britain in the 20th century
TRANSCRIPT
BRITAIN IN THE 20TH CENTURY
QUEEN VICTORIA’S DEATHShe gave her name to an era and became the symbolic representation of the prestige and power of her kingdom.
Queen Victoria at the time of herdiamond jubilee celebrating the 60TH year of her reign.
Who celebrated her diamond jubilee in 2012?
The Queen is escorted through Windsor Castle to a nearby mausoleum for internment next to her husband, Albert. Behind her casket are her son, King Edward VII, who would succeed her as King Edward VII, and her grandson German Kaiser Wilhelm II, who, thirteen years later, would lead German forces against Britain in World War I.
King Edward
Kaiser Wilhelm II
THE BRITISH EMPIRE IN 1900
For much of the Victorian age Britain had managed to steer clear of international conflicts. The Boer War (1899-1902) in South Africa, in which it contested control of one of Africa’s riches territories with Dutch settlers, was the first major British military campaign in many years.
THE BOER WAR
An English reporter coming from a
wealthy family was taken prisoner in this war. He would later
become prime minister of Britain.
Who was he?
FIRST WORLD WARCauses in the run-up to the First World War: - International rivalries building up for more than two decades. - The scramble for Africa had pitted European powers against one
another as they tried to gain control of the continent.- Germany was piecing together a naval fleet that threatened Britain’s
dominance of the seas.- Tensions in the Balkans caused by the break-up of the Turkish and
Austro-Hungarian empires
The cartoon portrays Belgium as a threatened child, and the stereotyped figure of Germany, as an aggressive military man with sausages.
This cartoon - 'A Chain of Friendship' - appeared in the American newspaper the Brooklyn Eagle in July 1914. The caption read: “If Austria attacks Serbia, Russia will fall upon Austria, Germany upon Russia, and France and England upon Germany.”
Initially the outbreak of hostilities was greeted with enthusiasm by the British population, but as the months and years dragged on this enthusiasm gave way to horror and revulsion at the loss of human life.
One million Britons died and over two million were wounded. Those returning from the front told of the inhuman conditions they had had to endure in the trenches and of the debilitating effects of gas.
The victory of Britain and its allies in 1918 culminated in the signing of the Versailles treaty (1919) which laid down punitive measures against Germany that would lead to future conflict two decades later.
What happened on the eleventh hour of the
eleventh day of the
eleventh month in
1918?
The poppy is a symbol
of…
After World War 1 industrial profits and wages began to fall and demobilised soldiers found it difficult or impossible to find jobs.By summer 1921 over two million people were unemployed and strikes were on the increase. There was widespread suffering and deprivation.
THE DEPRESSION (1918-1939)
The worst period of the Depression followed the crash of the Wall Street financial markets in 1929.
In Britain, unemployment reached 3 million in 1932.
Slowly, the British economy stabilised under the National Government and unemployment began a steady decline after 1935.
Re-armament before World War Two helped to end the depression.
WALL STREET CRASH 1929
The Suffragettes were educated ladies who have been arguing in favor of voting rights for women since the 1860s.
In 1903, Mrs. Emmeline Pankhurst founded the Women´s Social and Political Union.
The right to vote was granted in 1918, to women over thirty and in 1928 to women over twenty-one.
SUFFRAGETTE MOVEMENT
World War Two in Europe began on 3rd September 1939.
Britain and France declared war on Germany after Hitler invaded Poland.
Britain and France had guaranteed the territorial integrity of Poland in March 1939.
WORLD WAR II
The Blitz was the sustained and intensive bombing of the United Kingdom by Nazi Germany during 1940–1941.
The Blitz killed ~43,000 people and destroyed over a million house.
It failed to achieve the Germans' objectives of knocking Britain out of the war or rendering it unable to resist an invasion.
About 800,000 children were evacuated to protect them from the air raids.
THE BLITZ
WINSTON CHURCHILL
An almost universal sense of national pride in the country’s determination to resist German invasion, epitomised by the inspiring rhetoric of wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill, produced a degree of national unity not seen since Victorian times.
BLOOD, TOIL TEARS AND SWEAT
"I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat."
We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering. You ask, what is our policy? I can say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be;
QUEEN ELIZABETH II
God Save the Queen
She was crowned in 1953. She has ruled for longer than any other Monarch in British
history. She is Queen of a number of Commonwealth countries as
well as the United Kingdom. Nowadays, her role is mainly ceremonial.
IRELAND
Which was the first English colony?
IRISH CONFLICT
The Commonwealth is a group of 53 states, all of which (except for two) were formerly part of the British Empire. It was seen as a way of maintaining global unity through shared language, history, and culture.
THE WELFARE STATE
SOCIETY IN THE 1960S The 60s were dramatic years in Britain. More permissive society. Increase in the proportion of teenagers. Economic affluence. Radical political protest. Music expressing both youth deviance and commercialism (e.g.
the Beatles and the Rolling Stones)
FROM THE 1970S ONWARDS Britain entered the European Community in 1973.
Who is talking?
Margaret Thatcher, also known as the Iron Lady, was Britain’s first female prime minister.
She remains a controversial figure. Some see her as having saved
Britain from economic decline, others believe she destroyed the livelihoods of millions of workers.
What do you think Thatcher and Churchill
have in common?
In 1992 Channel Tunnel opens, linking London and Paris by rail.
In 1994 first women priests are ordained by the Church of England.
In 31 August 1997 Diana, Princess of Wales, dies in a car crash in Paris.
1 January 1999 Britain decides not to join the European Single Currency.
7 July 2005 suicide bombers kill 52 people on London's transport system.
In 31 August 1994, the IRA declared a ceasefire.
OTHER MAJOR EVENTS