英国文化

1. Purpose 2. Approaches

To broaden our knowledge about USA & UK To make comparison between China and UK and USA To enlighten us To highlight the points

To arouse our interest To talk in English and sum up in Chinese To understand China To show some documentaries To learn English To answer questions To enjoy or relax

3. Requirement 4. Contents Keep quiet in class Part One: Britain

Come to class on time 1. Names, people, language, land area, population, climate Do not do other things in class 2. Economy and cities

Ask for leave in advance 3. Government and culture

Questions are appreciated 4. History: four major divisions – origin, feudalism, bourgeois

revolution and the rise fall of the British empire

5. Examination

1. 30 multiple choice questions – (30%) Part Two: America

all from the points presented in class 1. Names, population, land area, natural conditions,people 2. Answer one of the questions ( 40%) and climate

(reference materials and dictionary allowed) 2. Government & politics 3. Attendance (30%) 3. Economy

4. Culture and values

5. History: three major divisions -colonial American, formation,

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big events in the 19 and 20 centuries.

An Introduction to U.K.

Chapter 1 Panoramic View 1、The Country and the People：

Names: British Isles, Great Britain, The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Area: Total area: 243,000 sq km (93,600 sq miles) Population: around 60 million

(1) England Area: 130,000 square kilometers, nearly 60% of the whole island

Population: a little more than 50 million,85% of the total population

(2)Scotland Area: 78,760, less than 30% of the whole land

Population: a little more than 5 million, less than one-tenth of the population

(3)Wales Area: 20,700 sq km less than 9%

Population: 2.7 million,5% of the whole population (4)Northern Ireland Area: 14,000 sq km Population: 1.7 million 2、Geographic Features ：

An island country;More than one thousand km from south to north;500 km from east to west;Its coastline runs about ten thousand km; No place in Britain is over 250 km away from the sea; 3、Climate and Weather ：

A maritime climate;Changeable weather;Difficult to give a correct and reliable weather forecast. Therefore, people like to talk about weather. 4、People：

Britain’s population: overwhelmingly urban, about 90% living in urban areas 10% living in rural areas. English People

In narrow sense, the term ―English people‖ refers to the descendents of the English-speaking Anglo-Saxons.

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They include the Angles, Saxons, and the Jutes, who arrived in Britain from North Germany between the 5 and th

7 centuries AD. 5、English：

English – the language of the Angles

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Became the foundation of modern English. Most of the natives were the Celts

They fled to the hill country in the North and West.

Celts tended to be shorter than Anglo-Saxons and have rounder heads. Most Celts had darker hair, but many of them had red hair. 6、Appearance:

The present-day English people are said to have inherited the physical characteristics of the Anglo-Saxons and the Celts.

Following the Anglo-Saxons, some other people from North Europe, especially the Danes and Vikings came and

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settled in Great Britain and Island during the 9 century.

In 1066, French-speaking Normans conquered England, adding another ethnic component to the nation. 7、Official Language English is the official language. 8、Religion

The British law protects religious freedom.

Majority of the British people believe Christianity

The first Christian church was established in Canterbury in 597

It is estimated that there are 8.4 million active churchgoers in Britain.

More than a million people attend the Church of England on an average Sunday. The state has two established churches.

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The Church of England, founded in the 16 century, has been divided into High Church and Low Church. The former belong to the upper class, while the latter the middle and lower-middle class.

In its modern form the Church of England is divided into two provinces, York and Canterbury, which, headed by archbishops, are subdivided into dioceses (42 administered by bishops, in a central church called cathedral) and parishes (10 thousand, has its priest called rector, vicar or father)

The Church of England established in Scotland is not subject to the state. It is the principal religious group in Scotland And has about 715, 000 members.

Other churches are Roman Catholic Church and Protestant denominations generally known as Free Churches 9、The English Language

1. Indo-European Language: language used by Neolithic people wandering in Asia and Europe.

2. Indo-European Language Family: The different languages used in different parts of Europe have the same origin.

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3. Old English (5 – 12 Century): We may assume that it began to be in the early fifth century when the Anglo-Saxons started their invasion of England.

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4. Middle English (12 – 15 Century): The Middle English period began soon after the Norman Conquest in 1066.

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5. Modern English (15 - ): By the end of the 15 century, London English had been accepted as a standard literary language in most parts of the country.

Chapter 2 Government

The U.K. is the founder of the system known as the constitutional monarchy(君主立宪政体). The central government includes the monarch, Parliament, and the cabinet. 1. Monarch

The monarch is the oldest secular institution in Britain. Traced back to the ninth century

It antedates(先于) Parliament by four centuries and the law courts by three.

Its continuity was broken only once, from 19 to 1660 during the English Civil War.

Over centuries in history, the English monarch personally exercised supreme executive, legislative, and judicial power.

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After the founding of the law courts in the 12 century and Parliament in the 13 century, the direct exercise of these functions by monarch gradually decreased.

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The 17-century struggle between the king and Parliament for supreme power resulted in the establishment of a limited constitutional monarchy.

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By the end of the 19 century and with the establishment of responsible government and party politics, the monarch‘s active participation in politics had become minimal.

Sovereign (or monarch) is the king or queen on whom the Crown(王权，王位君主或由立宪君主统治的的权力、地位或王国) is constitutionally conferred(赋与).

The Crown represents both the Sovereign and the Government and it is the symbol of supreme executive

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power, which is exercised by ministers responsible to Parliament.

The Sovereign nominates the ministers the Government of the United Kingdom is also called Her (His) Majesty‘s Government

There is no written law to define the Queen‘s power.

Her function is a kind of historical legacy(遗物), or a kind of formality.

Today the Queen only does what Parliament and the Cabinet want her to do. Succession to the throne is regulated by Parliament Acts and common law rules. Only Protestant descendents are eligible(符合条件的) to succeed.

The first candidate for the throne is the first son born to a reigning monarch. His title is Prince of Wales. 2. Parliament

Britain was the first country to institute the parliamentary system in their thirteenth century. Parliament is the nation‘s supreme legislation organ. The British Parliament consists of three branches:

the monarch (queen or king), the House of Lords, and the House of Commons.

Though outwardly separated, the branches are interdependent. They are all involved in the process of legislation.

There is no written constitution in Britain.

Parliament has the power to make, unmake or change any law.

In addition to its role as the law-making body, Parliament determines the revenue and expenditures of the government.

The term, maximum duration, of each Parliament is five years which is divided into five sessions, each lasting one year. 3. The House of Lords

The House of Lords is composed of the Lords temporal (either hereditary peers or life peers), the lords spiritual, and law lords.

The full membership of the House of Lords is only about 660 at present. (could be reduced to 102 in fact). The person who presides over the debate of the Upper House is known as Lord Chancellor.

The House of Lords today no longer has much power. Theoretically, it has the power to introduce bills, but its function has been reduced to the discussion and passage of legislation already approved by the House of Commons

4. The House of Commons

The House of Commons, also known as the Lower House, is the other chamber of the British Parliament and the source of real political power in the United Kingdom. It is a representative assembly.

All its members are directly elected by British people over the age of 18 through real general elections. The House of Commons now consists of 635 seats.

Distribution of the seats among the four countries is based on their population: 529 for England, 72 for Scotland, 40 for Wales, and 18 for Northern Ireland.

The chairman who conducts debates in the Lower Houseis officially called Speaker, who is elected by the Commons.

The Lower House is characterized with heated debates.

Each day the meeting consists of ―question time‖ and debate on motions (正式议案) 5. The Government and the Cabinet

The British government is officially called Her (or His) Majesty‘s Government.

But in technical terms it is known as parliamentary government, responsible government or cabinet government.

The government is checked by Parliament.

All its policies must be approved by Parliament before being put into practice.

The Cabinet meet in private once or twice a week in the Prime Minister‘s official residence, No. 10, Downing Street, London.

The chief executive of the government is the prime minister.

He is the leader of the party that holds the most seats in the House of Commons

The prime minister presides over the Cabinet and selects the other Cabinet members, who join him to form the government that is part of the functioning executive.

The Cabinet has about 20 members, or ministers, all of whom must be members of Parliament (MPs).

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Members of the Cabinet are leaders of the majority party in the House of Commons 6. Civil Servants

Civil servants are government employees.

Their duty is to do the daily routine work under the direction of their superiors. 7. Political Parties

There are a number of political parties in U.K. and theoretically. They are granted by equal treatment by the law.

But in practice, politics in Britain is based on a two-party system.

Parliament is dominated by one or the other of the two most important parties which are known as the major parties.

At present the two major parties are the Conservative Party and the Labor Party. Small parties, usually called minor parties, cannot win a majority of the seats in Parliament and they have no chance to organize the government. 8. Election

To distribute the seats fairly, the U.K. is divided into 659 electoral districts, known as constituencies, of nearly equal population.

Each constituency is to elect one Member of Parliament. 9. Justice and the Law

Britain does not have a single document called the written constitution.

As a matter of fact, the English law comprises three elements: Acts of Parliament, common law, and the European law. 10. Law Courts

British law courts are based on the three-tier system: magistrates(地方法官)‘ courts, country courts, and the Supreme Court, comprising the Court of Appeals(上诉), the Crown Court(高级刑事法庭 ,皇家), and the High Court. The final court of appeals for both civil and criminal cases is the House of Lords, where appeals are heard by the law lords. 11. Police Force

Britain now has some 150,000 policemen and policewomen who are divided into 43 police forces and stationed all over the country.

As public employees to serve society, policemen are not allowed to join trade unions or go on strike. Police chiefs are called constables who direct or supervise their subordinates.

Chapter 3 Economy

Britain is one of the major market economies in the world.

It is a member state of the seven major industrialized countries, known as group seven. Its gross domestic product is $1.5trillion(万亿), with GDP per capita amounting to $ 25,000. 1． Economic System and Structure

Britain‘s economic system has been known as free enterprise, market economy, or capitalism Britain‘s basic production facilities – land and capital – are privately owned.

The system of free enterprise is mainly based on the theory first systematically expounded by British philosopher and economist Adam Smith (1723 – 1790) in his masterpiece

An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, which was first published in 1776. 2 The Public Sector

The public sector refers to state-owned enterprises.

The Labor government nationalized a number of big business soon after the Second World War, introduced a from-cradle-to-grave welfare system and extended its controls over banking and the money supply.

Most of the nationalized industries were basic industries and social services, such as coalmining, electricity, post and telecoms, railways and bus companies, oil and gas.

All these accounted for 10% of GDP. Owing to mismanagement and low efficiency, the Conservative

governments between 1979 and 1996 denationalized oil companies, telecoms, gas, airlines, electricity, railways and water supply. 3 Private Sector

The private sector accounts for more than three-quarters of Britain‘s GDP, covering the fields of agriculture, mining, manufacturing, construction, distributive, financial and miscellaneous service industries.

British companies contribute about 60% of the GDP. Companies tend to become large through merger, or the process of combining one enterprise with another.

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4. Mining and Manufacturing Industries

According to British law, the owners of land have title to the minerals below the surface. The only exceptions are gold, silver, oil, and natural gas, which the Crown (the State) owns and leases to producers.

Britain was rich in mineral resources before the Industrial Revolution, but today most of these resources are either exhausted or produced in small quantities. 5. Transportation and Communications

Britain has about 17, 700 kilometers of railroads. Britain invented the locomotive and was the first country to build a railway in the world in 1825.The Railway Act passed by Parliament in 1993 put tracks and train operations into the hands of a government-owned company known as Railtrack. Today railways are mainly used to carry bulky goods and a small number of particular travelers, about 7% of the total passenger transportation. Britain‘s post office was founded in 1635. The British Post Office is a public corporation divided into three independent businesses.

The Royal Mail handles the collection and delivery of mail. Parcel Office handles parcel delivery. Post Office handles retail services to the public.

Britain‘s communications system is one of the largest and most advanced of the world. There are some 28 million telephones in Britain.

The ―999‖ emergency dialing service is free of charge, which enables customers to be connected rapidly to police, ambulance and fire services. 6. Foreign Trade

Britain is a trading nation. Its limited domestic market and inadequate home supply of raw materials make foreign trade vital to the British economy 7. Agriculture

Britain is an industrialized country, but its agriculture remains important.

Britain‘s land surface is small compared to the United States, but British agriculture is very intensive and highly productive.

Nearly 80% of Britain‘s land area, or about 50 million acres, can be used for agricultural purpose, but only 26% of this land is used to grow crops. Almost all of the rest is used as grazing land.

Chapter 4 Cities

London ● Cardiff ● Edinburgh ● Belfast ● Birmingham ● Manchester ● Liverpool London

London is the capital of England and of Great Britain, the political center of the Commonwealth, and a major port.

With a population of just under eight million, London is Europe's largest city, spreading across an area of about 1,610 square kilometers from its core on the River Thames.

The history of London can be traced back to the first century when the Romans invaded England in 55B.C. Ethnically London is also Europe's most diverse metropolis: around two hundred languages are spoken within its confines, and more than thirty percent of the population is made up of first-, second- and third-generation immigrants.

London, which is divided into 33 boroughs, is in fact two cities - 'The City of London' usually just called 'The City', and 'Westminster', which lies to its west. The City of London is located at the center of the metropolitan area and covers an area of 1.6 square kilometers. It serves as the financial center of the country, including the bank of England, insurance companies and stock exchanges. Westminster is the political center of the country. London is not only the UK's capital, but is also the strongest performing economic area in Britain.

Home to the European headquarters of 33 percent of the world's largest companies, with an economy that is larger than that of several European nations, London is widely regarded as the primary location in Europe for business.

The financial and business services are at the center of London's economy and together employ in the region of one-third the total Greater London workforce.

With more overseas company listings than any other exchange, the London Stock Exchange is the largest in the world, accounting for more than 32 per cent of global turnover - more than the combined contribution of New York and Tokyo

London is also home to several other thriving industries including arts and fashion, film, media, design, law and computing.

Around 85 percent of UK fashion designers and 70 percent of the UK film and television companies are based in London.

Tourism is another important industry for London with typical yearly expenditure by tourists being in the region

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of £7-10bn ($11.7 - $16.8 billion).

London is a thrilling place . Thanks to the national lottery and the millennium-oriented funding frenzy, every one of London's world-class museums, galleries and institutions has been reinvented, from the Royal Opera House to the British Museum.

Big Ben is one of London's best-known landmarks, and looks most spectacular at night when the clock faces are illuminated. The name Big Ben actually refers not to the clock-tower itself , but to the thirteen ton bell hung within.

Westminster Abbey is one of Europe's finest Gothic buildings and the scene of coronations, marriages and burials of British monarchs. Highlights of Westminster Abbey include the Coronation Chair made in 1300, Poets' Corner and the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior

St Paul's Cathedral, another of London's grand old buildings, is one of the world‘s most famous cathedrals. St Pauls Cathedral classical cathedral represents inspiration and craftsmanship on a grand scale. The Light of the World by Holman Hunt is St Pauls Cathedrals most famous work of art, but it also contains fabulous carvings, statues and mosaics.

Founded nearly a millennium ago and expanded upon over the centuries since, the Tower of London has protected, housed, imprisoned and been for many the last sight they saw on Earth.

At Buckingham Palace, tours can be taken to view the official London residence of the Queen and you can visit the magnificent State Rooms, where over the centuries, the wealthy and the powerful have walked. Cardiff

As of 2001, Cardiff had a total population of 305,350. The City has a young and diverse population with 43.1% of inhabitants below the age of 30. Cardiff has a total population of 860,000 living within 30 minutes drive time of the City Centre and 2.7 million living within one hour drive

As the Capital City of Wales, Cardiff is the main engine of growth in the Welsh economy and conveys economic, social and cultural benefits across the wider region. The economy of Cardiff and adjacent areas makes up nearly 20% of Welsh GDP and 40% of the City‘s workforce are daily in-commuters from the surrounding South Wales area. Edinburgh

Venerable, dramatic Edinburgh, the showcase capital of Scotland, is a historic, cosmopolitan and cultured city. The setting is wonderfully striking; the city is perched on a series of extinct volcanoes and rocky crags.

In August and early September, around a million visitors flock to the city for the Edinburgh Festival, in fact a series of separate festivals that make up the largest arts extravaganza in the world. Belfast

Capital of Northern Ireland, this robust northern metropolis of nearly half a million people - a third of Northern Ireland's population - has much in common with Liverpool and Manchester. Belfast was the engine-room that drove the whirring wheels of the industrial revolution in Ulster. The world's largest dry dock is here and the shipyard's giant cranes tower over the port. Birmingham

The City of Birmingham, Alabama, is a municipal corporation under the laws of the State of Alabama

Birmingham is the largest city in the state with a population currently estimated at 242,820, and a metro population of 1,079,0. The area is 267.8 square KM in size, with a population density of 3,9 people per square KM, this compares with 377.2 people per square KM for England.

For many years Birmingham was a one-industry town, dependent on the iron and steel industry.

Today, though, Birmingham's economy relies more heavily on the medical industry as well as trade, finance, research and government. The major industrial investments in Birmingham have been in automotive components manufacturing and distribution, machinery, and the metals industries. Manchester

Manchester is a relatively new city; born of the Industrial Revolution it took the lead in the world‘s textile

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manufacture and production in the late 18 century, a position it held until its decline in the 1960s. Liverpool

Liverpool, the second largest seaport in Britain, has an area of 113 square kilometers with a population of 4.7 hundred thousand. The city spent too many of the twentieth-century postwar years struggling against adversity. Things are looking up at last, as economic and social regeneration brightens the centre and old docks.

Chapter 6 Culture

Traditionally, the British culture has enjoyed the reputation for its requirement of decency and civility in doing things. This requirement is reflected in the traditional image of the English gentleman. Class Structure

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Upper class: people with incomes from rents and property payments

Subdivided into: (1) upper landed class, controlling most of the agricultural land enjoying the most privileges,

called nobility or aristocracy, playing key roles in The House of Lords.

Middle class:

educated people dealing with paper in business or in a profession. Today, the middle class accounts for over 60% of the total population.

Economically, the Middle class plays the major role because its members are the best educated and more skilled

Working class :

people doing manual labor. Today, class distinctions have become blurred because the number of working class employees in service industries has greatly increased. Traditional image of a worker engaged in manual labor has changed. As many new jobs require higher education and special skills, it is no longer easy to tell which jobs are middle class and which are not. Families

Family life has always been of great importance for the British people. The British culture, influenced by Christianity, attaches the utmost importance to family life and the upbringing of children.

In terms of composition, the English family is called nuclear family – two adults and their unmarried children. At the age of 18, he can enjoy complete freedom of choosing a spouse, but between 16 and 18, marriage must the parent‘s consent.

After Christianity was introduced into Britain, a valid marriage was regarded as a special type of contract between a man and a woman. The contract was considered holy and could only be terminated by death, but not divorce

The marriage has always been based on monogamy. Historically, British families were patriarchal in

structure. A wife took the husband‘s surname and her legal existence was suspended during marriage. Today, a wife still takes the husband‘s surname, but both spouses have an equal rights and obligations.

Great changes have taken place since the First World War. Today British women are no longer confined to traditional house chore. Women employees make up 48% of the British labor force. Instead of passively enduring unhappiness, they expect more personal gratification through marriage and family life. Their

increased demand has, in part, contributed to a rise in the divorce rate. It is estimated that about one-third of all marriage end up in divorce

The British people take a keen interest in private family life. Meals are considered as an important element in family life, with all the members sitting around the table.

Afternoon tea is an important component of the English way of life.

―High tea‖ with hot dishes for working class happens at 5 in the afternoon.

Light tea‖ for middle class is at 4 or 5 in the afternoon, then have a main meal known as dinner at seven or eight.

Dinner consists of three courses: soup and salad; beef, mutton, carrots, peas and beans as the main course; the dessert or ―sweet‖ as the last course.

Middle class people like to invite friends to cocktail parties at home instead of drinking in a restaurant Culture Traditions Today

London has the greatest concentration of theaters, orchestras, and galleries, and is also the main home of the print and broadcast media, and of the fashion, recording, motion picture, and publishing industries—as such, it often seems to dominate modern British culture

However, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and the regions of England all have vigorous cultural traditions that have contributed to and still enrich all aspects of British life.

The traditions and abilities of the various ethnic minorities are also reflected in modern British culture,

notably in music and literature, and are celebrated in events like the annual Notting Hill Carnival in west London The traditional music, song, and dance of Scotland, much of it derived from the country‘s Gaelic heritage, thrives in the ceilidh, the (bag)pipe band, and the Highland games.

In the contemporary arts, Scotland has noted museums, galleries, and orchestras, and national ballet and opera companies. It also hosts the world‘s premier arts festival, the annual Edinburgh International Festival Britain‘s second-largest arts festival, the Mayfest, is held in Glasgow

British society is overwhelmingly urban, but it has retained distinct links with its rural past. These links are reflected in the popularity of gardening, and in the working-class tradition of growing vegetables on allotments. Sport is important in Britain, and the British originated or developed the modern forms and rules of a number of sports—notably soccer (known as football in Britain), rugby, cricket, tennis, polo, horse racing, field hockey,

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and croquet. Angling (fishing) is the most popular British sport or pastime, attracting more active participants than soccer Architecture

After the Norman Conquest in 1066, Norman architecture became prevalent in the British Isles. The Normans built monumental castles and churches with enormous arches and huge columns. Their style was called Romanesque on the Continent. The greatest structures built by the Normans are the White Tower, which is part of the Tower of London

From the 12th to the 15th century gracefully soaring spires and arches marked the development of the great Gothic cathedrals; two of these, Westminster Abbey in London and Lincoln Cathedral, still dominate the skylines of their cities.

The architecture of the late Italian Renaissance was introduced in England by Inigo Jones in the 17th

century. Jones was the first of the great British architects to be influenced by the ideas of Italian architects. As the premier architect of the time, he designed 52 new churches in London. Many of his churches still stand. The grandest of them, Saint Paul‘s Cathedral in London, is an example of Jones‘ distinctively graceful and monumental British style

In the 18th century few English buildings followed the ornate patterns of the baroque and rococo architectures used in Europe. Rather, a more restrained, neoclassical style was introduced in Britain

Victorian architecture borrowed from a variety of styles, including classical, Gothic, and Renaissance, and was characterized by ornate decoration. The most famous Victorian neo-Gothic building is Parliament, built between 1840 and 1870

Museums, Galleries, and Libraries

Britain is world famous for its outstanding libraries and museums, most of which are located in London. The British Museum, one of the most spectacular museums in the world, is renowned for its extensive and diverse collections, from Egyptian mummies to important historical documents

The National Gallery houses a vast collection of British and European paintings dating from the 13th century to modern times.

Next door to the National Gallery is the National Portrait Gallery with about 10,000 portraits of famous figures from British history, some dating from the 14th century

The Victoria and Albert Museum features one of the world‘s largest collections of fine and applied arts, from jewelry, clocks, and pottery to fabrics, furniture, and musical instruments

The National Museum of Science and Industry contains five floors of exhibits on medicine, photography, engineering, transportation, and communications. Plant, animal, and mineral specimens from all over the world are part of the collection at the Natural History Museum, London

Britain‘s premier library, the British Library in London, contains a copy of nearly all significant works

published in English. It was housed in the British Museum until 1997, when it moved to a new building. The famous Bodleian Library at Oxford University also contains one of the most extensive collections of English publications in the country.

Chapter 7 History

 Origin of the Nation  Feudal England

 The Tudor Monarchy and the Renaissance  The Bourgeois Revolution  The Rise and Fall of the British Empire 1、Origin of the Nation 1 (…~1066) Early Settlers:

As far as historical research could establish，the first inhabitants of the British Isles were Iberian. They were short，dark—haired. After Britain became an Island in about 6，000 B．C．，they settled there．During the long stone and bronze ages in Britain，they raised themselves from savagery onto the first steps of the civilized life. From 2，000 B．C．or so，the tall，golden—haired bellicose Celtic tribes living in today‘s south of Germany, made a general westward movement．

About 700 B．C．, one of the Celtic tribes called Gaels first came to Britain．

100 years later, another Celtic tribe called Britons, who had a good command of using iron invaded Britain and drove the Gaels to the north and west．

The third invaders called Belgae, who came from Gaul and occupied most prefectures near London about 100 B．C．

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The Celts defeated the Iberians and drove some of them to the north and west，kept the rest as slaves，and in the end the two races mixed to varying extent in different parts of the country

The three Celtic tribes kept in close connections and some exchange of products appeared．They had their own monetary units．

They developed the east and south to be the center of politics, the market of trading and the best place for grain production.

Roman Conquest (55B.C.~410A.D.) In the summer of 55 B．C．，Julius Caesar，the great Roman general，came to Britain after conquering Gaul．His purpose was to warn the Celtic people not to support their kinfolks who were slaves under the Roman Empire． After a 1ot of fighting，the Romans defeated the Celts，but they could not make them yield．Not very long after Caesar returned, Britain was left in peace and freedom for almost 100 years．

With the real ―Roman Conquest‖ in 43 AD came the first written records of England's history. In 43 AD the emperor Claudius resumed the work of Caesar by ordering the invasion of England under the command of Aulus Plautius

In the middle of the third century，political chaos and economic decay appeared in the Roman Empire．The Roman empire was autocracy．Many generals abroad wanted to become king with its military forces．It was not its powerfulness but lack of strong foreign opponents that made the empire last over years．

In A.D.400 the Germanic tribes made a western transfer．The Roman Empire allowed them to enter．When the pressure increased，the central government gradually gave up the control of the foreign states far away．

Roman Britain was attacked first by the uncontrollable Celts living in Scotland and Ireland．From A．D．250 to A．D．350, they took a lot of offensives．This also symbolized the decline of the Roman Empire．In A．D．407 two things ended the Roman Empire‘s control in Britain．

(1) The Roman troops who were stationed in Britain under the leadership of Christatin left the island to fight for the king‘s position．There wasn‘t much Roman power left in Britain．

(2) A great number of Germanic tribes crossed the Rhine and entered into the ― Gaels‖．This cut off Britain‘s transportation with the Roman world．

The Roman troops which had just left Britain couldn‘t return and other Roman troops couldn‘t relieve the garrison，either．

In A．D．4 1 0，Roman power in Britain collapsed． The slavery system also lost its strength with the ending of Roman power in Britain．

In A．D．4 1 0，Roman power in Britain collapsed． The slavery system also lost its strength with the ending of Roman power in Britain Origin of the Nation (2)

The Anglo-Saxon (446~871) and the Viking Invasion

\"The Anglo-Saxons\" is the general name given to the Germanic peoples who inhabited Britain between the fifth and the eleventh centuries, between the Romans and the Normans. They came from three most powerful Germanic tribes, the Saxons.

The breakdown of Roman law and civilization was fairly swift after the Roman army departed in 410 AD. To

counter the raids from continental pirates, Vikings, Picts and Scots towns would bring in mercenaries from Europe to defend them from attack. These mercenary soldiers were Angles and Saxons from northern Germany

The deal was that the mercenaries brought their families with them, and got paid with land which they could farm. Eventually the Anglo Saxon mercenaries realized that they were stronger than their employers and appear to have taken over the running of areas themselves.

Revolt by these mercenaries against their British employers in the southeast of England led to large-scale Germanic settlements near the coasts and along the river valleys

Before long the distinctions between these three Germanic tribes lost significance，and by the end of the 7th century they regarded themselves as ―the nation of the English‖．But they lacked unity and England was divided into seven kingdoms，which were called ―Heptarchy‖ in history．

The various kings of England fought one another for supremacy．The fighting lasted for almost 200 years．Finally in 826 Wessex won the overlordship of all the rest，and Egbert, the King of Wessex，began to style himself―King of the English‖．

The Vikings attack Wessex in 878, and the Saxon king, Alfred (of burning the cakes fame) had to flee to the

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Somerset marshes. However he was able to regroup and counter attack. His efforts and those later of his son and grandsons, gradually pushed the Vikings (remember Eric Bloodaxe) northwards and eventually into the sea.

By 955, Alfred the Great‘s grandson Eadred, ruled over a united England. Government became centralised, and the king had the infrastructure to rule the whole country.

Next came another wave of Viking attacks. The net effect was that the English king, Ethelred the Unready, found his kingdom under attack on all coasts by Norsemen. On Ethelred's death in 1016, the Viking leader Cnut was

effectively ruling England. But on Cnut's death, the country collapsed into a number of competing Earldoms under a weak king, Edward the Confessor.

There were two major influences on English life during this whole period of English history, at opposite ends of the aggression spectrum. One was the coming of Christianity to Britain, brought by Irish monks to places like Lindesfarne in 635, or Iona in Scotland in 563. The church had organized the whole country into diocese, each under a bishop, by about 850. The other was the Viking raider. And it was the Viking raider that paradoxically allowed William to conquer Britain. The Norman Conquest

The strongest of these earls was Harold, Earl of East Anglia. Through a series of battles and intermarriages, Harold controlled Wessex and was in a powerful position. So when Edward the Confessor died in 1066 without a male heir, Harold claimed the throne. His claim was disputed by William, Duke of Normandy, whose claim to the English throne was even more tenuous than Harold's.

When Edward the Confessor died, the Vikings saw a chance to regain a foothold in Britain, and landed an army in Yorkshire in 1066. Harold marched north to take on the Vikings under Harald of Norway and Tostig (King Harold's brother). He defeated the Norsemen near York, but while celebrating his victory, learnt that William of Normandy had landed in southern England.

Within 13 days he had marched his army some 240 miles from Yorkshire to Sussex, where the Normans were camped near Hastings. The ensuing Battle of Hastings was won by the Normans who were fresh, and had better archers and cavalry. Harold died with an arrow through his eye. William was crowned William I in London on Christmas Day 1066.

The Norman Conquest of 1066 is perhaps the best—known event in English history．William the Conqueror confiscated almost all the land and gave it to his Norman followers．He replaced the weak Saxon rule with a strong Norman government．So the feudal system was completely established in England．

The Norman Conquest was in effect a French conquest and the imposition upon England of ruling French

aristocracy．In consequence，the Norman-French of the conquerors replaced English as an authoritative language in England．English became a lower-class language．It was not until 14th century that English again became the language of the richer and cultural class．So Middle English (1150~1476) was strongly modified by an extensive infusion of French vocabulary.

The Norman Conquest was one of the most decisive events in English history, which caused a fundamental change in the England‘s civilization closely to that of way of life of the English people．It tied continental Europe．Relations with the Continent were opened，and civilization and commerce were extended. Norman—French culture, language，manners，and architecture were introduced．The Church was brought into closer connection with Rome，and the church courts were separated from the civil courts． 2、Feudal England (3)

William’s Rule (1066~1087)

Born around 1028, William was the illegitimate son of Duke Robert I of Normandy . On his father's death in 1035, William was recognized by his family as the heir - an exception to the general rule that illegitimacy barred succession. His great uncle looked after the Duchy during William's minority, and his overlord, King Henry I of France, knighted him at the age of 15.

From 1047 onwards, William successfully dealt with rebellion inside Normandy involving his kinsmen and threats from neighbouring nobles, including attempted invasions by his former ally King Henry I of France in 10 (the French forces were defeated at the Battle of Mortemer) and 1057.

In 1066 the Anglo-Saxon king, King Edward the Confessor, died. William, who was Edward's cousin, claimed that Edward, who had no children himself, had named him heir during a visit to France. After a meeting of England's leading notables, Harold was crowned on 5 January.

William, however, obtained the Pope's support for his cause. He built a Norman invasion fleet of around 600 ships and an army of 7000 men. He landed at Pevensey in Sussex on 28 September 1066 and assembled a prefabricated wooden castle near Hastings as a base.

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This prompted Harold to respond immediately and in haste rather than await reinforcements in London.

King Harold Godwinson was in the north of England and had just defeated another rival, King Harald Hardrada of Norway, who was supported by Harold Godwinson's own brother Tostig. Harold marched an army of similar size to William's 250 miles in 9 days to challenge him in battle at Senlac, which later became known as the Battle of Hastings. This took place on 14 October 1066.

According to some accounts, Harold was killed by an arrow through the eye, and the English forces fled giving William victory.

Unable to enter London immediately, William travelled to Wallingford, and this is where the first set of Anglo-Saxon noblemen surrendered to William's will.

William was then crowned on Christmas Day 1066 in Westminster Abbey .

His conquest also led to Norman French replacing English as the language of the ruling classes, for nearly 300 years.

William died at the age of 60, at the Convent of St Gervais, near Rouen, France, on 9 September, 1087. When King William I died he divided his lands and riches among his three remaining sons. The eldest, Robert, became Duke of Normandy; the second, William, became King of England; the youngest, Henry, received silver, but he was to become king later, after William II died. Henry II’s Reform (11~11)

Henry Plantagenet, the first and greatest of three Angevin kings of England, succeeded Stephen in 11. Aged 21, he already possessed a reputation for restless energy and decisive action.

He was to inherit vast lands. As heir to his mother and to Stephen he held England and Normandy; as heir to his father he held Anjou (hence Angevin), Maine, and Touraine; as heir to his brother Geoffrey he obtained Brittany; as husband of Eleanor, the divorced wife of Louis VII of France, he held Aquitaine, the major part of southwestern France

Altogether his holdings in France were far larger than those of the French king.

From the beginning Henry showed himself determined to assert and maintain his rights in all his lands. In

England this meant reasserting the centralized power of his grandfather, Henry I. His success in these aims is the measure of his greatness. The Great Charter (1215)

The Great Charter, or the Magna Carta, consists of sixty-three clauses. Its important provisions are as follows: (1) no tax should be made without the approval of the Grand Council; (2) no freemen should be arrested, imprisoned or deprived of their property; (3) the Church should possess all its rights, together with freedom of elections; (4) London and other towns should retain their traditional rights and privileges, and (5) there should be the same weights and measures throughout the country.

Although The Great Charter has long been popularly regarded as the foundation of English liberties, it was a statement of the feudal and legal relationships between the Crown and the barons, a guarantee of the freedom of the Church and a limitation of the powers of the king. The spirit of the Great Charter was the limitation of the powers of the king, keeping them within the bounds of the feudal law of the land. Feudal England (4)

Beginning of the Parliament

The Great Charter was signed in 1215, but King John had no intention to abide by his promise． He knew the only way out for him was to fight，for there was no room for compromise． He hired some mercenary soldiers to start a war． But he was defeated and soon he died． Henry III

His son，a nine-year-old boy，was put on the throne as Henry III．

After coming of age，Henry III desired to take over the power and rule the kingdom in his own way．

The Barons showed their power by drawing up the Provisions of Oxford. Henry capitulated; he was forced to acquiesce to the setting up of a Council of Fifteen, with himself as a \"first among equals.\" When the king later tried to reassert his authority, the barons once again rebelled. Under de Montfort, they captured Henry, and set up de Montfort as temporary ruler. Great Council to Parliament

Up to that time，there had been the Great Council composed of nobles and clergymen exclusively．Now Simon and his supporters decided to make some changes in the organization of the Great Council．

In1265, in addition to the nobles and prelates，two simple knights from each county and two citizens from each of the more flourishing towns were summoned to join the Great Council. 11

They were plain people without noble titles．The Great Council thus got the new name Parliament． Edward

Henry's son Edward raised an army.

At the decisive battle of Evesham in 1265, he defeated de Montfort to restore Henry, who enjoyed his last few years in peace.

He was especially gratified at the completion of Westminster Abbey and the reburial of the remains of Edward the Confessor there.

The Hundred Years’ War (1337~1453)

The Hundred Years' War was a conflict between France and England, lasting 116 years from 1337 to 1453. It was fought primarily over claims by the English kings to the French throne and was punctuated by several brief and two lengthy periods of peace before it finally ended in the expulsion of the English from France,

The term \"Hundred Years' War\" was a later historical term invented by historians to describe the series of events. Political Changes in the War

During the Hundred Years‘ War England underwent important political, economic and social changes． Politically,the parliament divided into three parts：a House of Commons, a House of Lords，and a small permanent council which later became the cabinet． Economic Changes in the War

In economy，England became more a manufacturer of cloth and less a mere producer of raw wool．

By the 1 5th century England was supplying most of her own needs and beginning to export cloth abroad． Social Changes in the War

After losing their territory on the Continent，the ruling Normans began to regard England as their home and think of themselves as belonging to the English nation．

By the end of the 14th century，the English language was reestablished as the official language and the French language was no longer used in daily life．

The dual - linguistic period in English history came to an end． Decline of Feudalism

The war also sped up the decline of feudalism in England．

Militarily, it saw the introduction of new weapons and tactics The first standing armies in Western Europe since the time of the Western Roman Empire were introduced for the war Feudalist separation was becoming impossible and this was to the advantage of commercial development The Black Death (1348)

The Black Death, or Black Plague, was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history.

It began in South-western or Central Asia and spread to Europe by the late 1340s and broke out in England in August 1348.

The Black Death killed 1.5 million people out of an estimated total of 4 million people between 1348 and 1350. The War of Roses (1455~1485)

Two years after the ending of the Hundred Years‘ War with France, England was thrown into another series of civil wars, the Wars of the Roses．

With King Richard II being deposed in 1399, the Plantagenet Dynasty split in two lines, the House of Lancaster, whose badge was a red rose, and the House of York, whose badge was a white rose. Between 1399 and 1461, England was ruled by Kings from the House of Lancaster (Henry IV, Henry V and Henry VI ) The War between backward north and progressive south

In 1455，the duke of York tried to displace the Lancaster king，Henry VI，and the Wars of the Roses broke out. Supporting the Lancastrians were the nobles of the Scottish and Welsh borders— the most backward feudal elements in the country．

The Yorkists drew most of their support from the progressive South，

The war was in form a battle between rival gangs of nobles. But in nature it was a war between the commercial-minded gentry in the South and the backward landowners in the North and West． The Ending of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the modern world

The Wars of the Roses lasted thirty years and ended in 1 485 with the accession of Henry Tudor as Henry VII, the founder of the Tudor Monarchy．

It is generally believed that the ending of the Wars of the Roses marked the ending of the Middle Ages in European history and the beginning of the modern world history.

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3、 The Tudor Monarchy and the Renaissance (1485~1603) England under the Tudors (1485~1603)

The Tudors reigned from 1485 until 1603. The five sovereigns of the Tudor dynasty are among the most well-known figures in Royal history.

Of Welsh origin, Henry VII succeeded in ending the Wars of the Roses between the houses of Lancaster and York to found the highly successful Tudor house.

Henry VII, his son Henry VIII and his three children Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I ruled for 118 eventful years. Henry VII (1485~1509)

Henry VII was the founder of the Tudor dynasty, unifying the warring factions in the Wars of the Roses.

Henry VII's first task was to secure his position. In 1486 he married Elizabeth of York, eldest daughter of Edward IV, thus uniting the Houses of York and Lancaster. Royal Marriages

Henry used dynastic royal marriages to establish his dynasty in England and help maintain peace.

One daughter, Margaret, was married to James IV of Scotland (from whom Mary, Queen of Scots and her son, James VI of Scotland and James I of England, were descended); the other daughter married Louis XII of France. Henry spent money shrewdly and left a full treasury on his death in 1509. Henry VIII (1509~17) and the Reformation

Henry VIII, the best known of the Tudor Monarchs, was the second son of Henry VII and became King because his brother, Arthur had died.

From his father, Henry VIII inherited a stable realm with the monarch's finances in healthy surplus - on his accession, Parliament had not been summoned for supplies for five years.

Henry's varied interests and lack of application to government business and administration increased the influence of Thomas Wolsey, an Ipswich butcher's son, who became Lord Chancellor in 1515. Formation of the Church of England

The 1530's witnessed Henry's growing involvement in government, and a series of events which greatly altered England, as well as the whole of Western Christendom: the separation of the Church of England from Roman Catholicism.

The separation was actually a by-product of Henry's obsession with producing a male heir; Catherine of Aragon failed to produce a male and the need to maintain dynastic legitimacy forced Henry to seek an annulment from the pope in order to marry Anne Boleyn.

Henry VIII, first head of Church of England

The break from Rome was accomplished through law, not social outcry; Henry, as Supreme Head of the Church of England, acknowledged this by slight alterations in worship ritual instead of a wholesale reworking of religious dogma.

England moved into an era of \"conformity of mind\" with the new royal supremacy by 1536, Changed Role

The king moved away from the medieval idea of ruler as chief lawmaker and overseer of civil behavior, to the modern idea of ruler as the ideological icon of the state. Edward VI (17~1553)

Edward VI became king at the age of nine upon the death of his father, Henry VIII, and a Regency was created. Although he was intellectually precocious (fluent in Greek and Latin, he kept a full journal of his reign), he was not, however, physically robust.

His short reign was dominated by nobles using the Regency to strengthen their own positions. Mary I ( 1553~1558)

Mary I was the first Queen Regnant (that is, a queen reigning in her own right rather than a queen through marriage to a king).

Mary restored papal supremacy in England, abandoned the title of Supreme Head of the Church, reintroduced Roman Catholic bishops and began the slow reintroduction of monastic orders Mary left the crown to her half-sister Elizabeth upon her death. Elizabeth I ( 1558~1603)

Elizabeth I - the last Tudor monarch – succeeded to the throne on her half-sister's death in November 1558. She was very well-educated (fluent in six languages), and had inherited intelligence, determination and shrewdness from both parents.

The Most Glorious Period

Her 45-year reign is generally considered one of the most glorious in English history. During it a secure Church of England was established.

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Its doctrines were laid down in the 39 Articles of 1563, a compromise between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. The Virgin Queen

Elizabeth chose never to marry. The 'Virgin Queen' was presented as a selfless woman who sacrificed personal happiness for the good of the nation, to which she was, in essence, 'married'. The English Renaissance

The English Renaissance was a cultural and artistic movement in England dating from the early 16th century to the early 17th century. It is associated with the pan-European Renaissance that many cultural historians believe originated in northern Italy in the fourteenth century. This era in English cultural history is sometimes referred to as \"the age of Shakespeare\" or \"the Elizabethan era,\" taking the name of the English Renaissance's most famous author and most important monarch, respectively. The English Renaissance had 5 characteristics：

(1) English culture was revitalized not so much directly by the classics；

(2)England as an insular country followed a course of social and political history； (3) The native literature was sufficiently vigorous;

(4)English Renaissance literature is primarily artistic；

(5) the Renaissance coincided with the Reformation in England． The key literary figures in the English Renaissance

Christopher Marlowse(15~1593)，a famous poet and dramatist, established blank verse in plays．

Ben Jonson(1572~1637)，a dramatist and poet，was the leading writer of his time，after Shakespeare‘s death William Sbakespeare(1 5～1 61 6)，a dramatist and poet，is generally regarded as the greatest writer in the English language

Edmund Spenser(1552~1599)，a celebrated poet

Francis Bacon (1561～1626)，a statesman and philosopher，is known for his Essays (1597～1625)． 4、The Bourgeois Revolution (1603~1688) Background

In the first half of the 17th century capitalism grew rapidly in England．The national industry，cloth-making, had spread all over the country．

New industries such as coal-mining，ship-building，glass-making，the production of paper，sugar，and gunpowder，also developed．

The capitalist handicraft workshop developed rapidly in a still feudalist society． Two Basic Conditions

A large number of employed workers and the consequent expansion of the domestic market； A large amount of capital．

The two conditions are to be accomplished by primitive accumulation．

England，the earliest and the most typical country of primitive accumulation，achieved these by the ―Enclosure Movement‖ and foreign trade and colonial plunder The Conflict

The conflict between the bourgeoisie and the crown became complete in the early years of the 1 7th century． The bourgeoisie had gained economic supremacy, but everywhere it encountered feudal restrictions

The foundations of feudal society had already fallen down，but the feudal nobility with the King as their head was still the ruling class．

The early 17th century was a period of the most acute class struggle between the bourgeoisie and the feudalists with the King as their head． James I (1603~1625)

The Stuarts had been Kings of Scotland since the 1 4th century．

When Elizabeth died childless，James VI of Scotland，descended from a sister of Henry VIII, was heir to the English throne；

he thus became King of both countries as James VI of Scotland and James I of England.

He was determined not to allow the Church of England to become Presbyterian like the Church of Scotland． Charles I (1625~1653)

Charles I had a very different personality compared to James. Charles was arrogant, conceited and a strong

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believer in the divine rights of kings. He had witnessed the damaged relationship between his father and Parliament, and considered that Parliament was entirely at fault. He found it difficult to believe that a king could be wrong. His conceit and arrogance were eventually to lead to his execution The Civil Wars

In August 12 the king declared war on Parliament. Financial aid came from the nobility. The king's supporters were the feudal landowners of the most backward districts of England—the North and the West—and also of Wales. They were called cavaliers (knights or courtiers). The cavaliers wore rich clothes and curled their hair—a prerogative of the nobility

To fight the king, Parliament raised an army of its own, drawn from the population of the advanced districts of the South-East of England where London and other large towns were situated. The struggle against the king was headed by the new nobility, that is, the owners of factories and the merchants, who found support among the peasantry and the artisans

The men in the Parliamentary army dressed simply and were against curled hair. Those who supported Parliament were therefore called \"Roundheads.\"

The Roundheads, led by the Earl of Manchester and Oliver Cromwell, were successful only in East Anglia. Oliver Cromwell was a country gentleman and member of the Parliament。

After three years of struggle, the King‘s forces were destroyed at the battle of Naseby by Cromwell‘s New Model Army. The King sought shelter with a Scottish army at Southwell in Nottinghamshire in May 16. This marked the end of the First English Civil War

In May 18 the Second Civil War broke out，as the result of secret negotiations between the King, the

Presbyterian leaders in Parliament，and the Scots．The Scots and the Presbyterians agreed to restore Charles as King

Facing this serious situation Cromwell again rallied together the Independents and Levellers and completely defeated the reactionaries in a few months．The Second Civil War was over．Charles was tried by a High Court of Justice，found guilty of having levied war against his kingdom and Parliament，condemned to death，and executed on January 30, 19. Oliver Cromwell became the most powerful man in England

The English Civil War is also called the Puritan Revolution. It has been seen as a conflict between Parliament and the King，but also as a conflict between the economic interests of the urban idle classes and the traditional economic interests of the Crown.

The English Civil War not only overthrew feudal system in England but also shook the foundation of feudal rule in Europe

The Commonwealth of England (19~1660)

The Commonwealth of England was the republican government which ruled first England (including Wales) and then Ireland and Scotland from 19 to 1660. After the regicide of Charles I on January 30, 19, its existence was initially declared (An Act declaring England to be a Commonwealth) by the Rump Parliament on May 19, 19. The government during 1653 to 1659 is properly called The Protectorate, and took the form of direct personal rule by Oliver Cromwell and, after his death, his son Richard, as Lord Protector. The term Commonwealth is, however, loosely used to describe the system of government during the whole of 19 to 1660, the years of the English Interregnum, not to be confused with the Commonwealth of Nations. The Restoration (1660)

Cromwell died in 1658. By that time dissatisfaction had become widespread among the soldiery. The new nobility and the bourgeoisie, fearful of the movement spreading among the \"lower\" classes, secured the support of

Cromwell's generals, whose troops had occupied London. In 1660 Parliament offered to restore the monarchy if Charles would agree to concessions for religious toleration and a general amnesty. Charles was not as hard-headed as his father, and he agreed to the proposals. He returned to London on a wave of popular support to be crowned Charles II (1660-85)

The Glorious Revolution (1688)

To a large extent, the Roman Catholic James II (1633-1701), King of Great Britain from 1685 until he fled to France in 1688, brought the \"Glorious\" Revolution down upon himself.

When, in June 1688, he had a son, fears of the establishment of a Catholic dynasty in England led prominent Protestant statesmen to invite William of Orange, James's son-in-law, to assume the throne. 14

William landed with an army at Torbay in November 1688, promised to defend the liberty of England and the Protestant religion, and marched unopposed on London. James fled ignominiously to France.

Parliament then met, denounced James, offered the throne to William and his wife Mary as joint sovereigns, and placed constitutionally significant legal and practical limitations on the monarchy.

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Significance of the Bourgeois Revolution

The bourgeois revolution in England resulted in the abolition of the king's powers and the rule of the feudal landowners and the Church, which was subordinated to the king. The new nobility and the elite of the

bourgeoisie—the merchants and bankers—were now in power. The barriers on the way to the development of capitalism were now removed. The revolution in England was followed by a rapid development of agriculture and industry based on the employment of hired labor, particularly the woolen industry and iron metallurgy, and by the growth of towns

5、The Rise and Fall of the British Empire (1688~) Industrial Revolution

Background to the Industrial Revolution

The British Industrial Revolution was a necessary result of social development in Britain.

It was an outgrowth of social and institutional changes brought by the end of feudalism in Britain after the English Civil War in the 17th century. Process of the Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution in Britain first began in the textile industry．Ever since the enclosures，wool and woolen cloth had been the principal exports of England

As the 18th century began, coal came to replace wood. Early-model steam engines were introduced to drain water and raise coal from the mines.

The greatly improved engine (1769) of James Watt marked the high point in this development. The invention of the steam engine led to the fast development of the iron, steel and coal industries

The expansion of production and trade promoted the transportation revolution. Stephenson built the first steam locomotive in 1814 and this marked the beginning of a new stage of the Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution did not in fact end in Britain in the mid-1800s. New periods came in with electricity and the gasoline engine. By 1850, however, the transformation wrought by the revolution was accomplished, in that industry had become a dominant factor in the nation‘s life. Effect of the Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution turned Britain into the―workshop of the world‖．English products flooded the world market．The English bourgeoisie amassed large amounts of wealth through trade，plunder and colonization．No country was strong enough to match England in the l9th century． The Industrial Revolution simplified the class structure in Britain．The Industrial Revolution pushed the middle class (the industrial and commercial classes) to the dominant position in the country The Chartist Movement (1836~1848)

The Chartist movement, or Chartism, was a movement for political and social reform in the United Kingdom during the mid-19th century. It takes its name from the People's Charter of 1838, which stipulated the six main aims of the movement. It was possibly the first mass working class movement in the world Colonial Expansion

The Growth of Dominions

English colonial expansion began with the colonization of Newfoundland in 1583. Encouraged by Britain‗s control of the seas，especially by the rising tide of emigration，British colonialists stepped up their expansion to Canada，Australia，and New Zealand，in the late 18th and the early 19th centuries. By 1900， Britain had built up a big empire，―on which the sun never set‖ Queen Victoria (1837~1901)

Victoria was born at Kensington Palace, London, on 24 May 1819. On William IV's death in 1837, she became Queen at the age of 18

Victoria's long reign witnessed an evolution in English politics and the expansion of the British Empire, as well as political and social reforms on the continent. Even in her dotage, she maintained a youthful energy and

optimism that spread to the English population as a whole. On January 22, 1901, she died. Victoria's reign, the longest in English history, is associated with Britain's great age of industrial expansion, economic progress and, especially, empire. At her death, it was said, Britain had a worldwide empire on which the sun never set. Britain and The First World War (1914~1918)

During World War I Britain lost over a million people, most of them under the age of 25. Britain lost its position of the world‘s leading shipping nation and entered an era of social change, economic recession and large scale

unemployment. By 1921 there were over two million unemployed．There were strikes and hunger marches．The effects of the New York Stock Market crash of 1929 soon spread throughout Europe and by 1931 Britain was

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entering the Great Depression．Out of the war settlement came the establishment of the League of Nations．But tensions were also created which were to give rise to the Second World War 20 years later. Britain And The Second World War (1939~1945)

Britain suffered far fewer military casualties in the Second World War than the First．Some 250，000 were killed，with a further 110,000 dead from Empire and Commonwealth forces．Britain，having devoted her entire strength to the war, was left gravely impoverished．She lost one-quarter of her national wealth and entered upon a period of economic and financial difficulties. Postwar Britain

Immediately after the end of World War II, Britain underwent enormous social change. The country was bankrupt after the war. The wartime prime minister, Churchill, was voted out and a new Labor government

nationalized many industries, electricity, gas, water and health. Britain took a long time to recover from the cost of the war

In January 1973，Britain became a full member of the European Economic Community which was still called the Common Market in 1973. Britain witnessed the first oil shock in 1973

The 1980s were characterized by Mrs. Thatcher, the Iron Lady, who became the first woman prime minister in England in 1979. The main content of her policies included the return to private ownership of state-owned industries.

The 1990s were a period of tragedy, transition, controversy, and continuity in the United Kingdom, especially for the British royal family.

In June 2001 Blair's Labour government was reelected with a 167-seat majority in the House of Commons—the largest majority ever won by a second-term British government

In May 2007 Blair officially resigned as Prime Minister and in June Gordon Brown stepped into his shoes

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