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United Kingdom

22. 5. 2008

1. Great Britain

The official name of the state is the United kingdom of Great Britain and North Ireland or Ulster. Is is situated on the north hemispere, in the north-weste of Europe. Great Britain is the largest island in Europe.

Geography

The whole state consists of two large islands and about 5000 smaller ones (e.g. the Isle of Man, the Isle of Wight – in the English Channel, the Isles of Scilly, the Hebrids, the Orkneys, the Shetlands and the Channel Islands – Jersey, Sark).

The area of the kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean in the west and the Northern Sea in the east. It is separated from the Continent by the North sea and the English Channel. Between Great Britain and Ireland lies the Irish Sea.

Its closest neighbours are Ireland to west and France to south.

Great Britain is made up of three countries: England, Scotland and Wales. English is spoken everywhere, but in the past, England, Scotland and Wales were countries with different languages.

Each country of the United Kingdom is divided into counties:

England: 46 counties, capital London

Scotland: 33 counties, capital Edinburgh

Wales: 13 counties, capital Cardiff

Ulster: 6 counties, capital Belfast (Ulster is in the north-eastern part of Ireland.)

National anthem is „God, Save the Queen!“

Each part of the kingdom has its own symbol:

England has the red rose

Wales has the leek and daffodil (pórek a narcis)

Scotland has the thistle (bodlák)

Ireland has the shamrock (bílý jetel ® trojlístek)

The relief of the kingdom is variable. British mountains are low, the Scottish Highlands are the highest. There is the highest mountain of the British Isles - Ben Nevis (1343m) . It is followed by Snowdon in Wales (1085). Other ranges are the Grampians in Scotland and the Cambrian Mountains in Wales. The highland areas lie in the north and west and constitue most of Scotland and Wales. The Pennine chain is a region of low mountains. There are very few forests in Britain. Many parts of north-east and south-west England are moorlands.

Rivers and: The most famous English river is The Thames. It is 215 miles long. It flows through London. The Severn, tle longest river in the UK, is 240 miles long. Other important rivers are: Trent, Mersey (port Liverpool), Tyne, Tees, Firth and Clyde (port Glasgow). There is also a network of canals in britain. They were important for inland freight traffic (nákladní doprava) in the 19th century.

Lakes can be found in north England (Lake District), in Scotland (Loch Lomond, Loch Ness) and in Ulster. The most beautiful lakes, like Loch Lomond and Loch Katrine, are in Scotland and Windermere and Derwentwater are in the Lake District.

Climate

oceanic (wet, windy, changeable, the temperatures doesn´t vary), mild, temperate. It winters are mild and summers are not very hot. Thr average temperature ranges from 4°C in winter to 16°C in summer.

People

Population: 57 milion, density of 600 persons per square mile (234 per sq km). Some areas are inhabited more than the others, p.e. parts of the south-east.

Immigration into Britain during the last fifty years has resulted in a variety of non Europen religions – there are Muslims and Hindu as well.

Religion

- there is complete religious freedom in England today

- only the monarch must belong to the Church of England.

The Church of England was founded in 1534, when king Henry VIII broke away from the supermacy (nadvláda) of Rome and declared himself head of the new Church

- The Church of England is sometimes referred to as the Anglican Church, in the sentence that it is part of a worldwide communion of churches whose practice and beliefs are very similar.

The Church of Scotland was created in 1560 by John Knox, who was opposed (čelit)to episcopal (biskupský) rule and belief tht the English Church had not mved sufficiently far from Rome.

- The Scotish church followed the teaching of Calvin.

The Roman Catholic Church virtualy ceased to exist (přestat existovat) in Britain in the 16th centruy, after the Reformation.

- Toady Catholicism is widely practiced through the country, but no Catholic can become monarch.

- There are some Free Churches

Jews in Britain

- the firt grouf of Jews came to Britain at the time of the Norman Conquest. Toady the community of Jews has about 330,000 members and is estimated to be the second largest Jewish population in Europe.

National economy

In 1926 the British Commonwealth of Nations – a free association of equal states under one sovereign – was declared.

The GB belongs to the G-8 countries. Britain is the member of nearly all important international organizations: UN, NATO, OECD, EU.

It has a very developped agricultural system. The main products are wheat, barley, oats (oves), potatoes, beet (třtina), sugar and flax (len). The animals kept on British farms are cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry.

The main raw materials are coal, iron, zinc, lead and oil, tin, chalk

Coal 1) south-east ® Cent

2) Birmingham ® Sheffiels

3) around Newcastle

4) all the Grampian mountains

5) lowlands in Scotland (Glasgow)

Oil – the Northern Sea ® Aberdeen - centre of oil and gas industry

Iron – around Birmingham

The main industries are steel, metals, vehicles, shipbuilding, shipping, banking, textiel, aircraft.

Manufacturing

Steel ® around Birmingham, Sheffield, Newcastle, Glasgou

Cars ® Birmingham, Liverpool, South Wales, Cowentry - Rolce Royce

Ships ® Newcastle, Glasgow, Belfast

Textiles ® cotton imported from USA or Egypt ® Manchester, Leeds

- The north has always been associated with heavy industries, coalmining, iron, steel and textiles, but these are now declining and new industries must be developed.

- Scotland is famous for its whisky distilleries.

History

The first inhabitants came between 3,500 B.C. and 3,000 B.C. These people came from Europe and lived in the south of England. Stonehenge, a huge circle of standing stones, was built by these early inhabitants

The first known inhabitants were the Celts. They crossed the English Channel many centuries before the Christian era. The Celts practiced agriculture and dug up minerals. Their religion was Druidism and their priests were famous for their magic arts.

Roman religion led by Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55 B.C. The Romans conquered much of the island and ruled it for almost 400 years. They built a lot. The Romans could not control the entire island. In the northern part, there lived people called Picts. They attacked Roman settlements. To keep them out, the Roman soldier built great walls with forts and towers. The greatest monument they left is the Hadrians´s Wall, between England and Scotland.

The Romans left Britain at the beggining of the 5th century. And the island was invaded by groups from Germany and Denmark called Angles, Saxons and Jutes. By the 7th centruy they controlled the most of the island. The tribes united to become the Anglo-Saxons. They set up several small kingdoms. The southern part of Britain soon became known as England. The people became known as the English. They followed the Germanic religion.

Pop George I decided to convert the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity. At the end of the 6th century, he sent there a mission of 41 monks under the leadership of monk Augustine. By 700 A.D., all England was Chrstian. One of the monks, called Bede, who stayed in England, wrote the first history of English people.

About 835 A.D., bands of Danes began riding the coast of England. The English kingdom decided to resist and as their leader, they chose Alfred, King of Wessex, after known as Alfred the Great. He became the King of England. Afterwards he signed a treaty with Danes and they could rule the northeas part of the country known as the Danelaw. Alfred was well-educated and he started a school.

In 1042 the witan made Edward the Confessor King of England. He died withou an heir. The most powerful noble Harold became the King of England. But William, Duke of Normandy, a cousin of Edward the Confessor, claimed that before Edward died he had promised him the English throne. In 1066 William led an army across the sea to England. They met Harold´s army in battle near Hastings. After the battle, on Christmas Day, William, now known as William the Conqueror, was crowned King of England in Westminster Abbey.

William introduced feudalism into England. He seized (vzal) the land of English nobels and divided them among Norman nobels. The nobles became William´s vassals (poddaný). During William´s rule England learns Norman customs. The wealthy built castles, cathedrals....

After king Richared called Lionheart died, his brother John started to rule. He increased the taxes and ignored the law. The nobles angry and forced John to sign the Magna Charta. It lessened the king´s power and increased that of the nobles. The Magna Charta brought step towards democracy.

English history is connected with the dynasty of Tudors.

The first member on the throne was Hentry VII. His son became one of the most known from the family.

Henry VIII was born at the end of the 15th centruy. He has an outstanding position among English monarchs. As a young boy, he was strong, generous, talented and skilled in artistic activities. He realized the changes taking place in Europe and he wanted to be a powerful monarch to achieve his goals. His teacher was Thomas More, whom Henry made Lord Chancellor. More was executed, because he didn´t accept Henry´s second marriage with Anne Boleyn.

The most well known fact about Hentry VIII is that he had six wives.

1. Catherine of Aragon – widow of Henry´s elder brother Arthur. She was not able to give him a son, a male heir. He convinced himself that this must be because the marriage is invalid in the eyes of God. Henry wanted an annulement. But it could come only from Pope, unfortunately who was under the unfluence of Catherin´s nephew. Henry´s request led to a conflict with Rome, which resulted in the establishment of the Church of England.

They had a daughter – Mary I.

2. Ann Boleyn, who was later found quilty for adultery (cizoložství) and was executed.

hey had a daughter – Elisabeth I. and a son – Edward VI

3. Jane Seymour died while giving birth

4. Anne of Claves – Henry divorced her (their marriage was arranged only on the base of a portrait)

5. Catherine Howard – executed

6. Catherine Parr outlived him

Henry VIII´s Children

Mary I

- born in 1516, daughter of henry and Catherin of Aragon

- she was declared as a bastard, when Henry repudiated (zavrdl) her mother

- during her brother´s reign she came under the pressure to conform to the Protestant faith.

- when she came to the throne, she devoted herself to the restoration of what she saw as the true religion.

- her marriage with King Philip provoked a rebellion among the Protestant gentry of Kent.

- during her reign, two bishops and one arcibishop were burnt at the stake (na hranici). There were among a total of 300 Protestants victims. Her policy earned her the name Bloody Mary.

- in the closing months of her reign, the English lost Calais in today´s France.

Elisabeth I

- was born on 7th September 1533 to Henry and Anne Boleyn

- she never married and she died at the age of 70 (in 1603) as the last of the Tudors

- she reign 44 years very succesfully and this period is called The Golden Age of English History

- she was very talented and educated a lot. She could speak five languages.

- After her mother was executed, the marriage of her parents was annulled and she became a royal bastard. Henry died when she was only 13 and she became an orphan.

- Elizabeth was second in line to the throne after Mary. Her brother died in 1553 and Mary became the Queen of England.

- Elizabeth was implicated in a dangerous political plot and she was taken into the prison to the Tower of Londen. At Phillip´s behest (příkaz) she was allowed to return and Mary accepted her as a heiress.

- Elizabeth was crowned Queen on the 15 January 1559 and she became Supreme Governor of Church of England. She wanted to rule not by force, but by female democracy. She never married in order to protect her country from others kings and on the other hand in order to keep good relationships with all the empires around.

- During her reign, great voyages of discovery opened the world to english trade and conquest. Sir Walter Raleigh explored the eastern coast of North America and founded there the first British colony and called it Virginia in honour of the Queen.

- For political purposes she travelled around the country. Her reign was the golden age of literature, drama, art and music.

- Elizabeth I died in 1603 naming James VI of Scotland, the son of Mary Stuart, her successor.

Edward VI

- the only son of Henry VIII was a sickly child and died at the age of 10 of tuberculosis or of over-medication.

Queen Victoria

- she came to the throne in 1837 at the age of 18

- during her reign the British Empire grew and grew and the queen was the symbol of the continuity and stability of the British way of life.

- The Victorian age was remarkable for the expansion in wealth and power in Britain. Many changes were taken place ® industry was replacing agriculture, the old aristocracy lost tjeir power to the new middle class.

- She reigned for 64 years, longer than any other sovereign in English history

- She was the first monarch to live in Buckingham Palace

Interesting places

Oxford and Cambridge are the old university towns

Stratford-upon-Avon – the birthplace of William Shakespeare and the place where his plays are performed at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre.

Canterbury – an ancient town with a majestic cathedral. It is famous for Geoffrey Chaucer´s Canterbury Tales.

Lake District – National Park, popular with many tourists and painters.

Bath: remarkably well-preserved Roman baths and unique architectural beuties

Brighton: famous seaside town

Plymouth: an ancient port, famous naval base and modern resort with one of the finest natural harbours in the world.

Stonehange: built about 2,000 B.C. on Salibury Plain, is thought to be a temple for the worship (uctívání) of the sun

Cities

In England:

London

Birmingham – the most industrial city

Leeds

Sheffield – steel industry

Manchaster

Bristol

On the south-east coast, there are ports.

In Scotland: Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen

New Castle – industrial city – building ships

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