Great Britain/ United Kingdom(England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland)

“Previously in Great Britain…”

It starts with invasion

• Celts (Britons) (become Wales and Scotland) • Romans• Angles (German, brought Anglisch)• Saxons• Danes• Normans (Vikings)• William of Normandy (in France) invaded in

1066

What role did geography play?

• How do you think Britain’s geography impacted its past?

Historic structures

• Feudalism– Decentralized– Local militaries– Mixed monarchy

• Struggle between King and nobles or balance between King and nobles?

• Led to the Magna Carta in 1215– Formally limited the King so he would obey his feudal

obligations– Not democractic

Transitions to democracy

• 1200s: knights were coming to London to consult with the king

• Kings needed revenue to wage wars (with France of course)= taxes

• King invited people to his court so he could squeeze money out of them

• This would become parliament– Knights and Burgers: House of Commons– Nobles and church leaders: House of Lords

• At this point: all males, all wealthy

• Still- they kept the King from gaining too much power

• 1500s: Henry VIII (divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived…)– Split from the Catholic Church– Began the Anglican Church– Easier to secularize– Henry relied on Parliament

Parliament vs. King

• 1st round: Kings were growing in power in the 1500s and 1600s: divine right theory emerges (score one for the king)

• 2nd round: absolutism (king wins again)

• 3rd round: civil war (Royalists and Parliamentarians) and a king is beheaded (Charles I) (win for Parliament)

• Round 4: Military dictatorship (score one for Cromwell?)

• Round 5: 1600s: Catholic Charles II comes in and manipulates parliament (king scores again)

• Round 6: 1685: Charles II is very Catholic, which gets him removed (Parliament is in the lead)

• Round 7: Mary and William of Orange are brought in (protestant) and they sign to English Bill of Rights (Glorious Revolution)

• Parliament wins with a knockout in the 7th round! King can not collect taxes or laws without parliament’s consent.

Prime minister: Head MP

• George I used a cabinet headed by a first, or prime, minister

• After the Declaration of Independence, the English cabinet became responsible to the Commons, not the King– The government then consisted of the leader

of the largest party in the House of Commons and that leader chose other cabinet members

Democratization

• 1700s: parties begin to form – Whigs: merchants and manufacturers– Tories: landed aristocracy

• 1800s: twp party system emerges– Whigs turned into the Liberal party– Tories turned into the Conservative party

At this time, the House of Lords was a hereditary noble group while the House of Commons was home to gentry, land owners and better- off people

Enter: Revolutions….

Ya say ya want a revolution?

• Democracy

• Right to vote

• Industrial revolution:– A powerful middle class– An abused working class?

Reform Act of 1832, headed by the Whigs

(woo-hoo, now 7% of people can vote…)

Union

• Both Wales and Scotland were independent kingdoms which resisted English rule.

• 1707 England and Scotland unified as Great Britain.

• Legislative union of Ireland and Great Britain completed 1801 under name United Kingdom.

• 1921 Irish Free State established (Republic after WWII)

• Six northern, predominantly Protestant, Irish counties have remained part of the United Kingdom.

• 1867: 16% of people could vote

• 1884: mostly male suffrage

• 1918: women got the vote

• VERY SLOW GROWTH– Allows for an educated electorate– People don’t get the vote until they want the

vote

– Edmund Burke: conservatism is constant but never radical change. Modify!

Welfare states

• By the 1900s British parliament was looking at issues like– Public education– Housing– Jobs– Healthcare

By the end of WWI: Labour (very centrist) had become a larger party than the Liberals

Chief quarrel has come from the idea of a welfare state

Institutions developed which are characteristic of Britain: – political, administrative, cultural and economic

center in London; – a separate but established church; – a system of common law; – distinctive and distinguished university education;

and – representative government.

British Expansion and Empire• Foreign trade

• Sea power protected English trade and opened up new routes

• British empire = roughly one-fifth to one-quarter of the world’s area and population.

• Colonies contributed to the UK’s economic growth and strengthened its voice in world affairs as well as developing and broadening its democratic institutions at home.

British Empire 1719

The Sun Never Sets

20th Century

• By early 1900’s, UK’s comparative economic advantage had lessened.

• UK’s preeminent international position eroded

• Ireland gained independence in 1921.• Nationalism grew in other parts of the

empire (ex. India, Egypt)

Commonwealth of Nations

• Autonomy granted to number of states within the Empire

• Commonwealth formed

• British empire dismantled – became independent members of the Commonwealth.

http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0813057.html

Just to reiterate…

• UK usually is referring to England, Scotland, Wales and N Ireland

• The “government” refers to cabinet ministers

• House of Lords have lost a lot of power but still carry judicial and legislative weight

• While having no formal constitution, British laws can be declared unconstitutional due to common law practice