The Great Britain презентация

The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe.
They are bounded on the west by the Atlantic Ocean, the Celtic Sea, St. George’s Channel, the Irish Sea and Ireland.
to the north . . . the North Sea,
to the south, the English Channel

CONSTITUENT COUNTRIES
OF THE BRITISH ISLES
The British Isles comprise
Great Britain, Ireland, and
a number of smaller islands (Isle of Man & Channel Islands).
Two sovereign states located in the islands:
The United Kingdom
of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland
+ The
Republic of Ireland

THE
UNITED KINGDOM OF
GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND
The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy composed of 4 constituent countries
England
Scotland
Wales &
Northern Ireland.

British Isles / UK / Britain / England

THE UNION JACK
The Union Flag (also known as the Union Jack) is the national flag of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Its design includes the flags of England
Scotland
Ireland

ENGLAND
England
the largest & most populous constituent country of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Capital: London.
Flag: St. George’s cross.

SCOTLAND
Scotland is one of the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Capital: Edinburgh.
Flag: Cross of Saint Andrew.

WALES
Wales is one of four constituent countries of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Capital: Cardiff.
Flag: the red dragon of Prince
Cadwalader plus the Tudor colours .

THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
The Republic of Ireland is a member of the European Union.
Capital: Dublin.
Flag: Green, white, orange.

NORTHERN IRELAND
Northern Ireland –
The Irish province of Ulster remains occupied as Northern Ireland, still a part of the United Kingdom and 1 of 4 constituent countries of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Capital: Belfast.
Flag: the Union Flag is the
official flag
. . . Wanna fight about it?

Britannia
Insulae Est

From Shakespeare’s Richard III :
This other Eden, demi-paradise,
This fortress built by Nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war,
This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall,
Or as a moat defensive to a house,
Against the envy of less happier lands,
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm,
this England,

Geographic Providence - England is an island
Insularity
Relative peace & security
Ethnic, linguistic, religious . . . Cultural Homogeneity
Less need for a standing army
Navy . . . Navigation . . . Necessity of Trade
Far distant from papal authority
Greater independence and self governance
We’ll return to these points later

TRADITION
PERMEATES BRITISH POLITICS
The Opening of Parliament –
Black Rod
& the Slammed Door
Pageantry, drama, history, & legitimacy

Members of House of Commons are each year summoned to Lord’s Chamber to dutifully hear the Queen’s commands to Parliament for the next year’s session
in the “Queen’s Speech from the Throne”

“Queen’s Speech from the Throne”
NOT her speech!
She did not write it
She may not even agree with it . . .
But she MUST read it to Parliament
Who’s in charge?

Parliament vs. the Monarch
A bit of background . . . .

House of Commons, 1642
King Charles I led troops into Commons to arrest 5 leading dissident Members of Parliament (MPs).
the five received warning, escaped. Avoided bloodshed on the floor of House of Commons.
Finding the five had flown, the King angrily threatened the Speaker, Lenthall, whose reply has become legendary, -
“May it please your Majesty, I have neither eyes to see, nor tongue to speak in this place, but as this House is pleased to direct me, whose servant I am.” - Speaker Lenthall

A yearly drama reminding Britons of where
Power
resides . . .
King ? or Commons?

What’s the symbolism?

Traditions, Rituals, Ceremony,
and Pageantry
reinforce the dignity of government
legitimize government by evoking historical memories
impress upon Govt officers weight of office - dignity, responsibility, duty
provide continuity w/ past
engender legitimacy & patriotism through pageantry
promote national unity

Prehistoric to 1000 yrs ago
Earliest Britain
Celtic Britain (arrive 500 BC)
Romano-Celtic Britannia (43 AD to 410).
(Romans 1st arrived 55 BC)
Roman law, peace, trade, Christianity
Hadrian’s Wall
Withdrawal of Roman power in 5th Century AD
Angles, Saxons, Jutes 5th Century
Norman England
The Danelaw

Celtic Britain:
Britons
Scots
Welsh
Irish
Cornish

Celtic
tribes of Britain

Celtic Britain

Anglo-Saxon Britain
feudal aristocracy - weak kings
Post Roman reality - memory of central govt and its desirability but
feudal fractionalization
Anglo-Saxon Witan
King's council of nobles
tribal, clannish, scattered power
Related to Scandinavian / Viking system
eg. Icelandic ALTHING
lacked focus / centralization / power too dispersed

The Lord's Prayer in Olde English Matthew 6:9-13
Fæder ure þu þe eart on heofonum; Father our thou that
art in heavens
Si þin nama gehalgod be thy name hallowed
to becume þin rice come thy kingdom
gewurþe ðin willa be-done thy will
on eorðan swa swa on heofonum. on earth as in heavens
urne gedæghwamlican hlaf syle us todæg our dailybread give us today
and forgyf us ure gyltas and forgive us our sins
swa swa we forgyfað urum gyltendum as we forgive those- who have-sinned-against-us
and ne gelæd þu us on costnunge and not lead thou us into temptation
ac alys us of yfele. soþlice but deliver us from evil. truly.

Norman England
Norman Conquest
William the . . . . unofficial heir
1066 battle of Hastings
William… the Conqueror
Centralization of power
Domesday Book
Exchequer

Norman England
Norman Conquest
brought Wm's own nobility & a plan to organize & govern England
* William replaced the entire English ruling class w/Norman nobles
and his rule was backed by brutal military power and much better administration plan

Norman England
and so political stability & centralization were brought to England relatively early: earlier than in continental Europe
* however, while sovereign power resided in the Monarch,
British Kings were still expected to consult w/the earls, barons, and leading clergymen (i.e., nobility) in order to declare laws and levy taxes

Norman Reforms
Magna Carta 1215 – explicit protection of
feudal customs, rights, and law
Rule of law – the LAW is the King
Limited monarchy
implies individual rights
power sharing
King rules w/ Lord’s advice & consent – parliament
Mixed monarchy
Common Law

Common Law
Prior to Norman Conquest,1066, justice was administered primarily by county courts
Courts were presided over by diocesan bishop or by county sheriff
both ecclesiastical & civil
jurisdiction.
Trial by Jury began in
these courts.

Common Law
By 1150s Henry II began sending judges from his own central court to hear disputes throughout England,
resolving cases on an ad hoc basis.
Judge-made law, legal precedent, jury trial, - Supremacy of Law
Stare Decisis - Precedent
curbed power of canonical (church) courts and manoral courts (feudal)

Magna Carta of 1215
King John recognized it as a right of his subjects “to have common council of the kingdom” for the assessment of extraordinary aids
Taxation
crafting law
war
military conscription

Consequences of Common Law
conflict of King w/ church
most famously with Thomas á Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury
Writ of Right - Royal order for a feudal lord to provide justice to plaintiff or the King would intercede through the Sheriff
)Writ of Praecipe - ignored manoral courts, ordered disputed lands to be restored to plaintiff or have defendant appear in King’s Court to explain
)in effect an automatic presumption against the feudal lord
)encouraged and empowered the rising middle class

Wales
Edward I brings Wales under British sovereignty in 1283
Prince of Wales

Sovereignty
power was still largely in the hands of the Monarchy who ruled by divine right
Kings and Queens of Britain were practicalities nonetheless required to consult Parliament before levying taxes or making law
tensions b/n Crown and Parliament grew.

* Parliament’s power got a major boost during the reign of Henry VIII (1509-1547) when Henry formed a partnership w/ the Parliament in his struggle w/ Rome
Henry VIII wanted a divorce because Catherine couldn’t bear him a male child,
Pope wouldn’t grant it
so Henry (w/Parliament’s consent) bolted Catholic Church and
created Church of England :
Henry’s new church, with Henry as its head, granted the divorce

Protestant Reformation
Henry VIII
Break w/ Rome
Elizabeth I
1588 Defeat of the
Spanish Armada
Colonization
Mercantilism
Commercial Culture
James I and the Stuart dynasty stew

Good Queen Bess
Elizabeth I

Eventually the tensions b/n the institutions boiled over,
as the efforts of the Stuarts (Charles I & James II) to centralize authority in the 1600s led to all out war b/n Crown & Parliament
* Charles I took England to unsuccessful wars w/Spain and France
which increased his desperation for $
and
Charles tried to levy taxes w/o consent of the Parliament

Charles I (1625-1649)
English Civil War
(1642-48)
"who should rule the country?"
Parliamentarians vs. Royalists

Parliamentarians
Puritans – Roundheads
House of Commons
Merchant class
Oliver Cromwell
New Model Army
Royalists
Aristocratic, supported King
called Cavaliers
House of Lords & the Court
Roman Catholics or High
Church of
England

Charles I beheaded by Parliament

The
Glorious Revolution
1689
James II ousted
Parliament invites William & Mary to the throne
Bill of Rights – relationship between Parliament and Crown – shared rule
1714, Anne w/out heir, Parliament invites George of Hanover

The English Bill of Rights
To prevent abuse of power by William & Mary
and all future monarchs, Parliament, in 1689, drew up a list of provisions to which Wm & Mary had to agree.

This document, the English Bill of Rights,
prohibited a standing army in peacetime,
except with the consent of Parliament
required that all parliamentary elections be free.
Monarch's authority, only with consent of Parliament
guarantees right to a fair trial, freedom from excessive bail and protection from cruel and unusual punishment.
Our nation has built on, changed, & added to those ideas and institutions that settlers brought here from England.

Political Reform 19th Century
Industrialization
Population shifts
Inequities
exploitation
Dickens’ Novels
riots in 1819 led the Reform Act of 1832
Chartist Movement in the 1830s and 1840s

Representation of the People Act 1832, commonly known as the Reform Act 1832
,

The Great Reform Act of 1832
Began 1760 as reaction to supposed autocratic policies of the new young King George III
began The early liberal or radical tradition in Britain
culminated with the Great Reform Act of 1832.
Masterminded by liberal Whig Earl Grey
abolished the so called “Rotten Boroughs” in England
led to complete overhaul of the entirely venal electoral system in Scotland
Extension of the franchise across Britain.
early beginnings of modern mass democracy in the UK

Industrial Era
start of the modern party-political system
Liberally-minded Whigs gradually organised themselves into the Liberal Party
those holding more conservative views – nicknamed
“Tories” by their liberal opponents
(Tory was a term of abuse by the late 18th century)
– organised themselves into the Conservative Party
and gradually adopted term “Tory” for themselves

In The Tree of Corruption from 1831, caricaturist H. H. Heath depicts hacking away the old Rotten Borough System,
to the strenuous protests
from those whose livelihood depend on it.
© the Library of Congress.

The Great Reform Act of 1832
Removed Rotten Burroughs / Pocket Burroughs
disenfranchised 56 boroughs in England & Wales and reduced another 31 to only one MP
created 67 new constituencies
broadened the franchise's property qualification in the counties, to include small landowners, tenant farmers, and shopkeepers

The Great Reform Act of 1832
created a uniform franchise in the boroughs, giving the vote to all householders who paid a yearly rental of £10 or more and some lodgers
Expanded franchise among middle class
7% of adult Brits could vote
House of Commons to represent masses
2nd Reform Act 1867
2X electorate to 16%
3rd Reform Act 1884
nearly universal male suffrage

2nd Reform Act 1867
2X electorate to 16% of pop.
3rd Reform Act 1884
nearly universal male suffrage

When the Houses of Parliament burnt down in 1834, Queen Adelaide openly spoke of it being God's just punishment for passing the Great Reform Act

Political Reform 20th Century
1900 – Labour Party speaks for the working class & socialist reforms
Parliamentary Acts in 1911 stripped all the remaining significant powers away from the aristocratic House of Lords
reform of the system made Britain a more substantive and expansive democracy was complete

Women’s suffrage
Emmiline Pankhurst, suffragette leader, used arson and window smashing to further their cause - “breaking glass
is the most
eloquent argument
in politics.”

Emmeline Pankhurst
being arrested in 1914

1918 the Representation of the People Act
gave women over 30 yrs old the vote if they
were householders, or wives of householders
occupiers of property w/ an annual rent of £5
or if they were graduates of British universities.
enfranchised only about 8.5 million women
Ten years later, in 1928, women won the right to vote on the same terms as men.

WWII & Churchill

WWII & Post-War Britain
1939-45 World War II
1945 – Labour takes power
the beginning of the British Welfare State

PM Margaret Thatcher - Conservative Prime Minister of the UK from 1979 to 1990

PM Tony Blair – New Labour Prime Minister 1990 - 2007