MODERN BRITAIN

The Fall of the EmpireThe CommonwealthThe WindsorsChurchill, ThatcherBritish Parliament and Government Today

The Fall of the Empire

• A free association of sovereign states

• No empire has been larger

• The Irish War of Independence

• Many nations wanted independence

• The UK was heavily in debt to the USA

World War I

• One of the world’s largest industrial powers• Victory brought new territories• A global military conflict• The proximate cause - 28.06.1914 the

assassination of Franz Ferdinand of Austria• The end of four major imperial powers• The Treaty of Versailles

World War II

• The Munich Pact in 1938

• Hitler and Stalin’s secret agreement

• 3.09.1939 – the declaration of war

• In 1942 Roosevelt and Churchill’s agreement

• 1945 Germany surrendered unconditionally

• Great Britain lost 300,000 fighting men and over 60,000 civilians

The Commonwealth of Nations

• an intergovernmental institution• was established in 1931 by the Statute

of Westminster• 53 member states• Were a part of the British Empire• human rights, individual liberty, world

peace

Common information

• 1/3 of world’s population

• about 31,500,000 km2

• flag – March 26, 1976

• Kamalesh Sharma - Secretary-General -

• the Head of Commonwealth - Elizabeth II

The House of Windsor

• Current Royal House of the United Kingdom and each of the other Commonwealth realms.

• Remains one of the few dynasties to have ruled over lands on all continents simultaneously.

• Current head: Elizabeth II

Origins

• Created from a British branch of a German royal house in 1917.

• German influence brought by Queen Victoria's husband Prince Albert (the name of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha).

• Anti-German movement convinced the royal family to abandon all German titles and use the name Windsor instead.

• The name change helped to preserve the loyalty of the British people.

The line of Succession to the British Throne

• Prince Charles (age 60) • Prince William (age 26) • Prince Henry/Harry (age 24) • Prince Andrew (age 49) • Princess Beatrice (age 20) • Princess Eugenie (age 19) • The Prince Edward (age 45) • James Alexander Philip Theo Mountbatten

Windsor, Viscount Severn (age 1)

The Royal Family

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (1874-1965)

• A politician, a noted statesman, an orator, an officer, a historian, a Noble-Prize winner and an amateur artist

• Educated in Harrow, Royal Military College at Sandhurst

• 1895 - Joined the Fourth Hussars

• 1899 - Left the British Army and worked for the Morning Post

Served as Prime Minster of the UK

• from 1940 to 1945• again from 1951 to 1955

Was known for his leadership of the UK during World War II.

• Developed an united strategy with the USA and the Soviet Union

• Important meetings in Teheran (Nov. 1943) and Yalta (Feb. 1945)

Margaret Hilda Thatcher (1925 - )

• One of the dominant political figures of 20th century Britain

The only woman who has been

• The prime minister of the United Kingdom (1979 - 1990)

• The leader of the Conservative Party (1975 - 1990)

• Went to Oxford University, became a research chemist

• 1959 - became Conservative MP• 1974 - became the leader of the Conservative

party• 1979 - became the prime minister• 1984 - the IRA planted a bomb in Brighton• 1990 - resigned• 1992 - left the House of Commons for the House of Lords

British Parliament and Government today

The politics of the UK

• constitutional monarchy

• the Monarch is head of state (Elizabeth II)

• the Prime Minister is the head of government (Gordon Brown)

• the legislature – Parliament

• the executive – Prime Minister and Cabinet (Government)

The business of Parliament

• democratically elected house – the House of Commons, 646 members

• internally elected house – the House of Lords, 738 members

• meet in the Palace of Westminster, sometimes called the Houses of Parliament

The Palace of Westminster

Government

• formed by the party with majority support in the Commons.

• about 20 ministers make up the Cabinet

• the second largest party forms the official Opposition, „shadow cabinet”

Gordon Brown the head of government