Finance - GCSE History Definition

Finance means how money and resources are managed. This includes things like taxes, spending, borrowing, and saving. In GCSE History, understanding finance helps explain how governments make decisions. Countries needed money to fight wars, run their governments, and build things like roads or ships. For example, Henry VIII used money from the Dissolution of the Monasteries to make himself richer and to pay for wars with France. He also changed taxes and sold land to raise money. Studying finance shows how important money was in shaping historical events and how leaders used it to gain or keep power.