- •Early britain
- •Prehistoric Britain
- •Cultural Focus: Stonehenge
- •Celtic Invasions
- •Cultural Focus: The Druids
- •The Roman Conquest and Occupation
- •Early History
- •The Romans and the Celts
- •Early History
- •The Fall of Britannia
- •The Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms
- •The Anglo-Saxon Culture
- •The scandinavian invasion First Raids and Battles
- •Danelaw
- •Cultural Focus: King Alfred the Great
- •Restoration of the Saxon Kings
- •The norman conquest The Norman Invasion
- •The House of Normandy
- •The Effect of the Norman Conquest
- •Cultural Focus: The Canterbury Tale
- •Magna Carta. The First Parliament
- •Cultural Focus: Prince of Wales
- •The Wars of the Roses
- •England in the 16th century. The tudor monarchy
- •Henry VII
- •Henry VIII — Beginning of the Reign
- •Henry VIII and the Reformation
- •Edward VI
- •Bloody Mary
- •Mary, Queen of Scots
- •Elizabethan Times
- •Cultural Focus: English Renaissance
- •England in the 17th century. The stuart dynasty
- •James the First
- •Charles the First
- •Civil Wars. Execution of the King
- •Republic of Commonwealth
- •The Restoration Period
- •Glorious Revolution
- •William III
- •The Union with Scotland
- •Building the Empire
- •George III. The American Revolution
- •The Industrial Revolution
- •4) Negotiate, negotiable, negotiator, negotiation
- •7) Stipulate, stipulation
- •8) Smuggle, smuggler, smuggling
- •Britain in the 19th century
- •The Period of Napoleonic Wars
- •Britain after the Napoleonic Wars
- •The Victorian Age
- •British Empire
- •Britain in the first half of the 20™ century
- •The Beginning of the Century
- •Fighting for the Vote
- •Death of Edward VII. King George V
- •The First World War
- •Britain after World War I
- •Britain in World War II: 1939-1943
- •The Crown in World War II
- •Britain in the second half of the 20th century
- •The Commonwealth
- •Domestic Affairs
- •Cultural Focus: Welfare in Britain
- •Britain and Her European Neighbours
- •The Royal Family Today
- •1. Geographical factors:
- •2. Historical factors:
- •Bibliography
Britain and Her European Neighbours
After World War II European countries realised that the only way to prevent a new war was some form of integration. Economic and military integration was begun by the Brussels Treaty in 1948 and NATO in 1949.
Initially Britain was against economic union because she was already engaged in different political relationships — the Commonwealth and the special relationship with the USA and Europe. The transatlantic relations between the USA and Britain very soon proved that Britain was not considered equal, though after the war Britain saw herself as a part of the "Big Three", the world had been already divided between two superpowers — the USA and the USSR.
So, during 15 years after the war Britain remained detached from closer union with European countries — she did not take part in the Coal and Steel Community in 1952 and the 1957 Treaty of Rome which led to the creation of the Common Market.
In 1961, when Britain eventually applied for the membership in the European Economic Community (EEC), her application was vetoed by France. The situation repeated itself in 1967. Only a third attempt to join EEC was successful — in January 1972, a Treaty admitting Britain into EEC was signed. She joined the Community along with Ireland and Denmark.
For a long period the relations between Britain and EEC remained difficult — the Thatcher Government tried to establish for Britain a special role in Europe and in Commonwealth to protect British economic and diplomatic interests. In 1981, the Labour Party Manifesto also called for Britain's withdrawal from the European Community.
In 1990, when the John Major government came to power, a more favourable attitude towards EEC was established. It was continued by the Tony Blair Labour Party government. Though today Britain's policy towards European Unity changed, the attitude to this membership still remains ambiguous. On the one hand this is seen as an economic necessity and a political advantage, on the other hand no one expresses much enthusiasm. Britain still views herself as a country with a special role in the world politics. British opposition to European federalism is deeply rooted in British Political philosophy, history and culture, and will not be eas> to overcome.
The Royal Family Today
Daring the 20th century British monarchy changed, as changed social political situation in the country. The accession to the throne of King George VI after the abdication of his uncle Edward caused a constitutional crisis, but it also showed that the representatives of the Royal Family are not icons, they are humans, with all their feelings and weaknesses. Till the rest of their lives Edward and his wife remained popular celebrities in Britain and their story was told as an example of the power of love.
King George VI established many traditions, which made monarchy closer to people and more popular — he started the traditions of attending the annual football Cup Final match at Wembley Stadium, of speaking to the people of Britain and the Commonwealth on the radio on Christmas day and of making the life of the Royal Family more open to the general public.
During World War II the members of the Royal Family took an active part in all events — they did not leave the country, which was constantly threatened by Germanic plane attacks and refused to leave Buckingham Palace even after it had been bombed. Both young Princesses — Elisabeth and Margaret visited military hospitals to raise the spirit of wounded soldiers.
Elizabeth became Queen in 1952 after the death of George VI. She is married to Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh and has four children — Charles, the Prince of Wales, Anne the Princess Royal, Andrew, the Duke of York and Edward, the Duke of Wessex. Elizabeth and her family are the most popular celebrities in Britain; the Queen has done much to the image of modern monarchy. The Queen signified the formalities of the monarchy — the BBC was allowed to make a documentary film about the every day of the Royal family. She regularly visits the Commonwealth countries and she also stated a tradition of the "walkabout" — an informal feature of every formal visit, when she walks among the public crowds and stops to talk to some people.
The life of the Royal family today is full of problems typical to any ordinary family — many members of the family are divorced, they often have problems and scandals which are widely discussed in Britain. At the same time the Crown is rather popular among the British and still remains a potent symbol of British life.
Task 4. Today there are many opinions for and against the British monarchy. People say it is not democratic. Study the table representing peculiarities of the British life connected with the existence of the Crown. Compare them to other countries.
In Britain ... |
In other democratic countries ... |
People are "subjects" — subjects of Her Majesty the Queen |
They have citizens |
The monarch is a living symbol of the country |
Have material symbols of the country — usually flags and emblems |
Royal ceremonies are the most popular and colourful ceremonies of the year |
Public holidays and parades are popular |
The Crown attracts numbers of tourists, which is important for the country's economy |
There is no such attraction |
Task 5. Discuss some roles of the Crown in the British life. Which, in your opinion, is the most important? What other roles could you think of?
Roles:
1. Monarch is the personal embodiment of the government of the country. People can be critical of the real government (the Prime Minister and the Cabinet) and not be unpatriotic to the symbol of government — the Queen.
Monarch makes the life of the Prime Minister easier — the Queen can perform necessary overseas visit, leaving home affairs to the government.
Monarchy is a symbol of British stability — the government can be dismissed, but the Queen remains.
Task 6. Finish the sentences.
The United Nations Organisation was created by ... for ...
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation was formed as ...
Britain proclaimed nuclear weapons the cornerstone of defence policy because ...
Britain began to lose a reputation of the world power in ... because ...
The policy of decolonisation was aimed at...
Today the British Commonwealth is ...
The establishment of the welfare system in Britain provided ...
In the 1970s, Britain was considered a sick man of Europe because ...
Britain joined EEC in ... after ...
10. Today the British Crown still remains a popular institution because ...
The British Character
Today the United Kingdom is a country made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Though very often the names "English" or "England" are used by many foreigners when they mean British or the United Kingdom, it's very annoying for the people of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, who are not English.
Political unification of these countries was a long process — Wales was joined with England in 1536; Scotland merged with England and Wales in 1707, when the English and Scottish Crowns were united by James Stuart. In 1800, the Irish Parliament was joined with the Parliament of Great Britain in Westminster. The British Isles remained a single state for 122 years — till 1T22, when most of Ireland became separate except the six northern provinces.
The four nations of the UK differ in the following aspects:
Racially; the Welsh, Scottish and Irish are the peoples of Celtic origin — they spoke the Celtic languages — Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic and Welsh. The English are a race of Germanic origin. They spoke the Germanic dialect, which later developed into the English language.
Socially: these nations have different economic, social and legal systems.
These differences are not so great today, though the dominant culture of Britain is the English culture — many aspects of life are organised according to English pattern, the system of politics is English and the English language is the main language for all these countries. It makes all the nations recognise the predominant English influence, but at the same time feel their identity very strongly.
Britain differs from continental Europe in its cultural, political and social heritage, these differences shaped due to some geographical and historical factors: