generations. Later, the current duke moved to the United States and made a living through fraud. arrested twice.
What’s interesting is that at the beginning, he himself was also defrauded by others.
Their family is a standard declining noble.
Coincidentally, the sixth-ranked Duke of St. Albans, his family was also wiped out by taxes.
They are not like the Duke of Devonshire family, who can spend 24 years to earn 80% of the ancestral property and keep the family property.
This is true even for the Duke family, let alone other nobles...
If we look at the industries run by those noble families with good economic conditions so far, they are still real estate, Agriculture and tourism are the most land-related industries.
For example, the Duke of Westminster family, which is considered wealthy among the 24 duke families, is mainly engaged in real estate. This family has a wealth of several billion pounds at this time, ranking among the top 15 richest people in the UK...
The reason why their family is so rich, in addition to injecting family assets into trust funds early to avoid high inheritance taxes, is mainly because they own a large amount of land in London - more than a quarter of the entire London. The land belongs to the Duke of Westminster family.
Relying on these lands and through real estate, they gained a large amount of wealth. They were also able to acquire the land of other down-and-out aristocratic families, and purchased many properties in the United States, Australia and Canada.
As for the Duke of Devonshire family at this time, it is very typical. In addition to Chatsworth Manor, the properties held by their family trust funds are distributed in Scotland, Ireland and In addition to the three castle estates in Scotland, the rest of the industries involve agriculture, tourism, hotels, and horse racing. It can be said that those industries other than agriculture were originally made by Barron's grandfather in order to increase his income and earn the 7 million pounds. Expanded by inheritance tax.
In addition to the economic situation being worse than before, the weakening of political power is also a major manifestation of the decline of the British aristocracy.
The British Parliament is divided into two houses, the Upper House and the Lower House. The House of Lords is composed of members of the nobility, so it is also called the House of Lords.
At first, the House of Lords had veto power over bills passed by the House of Commons, and the two houses often disagreed.
At that time, the House of Lords was still relatively powerful.
After the passage of the Parliament Act 1911, the relationship between the upper and lower houses changed.
According to the 1911 Parliament Act, any financial bill passed by the House of Commons will become law as long as it is signed by the King one month after it is sent to the House of Lords for consideration, regardless of whether it is approved by the House of Lords.
All other social bills, if passed by the House of Commons three times within two years, can be submitted directly to the King for approval and become law, even if they are rejected by the House of Lords three times within two years.
Arrived, in 1949, the Labor government enacted a new "Parliament Act", reducing the period of "delayed veto power" of the House of Lords from two years to one year.
After these reforms, the House of Lords has basically become an institution without real power, and the British aristocracy can no longer exercise political power through the legislative process.
Although the official website of the British House of Lords clearly states that "members of the nobility play an important role in supervising government decisions", since the House of Lords has no actual power at all, it is difficult to go and not For example, more than 60% of the nobles rarely attend meetings, and only one-sixth of the nobles attend half of the meetings every year.
There are some members of the nobility among the regular attendees, not for the purpose of "supervising government decisions", but just to receive dozens of pounds of food and transportation subsidies.
In 1999, the current Prime Minister Brilliant went even further and directly eliminated more than 600 members of the House of Lords, leaving only 92 members. It can be said that the nominal nature of the House of Lords was directly exposed.
What’s even more ironic is that Burler’s reform to streamline the House of Lords did not receive much resistance, and many nobles even supported this decision...
In fact The more powerful nobles no longer look down on the House of Lords as a "nursing home". For some members, the biggest impact of the layoff is just the loss of dozens of pounds of subsidy for occasionally attending meetings. .
The data during the new book period is related to subsequent recommendations, so follow-up reading is very important. I beg you not to keep it all the time. If you feel it is okay, read it every day to help increase follow-up reading. Thank you very much.
(End of this chapter)