英语国家概况（英国部分） - 图文

The wars were named because of the badge of the two houses: The white rose of York and the red rose of Lancaster. The war lasted for 30 years. The final victory went to the House of Lancaster led by Henry Tudor, who later succeeded the throne of England as Henry VII, and therefore, began the rule of House of Tudor. The war started from two families, however, at the end of the war, almost all the nobles were involved. They suffered great losses of life and property, which led to the decline of feudal nobles and paved the way for the development of the bourgeoisie (资产阶级).

3. Transition to the Modern Age

Began with the English Reformation, this period of British history witnessed the end of feudalism and the establishment of constitutional Monarchy system. Then the fast-growing economy and national capability as well as the rise of Bourgeois class contributed the Industrial Revolution. Consequently, these great changes in the British society accelerated its transition to the Modern Age.

The English Reformation was a series of events in 16th century by which the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Roman Pope and the Catholic Church.

There were many factors contributed to the process: The growing resentment among the people towards the power of Pope and the church because of the burden of taxation placed by the Catholic Church, the decline of feudalism and the rise of nationalism. However, the direct cause of the religious reformation is King Henry VIII’s divorce with his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, the princess of Spain. Divorces at that time could only be granted by the Pope, but considering the power of Spain, the Pope refused Henry VIII’s divorce. Therefore, Henry VIII started a large scale of reformation by declaring the Church of England’s break from Rome. In 1534, he issued the Act of Supremacy, which recognized that the king was ―the only supreme head of the Church of England‖.

Henry VIII Elizabeth I

Henry VIII Elizabeth I

After the accession of Edward VI in 1547, the reform moved in a more Protestant direction. However, when Edward died in 1553, Mary I, a devout catholic, succeeded the throne and brought a Catholic reaction. Many Protestants were burnt to death as heretics, including children and women. It was not until Elizabeth I’s reign did the bloody religious prosecution come to the end, and the Church of England was in charge of the British monarch again. Although she made a compromise between the Catholics and the Protestants, she still defended the fruit of religious reformation and consolidated the Church of England.

In the 17th century, the English Civil War (1642–1651) broke out. It was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians, also known as the ―Roundheads‖, and Royalists, known as ―Cavaliers‖, in the Kingdom of England over the manner of its government. It was the result of the rising bourgeoisie, because the British Feudalism hindered their further development. In the reign of Charles I, the relationship between the king and the parliament became worse. In order to support the war against Spain and France, Charles I tried to raise a large amount of money, but encountered great refusal from the parliament.

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Dissatisfied with the parliament, he dismissed the parliament in 1629. Therefore, supporting by the peasants, the parliament, which represented the bourgeoisie and new aristocrats, waged a fight with the king. However, being afraid to lose their lands and privilege in the country, the landowners and old aristocrats supported King Charles in the fight.

In 1649, King Charles was executed and the monarchy was abolished. Oliver Cromwell, the leader of Parliamentarians, began to rule the country as the Lord Protector of the Commonwealth. However, Cromwell’s conservation in social reform and high taxes policies soon led to the resentment of the Parliament. In 1660, Charles II, the son of Charles I, was crowned the king. Consequently, the short period of Commonwealth in British history ended then.

In the wake of Charles II’s death, James II ascended the reign, but since he was a strict Catholic, soon after his succession, he started a series of reforms to reestablish Catholicism in the country. Then in 1688 there followed the ―bloodless revolution‖ known in British history as the ―Glorious Revolution‖. The Parliament declared William and his wife Mary, James II’s daughter, as the joint sovereigns. In the following year, William and Mary signed the Bill of Rights passed by the Parliament, which guaranteed the authority of Parliament and limited the power of the monarch. Therefore, the Glorious Revolution was complete and the ruling monarch was removed. Since then the constitutional monarchy was established and became the system of government in the country.

Since then Britain had experienced a period of continuous development in every aspects of the society. By the middle 19th century, the Industrial Revolution was accomplished in Britain. It is the first country to start and complete this great revolution in industry.

There are several reasons that contributed to the Industrial Revolution in Britain. First, Britain had a huge market. After the Glorious Revolution, the Britain formed a single largest domestic market in Europe. Meanwhile, with its expansion in the world, it occupied a large number of colonies in the world and became the most powerful colonial country. The colonies provided it with enormous wealth, raw materials and a large market for its industrial development. Second, the enclosure movement1 deprived the small landowners of their property and forced them to move to the cities and towns to make a living. The landless laborer, therefore, became a large number of free labors in the industrial market and promoted the economic development in Britain. Third, with the rapid development of economy and industry, higher productivity became necessary in order to meet the higher demand for manufactured goods in the market. The entrepreneurs began to seek new ways to promote productivity.

Steam locomotive Spinning Jenny

A series of important inventions in the textile industry, such as the Spinning Jenny, the water frame, the spinning mule and the power loom, marked the beginning of Industrial Revolution. These inventions promoted the mechanization of the textile industry and motivated the development of Industrial Revolution in other areas. For example, the dig of canals, the complete of the first railway and invention of steam engine and steam locomotive in the transportation industry. By the middle of the 19th century, the Industrial Revolution was accomplished in 1

Enclosure movement: 圈地运动。英国新兴的资产阶级和新贵族通过暴力把农民从土地上赶走，强占农民份地及公有地，剥夺农民的土地使用权和所有权，限制或取消原有的共同耕地权和畜牧权，把强占的土地圈占起来，变成私有的大牧场、大农场。大批的农民因此而失去赖以生存的土地，倾家荡产，流离失所。

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Britain.

The Industrial Revolution accelerated the process of modernization and the economic development of Britain, and also had a significant impact on the British society. Firstly, the industrial productivity was dramatically increased because of the inventions of machines. Secondly, it promoted the process of urbanization in Britain. With numerous free labors moved into cities and towns, many new cities such as Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham and Sheffield sprang up and became Britain’s industrial centers. Thirdly, it also brought with some changes in class structure. The capitalist class replaced the old aristocrats and became the most important force in the country.

4. The Rise and Fall of British Empire

The British Empire started from the reign of Queen Elizabeth I with colonization of Newfoundland in 1583. Britain defeated the Spanish fleet in 1588 and Holland in the 17th century, which contributed to the establishment of its superiority in the sea power. It kept expanding in the following hundreds of years. The Empire acquired a lot of colonies and seized countless wealth through foreign expansion. The colonies were turned into its sources of raw materials and important markets for its products.

By the time Queen Victoria started to reign the country, it had occupied many overseas colonies, such as the colonies in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India and many small states in the West Indies. Then the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century accelerated its colonization in the world. On the Eve of World War I in 1914, the total area of the British colonies had reached 33,500,000 km2, that is, over 137 times more than its native land, with a colonial population 9 times more than that of its natives. It has developed into the largest colonial empire in the world, which occupied nearly 1/4 of the world land area, and became ―a country on which the sun never sets‖.

However, the two world wars in the earlier 20th century gradually weakened Britain’s power and led to the decline of the British Empire. Britain lost a great number of people, the sea supremacy in the world and was into huge national debt in order to support the wars. Additionally, after the World War II, a wave of national liberation and a movement of national independence swept the world. In 1921, 26 counties on the island of Ireland became independent from the United Kingdom and formed the Republic of Ireland. In 1931, Australia, New Zealand and Canada became independent countries in the British Commonwealth. In the 1960s, the independence movement swept the entire British Empire, including its colonies in Asia, Africa and South America. More than 20 Britain’s colonies won their independence. Consequently, the British Empire completely fell apart in the late 1960s.

The Empire had been replaced by the British Commonwealth of Nations1, which is an intergovernmental organization composed of 53 countries. It is not a political union, but a loosely organized community of former British colonies. All but two of these countries are formerly part of British Empire. Though the British Monarch is still considered as the head of Commonwealth, its members have full autonomy to manage their own internal and external affairs. The primary goal of the Commonwealth is to encourage and promote the cooperation and mutual assistance among member states.

Watch the video clip of The British Empire and finish the tasks that follow. Task 1: Story –retelling

Now, work in groups (3-4members) on the clip and retell what you have seen. Then each group sends one representative to tell the whole class your interpretation of the British Empire. Task 2: Group discussion

Discuss with your partners about the way the British Empire was established

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British Commonwealth: 英联邦。是一个以英国为主导的国家联合体，由54个主权国家（含属地）所组成，成员大多为前大英帝国的殖民地或附属国。该组织元首为英国女王伊丽莎白二世，同时身兼英联邦王国内的16国的国家元首。

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Exercises

1. Explore and fill in the blanks with proper words or terms.

1) The United Kingdom is located to the northwest of continental Europe, separated by the 2)

. is the largest part of the UK and occupies most of the southern two thirds of Great Britain. . 3) The overall climate in the UK is temperate

4) Since Britain is an island country and surrounded by the sea, the climate is considerably

compared with other countries.

5) The recorded history of the UK begins with the 6) During the Anglo-Saxon Invasion period, Roman 7) During the Norman Conquest,

ownership of land. 8)

in 55BC. was introduced to Britain.

in England was completely established, which is based on the

was a series of dynastic civil wars between the two royal families, the House of York and the

House of Lancaster, for the English throne.

9) The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between . and

10) On the Eve of World War I in 1914, Britain has developed into the largest colonial empire in the world, which occupied nearly 1/4 of the world land area, and became ―2. Questions on this unit:

1) How many parts is the United Kingdom made up of? What are they? 2) What are the impacts of Roman Invasion?

3) What are the contributions of Elizabeth I in the Religious Reformation? 4) What are the reasons to the British Industrial Revolution? 5) What are the factors that led to the end of British Empire? 3. Terms for explanation: 1) 2) 3) 4)

Great Britain Norman Conquest Hundred Years War The English Reformation

‖.

5) Glorious Revolution 4. Analysis and comments: 1) 2)

The significance of the Great Charter

The influences of Industrial Revolution in the UK

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