United Kingdom
Official name: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Area: 250 000 sguare km
Population: 60 milions
Capital: London (7mio, 12 mio with conurbation)
Currency: pound sterling- 100pence
Languages: English, Welsh, Gaelic
Headofstate: Queen Elizabeth II.
Headofgovernment: Tony Blair
Parts: England (London); Wales (Cardiff); Scotland (Edinburgh); Northern Ireland (Belfast)
Geography:
- Islands- Great Britain, Ireland, The Hebrides, Shetlands
- Lowlands and highlands (Scotland, Wales); Pennines, Lake District
- Highestpoint- Ben Nevis(Scotland, 1,342); Snowdon (N.Wales, 1,085)
- Rivers: Severn, Thames
- Lakes: Loch Lomond, Loch Ness;Lake District
- Mild climate
- Almost the whole of lowland is cultivated- 1/3 arable;2/3 pasture
History:
- 8000 BC- The British isle separated from the mainland Europa; nomads
- 700BC- The Celts arrived (their priests were called Druids)
- 43AD- The Roman occupation
- 449AD- The Angles, Saxon and Jutes;
- 800 the Anglo- Saxon divided England into 7 kingdoms
- 9th -11thcentury- Danish attacks
- 1066- The Battel of Hastings- William the Conqueror- the Normand occupation (French- official language)
- some important kings: John- Magna Carta (1199-1216)
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- RichardI.- the Lion heart
- 12thcentury- Oxford and Cambridge became University towns
- 13thcentury- Great Council changed into Parliament (because they needed taxes from the wool export)
- HundredYears´ War- 1338- 1453; England X France
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- In beggining E. Was better but then Joan of Arc won for France
- 1348- The Black Death
- TheWarsoftheRoses- 15th century
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- House of York (white) X House of Lancaster (red)
- Battle of Bosworth => king Henry VII.
=> TheTudorMonarchy (till 1603)
o Royal power, great wealth of the king, HenryVIII.- six wifes, established Church of England
o ElizabethI.- great prosperity
o CivilWar- the Royalists (Anglican) X the Parliamentarians (Puritans)
=>Oliver Cromwell- heavy taxes; Charles II.
o 1689- Bill of Rights - the power in the hands of Parliament
o Sevenyears´ war- 1756- 1763
o TheNapoleonicWars- Britain X France but admiral Nalson defeated Napoleon at Trafalgar (1805); Battle of Waterloo(1815, Wellington)- Napoleon sent to St. Helena
o 1832- Great Reform Act- aristocracy lost power
o theWWI- the reasons- Nationalism, Different political systems, colonial imperialism
o June 28,1914- assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand in Sarajevo
o Germans (+Austria, Turkey, Bulgaria) X The Allies (GB, France, Italy, Japan)
o 1917- USA entered the war; Russia withdrawed
o Allies won- 11th November 1918- Treaty of Versailles; League of Nations
o The WW2- 1933- Adolf Hitler coming to power
o 1938- Hitler, Chemberlain, Daladier, Mussoliny- Munich (allowed Hitler to take Sudetenland)
o G. denounced the Anglo- German Naval Agreement, invaded Poland (1st Sept. 1939) => GB declared war to Germany
o Germany occupated Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Holland, Yugoslavia, Greece, invaded Russia
o 1940- France capitulated
o GB´s Prime minister- Winston Churchill
o The Battle of Britain- Luftwaffe X Royal Air Force (they defeated G)
o Japanese attackt Pearl Harbor=> USA entered war
o Battles of Stalingrad, El Alamein
o 2nd September 1945- Germany was defeated by the Allies
=>The Postdam conference
· demitalirization of G., govern by Britain, France, America, Russia
o 1960s- independence of most of the colonies
Political System:
o Queen Elizabeth- reigns but does not rule
§ The Government (body of ministers, rule in her name, are responsible to the Parliament)
§ Her birthday is selebrated in June
§ Her royal title has 34 words, differs in parts of Commonwealth
§ Prince Charles, Prince of Wales- heir to the throne
o Parliament- supreme legislative authority in the country; Parliament at Westminster
§ The Sovereign- summons and dissolves Par., has a speech from the throne
§ TheHouseofLords- hereditary and life peers, about 1200 lords
§ TheHouseofCommons- elected (every 5 years) by adults of GB
§ 650 members
§ the party that won forms Government, PrimeMinister, the others are opposition
o Constitution- not written, formed by statute (ustanovení), common law, convention (úmluva)
§ Change by an Act of Parliament
Statistika