© HarperCollins Publishers 2010 Chronology – sense of period What makes a great power?

© HarperCollins Publishers 2010 Chronology – sense of period Objectives In this activity you will: Give examples of the features of a great power.

© HarperCollins Publishers 2010 Chronology – sense of period What makes a great power? Name all of the countries today you think we can call ‘great powers’. Why did you give the list you did? How do we measure ‘great powers’? What great powers have there been throughout history?

© HarperCollins Publishers 2010 Chronology – sense of period Britain 1919 In 1919, Britain was a great power – it had a huge Empire, which included Australia and South Africa. The navy was the most powerful in the world. The first secretary of the League of Nations was British. Britain had been the first country to industrialise.

© HarperCollins Publishers 2010 Chronology – sense of period China 1919 In 1919, China was not a great power. It no longer had an empire. It was largely a rural, subsistence economy. Some people looked to communism as a way to organise their country. Foreign countries controlled parts of China, eg Britain in Hong Kong and Portugal in Macau.

© HarperCollins Publishers 2010 Chronology – sense of period Britain today The British Empire was dismantled in the 20th century. Countries such as India and South Africa gained their independence. The Empire was replaced with an organisation, headed by the Queen, called the Commonwealth. Britain is a nuclear power. The British armed services serve in conflicts across the world and Britain is part of NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation), a military alliance based on Western Europe and North America.

© HarperCollins Publishers 2010 Chronology – sense of period China today China expanded in the second half of the 20th century. This was as a result of military intervention in Tibet, and by the return of territories such as Hong Kong and Macau from Western powers. China is ruled by a Communist government. It is a nuclear power, a member of the United Nations and is also one of the five powers with permanent seats on the Security Council. The Chinese economy rapidly industrialised in the second half of the 20th century and is now one of the three wealthiest countries in the world. China is home to more than one billion of the world’s population.

© HarperCollins Publishers 2010 Chronology – sense of period What makes a great power? By the 21st century, Britain and China had seemingly swapped places. China is now of the three wealthiest countries in the world and is home to more than one billion of the world’s population. Britain no longer has an empire and has lost much of its manufacturing basis, being more reliant on other industries such as banking.

© HarperCollins Publishers 2010 Chronology – sense of period What makes a great power? Why do the ‘great powers’ of the world change? Do you still consider Britain a ‘great power’? Explain your view.