Great Britain in XX century

At the beginning of the 20^th century Britain was still one of the greatest world powers. In the middle of the century, it was still one of the ‘Big Three’, it was considerably weaker than the United States or the Soviet Union. By the end of the century Britain was just an ordinary country, and economically poorer than a number of other European countries.

One of the reasons for Britain’s decline in the 20^th century was the costs of two world wars. Another reason was that Britain could not spend as much money on developing its industry as other industrial nations did: at first it needed a lot of money for keeping up the empire, and when the empire fell apart, as much money was needed to solve numerous economic problems connected with maintaining friendly relations within the British Commonwealth of Nations.

The most important events of this century are:

1901 – Queen Victoria dies and her son, Edward, becomes King Edward VII. [He had been very strictly brought up, and both his parents disliked him. In spite of this, he was a kind man and was very popular, for he was deeply concerned about the conditions of the poor, and the gap between rich and poor.]

1902 – Nationwide selective (отбирающий, избирательный) secondary education is introduced.

1906 – Emmeline Pankhurst [`emi:lin `pa:khз:st] starts the Suffragette [,sΛfrз`d3et] Movement, demanding that women be giving the right to vote in parliamentary elections.

1908 – The first old-age pensions are introduced.

1910 – Edward VII dies and his son, George, becomes King George V. [He was shy and disliked ceremonies. He took his duty very seriously. In 1917 he gave up his family name of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha [`sæks`koubз:g`gouθз] and took the surname ‘Windsor’ [`winzз], after Windsor Castle. He did this because his original name was German, and Britain and Germany were at war.]

1911 – The power of the House of Lords is severely reduced (уменьшилась).

– Sick pay for most workers is introduced.

1914 – Britain declares war on Germany. Until the 1940s, the First World War was known in Britain as ‘the Great War’.

1916 – The ‘Easter Rising’ in Ireland against British rile is suppressed. Its leaders are executed.

1918 – The First World War is over. [Germany surrendered in November.]

– The right to vote is extended to include women over the age of thirty.

1919 – The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is founded to free Ireland from British rule.

1920 – The British government partitions Ireland.

1921 – The British government agrees to the independence of southern Ireland. But it also insists that Northern Ireland should remain united with Britain. Treaty between Britain and the Irish Parliament in Dublin is signed.

1922 – The Irish Free State is born.

1924 –The Labour Party forms a government for the first time.

1926 – General Strike. [The general strike was organized by trade unions and lasted nine days. The government widely used the police force. Many strikers were arrested and the strike was finally broken.]

1928 – The right to vote is extended again. all men and women over the age of twenty-one can now vote.

1930–1933 – Over three million workers are unemployed because of ‘the Great Depression’.

1936 – George V’s younger son, the Duke of York, becomes King George VI. [His elder brother, Edward, was a popular Prince of Wales. Unfortunately, at the time of his father’s death, Edward was in love with a married woman, the American Mrs Simpson [`sim p sn]. In October 1936 she and her husband divorced, and Edward seemed set on marrying her. It was impossible, as he was now head of the Church of England, and the Church did not approve of divorce. So his younger brother became king.]

1939 – Britain declares war on Germany.

1940 – German planes make bombing [bomiŋ] raids against British cities, railways and factories.

1944 – D-Day: the day of the invasion [in`vei3зn] of France by Alliedforces, which was the beginning of the end for Germany.

– Free compulsory secondary education (up to the age of fifteen) is established and secondary modern schools are set up.

1945 – The Second World War is over. [In May Germany surrendered.]

1946 – The National Health Service is established.

– Coal mines and railways are nationalized.

1949 – Ireland becomes a republic.

1953 – George VI dies and his daughter becomes Queen Elizabeth II.

1959 – The first motorway is open.

1963 – The school leaving age is raised to sixteen.

1968 – The ‘age of majority’ (the age at which somebody legally becomes an adult) is reduced from twenty-one to eighteen.

1971 – Decimal currency is introduced.

1973 – Britain joins the European EconomicCommunity.

1979 – Britain’s first woman Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher [`θæt∫з], the leader of the Conservative Party, was elected.

1982 – Falklands War. [A war between Britain and Argentina [,a:d3зn`ti:nз] in the Falkland Islands. Falkland Islands are a group of islands in the SW Atlantic ocean near Argentine, under British control. Britain declared war after Argentina seized the Falkland Islands. The British forces recaptured the Falklands.]

1994 – Channel tunnel opens.

1997 – Tony Blair [`touni`bleз] becomes Prime Minister.

Vocabulary

decline – упадок, спад

the British Commonwealth of Nations – Британское содружество наций

selective – выборочный, избирательный

Emmeline Pankhurst – Эммелин Панкхерст

Suffragette Movement – движение суфражисток

Saxe-Coburg-Gotha – Саксен-Кобург-Гота

Windsor – Виндзор

surrender – капитулировать

partition – разделить

Labour Party – Лейбористская партия

‘the Great Depression’ – ‘Великая депрессия’

Duke of York – герцог Йоркский

Mrs Simpson – миссис Симпсон

Alliedforces – союзнические силы (войска союзников)

decimal – десятичный

European EconomicCommunity – Европейское Экономическое Сообщество

Margaret Thatcher – Маргарет Тэтчер

Falklands War – война за Фолклендские острова

Tony Blair – Тони Блэр

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14