Практична робота № 4

Тема: Британія у XIX столітті. Боротьба за права робітників. Чартизм. Вікторіанський вік. Британська Імперія.

Мета: систематизувати вивчений матеріал, проаналізувати основні історичні події століття, діяльність визначних особистостей того часу.

Procedure

Task 1. Finish the sentences.

1. The 1820s were marked by____________________________________________

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2. The People's Charter called for such rights as _____________________________

____________________________________________________________________

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3. The Victorian Age was marked by______________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

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4. The reforms, which changed the life of people during the Victorian Age were____________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5.British industrial might in the second half of the 19^th century was displayed at_____

____________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

Task 2. State the chronology of events. These events represent the same trends in history. Number the events in each group in time order 1—3.

_____ The Grand National Consolidated Trades Union was formed.

_____ The first workers' unions appeared.

_____ The National Chartist Association was formed.

_____ The second British Empire expanded all over the world.

_____ The first colonies were established.

_____ Britain became the world industrial monopoly.

_____The Government became independent from the monarch.

_____The Cabinet Government system was established.

_____The Bill of Rights established the basic principles of the English Constitution.

Task 3. Describe any of events or persons of this period which or whom you remembered best (no less than five sentences).______________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The 20^th century HO

BRITAIN IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE 20^TH CENTURY

At the beginning of the 20-th century, Britain was no longer the mightiest country in the world, but it still was one of the greatest world powers. The Victorian Age was coming to the end — new ideas and life styles appeared. The Royal Dynasty also faced changes — in 1901, Queen Victoria died and her eldest son, Albert Edward became King Edward VII. Edward took the family name of his father — Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Edward VII, as the Prince of Wales had been a great support to the throne much before he filled it. He reigned as a constitutional sovereign, paying more attention to foreign affairs, military and naval matters.

During his reign Edward made a number of visits abroad uniting the countries of the Imperial Commonwealth. These countries, often called the "Overseas Dominions" were making steady progress — Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand were developing as economically hide-pendent states and sent valuable did to Britain. Edward VII became known as a skilful diplomat, who paid great attention to the peaceful regulation of international conflicts. He got the title "Edward the Peacemaker".

Though on the world arena Britain managed to sustain uniformly friendly relations with other power, at home the first two decades of the century were harsh. These twenty years, often called as "a period of ex­tremism" saw the following events:

— The Liberals came to power to provide new economic policy. This party was supported by the new Labour Party, which appeared at the beginning of the century from an alliance of trade unionists and intel­lectuals;

— The Liberals and the Labourists provided a number of reforms aimed at establishing better conditions for workers, aged and unemployed people. But despite all these reforms the 1900s and 1910s were full of bitterness, strikes and general extremism. There were strikes of workers, because work­ing conditions became worse and the Suffragettes (women demanding the right to vote) damaged property to draw attention to women's needs and demands. There were also Nonconformists, who demanded the disestab­lishment of the Church in Wales and the Irish Nationalists, who tried to make their country independent;

— The Trade Unions were getting more support among the working class. By the last years before World War I they had already developed a political programme. The strikes organised by the Trade Unions, were of great importance — for they stopped the fall in wages and brought thou­sands of workers into the Union.

Death of Edward VII. King George V

After Edward's death (1909) his eldest son George V was made his heir to the throne. Later he changed the family name of his father Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor because during World War I it was thought better for British King not to have a German-sounding name. George V ruled the country from 1910 to 1936, in difficult years of World War I and after it. He played a conciliatory role in conflicts with Ireland and in General Strike. After his death his eldest son Edward became the English King Edward VIII. Edward, who was a professional pilot, cre­ated the King's Flight (now known as 32 The Royal Squadron) in 1936 to provide air transport for the Royal family's official duties. In 1930, the Prince had met and fallen in love with a married American woman, Mrs Wallis Simpson. She obtained a divorce in 1936 and it was clear that Edward was determined to marry her. Edward had to choose between the Crown and Mrs Simpson who as a twice-divorced woman would not have been acceptable as Queen. On December 11, 1936, Edward abdicated — he and any children he might have were excluded from succession to the throne. In 1937, Edward was created the Duke of Windsor and married Wallis Simpson. After Edward's abdication the Crown passed to his younger brother George, who was crowned as George VI.

The First World War. Britain after World War I

On August 1, 1914, Germany declared war on Russia, on August 3, it declared war on France. On August 4, Britain declared war on Germany. The Germans invaded Belgium and penetrated into the territory of France. The French army and the small British forces managed to stop the Ger­man army. The industry was mobilised for war and a Home Front was created. The situation was complicated by the wars in other parts of the world — in the Middle East the British fought against Turkish troops in Iraq, Palestine and the Dardanelles. The most important war battles for Britain were at sea, because it pos­sessed the largest and most powerful Navy in the world. In 1915—1916, for the first and only time in its history, Britain created a mass Army of 5 million men, to fight on the main land front. Almost a million of British soldiers were killed in the war and more than 1,5 mil­lion were wounded.

The war caused many changes in domestic affairs, political and social life of Britain. By the end of the war British government controlled most of the major sectors of the British economy with new Ministries being created. The new warfare industries employed many women, their help in industry, agriculture and medicine could hardly have been overestimated. After the war, in 1918, British women over thirty got a right to vote. The right to vote was also given to men aged 21, now the number of voters doubled. As the result of these changes the Labour Party won fifty-seven seats in Parliament in 1918 and in 1924 the first Labour government was created. As a result of this victory the Liberal Party almost completely disappeared — liberals with traditional capitalist ideas joined the Conserva­tive Party, and Liberal "reformers" joined the Labour Party.

In Britain the war caused a great increase of taxes — from 6 to 25 %. The workers, dissatisfied with worsening of living conditions, gathered for serious strikes, growing all over the country. The government had to break these strikes and force men back to work. The situation worsened in 1926, when Britain faced the General Strike which lasted nine days and involved half a million workers. The govern­ment had to use the army and police to force the strikers to surrender.

In 1929, the New York Stock Exchange crashed causing a serious economic crisis known as the Depression in Europe and America. In 1931, unemployment in Britain reached over 2, 8 million and by 1933, the most affected areas were the industrial north of England and southeast of Wales. The crisis in economy was gradually overcome by 1935 much due to the development of motor and heavy industries. By this tune the plans of German Nazi leader Adolph Hitler to strengthen his positions in the world became clear, so British government invested large sums of money into the industries producing weapons, aircraft and war equipment. These measures gave jobs to many people.

British Foreign Affairs after World War I

In 1926, the Imperial Conference recognised the autonomy of the British dominions, later this agreement was formalised in the Statute of Westminster. By this statute each dominion was given equal rights in the Commonwealth of Nations, though each dominion still recognised the British monarch.

The best spoils of victory in World War I were secured by the USA, which after the war became the world's creditor. This fact strengthened the antagonism between two nations — the position of the world leader was now almost taken by the USA.

In foreign affairs Britain took part in the creation of League of Na­tions — a new institution aimed at fostering co-operation among the nations and checking the competition that might lead to war. Later this institution proved to be not sufficient, as a severe damage of German economy cre­ated favourable conditions for the rise of Nazism, which was overlooked by governments of other countries, who provided the inter-war policy of appeasement.

The policy of appeasement meant that Britain remained neutral to German's claims for power, but this policy fouled when Hitler started to make approaches to Poland. It was clear that a new war would soon begin. Though Winston Churchill tried to plan the rearmament, the progress was very slow — Britain had great deficiencies of tanks, air crafts and ships.

When the war broke out in September, Britain was still seriously un­prepared. In May 1940, the British government was headed by Winston Churchill, who led the country through the war.

Britain in World War II

In the 1930s, Germany was not an only country ruled by a dictator. In Italy Benito Mussolini made plays to revive the glory of the Roman Empire. In Japan a military group wanted to take control of other countries in Asia and Islands in the Pacific Ocean. These countries — Germany, Italy and Japan formed the alliance called the Axis. The Axis was opposed by the alliance of European countries — the Allies.

In 1931, Japan invaded Manchuria — a part of China, in 1935, Italy Invaded Austria and part of Czechoslovakia. On September 1, 1939, Germans crossed the Polish border. Two days later Britain and France declared war on Germany. This date — September 3, 1939, marked the beginning of World War II.

The Allies took no military action to defend Poland — French strategy was based on the defense of its common border with Germany, the British supported the French.

The German army conquered Poland in less than three weeks using a tactics of blitzkrieg — a lightning war. In 1940, Germany invaded Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg; France had to sign an armistice. In September the German planes began night bombing of British cities railways and factories.

Churchill's hopes that America would enter the war helped Britain to survive. In 1941, Germany attacked the Soviet Union and Japan attacked the USA. Now Germany had to fight on two fronts — in the east and in the west. The Eastern front in the USSR saw the heaviest battles. After severe fighting the Soviet army was pushing the Germans out of the USSR and Britain had driven German and Italian troops out of North Africa.

In 1944, the Allies opened their long-awaited Second Front in Nor­mandy, from where the liberation of France began. The day of invasion, June 6, went down into the history as D-Day. The Second Front marked the beginning of the end for Germany. In spring 1945, the Allies advanced on the Western Front and the Soviet troops advanced on the east.

Britain lost in World War II more than half a million soldiers, bombing took lives of over 60,000 civilians. The war produced a devastating effect on Britain — Britain's homes and factories were severely damaged especially in London, southeastern towns and ports. British economy got a hard blow from which it did not fully recover any more: Britain was no longer a world leader, after World War II the balance of power was split between the two world's greatest states — the USA and the USSR. Britain was a junior partner of the USA in this world.

BRITAIN IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE 20^TH CENTURY

The World in the Cold War Period

At the end of World War II the Allies created the United Nations Or­ganisation (UN) to prevent local and global conflicts in the world and to settle international disputes peacefully. Britain was one of only five nations (alongside the USSR, USA, China and France) to have a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.

Though at first the USA, France and Britain wanted to work together with the USSR for the recovery of central Europe, this idea did not work. Europe was divided into two parts — controlled by the capitalist powers and by the socialist power (the USSR). Berlin, the capital of Germany, was also divided into two parts — East Berlin controlled by the USSR and West Berlin. As a result of this struggle two opposite alliances were formed: the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation of the western nations (NATO) and the Warsaw Pact of the eastern block.

The Cold War with the Soviet Union was based on the increase of nuclear weapons. It was never popular among the British and since the 1950s Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CHD) stated in the country. After the Cold war came to its end at the end of the 1980s, the British government finally reduced the weapons and the armed forces. Today British armed forces have been much reduced, but they still are able to make contributions to international peacekeeping efforts.

The Commonwealth

The story of Britain's Empire after World War II became a story of gaining independence by former colonial territories and establishing their own governments and policy. The British Empire united two separate enti­ties — there were Commonwealth countries and colonies. Commonwealth countries, formerly Dominions were totally self-governing after the Statute of Westminster in 1931, but they accepted Britain's monarch as their head of state and followed Britain's lead in defense and foreign affairs. In 1945, these were Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Eire and South Africa.

Colonies were governed directly from London via a British-run ad­ministration, which supervised road-building, schools, medical services and other benefits for the colonies. These colonies were situated mainly in Africa, though they were also in the Far East (Singapore, Hong Kong), the Mediterranean (Malta, Cyprus), and the Caribbean (Jamaica) and in other different parts of the world. These territories were at the same time a source of raw materials and an important market for British economy. In the post-war years the colonies developed self-government according to the United Nations Charter of 1945.

In India the nationalist movement led by Mahatma Gandhi made the British leave India in 1947, after this the country divided into a Hindu state and a smaller Muslim state called Pakistan. Ceylon and Burma became independent in 1948, the same year Eire left the Commonwealth. South Africa also left the Commonwealth in 1961. All in all more than 500 mil­lion people in former British colonies became completely self-governing between 1945 and 1955.

The policy of decolonisation was continued after the 1950s as well. In the 1960s and 1970s, self-government was granted to Nigeria, Cyprus, Tan­zania, Sierra Leone, Jamaica and Uganda. By 1979, only isolated colonies like Gibraltar, the Falklands and Hong Kong remained dependent.

Today the small remnants of the Empire wish to continue with the imperial arrangements. These are Gibraltar, St Helena, the Ascension Islands, the Falklands/Malvinas and Belize. These small countries are a source for Britain's pride on one hand (they show how beneficial the British imperial administration is), but on the other hand it's a heavy burden — the possession of this territories does not fit the image of a modern democratic state and it costs the British taxpayer money.

Today the British Commonwealth of nations unites many of the former British colonies. Though this union does not give any economic and political advantages it keeps cultural contacts between its members alive.

Domestic Affairs

In his speech during World War II British Prime Minister Winston Churchill said, "We are not fighting to restore the past. We must plan and create a noble future".

The years during and immediately after the war the British government concentrated on the reforms providing social welfare in Britain. These re­forms were introduced by both the Conservative and Labour governments. In 1944, free compulsory secondary education (up to the age of fifteen) was established. This innovation gave rise to secondary modern schools, which were soon set up all over the country. In 1946, the National Health Service was established to provide free treatment for different layers of society. Both the Conservative and Labour Parties shared the ideas of the welfare state, which gives support to people in need. The state provided for its people all basic human rights. Thanks to the economic recovery the living standards rose. But beginning with the 1970s Britain was gradually falling behind its European neighbours. It happened as a result of rising prices and growing unemployment coupled with the arrival of immigrants from the former colonies into the country. Difficult conditions of living were worsened by inflation — between 1954 and 1984 the prices multiplied by six. This was the period, when the first woman — the leader of the Conservative Party Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister. Mrs Thatcher called the nation for hard work, patriotism and self-help. She attached great importance to free trade, individual enterprise and minimal government interference in economy. A number of nationalised industries were returned to the private sec­tor. By 1987, telecommunications, gas, British Airways, British Aero-space and British Shipbuilders were already in private ownership. However the industrial decline was not stopped. From 1979 to 1983, industrial production fell by 10 % and unemployment rose to over 3 million. But the most serious problem was that society became more unequal — a society of "two nations" — the wealthy and the poor. The number of poor people, who received only govern­ment help increased from 12 million in 1979 to over 16 million in 1983.

Cultural Focus: Welfare in Britain

Today social welfare is an effective and responsible system of help for various layers of population — the elderly, sick, disabled, unemployed, widowed or bringing up children. There exist three parts of Britain's social welfare system:

— the National Health Service covers medicine expenditures;

— the personal social services are provided for elderly and disabled people;

— the social security system provides a basic standard living for people who are not able to work.

Nowadays this system is coming under increasing pressure because the number of unemployed people and pensioners rises. People, who receive unemployment benefits, are known as being "on the dole" and the money itself is often called "dole money". To get this money people have to present government forms UB 40 and prove that they do not have work. Then in the post-office they will get a cheque, which is often called a "giro".

The National Health Service works on one scheme for the whole population of Britain. It is based on medical insurance, which is organised by the government and is compulsory. It provides treatment through the system of local doctors.

The Royal Family Today

During the 20^th 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.