History and Traditions in the UK Unit 2: The United Kingdom

What’s the difference between the United Kingdom and Great Britain?

United Kingdom contains Northern Ireland Great Britain only consists of the island that contains Wales, England, and Scotland

Geography of Great Britain An island Effects? Leads to isolation, both culturally and politically, from the rest of Europe Small size Don’t have a lot of resources, had to look elsewhere (hello, imperialism!) Cold, chilly, rainy climate Not the best for farming Makes people miserable and pasty all the time

What types of legitimacy do you think Great Britain has? Traditional Legitimacy? Charismatic Legitimacy? Rational-Legal Legitimacy?

British Legitimacy Britain has the most legitimacy of any of the countries we will cover Traditional Legitimacy How? The monarchy How has traditional legitimacy changed in Great Britain? The monarch has way less power than they used to, now a figurehead Rational-Legal legitimacy Since when? Tough question, started with Magna Carta in 1215, and steadily grew stronger The Constitution of the Crown—A vast selection of important documents, common laws, and cultural customs

I was gonna make y’all guess what was happening here I was gonna make y’all guess what was happening here. Long story short, the Queen is pretty awesome. When the Saudi King visited the UK (this was before women were allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia) the Queen insisted on driving him around.

Important documents that established the tradition of rational legitimacy Magna Carta (1215) Formed the basis for limited government in the Western World (limited the power of the king for the first time) English Bill of Rights (1688) Gave policymaking power to Parliament, not the king Established freedom of speech Set up free and fair elections Common Law—(Not just one document) Decisions made by public officials set precedence for later rulings

The Industrial Revolution Great Britain was the first country to industrialize Caused a huge population explosion Allowed Great Britain to industrialize and IMPERIALIZE because they had a technological advantage

Great Britain’s role in Imperialism 1750-1914 Industrialization allowed them to sell goods to all of their colonies Committed horrible atrocities against most colonies Began to lose their colonies in the early 20th century Why? Weakened by 2 world wars

Sir Archibald Mapsalot

World War 1 and 2 Both wars took a huge toll on Great Britain Lost their colonies Lost their hegemony (good word to know—means global power) London—Heavily bombed, large parts of cities destroyed

The British Welfare State After World War II, British politicians set aside their political differences for a while Noblesse Oblige—The duty of the upper class to take responsibility for the lower classes Collective Consensus—Labour and Conservative Parties worked together to build a welfare state National Health Service—Publically funded healthcare system in the UK Welfare state—A system where the government tries to provide for the health and well-being of its citizens

The British Welfare State Mixed Economy—A government directed economy without giving up private ownership of property (socialism?) Keynesian Economics—Government expanded employment and social programs

Why the comparison?

Review questions! Answer them on your paper, we’ll go over them tomorrow What geographical feature do you think has the biggest impact on the UK? Should the UK keep the monarchy at this point? Explain. Do you think the English Bill of Rights or the Magna Carta is more important? Why? Why was the industrial revolution so important to the UK? Should British people feel guilty about imperialism? Do you think the UK did the right thing by setting up a welfare state after World War II? Explain. Is the USA a mixed economy? What concept/event from this powerpoint do you feel the most unclear on?