3GB In prehistoric times Britain was joined to the rest of Europe. The first people, came there over dry land. Towards the end of the Ice Age the low-lying land areas became covered with water, and thus the present English Channel was formed. The hunters of the New Stone Age crossed the sea to Britain to the west of tie Channel and settled along the Western shores in their search of food. First inhabitants of the island for whom a traditional name exists are the Iberian or Megalithic people, who lived mainly in the western part of the country. They are thought to have come from the region of the Mediterranean Sea (the Iberian peninsula where Spain is located) somewhere after 3000 B.C.. Soon after 2000 B.C. another people entered the country from the east of Eufope. The two peoples intermixed.
The Celts arrived from Central Europe after 800 B.C. The name "Britain" comes from the name of a Celtic tribe known as the Britons who settled in the country. The Celts spoke the Celtic language. The influence of the Celts was greatest in Wales, Scotland and Ireland. They were driven to these parts by the invaders who followed them. Due to this, these parts of Britain are very different from England in language, custom, traditions.
Welsh is one of the Celtic languages, like Scottish and Irish Gaelic. Scottish Gaelic and Irish Gaelic are still spoken in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Caesar, the Roman ruler, first invaded Britain in 35 B.C., because Caesar knew that Britain produced corn which the Romans needed. Tin, widely used in Rome, was exported from Cornwall. And the Romans needed a fresh supply of slaves. Moreover, the Celts in Britain helped their kinsmen in Gaul in their struggle against the Romans who wanted to conquer them. However, Caesar's first expedition was not successful, because his force was small, and the Celts fought well. So in the following year, that is in 54 B.C., he invaded the country with a larger army of 25,000 men. This time the expedition was successful, and the Celts were defeated. But Caesar did not stay in Britain. He left the country with many slaves and other riches, and he received a promise from the Celts that they would pay a regular tribute to Rome.
Some 90 years later, that is in A.D. 43 the country was conquered by the Romans. This occupation of Britain continued to the beginning of the fifth century. In the south and south-eastern parts Roman influence was greatest, while in the north and west the country remained much untouched.
Many towns were built by the Romans which were connected by good roads. Some of these roads still exist to this very day. For example, Watling Street from London to Chester, or Icknield Way connecting London with Cirencester. Most British towns with names ending with "chester" were, in Roman times, fortified camps. The largest of the towns was called Londinium. It began life as a Roman fort at a place where it was possible to cross the river Thames. Many believe that here was a Celtic settlement called "Llyn-dyn" which meant "lake-fort". Life in the south-east of Britain resembled life in Rome, and there was a lively trade between Britain and the continent. However, when the Romans left the country at the beginning of the 5th century, Britain became open to the attacks of newcomers from the continent who destroyed Roman civilization and culture.
After the departure of the Romans, the Celts remained independent for some time, but quite soon the country began to be attacked by Germanic tribes from the continent. The Jutes and the Angles came from the Jutland peninsula (today southern Denmark) and the Saxons from the territory between the Rhine and Elbe rivers (northern Germany). At first they came as mercenaries hired by Celtic tribal chiefs who fought one against the other, then seeing that the country was weak to defend itself, they came in great numbers conquering it altogether.
The Jutes landed in Kent (the south-east) somewhere in 450. They were followed by the Angles and the Saxons so that by the end of the 5th century the greater part of the country (with the exception of Wales, Cornwall and Scotland) became occupied by the invaders. The Angles settled mainly to the north of the Thames, and quite soon the country began to be called "the land of the Angles", later "Engla-land" and as you easily see England. The Saxons settled in the south, south- west and partially east forming the ancient kingdoms of Wessex, Sussex and Essex. The Anglo-Saxons and Jutes were close to each other in speech and customs, and they gradually formed into one people referred to as the Anglo-Saxons.
Although the German invaders occupied most of the British Isles, certain areas remained unconquered. They were Wales, Cornwall, the northern part of Britain, Ireland. Many of the Celts who survived after the attacks of the Germanic tribes fled to these parts of the country. Thus Celtic culture continued to exist in the parts of Britain which were mentioned above. The northern part of Britain was the home of the Picts and Scots. After the conquest of the Picts by the Scots in the 9th century this northern territory came to be called Scotland and a united Scottish kingdom was formed in the 11th century.
The Saxon kingdoms fought one against the other, at times one kingdom would become stronger, then another, but at the beginning of the 9th century Wessex became the leading kingdom and united the rest of England in the fight against the Danes, who came from present-day Denmark. Since 829 the greater part of the country was united under the name England.
An important event which contributed to the unification of the country and the development of culture was the adoption of Christianity in England in 664. Christianity began to spread in England much earlier. It is connected with the name of St. Augustine who founded the Church of England in 597.
9GB Describe GB as a const. Monarchy and its role and social influence. The UK is one of the few developed countries where a constitutional monarchy has survived with its ages-old customs, traditions and ceremonies. There is no written const, in GB. There are 2 basic principles of the British constitution; THE ROLES OF LAW and THE ROLES OF CUSTOMS. In 1215 Magna Carta was accepted which was aimed to limit the powers of the king. In 1265 the 1st parliament was summoned. Since then British const, has evolved as a result of countless Acts of parliament. A constitutional monarch is one who .can rule only with the support of parlament.. The Bill of Rights [1689) was a major legal step to const, monarchy.
Since 1689 the power of parliament has grown steadily, while the power of the monarch has weakened. Today the Queen reigns, though she doesn't rule. Being a constitutional monarch the Queen acts on the advice of her prime minister and doesn't make any major-political decisions. The Queen is not only the head of state, but also the symbol of the nation unity. The QUEEN-personifies the state, she is head of the executive, an integral part of legislature, head of the judiciary, the commander in chief of all armed forces, the supreme governor of the established Church of England the Anglican church and the personal Head of the Common wealth. The functions of Q: 1) summoning, proroguing, dissolving Parliament 2) giving royal assent to Bills passed by both Houses 3) appointing every important office holder, including government ministers, judges, officers in armed forces etc. 4)conferring peerages, knighthoods and other honours.5) She appoints the Prime Minister to form a government of state.6) In international affairs the Q has the power to declare war, make peace, recognize foreign states and governments etc., she is informed and consulted on every issue in national life. 7)Q is Head of the Commonwealth where she is represented by the Governor-General appointed by her on the advice of the government of the. country concerned and completely independent of the British government. The general public supports the idea of preserving the Royal family traditions. The 'latter has also become more flexible and open to public. The crown provides unity and stability to Britain and the Commonwealth
6.GB The population of the UK now is more than 60 rain people.
Recently, there have been many waves of immigration into Britain and movement within the U.K. For example, many people from Wales, Scotland and Ireland have settled in England. Many foreigners settled in Britain since the beginning of the 20th century. Commonwealth citizens could enter Britain quite freely until 1962, while people from other countries had to receive special permits. Before the Second World Bar most of the Immigrants came from the old dominions: Canada, Australia, Mew Zealand, South Africa. In the late 1930s many Jews came from Germany because of fascist persecution, as well as Poles and people of-other nationalities from Eastern Europe. After 1952 many immigrants came to Britain from the West Indies, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, from some countries of Africa. At this time the British economy was developing rapidly and it needed cheap labour. The immigrants were poor and out of work and had been told there were jobs for them in Britain.
Black and Asian people can be seen in every city of Britain, but there is a greater concentration of them in larger cities, where it is easier to find work, such as London, Birmingham, Bradford, Coventry, Manchester and others. Today, more than 5 million people of non-white origin live in Britain and over 80 per cent of them were born in Britain, thus they are British, but with a different colour of their skin. The immigrants usually take the lowest paid jobs, and when there is unemployment they are the first to lose work. In spite of the laws to protect them, there was still discrimination against the non-whites. This led to serious disturbances in many cities of Britain in the early 1980s.
With the movement of people among the countries of the European Union of which Britain is a member, more and more people enter Britain from continental Europe. Today there are many Italians, Greeks, Spaniards, and Portuguese living in Britain The arrival of many foreigners has changed life in present-day Britain. British culture has been enriched through its contact with other cultures. For example, the eating and cooking habits of the British have changed. The service sector has also unproved considerably due to the arrival of immigrants. There are many shops run by South Koreans and Vietnamese which are open 24 hours, and any customer can drop in any time to buy things which he needs.
Cultural life has also become interesting due to its diversity. You can visit different exhibitions, enjoy new theatrical performances, music. Today Britain is a multiracial society which benefits from the influences of different peoples and cultures.
10GB The structure and composition of the Br. Parliament. The reform of the House of Lords and its role. The House of Commons, composition, role. There are 3 elements of the Br. Parliament - the Queen and the 2 Houses of Parl, (the H. of Lords and the elected H. of Commons). These elements ace separate, constituted on different principles and meet only on occasions of symbolic significance. The supreme legislative authority in GB, parliament, resides in Westminster Palace, and all its power is concentrated in the B.C. Members of parl, are elected at general election which is usually held every 5 years. The arrangement of seating in both Houses reflects the party system. Both debating chambers are rectangular in shape and have at one end the seat of the Speaker, and the other end a technical barrier. Leaders of the Government and the Opposition sit on the front benches of their respective to the seat of the Speaker. The HL consists of Lords Spiritual (senior bishops) and Lords Temporal (lay peers). Members are not elected, the HL underwent a major reform in 1999. The hereditary lords or peers lost the right to sit in the HL. The number of Conservative peers reduced. The procedure of the HL is rather informal and is comparable to that of the HC. The Lord Chancellor presides over the House as its Speaker. There is no Minister of Justice but the Lord Chancellor performs some of its functions. The HL consists of 675 members. HL also includes ministers, government Whips, the Leader of the main opposition party and 2 Chairmen of the Committees. The House of Commons is elected by the adult population. Consists of 646 MPs. The chief officer of the HC is the speaker. He is elected by the House at the beginning of each Parl.. His chief function is to preside over the H. in its debate. When elected. The Speaker must not belong to any party. The HC has .6. administrative and executive departments: 1) of the Clerk of the House 2) of the Sergeant at Arms 3) of the Library 4} of the official Report 5) Administration Dep. 6) Refreshment Dep. The 6 adm. Departments are under the supervision of the HC Commission composed by the MPs, and chaired by the Speaker.
13Gb Parliamentary government
The party which, wins most seats (but not necessarily most votes) at a general election, or which has the support of a majority of the members in the House of Commons, usually forms the. government. On occasions when no party succeeds in winning an overall majority of seats, a minority Government or a coalition may be formed. The leader of the majority party is appointed Prime Minster by the Sovereign, and all other ministers are appointed by the Queen on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. The majority of ministers are members of the Commons, although the Government is represented by some ministers in the Lords Since the late 19 century the Prime Minister has normally been the leader of the party with a majority in the House of Commons. The monarch's role in government is virtually limited to acting on the advice of ministers.
The Prime Minister informs the Queen of the general business of the Government, presides over the Cabinet, and is responsible for the allocation of functions among ministers, recommends to the Queen a number of important appointments. Ministers in charge of Government departments, who are usually in the Cabinet, are known as 'Secretaries of State or 'Ministers', or may have a traditional title, as in the case of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Postmaster General, the President of the Board of Trade. All these are known as departmental ministers. The Lord Chancellor (the Speaker of the House of Lords) holds a special position, being a minister with departmental functions and also head of the judiciary in England and Hales.
Ministers of State (non-departmental) work with ministers in charge of departments with responsibility for specific functions, and are sometimes given courtesy titles which reflect these particular functions. More than one may work in a department. Junior ministers (generally Parliamentary Secretaries or Under-Secretaries of State) share in parliamentary and departmental duties. They may also be given responsibility directly under the departmental minister, for specific aspects of the department's work.
The largest minority party becomes the official opposition with its own leader and its own 'shadow cabinet’ whose members act as spokesmen on the subjects for which government ministers have responsibility. The members of any other party support or oppose the Government according to their party policy being debated at any given time.
The Government has the major share in controlling and arranging the business of the House. As the initiator of policy, it dictates what action it wishes Parliament to take.
A modern British Government consists of over ninety people, of whom about thirty are heads of departments, and the rest are their assistants. Until quite recent times all the heads of departments were included in the Cabinet, but when their number rose some of the less important heads of departments were oat included in the Cabinet. The Prime .Minister, decides whom to include.
The Cabinet is composed of about 20 ministers and nay include departmental and non-departmental ministers. The prime ministers may make changes in the size of their Cabinet and may create new ministries or make other changes.
The Cabinet as such is not recognized by any formal law, and it has no formal powers but only real powers. It takes the effective decisions about what is to be done. Its major functions are: the final determination
of policies, the supreme control of government and the coordination of government departments. More and more power is concentrated in the hands of the Cabinet, where the decisive role belongs to the Prime Minster, who in fact determines the general political line of this body. The Cabinet defends and encourages the activity of monopolies and big business, does everything to restrain and suppress the working-class movement. The County Councilor county) is the most important .unit of local government. The District Councils-for districts.
14GB
The 20th century witnessed an intensive process of decolonisation of the British Empire(the last Br. colony Hong Kong was reverted to China in 1997). A tendency to decolonise grew into a desire to form a great family, a special union, for economic, cultural & social reasons. The Commonwealth of Nations, usually known as the Commonwealth, is a voluntary association of 53 independent sovereign states, most of which are former British colonies, or dependencies of these colonies (the exceptions being the United Kingdom itself and Mozambique). The Commonwealth is an international organization through which countries with diverse social, political, and-economic backgrounds cooperate within a framework of common values and goals, outlined in the Singapore Declaration. These include the promotion of democracy, human rights, good governance, the rule of law, individual liberty, egalitarianism. free trade, multilateralism, and world peace.
Queen Elizabeth II is the Head of the Commonwealth, recognized by each state, and as such is the symbol of the free association of the organization’s members. This position, however, does not imply political power over Commonwealth member states. In practice, the Queen heads the Commonwealth in a symbolic capacity, and it is the Commonwealth Secretary-General who is the chief executive of the organization. The Commonwealth is not a political union, and does not allow the United Kingdom to exercise any power over the affairs of the organization’s other members. Elizabeth II is also the Head of State, separately, of sixteen members of the Commonwealth, called Commonwealth realms. As each realm is an independent kingdom, Elizabeth II, as monarch, holds a distinct jjtk for each.
Every four years the Commonwealth's members celebrate the Commonwealth Games, the world's second-largest multi-sport event after the Olympic Games. Commonwealth Dayton the 2nd Monday in March. The Commonwealth secretariat provides the central organization for consultation & co-operation among member states. Established in London in 1965, headed by the heads of Government & financed by member Governments, the Secretariat is responsible to Commonwealth Governments collectively. The Secretariat promotes consultation, disseminates info on matters of common concern, & organizes meetings & coferences. Membership criteria: be fully sovereign states; recognise the monarch of the Commonwealth realms as the Head of the commonwealth; accept the English language as the means of Commonwealth communication; respect the wishes of the general population vis-a-vis Commonwealth membership The Commonwealth's objectives were first outlined in the 1971 Singapore Declaration, which committed the Commonwealth to the institution of world peace: promotion of the pursuit of equality and opposition to racism; the fight against poverty, ignorance, and disease; and free trade. To these were added opposition to discrimination on the basis of gender, and environmental attainability. These objectives were reinforced by the Harare Declaration in 1991.
The Comnonwealth is also useful as an international organisation that represents significant cultural and historical links between wealthy first-world countries and poorer nations with diverse social and religious backgrounds.
15GB The educational system of GB has developed for over a 100 years. 3 partners are responsible for the education service: central government- the Department of Education & Science(DES)(assisted by Her Majesty's inspectorate), local education authorities(LEAs)provision day-to-day running of the schools and colleges in their areas, the recruitment and payment of the teachers, the head(a Chief Education Officer) and schools themselves. The legal basis for this partnership is supplied by the 1944 Education Act. Compulsory education in GB begins at the age of 5, and the minimum school leaving age is 16. Education is provided both in publicly maintained(state) schools(no tuition fees are payable)-'public sector', & in private independent schools-'private sector (have to pay)- Education within the state school system comprises either 2 stages - primary & secondary, or 3 stage-first schools, middle spools, upper schools. Nursery education- in nursery schools or in nursery classes attached to primary schoolchildren 3-5, some sort of play, activity, as Car as possible of an educational kind). Primary school (5-11) Middle school(8-14) is a sort of a compromise between primary c secondary education. The Upper School keeps middle school leavers until the age of 18. This 3-stage system is becoming more & more popular.
Secondary education is compulsory up to the age of 16,6 pupils may stay here
until they are 10. S. schools are much larger than primary & most children go to comprehensive schools (11-18)- admit children of all abilities in a given area &provide a wide range of different courses.
3types:1)11-18. 2)middle School leavers 12,13,14 -18, 3)the age group 11-16. In some areas children moving from Primary to Secondary education are still selected for certain types of school according to their current level of academic attainment. These are:
Grammar schools provide a manly academic education for 11-18 age
group preparing for higher education.
Technical schools- a manly academic education for 11-18 age group, place
emphasis on technical subjects.
Secondary modern schools offer a more general education with a practical bias up to the minimum school-leaving age of 16(cannot enter the university but start work).
There are special school adapted for the physically £ mentally handicapped
children(5-16). These schools & their classes are more generously staffed £ provide different forms of treatment. They can be both state or private. Though limited in number, the largest & most important of the independent schools are the public schools(12-13) on the basis of the strict selection. They are fee-charging & very expensive, their standards for entries are very high, & more concerned with examinations & universities. The pupils are the children of the rich parents. The principal examinations taken by secondary school pupils at the age of 16 are those leading to the General Certificate of Secondary Education. The chief examinations are leading to the General.Certificate of Education Advanced level.
Admission to universities is by examination or interviews. Applications are sent to the Universities & Colleges Admission Services - you can list up to 5 universities or Colleges.