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Library card _ most common means of identification for those who do not have a driving license. Citizens do not have identity cards.

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-Local gov. authorities (known as “councils') have powers b/c central gov. has given them powers & allows them to exist. British gov. _ reorganizing local gov. several times & abolishing some local councils & bringing new ones into existence.

-System of local gov. —Similar to the system of national gov.. There are elected representatives, called councillors (= MPs) & meet in a council chamber in the Town Hall or County Hall(= Par.) where they make policy implemented by local gov. officers (= civil servants).

-Local councils manage nearly all public services & fairly free from constant central interference in their work & allowed to collect one kind of tax based on property (all other kinds collected by central gov.), used to be called “rates”, replaced by the *community charge' (poll fax), quickly replaced by the “council tax".

The modern trend _ greater and greater control by central gov. & more laws governing the way councils can conduct their affairs. à national party politics dominates local politics. Successful independent candidates at local elections _rarer

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- A large staff of professional civil servants _ do most of the work of running the department on

the minister’s behalf.

-The civil service _ wholly non-political & its members- forbidden to be candidates for Parliament or to give public support to any political party though they may vote at election.

Government come and go & but the civil service remains amost senior civil servant in a government department  has the title of Permanent Secretary'.

-Civil servants _ Even of the highest rank _ unknown to the public.

-The civil service _ a life’s career & a high salary & absolute Job security (only removed

for improper conduct) .

- The Civil Service Commission _ control entry to the Service & civil servant- pass through a long selection process, with a series of tests designed to measure their competence and suitability & trained at the Civil Service College _ providing courses both for newly-appointed officials and for those at later stages of their careers.

-Promotion: not automatic according to seniority, but selective & based on recommendation of superior officers.

-The chief official of a dep. _ the permanent secretary, below_under-secretaries, assistant secretaries and others in a hierarchy & per. secre. a in close touch with the ministers, issuing directives which will put the ministers policies into force.

-One of the main professional duties of civil servants is to shield their ministers from criticism in the House of Commons & genuine loyalty to the minister in office is the first ele. in the professionalism of any ci. Servant, skill in defending departmental positions _ the second & to reconcile the two à require intelligence, hard work and flexibility. Successful civil servant _rewarded by high pay, state honours and a right to an inflation-proof pension at sixty.

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-The monarch reigns but not rules.

-The PM: the leader of the winning party in the general election _ powerful and important

leader of political party and country & having majority support in Par. & choosing their own

ministers and government.

- The PM is concerned with policy as a whole. Ca. committees usually report directly to

him/her & cabinet officeà directly under the PM's control & works in the same office

& has regular meetings with the sovereign to inform him or her of the activities of the gov.

- Prime Minister’s Question Time : the PM must answer questions _ not known in advance _ in

the Commons, for half an hour each week, on Wednesday afternoon ( Tuesday and Thursday ),

His answers often lead to noisy disagreement b/w members of par. in different parties. The

Occasion is often broadcast on radio or television. It is one of the most interesting discussions in

British politics.

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- The PM chooses a committee of ministers called the Cabinet. This is made up of a selection of senior members Parliament from the House of Commons and some members of the House of Lords.
- Each member of the Cabinet is a minister responsible for a gov. dep. _ for ex. the Secretary of

State for Ed. and Science is resp. for all the schools, universities, and teachers in Britain.

-The Cabinet runs the country & meets at the PM's house _ 10 Downing Street.

-The Cabinet meets once a week & takes new decisions about new policies, the

implementation of existing policies and the running of the various gov. departments.

- There are many cabinet committees, some permanent and meeting regularly, others set up to

deal with special problems _ each committee includes ministers from relevant dep. _ the PM

decides who is to be in each committee, what each one has to do, and what matters are included.

- The cabinet office: an organization which runs the complicated machinery of a modern gov.

·       The Shadow Cabinet: The group of British MPs from the Opposition (=main party opposing the Gov.) who would probably form the Cabinet if their party were in power. Each member of the S.C. speaks on behalf of his/her party on matters for which he/she would be responsible.

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_ Debate about what kind of monarch Britain should have.

_ Two last decades of 20°C _ a general cooling of enthusiasm # the Queen remains popular.

_ The future royal style _ a little less grand & a little less distant

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The advantages _ hypothetical _ other modern democracies manage well with one (England : the monarchy + the gov. )

_ The British monarchy:

+ more important to economy than to the system of the gov.

+ popular with the majority of people.

+ a symbol of continuity & outlet for national pride

+ add colour to people’s daily life (state opening of Par. & royal wedding & Q’s birthday)

_ Glamorous life of the royal _ provide a source of entertainment_& income for tourist industry

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1. the monarch:-personal embodiment of the gov. of the country

people _ critical about the real government

changing gov. _ not threaten the stability of the country as a whole

(clear separation b/w the symbol of the gov. _ queen _ and the actual gov._ministers + MPs.)

2. the monarch;- final check on a gov. that was becoming dictatorial.'

refuse royal assent of a bill _ bad & unpopular _ to become law.

dismiss the PM _ no longer supported by a majority in the H of C

3. the monarch -a practical role

a figurehead & representing country _ performing ceremonial duties real gov. _ run the country.

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practice, reality is different. The Queen has no political power at all.

_ The PM:       + supported by the majority of the MPs in the House of Commons

+ leader of the strongest party in the H of C,

+ decides on the other government ministers...

+ request a dimiss of Par. to hold an elect.( the monarch can’t refuse this request)

_ Since 1708, no monarch has refused the royal assent to a bill passed by Par. royal assent _

automatic.

— In theory, the Queen could refuse the royal assent to a bill passed by Par. _ stop it from becoming law.

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— Head of the state

+ the position of the monarch _ a perfect illust. of the contradictory nature of the consti.

_ The Queen – absolute power (written law) à undemocratic & no legal concept of “the people”

(the American constitutionà gov. of the people for the people by the people)

+ making a speech at state opening of Par. every autumn

+ full right to choose (appoint) / dismiss the government & parliament (the PM & Minis.)

+ embodiment of law at court.

+ above the law

_Head of the church of England.

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A. Character

*reserve  best known quality of the British, esp. the English.

+ not talking much to strangers, not showing much emotion, seldom, getting excited _ ( “stiff upper lip”) _ formal and distant.

+ cold to others, esp. fo Americans.

_ loud speech => ill-bred & conversation _ quiet and restrained.

_ reluctance to communicate with othersimpression of coldness

_ people (in the north) _ not noted for generosity and hospitality

_ people (north & west, esp. the Welsh) _ much less reserved than those of the south and east.

*modesty  another character of the English

Self-praise _ ill-bred

*sense of hụmour        _ resulting from self-deprecation & conceit

_ ability to laugh at oneself, at one’s fault , one’s failure, one’s embarrassments

*politeness  showing consideration for others

not causing any inconvenience for others

B. Manners: polite ways of behaving

_ Good manners _ proof of a person’s worth _ 'manners make man’ (old saying)

_ People still tend to judge others according to how they behave through attitudes

have become more tolerant.

- People_ said to 'have no manners'_ rude, inconsiderate_ eg. picking one`s nose in front of others, yawning without putting their hand in front of their mouth..

— People_ said to be polite and courteous_ considerate towards others, saying little about their own achievements, respecting privacy of others.

1.     Please and thankyou

_ “Please' _ the magic word

_ thank you' or 'thanks' _ 'thank you note”

2.     Table manners

_ Good manners          _ important at meal times.

- when eating at a table with other people, keep napkin below

table on your lap, chew with your mouth closed and not with

food in your mouth, keep your elbows off the table, eat fairly slowly.

_ Bad manners _ take a lot of food all at once, take more until it is offered, reach across the table for salt,.. instead of asking sb. to pass it.

_ When invited to a meal at sb.`s house, take a bottle of wine or chocolate or flowers as a gift.

_ Giving presents to people you do not know well _ not usual

_ Looking round other people’s house without being invited to do so _ not polite

_ Asking permission before smoking in sb.’s house.

_Close friends _ less formal in each other’s house _get their own drinks & help to clear away the meal.

3._Formal and informal manners

_Good manners do not have to be formal _ warm tone & a smile also important

+ “hello' or “good _ polite and friendly

+ “please” and “thank you" to family, friends and strangers

+ making an apology if hurting or upsetting sb.

_ Bad manners _ being late & not telephoning to let peo. know if delayed.

_Keeping feeling under control _ part of good manners & not appropriate to show anger, affection, etc. in public.

_Now, fewer people “stand on ceremony' ( = behave formally ) and even in

formal situations most people are friendly and relaxed and concerned to put others

at their ease.

SOCIAL RULES

Did you know ?

+ It is polite to ask someone you know “How are you?” when you meet them again, or at the start of a phone conversation. The expected reply is “Fine, thanks” or “ Not too bad, thank you” – not a full health report! Strangers usually do not talk to each other on trains.

+It is polite to open a present in front of person who gives it to you.

+It is polite to ask permission to leave the table after a meal, especially in the case of children

+It is not polite to make telephone calls in other people’s houses, unless you ask permission an

to pay for the call.

+ People do not take off their shoes when they enter a house.

+ not polite to stare at Strangers.

+ Children are expected to give up their seat on a bus to an adult, if the bus is full.

RIGHTS

Many of our rights depend on what age we are. These include :

Birth

5          compulsory school attendance

7          draw money from your own post office, bank or building society account

10        be convicted of a criminal offence

12        buy a pet without a parent being present -

13        take a part time job, up to 2 hours a day (after school and on Sundays) and up to 4 hours a day on Saturdays and in school holidays

15        own an air rifle

be fingerprinted

16        leave school

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I_Attitudes

A.    Stereotypes and change (The English)

- Many things regarded typically English from books, songs. plays written a long time ago  no longer representative of modern life.

_ For ex. _ land of tradition

+at the level of public life_ true —> * annual cere. of state opening of Par.

* military cere. of 'trooping the colour

* changing the guard outside Buc. Pa.

+ in private everyday lives_ individuals => less inclined to follow tradition than the people of most of the countries.

* few ancient customs followed by the majority of fam. on special occ.

* fewer sayings & proverbs used in everyday use

* most enthusiastic video-watching peo. in the world => very opposite of a traditional pastime

* ex. of typical British habits no longer typical (image of London city gent’, food and drink, queuing )

B. English versus British

Anti-intellectualism _ typically English, not British

+ intelligence, education, and “high culture' _ not highly regarded

+ many peo. of upper & working class _ not encourage children to go to uni

_ Anti-inte. _held by a small proportion of the pop. but deeply run in society & reflected in the Eng. lang.

+ sb. “who gets all their ideas fr books  negatively spoken of

+ neg. connotation / one who uses trickery / not be trusted

However, the Scottish _ highly value ed., the Irish _ highly value ability with words , the Welsh _ export teachers

C. Multiculturalism :

_ Britain 3 a multicultural society

ex. Indian way of life _ new British peo. _ set of attitudes -

_ Separation fr. native Brit. atti.in new Brit. communities _ narrowing

+ Eng. learnt & spoken

+ having newspaper but not TV stations

_ (in USA_ no need to learn Eng. / have a TV station in non-native Am. comm.)

_ The new British => make contribution to British life & attitudes

D. Conservatism

The British don't like change & do not behave in traditional ways but like symbols of tradition and stability.

E. Being different

_ The Bri _ conservative about anything perceived/ seen as a token of

Britishness.

_Conservatism combined with individualism _ proud of being different

_Reason for not to change _ being different (not being like everyone else)

+Ex:  bus & system of measurement

F. The love of nature

_The British have an
+ no negative associations

+countryside_ peace, quiet, beauty, good health, no crime

_Love of countryside _ another aspect of conservatism

_Gardening _ one of the most popular hobbies.

G. The love of animals

— The British tend to have a sentimental attitude to animals _ 1⁄2 of the households

in Bri. keep at least 1 domestic pet.

H. Formality and informality

— Attitudes toward clothes

+ peo. playing a public role _ obey rigid rules (ex. )

+ peo. not playing a public role _ no rules.

— Like to “dress down” on Sundays.

_ The diference b/w formalites & formality make peo. fr. other countries experience coldness among the British.

+ the key is : being friendly means that not bothering with the formalities.

_ Late 20th C. _ general amount of informality _ increasing

_ tradditional reserve _ breaking down

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Historic cultural differences long divided Celtic Scots of the Highlands and Anglo-Saxons of the Lowlands. Traditionally, the clan, a grouping of an entire family with one patriarchal chief, or laird, was central to Highland culture. Clans were also important as fighting units, and they played an important role in rebellions against the British government. However, depopulation  of  the  Highlands,  which  has  occurred  since  the  18th  century,  fatally weakened the clan structure. Today, the clan in Scotland exists mainly as a cultural ideal rather than as a practical form of social organization. Lowland culture was more heavily influenced by the Industrial Revolution, as well as by Protestantism, which spread throughout much of Scotland during the Reformation. The extension of Highland cultural traditions to the Lowlands—including the use of clan names, kilts, and bagpipes—and the creation of a Scottish mythology and literary culture can be traced to the late 18th and early

19th centuries. At that time writers such as Robert Burns and Sir Walter Scott worked to create a unified sense of Scottish identity. Scots have made many outstanding contributions to the arts and sciences over the centuries. Well-known Scottish painters include the portraitists George Jameson, Allan Ramsey, Sir Henry Raeburn, and Sir David Wilkie, and the impressionist William McTaggart. Leading Scottish writers include the poets Robert Burns, Hugh MacDiarmid, and Edwin Muir, the biographer James Boswell, the novelists Sir Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson, and the dramatist Sir James Barrie.

In the field of philosophy, Scotland has produced numerous influential thinkers, including the medieval theologian John Duns Scotus, the moral philosopher and historian David  Hume,  and  the  renowned  economist  Adam  Smith.  Among  the  great  Scottish scientists are James Watt, who greatly improved the steam engine, Sir William Ramsay, a Nobel Prize-winning chemist, and Sir Alexander Fleming, who received a Nobel Prize for his discovery of the drug penicillin.

Scotland  has  a  rich  musical  heritage.  The  traditional  instruments  of  Scotland include the fiddle, clarsach (the Celtic harp), and bagpipes, an ancient instrument that was probably brought to Scotland by Romans. Scottish music is noted for the wide use of a five-tone, or pentatonic, scale. Traditional folk tunes are not standardized, and a single song may have hundreds of variations in lyrics and music. A revival of traditional Scottish music began in the 1960s, and it continues to influence contemporary musical forms, including Scottish folk rock and Gaelic-language music.

Sports have an important place in Scottish life. The most popular sports in Scotland are soccer and rugby. Professional clubs draw a wide following, and many Scots play on amateur teams. Sports of Scottish origin, including curling and golf, also remain popular. The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of Saint Andrews, located in Saint Andrews on Scotland‘s eastern coast, maintains the world‘s oldest surviving golf course and is a recognized authority on the rules of golf. Shinty, a stick-and-ball game similar to hurling, is a Highland sport. The traditional Highland dress of tartans and kilts adds color to the Highland Games, a series of athletic events held annually in Scotland. A beautiful and varied natural environment supports many forms of outdoor recreation, including hiking, rock climbing, canoeing, sailing, and skiing. Indoor sports, such as billiards, darts, and bowling, also attract many enthusiasts.

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The Church of Scotland, a Presbyterian denomination, is the official state church. Approximately  70  percent  of  the  population  is  Protestant.  Most  of  the  rest  of  the population belongs to the Roman Catholic Church. Other important denominations are the Episcopal  Church  in  Scotland,  Congregationalist,  Baptist,  Methodist,  and  Unitarian.

Immigration in the 19th and 20th centuries contributed new religious groups, including

Jews, Hindus, Muslims, and Buddhists.

English is the main language spoken in Scotland, although 30 percent of the population claims to use the Scottish language, a dialect of the English language. Fewer than 100,000 Scots (mainly inhabitants of the Highlands and island groups) also speak the Scottish form of Gaelic, part of the family of Celtic languages. However, Gaelic has enjoyed a revival in Scotland in recent years. Today, there are more than 2,000 children in Gaelic immersion schools, primarily in the Hebrides and Glasgow. There is also a Gaelic language college, Sabhal Ostaig Mor, located on the Isle of Skye.

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Glasgow (population, 2001, 578,700) is Scotland‘s largest city. It forms part of the metropolis of Clydeside, which is composed of a large number of urban areas, including Clydebank, Paisley, Kilmarnock, and Hamilton. This region is the main industrial and commercial center in Scotland. Edinburgh (449,000) is the capital of Scotland and also the country‘s major administrative and financial center. The city is Scotland‘s main tourist destination and hosts the Edinburgh International Festival, the largest annual arts festival in the  United  Kingdom.  Other  major  cities  are  Aberdeen  (211,300),  a  center  for  oil

production and distribution, and Dundee (150,250).

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The people of Scotland, like those of the United Kingdom in general, are descendants of various ethnic stocks, including the Picts, Celts, Scandinavians, Anglo-Saxons, and newer immigrant groups. Scotland is mainly an urban-industrial society with a small, sparsely scattered  rural  population.  Large-scale  internal  migration  during  the  19th  and  20th centuries weakened the historic regional distinctions between Highlander (primarily Celtic,Catholic, and Gaelic-speaking) and Lowlander (Anglo-Saxon, Protestant, and Scots- speaking).  In the 20th century the arrival of immigrants from former British colonial territories, as well as from other parts of the United Kingdom, has created a culturally diverse population, especially in the two main urban areas of Glasgow and Edinburgh.

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Scotland has an irregular and deeply indented coastline. The rugged western coast, in particular, is pierced by numerous inlets from the sea. Most of these inlets are narrow submerged valleys with steep sides, known as sea lochs (ðLoch Ness). The larger and broader inlets are called firths. The principal firths are the Firth of Lorne, the Firth of Clyde, and Solway Firth. The major indentations on the eastern coast are Dornoch Firth, Moray Firth, the Firth of Tay, and the Firth of Forth. Measured around the various firths

and lochs, the coastline of Scotland is about 3,700 km (about 2,300 mi) long.

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They write 'English' next to 'nationality' on forms when they are abroad and talk about places like Edinburgh as if it was part of England

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Queen Victoria

Queen Victoria (ð Queen Victoria) ruled Britain from 1837 to 1901. Her reign was the longest of any monarch in British history and came to be known as the Victorian era. As embodied by the monarchy, this era was represented by such 19th-century ideals as devotion to family life, public and private responsibility, and obedience to the law. Under Victoria,  the  British  Empire  expanded,  and  Britain  became  an  increasingly  powerful nation.  As  the  country grew  into  an  industrialized  nation,  the length  and  stability of Victoria‘s reign gave an impression of continuity to what was actually a period of dynamic

change.

Trade Unions

In 1868 leaders of individual unions formed a Trades Union Congress to coordinate action among the unions, even though the formation of unions was illegal at the time. Up to that time, only highly skilled workers such as engineers had formed successful unions and

bargained  collectively.  In  1871  the  government  formally  recognized  the  existence  of unions and their right to strike, although picketing remained illegal. At the beginning of the

20th century, representatives from unions and other labor organizations formed the Labour Party to secure the election of politicians sympathetic to labor issues. During the 20th century Labour emerged as one of the two major political parties in Britain.

The twentieth century

By the beginning of this century, Britain was no longer the world's richest country. Perhaps this caused Victorian confidence in gradual reform to weaken. Whatever the reason, the first twenty years of the century were a period of extremism in Britain. The Suffragettes, women demanding the right to vote, were prepared both to damage property and to die for their beliefs; the problem of Ulster in the  north of Ireland led to a situation in which some sections of the army appeared ready to disobey the government; and the government's introduction of new types and levels of taxation was opposed so absolutely by the House of Lords that even Parliament, the foundation of the political system, seemed to have an uncertain future in its traditional form. But by the end of the First World War, two of these issues had been resolved to most people's satisfaction (the Irish problem remained) and the rather un-British climate of extremism died out.

It was from the beginning of this century that the urban working class (the majority of the population) finally began to make its voice heard. In Parliament, the Labour party gradually replaced the Liberals (the 'descendants' of the Whigs) as the main opposition to the Conservatives (the' descendants' of the Tories).

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The conflict

During the century, Parliament established its supremacy over the monarchy in Britain, Anger grew in the country at the way that the Stuart monarchs raised money, especially because they did not get the agreement of the House of Commons to do so first. This was against ancient tradition. In addition, ideological Protestantism, especially Puritanism, had grown in England. Puritans regarded many of the practices of the Anglican Church, and also its hierarchical structure, as immoral. Some of them thought the luxurious lifestyle of the king and his followers was immoral too. This conflict finally led to the Civil War.

The Civil War

The Civil War ended with complete victory for the parliamentary forces. The king (Charles I) was captured and became the first monarch in Europe to be executed after a formal trial for crimes against his people. The leader of the parliamentary army, Oliver Cromwell, became 'Lord Protector' of a republic with a military government which effectively encompassed the whole of the British Isles.

But when Cromwell died, he, his system of government, and the puritan ethics that went with it (theatres and other forms of amusement had been banned) had become so unpopular that the son of the executed king was asked to return and take the throne. However, the conflict between monarch and Parliament soon re-emerged. The monarch, James II, tried to give full rights to Catholics, and to promote them in his government. The

'Glorious Revolution' ('glorious' because it was bloodless) followed, in which Prince William of Orange, ruler of the Netherlands, and his Stuart wife Mary, accepted Parliament's invitation to become king and queen. In this way it was established that a monarch could rule only with the support of Parliament.

The eighteenth century

At the beginning of the century, by agreement, the Scottish Parliament joined with the English and Welsh Parliament at Westminster in London. However, Scotland retained its own system of law, more similar to continental European systems than to that of England.

It does so to this day.

Britain gradually expanded its empire in the Americas, along the west African coast and in India. The increased trade which resulted from the links with these new markets was one factor which led to the Industrial Revolution. The many technical innovations in the areas of manufacturing and transport during this period were also important contributing factors.

Industrial Revolution

Industrial Revolution is the widespread replacement of manual labor by machines that began in Britain in the 18th century and is still continuing in some parts of the world. The Industrial Revolution was the result of many fundamental, interrelated changes that transformed agricultural economies into industrial ones. The most immediate changes were in the nature of production: what was produced, as well as where and how. Goods that had traditionally been made in the home or in small workshops began to be manufactured in the factory.

In  England,  the  growth  of  the  industrial  mode  of  production,  together  with advances in agriculture, caused the greatest upheaval in the pattern of everyday life. Areas of common land, which had been available for use by everybody in a village for the grazing of animals since Anglo-Saxon times, disappeared as landowners incorporated them into their increasingly large and more efficient farms. Hundreds of thousands of people moved from rural areas into new towns and cities. Most of these new towns and cities were in the north of England, where the raw materials for industry were available. In this way, the north, which had  previously been  economically backward compared to the south, became the industrial heartland of the country. In the south of England, London came to dominate, not as an industrial centre but as a business and trading centre. By the end of

the century, it had a population close to a million.

This industrialization, however, did not benefit everyone. If the standard of living rose for some, the quality of life declined for others. Agricultural labor was performed to seasonal rhythms by the light of the sun, but the clock governed factory production, 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. Factory work was dangerous, dirty, and unhealthful, but those who could get it were considered lucky compared to those who begged or starved in the streets. In the first phase of industrialization, workers were unprotected by social legislation—even efforts to eliminate child labor (ðChild Labor in Britain) met serious

opposition. Few safety regulations existed.

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The power of the English monarch increased in this period. The strength of the great barons had been greatly weakened by the Wars of the Roses. Bubonic plague (known in England as the Black Death) contributed to the reduction of their power. It killed about a third of the population in its first outbreak in England in the middle of the fourteenth century and continued to reappear periodically for another 300 years.

The Tudor dynasty (1485- 1603) established a system of government departments, staffed by professionals who depended for their position on the monarch. As a result, the feudal barons were no longer needed for implementing government policy. They were also needed less for making government policy. Parliament was traditionally split into two

'Houses'. The House of Lords consisted of the feudal aristocracy and the leaders of the Church; the House of Commons consisted of representatives from the towns and the less important landowners in rural areas. It was now more important for  monarchs to get the agreement of the Commons for policy-making because that was where the newly powerful

merchants and landowners (the people with the money) were represented.

Unlike in much of the rest of Europe, the direct cause of the rise of Protestantism in England  was  political  and  personal  rather  than  doctrinal.  Henry  VIII  (ðHenry  VIII) wanted a divorce which the Pope would not give him. Also, by making himself head of the

'Church of England', independent of Rome, all church lands came under his control and gave him a large new source of income.

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The successful Norman invasion of England in 1066 (ð 1066) brought Britain into the mainstream   of   western   European   culture.   Previously   most   links   had   been   with Scandinavia.

Unlike the Germanic invasions, the Norman invasion was small scale. There was no such thing as a Norman village or a Norman area of settlement. Instead, the Norman soldiers who had been part of the invading army were given the ownership of land - and of the people living on it. A strict feudal system was imposed. Great nobles, or barons, were responsible  directly  to  the  king;  lesser  lords,  each  owing  a  village,  were  directly responsible to a baron. Under them were the peasants, tied by a strict system of mutual duties and obligations to the local lord, and forbidden to travel without his permission.

The peasants were the English-speaking Saxons. The lords and the barons were the French-speaking Normans. This was the beginning of the English class system. The strong system of government which the Normans introduced meant that the Anglo-Norman kingdom was easily the most powerful political force in the British Isles.

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One reason why Roman Britannia disappeared so quickly is probably that its influence was largely  confined  to  the  towns.  In  the  countryside,  where  most  people  lived,  farming methods had remained unchanged and Celtic speech continued to be dominant. The Roman occupation had been a matter of colonial control rather than large-scale settlement. But, during the fifth century, a number of tribes from the north-western European mainland invaded and settled in large numbers. Two of these tribes were the Angles and the Saxons.

These Anglo-Saxons soon had the south-east of the country in their grasp. In the west of the country their advance was temporarily halted by an army of (Celtic) Britons under the command of the legendary King Arthur (ð King Arthur).

The Anglo-Saxons had little use for towns and cities. But they had a great effect on the countryside, where they introduced new farming methods and founded the thousands of self-sufficient villages which formed the basis of English society for the next thousand

or so years.

Britain experienced another wave of Germanic invasions in the eighth century. These invaders, known as Vikings, Norsemen or Danes, came from Scandinavia.

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The Roman province of Britannia covered most of present-day England and Wales. The Romans imposed their own way of life and culture, making use of the existing Celtic aristocracy to govern and encouraging this ruling class to adopt Roman dress and the Roman language (Latin). They exerted an influence, without actually governing there, over only the southern part of Scotland.

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The system of politics that is used in all four nations today is of English origin, and English is the main language of all four nation.

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People often refer to Britain by another name. They call it " England "

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This state is usually called The Republic of Ireland

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There are two large island and hundreds of much smaller ones