Political history - раздел Иностранные языки, КУРС ЛЕКЦИЙ ЧАСТЬ 1 специальности I-020306-01 Английский язык Between 1066 And 1199 English Monarchs Had Great Power, But Generally Accepte...
Between 1066 and 1199 English monarchs had great power, but generally accepted advice and some limitations on their authority. However later kings, such as King John, often ignored these restrictions and the French-Norman barons eventually united against his dictatorial rule. They forced him to sign Magna Carta in 1215. Although this document was initially intended to protect the aristocracy and not the ordinary citizen, it came in time to be regarded as a cornerstone of British liberties, and is one of the oldest written constitutional papers. Among other things, it restricted the monarch's powers; forced him to take advice; promoted an aristocratic influence in national affairs; and stipulated that no citizen could be punished or kept in prison without a fair trial. Later monarchs tried to ignore Magna Carta, but could not succeed initially against the military strength of the barons.
These developments encouraged the establishment of basic parliamentary structures against royal power. In 1265 Simon de Montfort called England's first parliament, which was composed of nobles and minor aristocrats. This was followed in 1295 by the Model Parliament, which was to serve as an example for future structures. Its two sections consisted of the Lords and Bishops, who were chosen by the monarch, and the Commons, which comprised elected male representatives. These two units gradually moved further apart over time, and eventually evolved into the present parliamentary division between the House of Lords and the House of Commons. However, in the thirteenth century, the combined Parliament of aristocrats and commoners was too large to rule the country effectively. A Privy Council was subsequently created, which was an expansion of the traditional small circle of advisers at the royal court. In succeeding centuries, this body was to become the dominant royal government outside Parliament, until it also gave way to the present structures in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.
Although these early development did give Parliament some limited powers against the monarch, there was a return to royal dominance in Tudor England from 1485. The nobility had been weakened by wars and internal conflicts, and the Tudor monarchs deliberately chose minor aristocratic landed gentry as members of their Privy Councils. The nobility were often excluded from policy-making, and the gentry inevitably became dependent upon royal patronage. Consequently, Tudor monarchs controlled Parliament and summoned it only when they needed to raise money.
Parliament began to show more resistance to the monarchy under the Stuart succession from 1603 by using its gradually acquired weapon of financial control. It was influenced by the gentry, who had now become more independent of royal patronage, had expanded economically in the country, and had a majority in the House of Commons. Parliament began to refuse royal requests for money. It eventually forced Charles I to sign the Petition of Rights in 1628, which further restricted the monarch's powers and was intended to prevent him from raising taxes without Parliament's consent. Charles tried to ignore these political developments, until he was obliged to summon Parliament for finance. Parliament again refused the request.
Realising that he could not control Parliament, Charles next failed in his attempt to arrest Parliamentary leaders in the House of Commons itself. Because of this episode, the monarch was in future prohibited from entering the Commons. Today Black Rod, who is a royal ceremonial appointment, is a reminder of these constitutional changes. He knocks on the door of the Commons after it has been closed against him, in order to summon members of the Commons to the State Opening of Parliament. This is normally performed each autumn by the monarch in the House of Lords.
Charles's rejection of developing political ideals provoked anger against the Crown, and eventually a Civil War broke out in 1642. The mainly Protestant Parliamentarians under Oliver Cromwell won the military struggle against the largely Catholic Royalists. Charles I was beheaded in 1649, the monarchy was abolished, and England was made a republic under the Cromwells (1649-59). During this republican period, Parliament consisted only of the House of Commons, which met every three years.
However, Cromwellian military rule was harsh and increasingly unpopular, so that most people wanted the restoration of the monarchy. The two Houses of Parliament were re-established, and in 1660 they restored the Stuart CharIes II to the throne. Initially Charles co-operated with Parliament, but eventually his financial needs, his belief in the divine right of kings to rule without opposition, and his support of the Catholic cause lost him popular and parliamentary backing. Parliament then ended his expensive wars; forced him to sign the Test Act of 1673, which excluded Catholics and Protestant dissenters from holding public office; and passed the Habeas Corpus Act in 1769, which stipulated that no citizen could be imprisoned without a fair and speedy trial.
In addition to this growing power of Parliament against the monarch, the seventeenth century also saw the beginning of more organized political parties. These derived largely from the ideological and religious conflicts of the Civil War. Two groups became dominant, and this feature was to characterize future British two-party politics, in which political power has shifted between two main parties. The Whigs were mainly Cromwellian Protestants and gentry, who refused to accept the Catholic James II as successor to Charles II, and who wanted religious freedom for all Protestants. The Tries generally supported royalist beliefs, and helped Charles II to secure James's right to succeed him.
But James's subsequent behaviour resulted in a further reduction of royal influence. He attempted to rule without Parliament, ignored its laws, and tried to repeal the Test Act. His manipulations eventually forced the Tories to join the Whigs in inviting the Protestant William of Orange to intervene. Supported by Dutch military help, William arrived in England in 1688, James fled to France, and William succeeded to the throne. Since no force was involved, this event has been called the Bloodless or Glorious Revolution. The 1688 changes considerably affected the British constitution and politics. William III became Britain's first constitutional monarch and, because of conditions imposed upon him, it was in future practically impossible for the monarch to reign without the consent of Parliament.
A series of Acts at this time laid the foundations for later political and constitutional developments. The Declaration of Rights in 1689 tried to establish basic civil liberties, and prevented the monarch from making laws or raising an army without Parliament's approval. The Act of Settlement in 1701 gave religious freedom to all Protestants, and stipulated that all future English monarchs had to be Protestant. A Triennial Act established that Parliament was to be called every three years.
The Glorious Revolution effectively abolished the monarch's claim to divine right. It also attempted to arrange a division of powers between an executive branch (the monarch through the government of the Privy Council); a legislative branch (both Houses of Parliament and formally the monarch); and the judiciary (a legal body independent of monarch and Parliament). This division, in which the legislature was supposed to control the executive, evolved slowly into its modern counterparts.
Parliamentary power continued to grow gradually in the early eighteenth century, initially because the German-born George I lacked interest in English affairs of state. He also mistrusted the Tories with their Catholic sympathies, and appointed Whig ministers such as Robert Walpole to his Privy Council. Eventually Walpole became Chief Minister, Leader of the Whig Party and head of the Whig majority in the House of Commons, which was now mainly composed of wealthy land and property owners. Walpole's resulting control of political power enabled him to increase parliamentary influence, and he has been called Britain's first Prime Minister. But such parliamentary authority was by no means absolute, and later monarchs sought a return to royal dominance. However, George III eventually lost much of his own and royal authority after the loss of the American colonies with their Revolution against Britain in 1775. He was obliged to appoint William Pitt the Younger as his Tory Chief Minister, and it was under Pitt that the office of Prime Minister really developed.
But although parliamentary control continued to grow in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, there was still no widespread democracy in Britain. Political authority was now in the hands of landowners and merchants in Parliament, and the vast majority of the people did not possess the vote. Bribery and corruption were common in this political atmosphere, with the buying of those votes which did exist and the giving away or sale of public offices. The Tories were against electoral reform, as were the Whigs initially. But the country was now rapidly increasing its population and developing industrially and economically, so that pressures for political reform became irresistible. The Whigs extended voting rights to the expanding middle class in the First Reform Act of 1832. The Tory Disraeli later gave the vote to men with property and a certain income. However, the large majority of the working class were still unrepresented in Parliament because they had no votes. It was only in 1884 that the Whig Gladstone gave the franchise to all male adults. But most women had to wait until 1928 for full voting rights to be established in Britain.
The main elements of modern British government developed somewhat haphazardly in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and were based on the 1688 revolution and its division of powers. Government ministers gradually became responsible to the House of Commons rather than to the monarch, and were mainly members of the Commons. A growing collective responsibility meant that they all shared joint responsibility for the policies and acts of government, in addition to their individual responsibility owed to Parliament for the organization of their ministries. The prime ministership developed from the monarch's Chief Minister to 'first among equals' and eventually to the leadership of all ministers. The central force of government was now the parliamentary Cabinet of senior ministers, which had grown out of the Privy Council and the monarch's Cabinet. The ministers and the government belonged to the majority party in the House of Commons. The largest minority party became the Official Opposition, striving by its party manifesto and its performance in the Commons and the country to become the next government chosen by the people.
Such constitutional developments were aided by the growth of more sophisticated and organized political parties, in the nineteenth century, which were conditioned by changing social and economic factors. These produced the modern struggle between opposing ideologies as represented by the various political parties. The Tories, who also became known as the Conservatives I around 1830, had been a dominant force in British politics since the eighteenth century. They believed in established values and the preservation of traditions; supported business and commerce; had strong links with the Church of England and the professions; and were opposed to what they saw as radical ideas. The Whigs, however, were developing into a more progressive force. They wanted social reform and economic freedom without government restrictions. In the period following the parliamentary reforms of 1832, the Whigs were changing into what later became the Liberal Party. They were to create an enlightened programme of liberalism in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Liberal Party was a mixture of people and ideas, often held together by the principle of utilitarian reform (or the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people).
But a significant feature of the early inter-war years after 1918 was the decline of the Liberal Party, from which it was unable to recover. The new Labour Party, formed in 1906, gradually became the main opposition party to the Conservatives, and continued the traditional two-party system in British politics. It grew rapidly and was supported by the trade unions, the majority of the working class, and some middle-class voters. The first Labour government was formed in 1924 under Ramsay MacDonald, but only achieved real majority power in 1945 under Clement Attlee. It then embarked on a radical programme of social and economic reforms, which were to lay the foundations of the modern corporate and welfare state.
Meanwhile, in this lengthy period of changing political fortunes and the triumph of the House of Commons in the parliamentary sytem, gradual reforms had been made to the House of Lords. The Parliament Acts of 1911 and 1949, eventually removed much of the Lords' political authority, leaving them with only a slight delaying and amending power over parliamentary bills. They could no longer interfere with financial legislation. These reforms finally demonstrated that political and taxation matters were now decided by the members of the Commons as elected representatives of the people. Other subsequent Acts have allowed the creation of non-hereditary titles, which supplement the old arrangement in which most peerages were hereditary.
A new challenge to parliamentary sovereignty and the political tradition in Britain has arisen due to membership of the European Community (1973). Some legal powers have already been lost to Community institutions, so that Parliament is no longer the sole legislative body in Britain. Further functions will probably be transferred to the Community as it becomes more economically and politically integrated.
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Position, Territory and Structure
The British Isles are situated on the continental shelf off the north-west coast of Europe and comprise a group of islands lying between latitudes 50o and 60°N and longitudes 1o
Surrounding Seas and Coastline
The British Isles are of the continental origin. Situated off the north-west coast of Europe, they once formed part of that continent. The only became islands when they were separated from it. The
England.
Though England cannotbe consideredas a very hillycountry still it is far from being flat everywhere. The most important range of mountains is the Pennine range, regarded as "the backbone of En
Ireland.
Ireland is predominantly a rural island, with a generally low density of population and indeed few large towns other than those situated on the coast. The regional geography of the island is simple
Lowland Britain
Lowland Britain offers a striking contrast in many ways. Though so much less rugged, there are few parts where level land is uninterrupted by hills. One of the most extensive plains in the British
Rivers and Lakes.
There is a fairly wide network of rivers in the British Isles, though generally short in length and navigable but in their lower reaches, especially during high tides. Mild maritime climate keeps t
Climate and Weather
Weather is not the same as climate. The weather at a place is the state of the atmosphere there at a given time or over a short period. The weather of the British Isles is notoriously variable. The
Temperature
Because of the North Atlantic Drift and the predominantly maritime air masses that effect the British Isles, the range in temperature throughout the year is never very great. The annual mean temper
Weather
In direct contrast with climate, in which short-term variations disappear with the calculation of averages, the weather of the British Isles is notoriously variable. Not only is it liable to day-to
Vegetation
The present vegetation of great Britain owes much of its character to the influence of man. Only in the more remote parts of Ireland and the Scottish Highlands do remnants of the natural vegetation
Vegetation
The present vegetation of great Britain owes much of its character to the influence of man. Only in the more remote parts of Ireland and the Scottish Highlands do remnants of the natural vegetation
The Celts
Around 700 bc, another group of people began to arrive. Many of them were tall, and had fair or red hair and blue eyes. These were the Celts, who probably came from central Europe or further east,
The Romans
The name "Britain" comes from the word "Pretani", the Greco-Roman word for the inhabitants of Britain. The Romans mispronounced the word and called the island "Britannia&qu
Roman life
The most obvious characteristic of Roman Britain was its towns, which were the basis of Roman administration and civilisation. Many grew out of Celtic settlements, military camps or mark
Who should be king?
By 950 England seemed rich and peaceful again after the troubles of the Viking invasion. But soon afterwards the Danish Vikings started raiding westwards. The Saxon king, Ethelred, decided to pay t
Scotland
As a result of its geography, Scotland has two different societies. In the centre of Scotland mountains stretch to the far north and across to the west, beyond which lie many islands. To the east a
The Norman Conquest
William the Conqueror's coronation did not go as planned. When the people shouted "God Save the King" the nervous Norman guard at Westminster Abbey thought they were going to attack Willi
Feudalism
William was careful in the way he gave land to his nobles. The king of France was less powerful than many of the great landlords, or whom William was the outstanding example. In England, as each ne
Geographical context
People in the four lands of Britain derive from a host of ancestral sources, notably:
• the prehistoric cultures which produced such impressive monuments as the stone circles of Avebury an
Reign of Alfred the Great
From the fifth century onwards of small kingdoms emerged in England. These gradually evolved into fewer, larger groupings - particularly Northumbria in the north, Mercia in the midlands and Wessex
Norman Conquest of England
The last successfu1 foreign invasion of England took place in 1066, when Duke William of Normandy defeated the English at the Battle of Hastings. The Norman Conquest led to closer links with the ma
The English Reformation
Between 1534 and 1540 King Henry VIII of the Tudor dynasty broke with the Papacy in Rome, heralding the English Reformation and the establishment of the Church of England. Despite the suppression o
Union of England and Wales
The subjugation of Wales by the English had been completed in the late 13th century by Edward I, who gave his infant son, later Edward II, the title of Prince of Wales - still carried today by the
The Glorious Revolution and Bill of Rights
In 1685 James II, a Roman Catholic, became king (succeeding his brother, Charles II). However, as he lost popularity for his autocratic rule and pro-Catholic policies, his Protestant Dutch son-in-l
The Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution, which was a key development in shaping the face of modern Britain, took place between about 1760 and 1830. Britain was the first country in the world to industrialise, pi
Partition of Ireland
The formal connection between Great Britain and Ireland dates from the Norman invasion of Ireland in the 12th century. In the late 1550s and early 1600s English and Scottish Protestants migrated to
The end of Empire
At the death of Queen Victoria in 1901 the British Empire had expanded to almost one-fifth of the world land mass and one-quarter of the world population. However, from that time it decentralised.
Britain in Europe
At the end of the Second World War in 1945 the economies of most European countries were in ruins. In addition, the then Soviet Union's Communist influence was expanding. In the face of these chall
Language variation
English is the main language spoken in Britain, although with many regional variations in terms of accept and phraseology. It is also one of the most widely used in the world; recent estimates sugg
Demographic trends
Britain has a population of about 59 million people, the 17th largest in the world. The great majority, 49.3 million, live in England; Scotland has just over 5 million people, Wales 2.9
Elderly people
One of the most significant changes in the age structure of Britain's population over the last 30 years has been the increasing proportion of people over retirement age (65 for men and 60 for women
Young people
The home is the central focus of most young people's lives in Britain, particularly for those who are still attending school. The majority rely upon their home environment as a place of security an
Age and Sex Structure
The total population has remained relatively stable over the last decade. The proportion of young people aged under 16 fell steadily in the early 1980s, but numbers in this age group have increased
Distribution of Population
The density of population in Britain is well above the European Community average of about 145 per sq km. Since the nineteenth century there has been a trend, especially in London, for people to mo
Equal Opportunities
The Sex Discriminations Acts 1975 and 1986 make discrimination, in certain circumstances, between men and women unlawful in employment, education, training and the provision of housing, goods, faci
Ethnic and National Minorities
For centuries people from overseas have settled in Britain, to escape political or religious persecution or in search of better economic opportunities.
The Irish have long formed a large s
Alleviating Racial Disadvantage
Although many members of the black and Asian communities are concentrated in the inner cities, where there are problems of deprivation and social stress, progress has been made over the last 20 yea
Ethnic Minorities and the Police
In recognition of the tensions that can arise between the police and ethnic minorities, there is statutory consultation between the police and the community. In addition, liaison work is undertaken
Race Relations Act 1976
Equal opportunities policies are backed up by legislation against racial discrimination. The Race Relations Act 1976, which strengthened previous legislation passed in the 1960s, makes discriminati
Commission for Racial Equality
The Commission for Racial Equality was established by the 1976 Act. It has power to investigate unlawful discriminatory practices and to issue non-discrimination notices, requiring such practices t
Living standards
Marked improvements in the standard of living for people in Britain have taken place during the 20th century. According to the United Nations, in 1997 Britain ranked fifteenth out of 175
Housing
Largely depending on their means, people in Britain live in a diverse range of accommodation ranging from country mansions to single rooms or hostels in the inner cities. The majority, however, liv
Leisure trends
The most common leisure activities among people in Britain are home-based, or social, such as visiting relatives or friends.
Watching television is by far the most popular leisure pastime.
Holidays
In 1997,57 million holidays of four or more nights away from home were taken by British residents, 30 million of them within Britain. The most popular destinations for summer holidays in Britain ar
Eating and drinking habits
Although some traditional meals in Britain, like roast beef and Yorkshire pudding or fish and chips, remain popular, there has been a significant shift in eating habits among the population over th
Political Institution
The history of British politics over the past 800 years has been largely one of breaking down the monarch's former power, and vesting that authority in Parliament as the sovereign legal voice of th
The constitutional framework
There have been no revolutionary upheavals in the British system of government over the centuries, despite the Civil War and the 1688 changes. Rather, existing institutions have been pragmatically
The monarchy
The continuity of the English monarchy has been interrupted only by the Cromwell republic of 1649-59 although there have been different lines of descent, such as the Stuarts, the Tudors and the Han
The Privy Council
The Privy Council developed from a small group of royal advisers at court into the chief source of executive authority. But its powerful position was weakened in the eighteenth and nineteenth centu
Parliament
Parliament is the supreme legislative authority in Britain and, since it is not controlled by a written constitution, it has legal sovereignty in virtually all matters, subject only to some Europea
The government
The British government normally consists of over a hundred ministers and other officials chosen from both Houses of Parliament, who are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister.
Local government
Some countries, such as the USA and Canada, are federal. They are made up of a number of states, each of which has its own government with its own powers to make laws and collect taxes. In these co
Local government services
Most of the numerous services that a modern government provides are run at local level in Britain. These include public hygiene and environment health inspection, the collecting of rubbish from out
The Structure of Trade and Industry
Britain became the world's first industrialised country in the mid 19th century. Wealth was based on manufacturing iron and steel, heavy machinery and cotton textiles, and on coal mining
The Structure of trade and industry
The 'modernization' of business and industry happened later in Britain than it did in most other European countries. It was not until the 1960s that large corporations started to dominate and that
The decline of the unions
In the 1980s the British government passed several laws to restrict the power of the unions. One of these abolished the 'closed shop' (arrangement which employers made with unions to hire only peop
How Industry is Organised
In some sectors a small number of large companies and their subsidiaries are responsible for a substantial proportion of total production, notably in the vehicle, aerospace and transport equipment
Chemicals
Britain's chemical industry is the third largest in Europe. The nation's fourth biggest manufacturing industry, it provides direct employment for 303,000 people. Around a half of its output is expo
Pharmaceuticals
The British pharmaceuticals industry is one of the biggest in the world. It is the fifth largest manufacturer and fourth largest exporter of medicines. Scientific excellence underpins the success o
Mechanical Engineering
Exports of mechanical machinery represented 13 per cent of total visible exports in 1993. Output includes pressure vessels, heat exchangers and storage tanks for chemical and oil-refining plant, st
Electronics
Britain has the fourth largest electronics industry in the world. The computer sector produced an extensive range of systems, central processors and peripheral equipment, from large computers for l
Offshore Industry
Britain has substantial oil and gas reserves offshore on the United Kingdom Continental Shelf (UKCS). Before the 1970s it was almost wholly dependent on imports for oil supplies.
Around 34
Food and Drink
Britain has large food and drink manufacturing industry, which has accounted for a growing proportion of total domestic food supply in recent decades. Approximately 500,000 people are employed in t
Aerospace
Britain's aerospace industry is the third largest in the Western world, after the United States and France. With around 200 companies employing 134,500 people, it had a turnover in 1993 of ₤1
Financial Services
Britain is a major financial centre, home to some of the world's most prestigious banking, insurance, securities, shipping, commodities, futures, and other financial services and markets. Banking,
Tourism
Britain pioneered the development of a professional tourism industry. Around 1.5 million people are employed in the industry in Britain, which contributes ₤30,000 million annually to the econ
Overseas Trade
Britain is fully committed to an open multilateral trading system. It exports more per head than the United States and Japan; overseas sales of goods and services are equivalent to about a quarter
Agriculture
Agriculture, one of Britain's most important industries, supplies nearly 60 per cent of the country's food, directly employs over 650,000 people, and uses almost 80 per cent of the land area. Howev
Education
The basic features of the British educational system are the same as they are anywhere else in Europe: full-time education is compulsory up to the middle teenage years; the academic year begins at
Historical background
The British government attached little importance to education until the end of the nineteenth century. It was one of the last governments in Europe to organize education for everybody. Britain was
The public schools system
Stereotypical public schools:
· are for boys only from the age of thirteen onwards, most of whom attended a private 'prep' (= preparatory) school beforehand;
· take fee-paying pup
Organization
Despite recent changes, it is a characteristic of the British system that there is comparatively little central control or uniformity. For example, education is manager not by one, but by three, se
Recent developments
Some of the many changes that have taken place in British education in the second half of the twentieth century simply reflect the wider social process of increased egalitarianism. The elitist inst
Which subjects do pupils have to study?
Pupils aged 5 to 16 in state schools must be taught the National Curriculum, which made up of the following subjects: English, mathematics, science, design and technology; information technology, h
How does the National Curriculum work?
Every school has National Curriculum documents for each subject. These documents describe what teachers must teach at each key stage.
Most National Curriculum subject are divided into diff
How does the National Curriculum work?
Every school has National Curriculum documents for each subject. These documents describe what teachers must teach at each key stage.
Most National Curriculum subject are divided into diff
Do pupils have to sit national tests and examinations?
There are national tests for 7-, 11- and 14-year-olds in English and mathematics. Pupils aged 11 and 14 are also tested in science. The tests give an independent measure of how pupils and schools a
School life
There is no countrywide system of nursery (i.e. pre-primary) schools. In some areas primary schools have nursery schools attached to them, but in others there is no provision of this kind. The aver
The school year
Schools usually divide their year into three 'terms', starting at the beginning of September.
Autumn
term
Christmas holiday (about 2 weeks)
Public exams
The organization of the exams which schoolchildren take from the age of about fifteen onwards exemplifies both the lack of uniformity in British education and also the traditional 'hands-off' appro
Education beyond sixteen
At the age of sixteen people are free to leave school if they want to. With Britain's newfound enthusiasm for continuing education (and because the general level of unemployment is now high), far f
Exams and qualifications
GCSE= General Certificate of Secondary Education. The exams taken by most fifteen-to sixteen-year-olds in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Marks are given for each subjects separ
The sixth form
The word 'from' was the usual word to describe a class of pupils in public schools. It was taken over by some state schools. With the introduction of the national curriculum it has become common to
Types of university
There are no important official or legal distinctions between the various types of university in the country. But is possible to discern a few board categories.
· Oxbridge
The Open Universities
This is one development in education in which Britain can to have led the world. It was started in 1969. It allows people who do not have the opportunity to be ordinary 'students' to study for a de
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