Практическое занятие 8. British Economy.

1.

1. Employment in Britain since the middle of the 20^th century.

2. The changing nature of employment at the end of the 20^th century.

3. British economy today.

4. The financial system of the UK.

Советы по подготовке к экзамену (зачету):

При подготовке к экзамену (зачету) особое внимание следует обратить на следующие моменты:

Опыт приёма зачёта экзамена (зачета) выявил, что наибольшие трудности при проведении экзамена (зачета) возникают по следующим разделам:

- the financial system of the UK.

Для того чтобы избежать трудностей при ответах по вышеназванным разделам, рекомендуем внимательно ознакомиться с разделом нижеприведённой книги

Karen Hewitt, Mikhail Feklin. Understanding British Institutions. Perspective Publishers. Oxford. 2003. [с. 253 - 276].

Глоссарий

¹ Angles, Germanic tribe that occupied the region still called Angeln in what is now the state of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Together with the Saxons and Jutes, they invaded Britain during the 5th century AD. With their kindred ethnic groups, they formed the people who came to be known as the English. The name England is derived from them.

² Saxons, Germanic people who first appear in history after the beginning of the Christian era. The earliest mention of the Saxons is by the Alexandrian mathematician and geographer Ptolemy in the 2nd century AD, at which time they appear to have dwelt in the south Jutland Peninsula in the north of what is now Germany. They conducted piratical raids in the North Sea area, and in the 3rd and 4th centuries they pressed southward into the region of the Weser River, where they encountered the Chauci and the Angrivarii, Germanic tribes that they subdued and absorbed. In the second half of the 4th century, the Saxons invaded Roman domains, and by the close of the 6th century all north-west Germany as far east as the Elbe River had become Saxon territory. In the 5th and 6th centuries, some groups of Saxons invaded Britain, where they were joined by other Germanic peoples, the Angles and the Jutes. At the beginning of the 7th century, the Anglo-Saxon conquest of Britain was practically completed. In the 8th century, the Frankish king Pepin the Short attacked the Saxons who remained in Germany. His son, Charlemagne, subdued them after a series of fierce wars lasting from 772 to 804 and forced them to accept Christianity. In the course of the 9th century, a great Saxon duchy came into existence under Frankish sovereignty, and its rulers established a dynasty of German kings in the 10th century. This old duchy of Saxony was dissolved toward the end of the 12th century, and the name of Saxony later passed over to an entirely different region.

³ Jutes, early Germanic tribe of Denmark or northern Germany that, according to the Anglo-Saxon historian Saint Bede the Venerable, participated in the conquest of south-eastern Britain along with the Angles and Saxons during the 5th century AD. These people were the inhabitants of Jutland. Their territory bordered that of the Saxons, who, with the Angles, also settled Britain and drove the Britons westward into present-day Wales. Through assimilation, the Jutes gradually lost their identity as a people, and by the 8th century the term Jute had almost completely disappeared from the English language.

⁴ Celts, a people who dominated much of western and central Europe in the 1st millennium BC, giving their language, customs, and religion to the other peoples of that area.

⁵ Iberians, ancient people of eastern and southern Spain. The Iberian Peninsula, comprising Spain and Portugal, takes its name from them. The origin of the Iberians is still largely a matter for conjecture. Some scholars suggest that the region around the Ebro River (in ancient times the Iberus) is the most likely place of origin; others theorise that the Iberians migrated to the Iberian Peninsula from North Africa sometime between 4000 and 3500BC. The first historical references to the Iberians, made by Greek colonists settled along the Mediterranean coast of the peninsula, date from the 6th century BC. Later data, recorded mainly by the Romans, who gained possession of the peninsula as a consequence of the Second Punic War, reveal that by the 3rd century BC the Iberians had become mixed with Celtic invaders from the east, producing the so-called Celtiberians; the present-day Spanish are in part descended from these Celtiberians. (The name Iberians was also used by the Greeks for the ancient inhabitants of Georgia, in Caucasia. The two groups of people were not related, however.) Knowledge of the Iberians of Spain has been gained mainly from cross-dating of their coins and pottery. The majority of the coins are inscribed in an alphabet partly derived from those of the Phoenicians and Greeks. Most of the characters, however, are in an older, apparently indigenous script of unknown origin. The script has been deciphered, and numerous place-names mentioned in inscriptions on coins can be read, but little more is understood at present. Iberian pottery has been uncovered in parts of France, Italy, and North Africa, brought there originally through trade and travel. It is widely supposed that the Iberians were generally short and dark-skinned; that primarily they were agriculturalists (some were also miners and metalworkers); that quite possibly they lived in and around politically independent city-states; and that undoubtedly they possessed a sophisticated written literature. Their culture, although earlier indebted to the Carthaginians and Greeks who had colonised Spain before the Romans, had reached a high level by the time of the Roman conquest. Little of it survived the overpowering influence of Rome. The Iberian language was replaced by Latin during the six centuries of Roman rule. Theories that attempt in some way to relate the ancient Iberians to the Basques, and the Iberian language to that of the Basques, are not supported by modern scholarship.

⁶ The Normans were Vikings, or Norse, who settled in western France in the 9th and early 10th centuries. In 911 the weak French monarchy under the Carolingian Charles III granted the lands at the estuary of the Seine River to Rollo, a Norwegian Viking, and his Danish followers in return for an alliance against other Vikings, thus laying the foundation for the duchy of Normandy. Even after conversion to Christianity, Rollo and his followers remained true Vikings, raiding northward toward Flanders. Rollo's son and successor, William Longsword (d. 942), was the architect of Norman success, consolidating and extending the duchy in the lower Seine region. The political situation in the duchy, however, was often disturbed by internal violence, particularly under Duke Robert I (r. 1027-35) and during the minority of his son Duke William II. The state created by these early Norman rulers was noted for its emphasis on strong ducal authority and the evolution of administrative and feudal institutions that supported it. As early as the first half of the 11th century, some Normans sought adventure far from home in Mediterranean lands. The numerous sons of Tancred of Hauteville entered the service of Lombard rebels against the Byzantine Empire in southern Italy. One of them, Robert Guiscard, established himself as an independent ruler in Calabria and Apulia. Between 1060 and 1091 he and his brother, Roger I, undertook the conquest of Sicily from the Muslims. By 1139, Roger II made good his effort to mold these Norman conquests into the kingdom of Sicily, which served as a base for further Norman expansion in North Africa and Dalmatia in the later 12th century. This Sicilian endeavour was matched by the Norman conquest of England by Duke William II in 1066. William defeated the Anglo-Saxon king Harold II in the Battle of Hastings and assumed the English crown as William I. He moved rapidly to establish a centralised monarchy on the Norman pattern. Among his most notable accomplishments was the collection of data regarding the lands and households of England for the Domesday Book, compiled by royal commissioners in 1086 as a basis for fiscal planning. William enjoyed generally good relations with the church, especially with Archbishop Lanfranc of Canterbury, who brought the English church into line with continental developments. At his death in 1087, William bequeathed a strong government to his sons, William II and Henry I of England. The civil war between Henry's daughter, Matilda, and his nephew, Stephen, disrupted the government, but order was restored by Matilda's son, Henry II, who inaugurated (1154) the Angevin dynasty in England. William the Conqueror had left Normandy to his eldest son, Duke Robert II (1054-1134), but it was seized by Henry I in 1106 and later became part of the Angevin domains. It was not restored to France until 1204. In both England and Italy the Normans formed a warrior aristocracy and imposed their own social system. However, they also adapted and developed local institutions and eventually assimilated with the native populations. Norman rule brought not only greater political stability but also a flowering of local culture. In England this development was most marked in the writing of history; in the kingdom of Sicily the Norman court was a center of interest in Greco-Arabic science. In both areas many examples of Norman architecture remain.

⁷ Protestantism is a movement in Western Christianity whose adherents reject the notion that divine authority is channelled through one particular human institution or person such as the Roman Catholic Pope. Protestants look elsewhere for the authority of their faith. Most of them stress the Bible – the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament – as the source and the norm of their teaching. Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christians also stress the authority of the Bible, but they also look to tradition, and, in the case of Catholics, to the Pope as a source of authority.

⁸ Ulster, the northernmost of the four ancient Irish kingdoms, encompasses Northern Ireland and three counties of Ireland. Ulster was dominated by the earls of Tyrone (O'Neill clan) and the earls of Tyrconnell (O'Donnell clan) from the 5th century until the 12th-century Anglo-Norman invasion. Ulster's clans unsuccessfully rebelled against England from 1594 to 1601. King James I of England colonised the area with Scottish Presbyterians. Descendants of these Protestants led the opposition to Irish home rule during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and in 1920 they forced the partition of Ireland, with most of Ulster remaining under British rule.

⁹ Roman Catholic Church, the largest single Christian body, composed of those Christians who acknowledge the supreme authority of the bishop of Rome, the Pope, in matters of faith. The word catholic means “universal” and has been used to designate the church since its earliest period, when it was the only Christian church. The Roman Catholic church regards itself as the only legitimate inheritor, by an unbroken Episcopal succession descending from St. Peter to the present time, of the commission and powers conferred by Jesus Christ on the 12 apostles. The church has had a profound influence on the development of European culture and on the introduction of European values into other civilisations. Its total membership in the early 1990s was about 958 million people. The church has its greatest numerical strength in Europe and Latin America but also has a large membership in other parts of the world.

¹⁰ Church of England (or Anglican Church), the Christian church in England, dating from the introduction of Christianity into that country. More specifically, it is the branch of the Christian church that, since the Reformation, has been the established Church of England. The earliest unquestioned historical evidence of an organised Christian church in England is found in the writings of such early Christian fathers as Tertullian and Origen in the first years of the 3rd century, although the first Christian communities probably were established some decades earlier. Three English bishops are known to have been present at the Council of Arles in 314. Others attended the Council of Sardica in 347 and that of Ariminum in 360, and a number of references to the church in Roman Britain are found in the writings of 4th-century Christian fathers. The ritual and discipline of the early English church were largely introduced by the Celtic and Gaelic missionaries and monks, but after the arrival of St. Augustine and his missionary companions from Rome, in 597, and the ensuing fusion of Celtic and Roman influences, the Celtic forms gradually gave way to the liturgy and practices of the Roman West. During the next four centuries, the church in Saxon England exhibited the same lines of growth and development that characterised the church everywhere in the early Middle Ages. After the Norman Conquest (1066), continental influence in England strengthened the connections between the English church and the papacy. The vigorous assertions of power successfully made by Popes from Gregory VII to Innocent III between the late 11th and the early 13th centuries were felt in England, as elsewhere, and clerical influence and privilege were widely extended in secular affairs. Several times during the medieval period, English kings sought to limit the power of the church and the claims of its independent canon law, but without success until the reign of Henry VIII.

¹¹ Church of Scotland, national Scottish church, organised during the Reformation in Scotland, also called the Auld Kirk (Scot., “Old Church”). Calvinist in doctrine and Presbyterian in polity, the Church of Scotland numbers among its communicants the majority of Presbyterians in Scotland.

¹² Presbyterianism, a form of church government and a particular theological tradition found in the Presbyterian and Reformed denominations. The churches in this tradition constitute one of the four major groups that issued from the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century—Lutheran, Anabaptist, Anglican, and Presbyterian and Reformed.

¹³ Sikhs, followers of the Sikh religion, centred in Punjab State, in north-western India. Sikhism is an ethical monotheism fusing elements of Hinduism and Islam. It was founded by Nanak (1469-1539), a mystic who believed that God transcends religious distinctions.

¹⁴ Jainism, religion of India. The Jains totaled about 3.7 million as the 1990s began, but they exert an influence in the predominantly Hindu community far out of proportion to their numbers; they are mainly traders, and their wealth and authority have made their comparatively small sect one of the most important of living Indian religions.

¹⁵ Industrial Revolution, widespread replacement of manual labour by machines that began in Britain in the 18th century and is still continuing in some parts of the world.

The Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain during the last half of the 18th century and spread through regions of Europe and to the United States during the following century. In the 20th century industrialisation on a wide scale extended to parts of Asia and the Pacific Rim. Today mechanised production and modern economic growth continue to spread to new areas of the world, and much of humankind has yet to experience the changes typical of the Industrial Revolution.

The Industrial Revolution is called a revolution because it changed society both significantly and rapidly. Over the course of human history, there has been only one other group of changes as significant as the Industrial Revolution. This is what anthropologists call the Neolithic Revolution, which took place in the later part of the Stone Age. In the Neolithic Revolution, people moved from social systems based on hunting and gathering to much more complex communities that depended on agriculture and the domestication of animals. This led to the rise of permanent settlements and, eventually, urban civilisations. The Industrial Revolution brought a shift from the agricultural societies created during the Neolithic Revolution to modern industrial societies. The social changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution were significant. As economic activities in many communities moved from agriculture to manufacturing, production shifted from its traditional locations in the home and the small workshop to factories. Large portions of the population relocated from the countryside to the towns and cities where manufacturing centres were found. The overall amount of goods and services produced expanded dramatically, and the proportion of capital invested per worker grew. New groups of investors, businesspeople, and managers took financial risks and reaped great rewards. In the long run the Industrial Revolution has brought economic improvement for most people in industrialised societies. Many enjoy greater prosperity and improved health, especially those in the middle and the upper classes of society. There have been costs, however. In some cases, the lower classes of society have suffered economically. Industrialisation has brought factory pollutants and greater land use, which have harmed the natural environment. In particular, the application of machinery and science to agriculture has led to greater land use and, therefore, extensive loss of habitat for animals and plants. In addition, drastic population growth following industrialisation has contributed to the decline of natural habitats and resources. These factors, in turn, have caused many species to become extinct or endangered.

¹⁶ Middle Ages, period in the history of Europe that lasted from about AD 350 to about 1450. At the beginning of the Middle Ages, the western half of the Roman Empire began to fragment into smaller, weaker kingdoms. By the end of the Middle Ages, many modern European states had taken shape. During this time, the precursors of many modern institutions, such as universities and bodies of representative government, were created. No single event ended the ancient world and began the Middle Ages. In fact, no one who lived in what is now called the Middle Ages ever thought of themselves as living in it. In the Middle Ages, people thought they were living in modern times, just as people do today. The term Middle Ages was invented by people during the Renaissance, a period of cultural and literary change in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. The term was not meant as a compliment. During the Renaissance, people thought that their own age and the time of ancient Greece and Rome were advanced and civilised. They called the period between themselves and the ancient world "the Middle Age." The adjective medieval comes from the Latin words for this term, medium (middle) and aevum (age). Historians adopted this term even though it was originally meant to belittle the period. Since the Middle Ages covers such a large span of time, historians divided it into three parts: the Early Middle Ages, lasting from about 350 to about 1050; the High Middle Ages, lasting from about 1050 to about 1300; and the Late Middle Ages, lasting from about 1300 to about 1450. Historians used to believe that most of the cultural, economic, and political achievements of the Middle Ages occurred in the second period, and because of this they called that period “High.” Only recently, as the accomplishments of the Early and Late Middle Ages have gained appreciation, has this term fallen into disuse. Today, historians often use a more neutral name, the Central Middle Ages.

¹⁷ Romanticism, in art, European and American movement extending from about 1800 to 1850. Romanticism cannot be identified with a single style, technique, or attitude, but romantic painting is generally characterised by a highly imaginative and subjective approach, emotional intensity, and a dreamlike or visionary quality. Whereas classical and neo-classical art is calm and restrained in feeling and clear and complete in expression, romantic art characteristically strives to express by suggestion states of feeling too intense, mystical, or elusive to be clearly defined. Thus, the German writer E. T. A. Hoffmann declared “infinite longing” to be the essence of romanticism. In their choice of subject matter, the romantics showed an affinity for nature, especially its wild and mysterious aspects, and for exotic, melancholic, and melodramatic subjects likely to evoke awe or passion.

¹⁸ Art Nouveau (from French for “new art”), movement in Western art and design, which reached its peak during the 1890s. Hallmarks of the art nouveau style are flat, decorative patterns; intertwined organic forms such as stems or flowers; an emphasis on handcrafting as opposed to machine manufacturing; the use of new materials; and the rejection of earlier styles. In general, sinuous, curving lines also characterise art nouveau, although right-angled forms are also typical, especially as the style was practised in Scotland and in Austria.  Art nouveau embraced all forms of art and design: architecture, furniture, glassware, graphic design, jewellery, painting, pottery, metalwork, and textiles. This was a sharp contrast to the traditional separation of art into the distinct categories of fine art (painting and sculpture) and applied arts (ceramics, furniture, and other practical objects). The term art nouveau comes from an art gallery in Paris, France, called Maison de l'Art Nouveau (House of New Art), which was run by French dealer Siegfried Bing. In his gallery, Bing displayed not only paintings and sculpture but also ceramics, furniture, metalwork, and Japanese art. Sections of the gallery were devoted to model rooms that artists and architects designed in the art nouveau style.  Art nouveau flourished in a number of European countries, many of which developed their own names for the style. Art nouveau was known in France as style Guimard, after French designer Hector Guimard; in Italy as the stile floreale (floral style) or stile Liberty, after British art nouveau designer Arthur Lasenby Liberty; in Spain as modernisme; in Austria as Sezessionstil (secession style); and in Germany as Jugendstil (youth style). These diverse names reflect the widespread adoption of the movement, which had centers in major cities all over Europe—Paris and Nancy in France; Darmstadt and Munich in Germany; Brussels, Belgium; Glasgow, Scotland; Barcelona, Spain; Vienna, Austria; Prague, Czech Republic; and Budapest, Hungary.

¹⁹ Romanesque Art and Architecture, arts and architecture of western Europe from about AD 1000 to the rise of the Gothic style, in most regions by the latter half of the 12th century, in certain regions somewhat later.

²⁰ Durham (England), county in north-eastern England; the town of Durham is the administrative centre. The county's terrain rises gradually from the North Sea coast in the east to a maximum elevation in the Pennines in the west. Agriculture is important, especially in the valleys of the Tees and Wear rivers. Grain and root crops are grown and sheep are raised. Coal, fluorspar, and slate are mined. Darlington is the county's chief industrial centre. The city of Durham is the site of both Durham Cathedral (completed 1133) and Durham Castle (begun in 1072). Durham Castle now houses University College, one of several colleges of the University of Durham (1832). The area that is now Durham County was a northern outpost of the Romans. Later it became part of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria. From the time of the Norman Conquest (1066) until 1836 the bishops of the see at Durham had considerable secular jurisdiction. Area, 2436 sq km; population (1991 preliminary) 589,800.

²¹ Gothic Art and Architecture, religious and secular buildings, sculpture, stained glass, and illuminated manuscripts and other decorative arts produced in Europe during the latter part of the Middle Ages (5th century to 15th century). Gothic art began to be produced in France about 1140, spreading to the rest of Europe during the following century. The Gothic Age ended with the advent of the Renaissance in Italy about the beginning of the 15th century, although Gothic art and architecture continued in the rest of Europe through most of the 15th century, and in some regions of northern Europe into the 16th century. Originally the word Gothic was used by Italian Renaissance writers as a derogatory term for all art and architecture of the Middle Ages, which they regarded as comparable to the works of barbarian Goths. Since then the term Gothic has been restricted to the last major medieval period, immediately following the Romanesque. The Gothic Age is now considered one of Europe’s outstanding artistic eras.

²² Renaissance, series of literary and cultural movements in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. These movements began in Italy and eventually expanded into Germany, France, England, and other parts of Europe. Participants studied the great civilisations of ancient Greece and Rome and came to the conclusion that their own cultural achievements rivalled those of antiquity. Their thinking was also influenced by the concept of humanism, which emphasises the worth of the individual. Renaissance humanists believed it was possible to improve human society through classical education. This education relied on teachings from ancient texts and emphasised a range of disciplines, including poetry, history, rhetoric (rules for writing influential prose or speeches), and moral philosophy. The word renaissance means “rebirth.” The idea of rebirth originated in the belief that Europeans had rediscovered the superiority of Greek and Roman culture after many centuries of what they considered intellectual and cultural decline. The preceding era, which began with the collapse of the Roman Empire around the 5th century, became known as the Middle Ages to indicate its position between the classical and modern world. Scholars now recognise that there was considerable cultural activity during the Middle Ages, as well as some interest in classical literature. A number of characteristics of Renaissance art and society had their origins in the Middle Ages. Many scholars claim that much of the cultural dynamism of the Renaissance also had its roots in medieval times and that changes were progressive rather than abrupt. Nevertheless, the Renaissance represents a change in focus and emphasis from the Middle Ages, with enough unique qualities to justify considering it as a separate period of history.

²³ Baroque Art and Architecture, the style dominating the art and architecture of Europe and certain European colonies in the Americas throughout the 1600s, and in some places, until 1750. A number of its characteristics continue in the art and architecture of the first half of the 18th century, although this period is generally termed rococo and corresponds roughly with King Louis XV of France. Manifestations of baroque art appear in virtually every country in Europe, with other important centres in the Spanish and Portuguese settlements in the Americas and in other outposts. The term baroque also defines periods in literature and music.

²⁴ Great Fire of London, worst fire in the history of London, England. It started in a baker’s shop in Pudding Lane, close to the bank of the Thames River, on September 2, 1666, and lasted five days, destroying almost all of the medieval City of London proper. Driven by a violent gale, the fire burned from east to west across London, and even King Charles II and the duke of York took part in the firefighting efforts. Finally, after citizens had blown up several houses with gunpowder in an effort to control the blaze, the wind abated and the ravages of the fire were brought to an end. About 13,200 houses, nearly 90 churches, and 6 chapels were destroyed, as well as the Guildhall, the Royal Exchange, the Customhouse, Saint Paul's Cathedral, and 4 prisons. Vivid accounts of the fire appear in the diaries of English writers John Evelyn and Samuel Pepys.

²⁵ Reformation, great 16th-century religious revolution in the Christian church, which ended the ecclesiastical supremacy of the Pope in Western Christendom and resulted in the establishment of the Protestant churches. With the Renaissance that preceded and the French Revolution that followed, the Reformation completely altered the medieval way of life in Western Europe and initiated the era of modern history. Although the movement dates from the early 16th century, when Martin Luther first defied the authority of the church, the conditions that led to his revolutionary stand had existed for hundreds of years and had complex doctrinal, political, economic, and cultural elements.

²⁶ Puritans was the name given in the 16th century to the more extreme Protestants within the Church of England who thought the English Reformation had not gone far enough in reforming the doctrines and structure of the church; they wanted to purify their national church by eliminating every shred of Catholic influence. In the 17th century many Puritans emigrated to the New World, where they sought to found a holy Commonwealth in New England. Puritanism remained the dominant cultural force in that area into the 19th century.

²⁷ Restoration, term employed in the history of England and France in connection with the reestablishment of monarchical government. In England it is applied to the accession to the throne of King Charles II in 1660 after the fall of the Commonwealth and the Protectorate. In France the first restoration refers to the accession of King Louis XVIII in 1814, after the abdication of Napoleon; the second restoration refers to Louis's reinstatement in 1815.

²⁸ Magna Carta, the great charter of liberties, is famous as an embodiment of resistance to monarchy unregulated by law. The church, stated the charter, was to be free. Magna Carta specified liberties for all free men so that all might be defended from royal whim. Certain taxes were not to be levied without the common consent of the kingdom, whose representatives' decisions were binding on all. Many of Magna Carta's 63 clauses dealt with feudal privileges of benefit only to the barons. After Magna Carta was reissued, it was accepted by all the parties. It remains a major symbol of the supremacy of law.

²⁹ Petition of Right, in English history, title of a petition addressed to King Charles I by Parliament in 1628. Led by Sir Edward Coke, the members of Parliament demanded that the king desist from levying taxes without its consent, that he cease billeting soldiers and sailors in the homes of private citizens and proclaiming martial law in time of peace, and that no subject be imprisoned without cause shown. The petition was, in part, a reaction to Charles's attempt to finance several costly and foreign wars by exacting the money, which Parliament had failed to provide, directly from his subjects. Those who refused to pay were arbitrarily imprisoned. Charles agreed to sign the petition in exchange for parliamentary approval of funds needed to maintain his foreign policy. Although the petition did little to change Charles's autocratic rule, it later became an integral part of the English Constitution.

³⁰ The English Bill of Rights (1689) was the culmination of the so-called Glorious Revolution of 1688. The Bill of Rights declared that the election of members of Parliament ought to be free; that freedom of speech and debates in Parliament ought not to be questioned in any court or other place; and that Parliament ought to be held frequently.

³¹ Stonehenge, prehistoric ritual monument, situated on Salisbury Plain, north of Salisbury, England, and dating from the late Stone and early Bronze ages (circa 3000-1000BC). It is the most celebrated of the megalithic monuments of England. Stonehenge is surrounded by a circular ditch, 104 m in diameter and 1.5 m deep, within which is a bank and a ring of 56 pits known as Aubrey holes (after their discoverer, the British antiquarian John Aubrey). At the north-east end a break in the ditch affords access to a ditch-bordered avenue that extends in a generally north-eastward direction to the East Avon River. The avenue is 23 m wide and nearly 3 km long.

³² Bronze Age, the time in the development of any human culture, before the introduction of iron, when most tools and weapons were made of bronze. Chronologically, the term is of strictly local value, for bronze came into use, and was again replaced by iron, at different times in different parts of the world. It generally succeeds a culture’s Copper Age. Archaeological discoveries since 1960 have upset traditional theories concerning the origins of copper and bronze technologies. It had been thought that the use of bronze had originated in the Middle East, but discoveries near Ban Chiang, Thailand, indicate that bronze technology was known there as early as 4500 BC. This preceded the working of bronze in the Middle East by several hundred years. Bronze objects have been found in Asia Minor that date from before 3000 BC. At first this alloy was used sparingly, mostly for decorative purposes; the tin needed to make it was not available in the region. Regular imports of tin from Cornwall in Britain during the 2nd millennium BC, however, made possible wider use of bronze in the Middle East, and it was eventually utilised for tools and weapons. Raw copper was being pounded into tools and ornaments as early as 10,000 BC. Later discoveries at Rudna Glavna, in what is now Serbia, have shown that copper was in use there in 4000 BC, although bronze was not made at that time. By 3000 BC bronze began to be used in Greece. In China the Bronze Age did not begin until 1800 BC. The pre-Columbian civilisations of the Americas had no bronze technology until about AD 1000. The Bronze Age in the Middle East and the eastern Mediterranean has been divided into three phases—early, middle, and late. The early phase is characterised by increased use of the metal, from the sporadic to the common. It was the time of the Sumerian civilisation and the rise of Akkad to prominence in Mesopotamia; it also generated the spectacular treasures of Troy. Babylon reached its height of glory during the middle Bronze Age. Minoan Crete and Mycenaean Greece were major late-Bronze-Age civilisations. The Bronze Age there ended about 1200 BC, after which iron technology became common.

³³ Picts, ancient inhabitants of central and northern Scotland and of northern Ireland. They were of rather short stature and of dark complexion. They are believed to have arrived in Scotland from the Continent about 1000BC and in Ireland from Scotland about AD200. The Picts are first mentioned by Roman writers in the late 3rd century AD as raiders who harassed the Roman province of Britain from the north. Hadrian's Wall was built to protect the Roman colonies from their attacks. The Picts figured in connection with the campaigns of Roman Emperor Constantius Chlorus in Britain in AD296 and 306. In Scotland the northern Picts were converted to Christianity probably in the 4th century, and the southern Picts were converted probably in the 5th century. At first the Saxons kept clear of the Picts, but as the former pushed farther northward, they too encountered these northern people and were defeated by them in 685. For a long time thereafter border warfare was carried on. The Picts, who by this time were united under a king, also fought continuously in Scotland with the Scots who had settled there in the 4th century. In 850 the Picts were defeated by Kenneth I, king of Scotland. Kenneth united the domains of the two rival tribes and thus founded the kingdom of Scotland.

³⁴ Silures, people of ancient Britain inhabiting what today is south-eastern Wales. A powerful and warlike tribe, they offered fierce resistance to the Roman force that invaded their territory in AD48 but were finally conquered in 78, after the Romans established a legionary fortress at Isca, modern Caerleon. The chief town of the Silures was Romanised as Venta Silurum, the modern Caerwent, near the Severn estuary east of Newport.

³⁵ Hadrian's Wall is an ancient fortified wall that crosses northern England at its narrowest point, between the River Tyne and the Solway Firth. Some stretches of the wall were originally constructed of turf, but the entire 118-km length was later rebuilt in stone. It formed a barrier 2 to 3.5 m thick and about 7 m high, protected on either face by a ditch. Hadrian's Wall was not meant to serve as an actual line of defence, but rather as a barrier to large-scale, swift movement by hostile forces and as a screen behind which Roman troops could manoeuvre. Substantial sections of the wall still stand.

³⁶ The Antonine Wall, built across Scotland from the Firth of Clyde to the Firth of Forth during the reign of Antoninus Pius, for a short time marked the northernmost boundary of the Roman Empire. By AD 142 a turf wall on a low, rubble platform (about 4.5 m high, 4.2 m thick), protected by a ditch (about 12 m wide, 3.6 m deep), extended across the isthmus (59 km wide). Garrison posts and signal-beacon platforms behind the wall were connected by a military road, and coastal forts protected the flanks. The new frontier was abandoned in 155-58, during a revolt of tribes to the south, and Caledonian pressure forced a final withdrawal to Hadrian’s Wall by the end of the 2d century.

³⁷ Caledonia (after the Roman invasion of Britain), now present-day Scotland. With the sole exception of the Picts, the ancient Caledonians do not figure in historical records.

³⁸ Visigoths, or western Goths, ancient Germanic peoples who invaded the Roman Empire beginning in the 4th century AD, settling in areas of what are now Spain, Portugal, and France.

³⁹ Vikings, Nordic peoples – Danes, Swedes, and Norwegians – who raided and settled in large areas of eastern and western Europe during a period of Scandinavian expansion from about 800 to 1100. The raids of the Vikings in the 9th and 10th centuries are among the best-known episodes of early medieval history. These fierce attacks from Scandinavia fell on the British Isles, the Atlantic and North Sea shoreline of the Carolingian Empire, which included most of what are now France, Germany, and the Low Countries, and to the east on what became Russia. They took a heavy toll on the fragile political development and stability of Europe, although the damage caused by the Vikings may well have been exaggerated by the main historians of the period. These historians were usually priests who looked upon the pagan Vikings with particular horror. In addition, the Church, as a wealthy and relatively defenceless target, may have suffered more heavily than many other sectors of European society. Despite the notoriety the Vikings attracted because of their ferocity, within a century or two they converted to Christianity and settled in the lands they had raided. At the same time, the Vikings were developing new outposts of settlement in Iceland, Greenland, North America, and the North Atlantic, and establishing kingdoms in Scandinavia along the lines of the European kingdoms to the south. As they became assimilated in their new lands, they became farmers and traders as well as rulers and warriors.

⁴⁰ Battle of Hastings, one of the most fateful military engagements in English history, fought on October 14, 1066, between a national army led by Harold II, Saxon king of England, and an invasion force led by William, Duke of Normandy, afterward William I (the Conqueror). William claimed the English throne had been promised to him by his cousin, Edward the Confessor, king of England between 1042 and 1066. William challenged the election of Harold as king upon Edward's death and, with the blessing of Pope Alexander II (reigned 1061-1073), prepared to invade England. Harold’s brother, Tostig, Earl of Northumbria, supported William’s claim, and at the Battle of Stamford Bridge on September 25 in Yorkshire, was slain by Harold. The English army of about 7000 soldiers then marched from Yorkshire and occupied a height (later called Senlac Hill) on the Hastings-London highway about 10.5 km north-west of Hastings. The royal force was composed exclusively of infantry, armed with spears, swords, and battle-axes. Meanwhile, William’s seaborne forces, which included infantry armed with crossbows and contingents of heavily armed cavalry, landed on the English coast near Hastings on September 28, 1066. The initial Norman attack, launched in the morning of October 14, failed to dislodge the English, who met the barrage of enemy arrows with interlocked shields. The English axmen turned back a Norman cavalry charge, whereupon a section of the Norman infantry turned and fled. At this juncture, several units of the English army broke ranks, contrary to Harold's orders, and pursued the retreating Normans. Other Norman troops quickly surrounded and annihilated these units. Taking advantage of the lack of discipline among the English soldiers, William ordered a feigned retreat. The stratagem led to the entrapment of another large body of English troops. Severely weakened by these reverses and demoralised by the mortal wounding of Harold by an arrow, the English were forced to abandon their strategic position on the crest of Senlac Hill. Only small remnants of the defending army survived the subsequent onslaughts of the Norman cavalry. William's victory at Hastings paved the way for Norman subjugation of all England.

⁴¹ The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a compilation of writings begun in the 9th century, still serves as the principal contemporary source for the history of Britain before the Norman Conquest. Alfred the Great (848-901) is generally credited with establishing it as a continuous register of national events. Seven manuscript versions of the text are extant, the latest of which extends to the accession of Henry II in 1154. As a literary work, the chronicle is often considered the first great book of English prose.

⁴² Dominicans (or Friars Preachers), members of the Order of Preachers, a Roman Catholic religious order founded in 1214 by Saint Dominic. With 16 disciples he founded the order at Toulouse, France, for the purpose of counteracting, by means of preaching, teaching, and the example of austerity, the heresies prevalent at the time. The order was formally recognised in 1216, when Pope Honorius III granted the Dominicans the necessary papal confirmation. He also granted them a number of special privileges, including the right to preach and hear confessions anywhere without obtaining local authorisation. The necessity for such an order had become apparent to Dominic during his early attempts, about 1205, to convert the Albigenses; it was at that time that he resolved to devote his life to the evangelisation of the heretical and the uneducated.

⁴³ Franciscans (or Order of Friars Minor), religious order founded, probably in 1208, by Saint Francis of Assisi and approved by Pope Innocent III in 1209. After devoting himself to a life of preaching, service, and poverty, Francis gathered around him a band of 12 disciples. He led them from Assisi to Rome to ask for the blessing of the Pope, who expressed doubt about the practicability of the way of life that the group proposed to adopt. Pope Innocent gave them his blessing, however, on condition that they become clerics and elect a superior. Francis was elected superior and the group returned to Assisi, where they obtained from the Benedictine abbey on Mount Subasio the use of the little chapel of Santa Maria degli Angeli, around which they constructed huts of branches. Then, in imitation of Christ, they began a life of itinerant preaching and voluntary poverty. At this time the brotherhood lacked formal organisation and a noviciate, but as the disciples increased and their teaching spread, it became obvious that the example of Francis would not suffice to enforce discipline among the friars. In 1223 Pope Honorius III issued a bull that constituted the Friars Minor a formal order and instituted a one-year noviciate. Following the death of Francis in 1226, the convent and basilica at Assisi were built. Their magnificence disturbed some, who believed it inconsistent with Francis's ideals of poverty. After much dissension, Pope Gregory IX decreed that moneys could be held by elected trustees of the order and that the building of convents was not contrary to the intentions of the founder. As time passed, the order grew, the only body of equal power being the Dominicans. The Franciscans, however, became fractionalised, and in 1517 Pope Leo X divided the order into two bodies, the Conventuals, who were allowed corporate property, as were other monastic orders, and the Observants, who sought to follow the precepts of Francis as closely as possible. The Observants have ever since been the larger branch, and early in the 16th century a third body, the Capuchins, was organised out of it and made independent. At the end of the 19th century Leo XIII grouped these three bodies together as the First Order of Friars Minor, designating the nuns known as Poor Clares as the Second Order, and the tertiaries, men and women living in secular society without celibacy, as the Third Order. In addition to their preaching and charitable work, the Franciscans have been noted for their devotion to learning. Before the Reformation in England they held many positions in the universities, prominent among the professors being John Duns Scotus, William of Ockham, and Roger Bacon. The order has produced four Popes—Sixtus IV, Julius II, Sixtus V, and Clement XIV—and one antipope, Alexander V. On his first voyage to the New World, Christopher Columbus was accompanied by a group of Franciscans. The first convents in America were established by Franciscans, at Santo Domingo and La Vega in what is now the Dominican Republic. The rapid conversion of the Native Americans and the consequent enthusiasm of the missionary-minded in Spain led to the further spread of the order in the West Indies; before 1505, Ferdinand V, king of Castile, found it necessary to issue a decree that new convents should be placed at least five leagues apart. While the Spanish Franciscans gradually spread through the southern part of the New World as far as the Pacific Ocean, the French friars, who had arrived in Canada in 1615, at the behest of the French explorer Samuel de Champlain, set up missions throughout the north. Today the Franciscans conduct a university and five colleges in the U.S., and a seminary, in Allegheny, New York. They also engage in regular parish work, as well as mission work among the Native Americans. The supreme government of the order is vested in an elective general, resident at the General Motherhouse, in Rome. Subordinate are the provincials, who preside over all the brethren in a province, and the custodes, or guardians (never called abbots, as are their counterparts in other orders), at the head of a single community or convent. These officers are elected for a period of two years. In the early 20th century a number of Franciscan communities for both men and women were established by various Anglican churches. The most prominent of these is the Society of Saint Francis in Cerne Abbas, Dorset, England, which maintains several houses in the British Isles and in New Guinea. In 1967 a similar group in the United States was united with these English friars.

⁴⁴ The Peasants' Revolt (1381) was the only major outbreak of social rebellion in medieval England. Reduced population as a result of the Black Death (1349) made tenants and labourers scarce, encouraging impoverished peasants as well as prosperous artisans and urban workers to demand abolition of serfdom, an easing of the restrictions of the manorial courts, and repeal of the Statute of Labourers (1351), which aimed at imposing a maximum wage. Unrest peaked when a poll tax of a shilling a head was imposed (1380). Its collection sparked revolt simultaneously in Kent and Essex in June 1381. The Kentish leaders, including Wat Tyler and John Ball, a rebel priest, entered London on June 13. The boy king Richard II met them on June 14 and granted their demands for abolition of serfdom, elimination of wage restrictions, and low rents. At a later meeting with the king, Tyler was slain by the mayor of London. The rebels then dispersed and the king's concessions were withdrawn. During the same period other uprisings erupted throughout the countryside, particularly in Yorkshire, Cambridgeshire, and Norfolk.

⁴⁵ The Hundred Years' War is the name traditionally given to the Anglo-French conflicts that occurred between 1337 and 1453, but a more accurate set of dates would be the 150-year period from 1294 to 1444. As members of the French Angevin dynasty and rulers of the French duchy of Guienne, the kings of England were French feudal lords who resented royal encroachment on their jurisdiction. Within Britain, however, they attempted to dominate the independent kingdom of Scotland. French assistance to the Scots was countered by English measures to thwart French penetration of Flanders.

⁴⁶ The Wars of the Roses (1455-85) is the name given to a series of armed clashes between the houses of Lancaster and York, rival claimants to the English crown. The name was first used long after the wars took place; it refers to the white rose of York and the red rose of Lancaster – badges supposedly used by the contenders.

⁴⁷ The Armada was a great Spanish fleet assembled in 1588 as part of the attempt by Philip II to invade England. The plan was to send a fleet of 130 ships commanded by the duque de Medina Sidonia (1550-1619) to cover an invasion force from Flanders under Alessandro Farnese. This plan proved strategically unsound and beyond Spain's logistical capabilities. The defeat of the Armada did not affect the naval balance of power: England had been a major sea power before 1588, and the Spanish fleet was quickly rebuilt afterward. It did demonstrate that Spain lacked the power to impose religious unity on Europe.

⁴⁸ Pilgrims, early English settlers who founded Plymouth Colony, the first permanent settlement in New England. They were originally known as the Forefathers or Founders; the term Pilgrim was first used in the writings of colonist William Bradford. Among the early Pilgrims was a group of Separatists, members of a radical religious movement that broke from the Church of England during the 16th and 17th centuries. In 1606William Brewster led a group of Separatists to Leiden, the Netherlands, to escape religious persecution in England. After living in Leiden for more than ten years, some members of the group voted to emigrate to America. The voyage was financed by a group of London investors who were promised produce from America in exchange for their assistance. On September 16, 1620, these Separatists were part of a group numbering 102 men, women, and children who left Plymouth, England, for America on the Mayflower. On November 21, the Mayflower dropped anchor in the sheltered harbour off the site of present-day Provincetown, Massachusetts. They landed on the site of Plymouth Colony the following December 21, a date that is celebrated in New England as Forefathers' Day. The Pilgrims established a government and created the Mayflower Compact, which served as a precursor to constitutional law in America.

⁴⁹ The English Civil War, which started on Aug. 22, 1642, really consisted of three wars. The first, between King Charles I and Parliament, allied with the Scottish Covenanters, lasted until 1646; the second, in which a Scottish army fought for Charles I against Parliament, took place in 1648; and the last, in which the Scots were led by Charles II as their king, lasted from 1649 to 1651. The long-term causes of the wars were the growing wealth of the middle classes (gentry and merchants), who made up a majority in the House of Commons and demanded a larger influence upon the government, while the insufficiency of his hereditary finances made the king dependent on the Commons whenever he was involved in the foreign wars. From 1629, avoiding such involvement, Charles had governed without a Parliament. But rebellion in Scotland (the so-called Bishops' Wars) compelled him to summon the Short Parliament and then the Long Parliament in 1640. The Commons were angry over the manner in which Charles I had raised new taxes without their consent and had revived obsolete feudal dues, while the majority of members with Puritan sympathies castigated Charles's church policies. The king made several concessions--including the sacrifice of his ablest advisors, William Laud, archbishop of Canterbury, and the earl of Strafford – but refused to have his ministers and commanders named for him and rejected the idea of handing over to Parliament the control of the militia, the only armed force in the kingdom. Charles's rejection of these demands, set forth in Parliament's Grand Remonstrance, led directly to war. In the first two years of war, after both sides had raised armies, the royalists, or cavaliers, were more successful. After a drawn battle at Edgehill in Warwickshire (Oct. 23, 1642), the royalists threatened London (Charles's headquarters were in Oxford) but were compelled to withdraw. In 1643 the royalists were victorious in most parts of England except London and the east. Instead of converging his armies on London, Charles resolved to clear his communications with Wales and the south-west by taking Gloucester, but the town was relieved by parliamentary forces, and Charles was defeated at Newbury (Sept. 20, 1643). The tide turned for the parliamentarians in 1644, when the royalists were beaten at Marston Moor in Yorkshire (July 2). In 1645 the royalists were again defeated by Thomas Fairfax's New Model Army at Naseby in Leicestershire (June 14). Oxford fell on June 24, 1646, and Charles, who had surrendered himself to the Scots, was turned over to Parliament and became a prisoner. The second civil war began after Charles had escaped (November 1647) and concluded a treaty with the Scots. Risings on the king's behalf took place in Essex, Kent, and Wales, while the Scots invaded England and were defeated by Oliver Cromwell at Preston (Aug. 17-19, 1648). After Charles I's execution (Jan. 30, 1649), his son Charles II renewed the war, sustained by royalists in Ireland and Scotland. But Cromwell defeated the Irish and then returned to England to invade Scotland, where he crushed the Scots at Dunbar (Sept. 3, 1650). A year later Charles II led a Scottish army into England but was overwhelmed by a large army at Worcester (Sept. 3, 1651). He fled abroad, while England remained under the republican rule of Oliver Cromwell. The parliamentarians won the civil wars because of several major advantages. First, they held London and all the richest towns and ports except Bristol, which was held by royalists from July 26, 1643, to Sept. 10, 1645. Second, they had in Thomas Fairfax, 3d baron Fairfax of Cameron, and Oliver Cromwell very capable generals, while Charles I was a poor strategist and did not properly use such able commanders as the marquess of Montrose in Scotland and Prince Rupert. Third, the navy sided with Parliament, which gave it control over foreign trade and many strategic advantages. Last, Parliament's New Model Army was better trained and disciplined than that of the royalists.

⁵⁰ Anglo-Dutch Wars, three conflicts during the second half of the 17th century between the English and the Dutch over control of the seas and expansion of their empires. The Anglo-Dutch Wars were fought from 1652 to 1654, from 1664 to 1667, and from 1672 to 1678.

⁵¹ Act of Union, name of several statutes that accomplished the joining of England with Wales (1536), England and Wales with Scotland (1707), Great Britain with Ireland (1800), and the British provinces of Upper Canada and Lower Canada (1840) in North America. The Act of Union passed in 1707 by the parliaments of England and Scotland created the Kingdom of Great Britain. Although Scotland retained its judicial system and its Presbyterian church, its parliament was joined with that of England. Henceforth, Scotland sent 45 elected members to the British House of Commons and 16 of its peers to the House of Lords. Scots received the same trading rights as the English had in England and its overseas empire. Scotland also received money (called “the Equivalent”) equal to the share it was assuming of England's national debt. The crowns of the two countries had been united in 1603 when James Stuart (James VI of Scotland) succeeded Elizabeth I as James I of England, but the kingdoms otherwise remained separate. In 1654 the countries were united as a commonwealth under the rule of Oliver Cromwell. When Charles II was restored to the throne in 1660, England and Scotland again became separate. Impetus for union came from disagreements between the two parliaments. These included Scotland's refusal to approve the Act of Settlement (1701) passing the royal succession on to the German house of Hannover after the death of Queen Anne (the last Stuart sovereign), and from England's fear that Scotland might seek to restore an exiled Catholic Stuart to the throne.

⁵² Triple Entente, name given to the diplomatic and military alliance that developed between Britain, France, and Russia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was designed primarily to counterbalance the military coalition known as the Triple Alliance, which had been concluded earlier by Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. The negotiations leading to the formation of the Triple Entente were initiated by France, whose traditional enmity for Germany had been aggravated by the disastrous defeat of the French armies in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71. The French government approached Russia, and in the late 1880s the existence of a diplomatic understanding between the two powers was indicated by the granting of substantial French loans to stimulate the development of Russian transport and industry. A Franco-Russian military pact was concluded in January 1894, and in 1895 the conclusion of a comprehensive alliance was publicly acknowledged. The French government began negotiations aimed at an alliance with Britain. These negotiations were hampered at first by the rivalry between France and Britain, both of whom were engaged in expanding and consolidating their colonial possessions, particularly in Africa and the Far East. The potential danger embodied in the military power of the Triple Alliance, however, caused the two nations to realise the necessity of forming a coalition as a measure of self-protection, and in 1904 France and Britain concluded several diplomatic conventions. Although no formal military alliance was ever negotiated, a so-called Entente Cordiale, or friendly understanding, was reached. With the arrangement of a similar agreement between the United Kingdom and Russia in 1907, the system of alliances known as the Triple Entente was complete. Thereafter, the tension between the nations of the Triple Entente and those of the Triple Alliance became increasingly severe, culminating in 1914 in the outbreak of World War I.

⁵³ The Conservative party of Great Britain developed as a result of the Reform Bill of 1832, which gave more parliamentary seats to industrial areas and lowered the property requirements for voting. In order to appeal to a wider electorate, the leader of the Tory party, Sir Robert Peel, adopted the name Conservative and set out to broaden the Tory program. His abolition of the Corn Laws in 1846 enraged traditional Tories, whose primary policy – after support of the crown and the established church – was the protection of agriculture. As a result, Peel's followers gravitated toward the emerging Liberal party. Benjamin Disraeli, who assumed leadership of the Conservatives in the mid-century, however, gave new formulation to the party's principles: to preserve the nation's institutions, especially the crown; to maintain the empire; to secure peace with honour; and to ameliorate the condition of the people.

⁵⁴ Persian Gulf War, conflict beginning in August 1990, when Iraqi forces invaded and occupied Kuwait. The conflict culminated in fighting in January and February 1991 between Iraq and an international coalition of forces led by the United States. By the end of the war, the coalition had driven the Iraqis from Kuwait.