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Shakespeare is often said to to be the greatest British author of all times. Read on his legacy here.

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Shakespeare is often said to to be the greatest British author of all times. Read on his legacy here.

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Website by Sima Dincel

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Lets discover the life of one of the world's greatest dramatist:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shakespeare_Droeshout_1623.jpg
Here are some interesting Facts about Shakespeare:

Actually nobody knows when he was born. But he was baptised 26 April 1564, Stratford. He died 23 April 1616.

He wrote about 37 plays and 154 sonnets. This means Shakespeare wrote an average of 1.5 plays a year since he first started writing in 1589.

His greatest plays include Hamlet (to be or not to be), Othello, Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet.

He was 18 when he married Anne Hathaway (who was eight years older). The marriage of an elder woman would have been controversial at the time, especially considering she was pregnant.

Their first child Susanna was born six months after they married. After the birth of Susanna, Hathaway gave birth to twins - Judith and Hamnet. Hamnet sadly died at the age of 11.

Him (middle), his wife (chair, right), his son Hamnet(behind Shakespeare, left), his two daughters Judith and Susanna (left and right)

source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shakespeare%27s_family_circle.jpg

Shakespeare's plays got a royal hype. Both Queen Elizabeth and James VI of Scotland and I of England would often hire Shakespeare's company to come and perform at the royal court.

The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with him. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the King's Men.

The theatre in Shakespeare's time were different to the ones we have today. There were no female actors (women's parts were played by men), and audiences could be as loud and chaotic as they wanted. They would shout, boo and even throw food at the actors they didn't like.

His plays are extremely known, his play Hamlet has been even translated into Klingon.

Shakespeare never actually published any of his plays. John Hemminges and Henry Condell recorded and published his plays under the name ''The First Folio''.

source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Title_Page_-_Shakespeare_First_Folio_(1623),_title_page_-_BL.jpg
https://vimeo.com/137143196
Trailer for the movie ‚' Romeo and Juliet'' with Leonardo DiCaprio

Shakespeare's plays, listed by genre

http://mrsbuellsclass.weebly.com/plays-of-shakespeare.html

change of performances over time

https://www.britishcouncil.org/voices-magazine/how-have-performances-shakespeare-changed-over-time

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Lets discover the life of one of the world's greatest dramatist: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shakespeare_Droeshout_1623.jpg Here are some interesting Facts about Shakespeare: Actually nobody knows when he was born. But he was baptised 26 April 1564, Stratford. He died 23 April 1616. He wrote about 37 plays and 154 sonnets.

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The UK is indeed leaving the EU! Read on this issue here!

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The UK is indeed leaving the EU! Read on this issue here!

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Website by Philip Bräuer

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(or "how to ruin your economy 101")

source: https://pxhere.com/de/photo/977982

Table of Contents:

What is Brexit?

Why do(n't) people want it?

Why is it so controversial?

What happened after Brexit?

What is Brexit?

Definition according to the Oxford Dictionary: Brexit used to refer to the departure of the United Kingdom from the European Unionnoun ¹

The term Brexit is a combination of the words British and exit which was probably created in the year 2012 and means "the British exit out of the EU".

It became politically relevant after a nationwide referendum on the 23rd of June 2016 in which 52% of the voters voted to leave the EU.

The UK officially left the EU on March 28th 2019 October 31st 2019 31st of January 2020 at 11pm GMT².

Why do(n't) people want Brexit?

The UK doesn't have to pay the EU Membership Fee of ~8.5Bn £

Economical losses caused by limited trading possibilities with other EU member states outweigh the 8,5Bn £

More sovereignty and self government because the parliament isn't restricted by EU guidelines anymore

London, the economic center of the UK, could lose many foreign investors because it was always seen as a "gateway" to the European market

Immigration from (Eastern) European countries can be restricted

According to conservative politicians terrorist can't get in the country anymore after the borders are closed

Why is it so controversial?

no nation has ever left the EU

52% voted for Brexit so it was a very close vote

Theresa May (British PM from July 2016 to July 2019) struggled to may a good post-Brexit deal with the EU Commission.

Boris Johnson (British PM from July 2019 until now) was seen by many as incompetent and was a Brexit Hardliner who supported a No-deal Brexit

The other EU member states desperately want the UK to stay because its one of the big economic powers within the union

The Irish border conflicts may return if Ireland has to close its borders to Northern Ireland

Most of the Scottish people voted against Brexit but still have to leave the EU so the question arose if Scotland should leave the UK and remain in the EU

What happened after Brexit?

The UK is officially not an EU Member state anymore but it still pays the Fees and everything is like before Brexit for a transition period which should last until December 31st 2020⁴

The EU and the UK started working on a trade deal which should be finished until December 31st 2020⁴

If there is no trade deal until December 31st 2020 there will be a no-deal Brexit⁴

Sources:

¹ https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/brexit
2 3 4 https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-46393399 https://www.theweek.co.uk/brexit-0 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/DE/TXT/?uri=CELEX:12020W/TXT

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(or "how to ruin your economy 101") source: https://pxhere.com/de/photo/977982 What is Brexit? Why do(n't) people want it? Why is it so controversial? What happened after Brexit? What is Brexit?

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Podcast: Comment on "Is a No-Brexit coming because of Covid-19?"

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Podcast: Comment on "Is a No-Brexit coming because of Covid-19?"

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Philip Bräuer

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https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Margaret_Thatcher_stock_portrait_(cropped).jpg

"Margaret Thatcher" is a name you should never forget. Even though we have probably all read about her in a history book, I was shocked how little I knew about "The Iron Lady" when scanning her Wikipedia article. So before discussing her welfare policies, of which

I´m sure you have never heard before, I´d like to give you some basic knowledge:

Margaret Thatcher was born in 1925 in Grantham, Lincolnshire, where she spent a rather usual youth. Her stunning career in politics began after she graduated from Summerville College in Oxford in 1947, when she decided to join the Conservative Party, the Tories. Quickly she became Me mber of Parliament and soon was named Education Secretary. When she was elected leader of the Tories in 1975, she was only a stone´s throw away from fulfilling her dream: In 1978 she finally became the first female Prime Minister of Great Britain. Thatcher would hold that office for more than 11 years, until she had to leave Downing Street in 1990. Her government´s policies have profoundly shaped Great Britain - a wealthy Britain, a powerful Britain, but also a deeply divided Britain that is coined by social inequality, high youth unemployment and discrimination. Margaret Thatcher passed away in 2013.

celebrations in Yorkshire for Thatcher´s funeral
The "Iron Lady" - heartless leader or smart economist?
When Thatcher became Prime Minister, Great Britain was in a bad shape. The unemployment rate was steadily increasing and as a consequence social expenses were exploding. The state's debt made inflation rise to 17%. After Thatcher had been sworn into office, things began to change. She thought entirely different about the welfare state than her predecessors. Actually, she saw things in a very American way: In an effort to boost the economy, she advised her government to interfere with the market as little as possible, creating an almost entirely free market. She introduced legislation[2] to disempower labor unions, prevent strikes and to privatize state assets (gas, housing, state - owned companies). Her major aim was to decrease the state's expenses in order to stop inflation. Thatcher's idea was: If there is less money available to everyone, the money's value will automatically increase and inflation will be gone. This form of economic policy is called monetarism (= keeping an eye on the amount of money circulating).

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Montagem_de_Margaret_Thatcher.jpg

Kickin´ the life of the workers - "There is no such thing as society"
Therefore her Administration decided to dramatically cut funding[3] of the welfare state. In her opinion, state and society had to be strictly separated, meaning that every individual had to take care of himself, receiving no help from the state. This ideology fundamentally contradicts the idea of a welfare state. Nonetheless the social security system wasn´t completely abolished by the Thatcher Administration. But social expenses were extremely limited. Those suffering most from the funding cuts were workers and the poor. They were the big losers of Thatcher's policies, they had already lost influence through the disempowerment of labour unions, but now they also received less financial aid from the state.
Consequences of Thatcherism
However Thatcher's policies seemed to boost the economy. By 1985 inflation had decreased to less than 4%. Furthermore the government was able to reduce its debt significantly and could even lower taxes. But there are always two sides to a story: The unemployment rate didn´t change at all. In fact there was more homelessness, poverty and social inequality. This development can be traced back to the decline of welfare expenses. From the outside everything looked great (see cartoon) - inflation down, GDP up and business booming again.

But the government´s treatment of the poor caused social unrest. That´s why Margaret Thatcher is called the "Iron Lady". By hazarding the consequences of her legislation to the poor, she created a prosperous Britain for the wealthy, where the gap between rich and poor increased significantly.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sand_Painting_of_Mrs._Thatcher_the_%27Iron_Lady%27_incorporating_magnetised_iron_filings_in_the_composition.jpg
Margaret Thatcher´s way of governing is called Thatcherism. It has coined British politics for decades. Not even Labour fundamentally changed her policies when they took over by the end of the 20 th century. Individualism is still deeply rooted in the British welfare system, even though welfare spending has increased (see chart 1). Some say Thatcher saved the British economy, others say she knowingly caused problems like social injustice and structural weakness in some regions.
Social inequality - the price for creating a working economy?
"It´s for the greater good" is a phrase you can frequently hear in movies, when a hero sacrifices himself for a greater purpose. That leads to the question, if leaving the poor and workers behind by decreasing financial aid was Thatcher´s sacrifice for the greater good. Doubtlessly it was not. When a hero sacrifices himself for the greater good, he sacrifices himself for the people, because the greater good are the people. Thatcher sacrificed the poor for the wealthy.
COVID 19 without a welfare state?!
Her legislation was highly injust and caused long-term social imbalance[4]. In my point of view it is also the government's job to care for it's citizens. These days, in times of COVID 19, you can see the importance and the benefits of the welfare state. However, the question whether the "Iron Lady" was a heartless leader or a smart economist remains disputable. Maybe she was both.

Sources and additional links to deepen your knowledge:

Sources:
https://www.bpb.de/izpb/10558/sozialstruktur-und-gesellschaftspolitik https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=http%3A%2F%2F92506321.weebly.com%2Fwomens-activist.html&psig=AOvVaw3eznX0v7_hzczRv9xBxElB&ust=1588758708933000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCMDmxtC5nOkCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAc http://92506321.weebly.com/womens-activist.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Thatcher https://www.dw.com/de/margaret-thatcher-die-eiserne-lady/a-16729163 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgP-vYJXmb https://www.theguardian.com/global/2018/oct/28/future-welfare-state-cuts-care-health-education https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labour_Party_(UK)#New_Labour_(1994%E2%80%932010) https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2003/aug/06/society.labour https://www.ukpublicspending.co.uk/uk_welfare_chart_40.html https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/apr/12/thatcher-britain https://www.historyextra.com/period/what-is-the-nature-of-margaret-thatchers-legacy/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_miners%27_strike_(1984%E2%80%9385) https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/09/world/europe/former-prime-minister-margaret-thatcher-of-britain-has-died.html https://www.nytimes.com/1984/01/22/world/mrs-thatcher-calls-for-debate-on-welfare-state.html https://www.zeit.de/1989/19/zehn-jahre-und-kein-bisschen-leiser
additional links:

German article about Thatcher´s welfare legislation and economic policies: https://www.welt.de/print-welt/article433672/Die-eiserne-Lady-und-der-Abschied-vom-Wohlfahrtsstaat.html

NYTimes news report from 1984: https://www.nytimes.com/1984/01/22/world/mrs-thatcher-calls-for-debate-on-welfare-state.html

article about how Thatcher has changed Britain: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/apr/12/thatcher-britain

short documentary about Thatcher´s political life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0Ac3v-0tks&t=497s

short video about Thatcher´s economic policies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0weVMaT4fkI&t=71s

welfare state: job of the British welfare state is to ensure the well being of all Britons (dt. Sozialstaat)

[2] legislation: rules or laws relating to a particular activity that are made by the government

[3] funding: money made available for a particular purpose

[4] imbalance: lack of balance

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Margaret Thatcher and the consequences for the welfare state

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https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Margaret_Thatcher_stock_portrait_(cropped).jpg "Margaret Thatcher" is a name you should never forget. Even though we have probably all read about her in a history book, I was shocked how little I knew about "The Iron Lady" when scanning her Wikipedia article.

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Why is traffic in London an issue? Find out more here!

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Why is traffic in London an issue? Find out more here!

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Many cars, buses, taxis and trucks in a long traffic jam - that's a typical morning in the capital of England, London. London has huge problems in its traffic everyday. The situation is so bad that the citizen would be faster by walking or cycling. Scenes like this can be seen citywide and had become noticeably worse since 2015. The worsening situation has many reasons, including the growth of Uber cars and Amazon deliveries and installation of cycle lanes. Among these factors, there is one noticeable by its absence - the private car. Thats unexpected, but the number of people travelling into central London in their own car in the morning has dropped. It fell by half between 2000 and 2014 and now one car accounts for 20 people. The reason for this is the traffic congestion charge, which lead that only rich people drive their car now. Another reason for the traffic congestion is London's growing economy. Leon Daniels, managing director for surface transport at Transport for London says: "Every crane you see is a building, and all those buildings are eventually going to be full of people, and all those people are going to need their photocopier paper delivered". The delivery is unregulated and the congestion charge is a small cost of doing business. People want things instantly delivered - the traffic is full of delivery vehicles. According to most sources of data the overall amount of traffic is either static or falling, traffic levels have been the same. However, traffic speeds have fallen noticeably. All this huge problems in traffic in London, make the city the sixth worst city in the world for traffic jams.

source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Traffic_Light_Tree,_Poplar.jpg

a normal day in London Protests against London traffic

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d0/London_Traffic_%28230032487%29.jpg/800px-London_Traffic_%28230032487%29.jpg

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Protestors_in_london_climb_traffic_lights.jpg

227 hours a year in traffic jams

A research from motor data company INRIX shows that London's drivers waste 227 hours a year stuck in traffic, travelling at an average speed of 7mp/h. Thats a lot and makes London the sixth worst city in the world for traffic jams. But thats not all: London drivers lost up to £1,680 per year due to congestion. Congestion costs UK billions of pounds each year. Without any solution it will continue to have serious consequences for national and local economies. 227 hours are a lot and these traffic jams are bad for business, air quality and for people's temper, too. The traffic problems must be resolved and London is trying to do so, e.g with contegion charge

London congestion charge - the solution ?

To solve this huge traffic problem the congestion charge was introduced on 17 February 2003. This is a fee charged on most cars and vehicles operating within the Congestion Charge Zone in Central London between 07:00 and 18:00 Mondays to Fridays. Its a simple system: if you enter the zone (map below), you have to pay a daily rate. The charge has risen from £5 in 2003 to £11,50 today. So did it really help to solve the problems ? As already mentioned, with this fee, the number of private cars decreased. In 2006 Transport for London reported that the charge reduced traffic by 15% and congestion by 30%. This effect continued to today. But while private car numbers are down the number of hired vehicles is up. Trips by Taxi and Uber increased by 29,2% since 2000. So, the congestion charge is a beginning, it helped to decrease the private cars, but not really to decrease the cars at all. London has to try to solve their traffic problem in an other way, e.g. new traffic system or extend their railways.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:London_Congestion_Charge_Zone_since_2011.png
Here is a short insight into London's traffic:
https://theconversation.com/london-congestion-charge-what-worked-what-didnt-what-next-92478 https://inrix.com/press-releases/scorecard-2018-uk/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_congestion_charge https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/london-uk-most-congested-cities-traffic-hours-driving-roads-busy-birmingham-glasgow-manchester-a8775056.html https://www.ft.com/content/40774fc6-76b5-11e6-bf48-b372cdb1043a

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Many cars, buses, taxis and trucks in a long traffic jam - that's a typical morning in the capital of England, London. London has huge problems in its traffic everyday. The situation is so bad that the citizen would be faster by walking or cycling.

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Have the British and the Americans been friends or foes in the past? Find out more here!

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Have the British and the Americans been friends or foes in the past? Find out more here!

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S﻿PECIAL RELATIONSHIP is an unofficial term used to describe the political, economic, cultural, diplomatic and military

Talking about the special relations, it`s important to keep in mind that the governments of the two nations were enemies after the

The term itself can be traced back to the former British Prime minister Winston Churchill, who first used it in a speech in 1945.

The New York Times Herald quoted him in November 1945:
"We should not abandon our special relationship with the United States and Canada about the atomic bomb and we should aid the United States to guard this weapon as a sacred trust for the maintenance of peace."
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/Anglo-American_Exposition_poster%2C1914.jpg
due to disagreements about the occupation of the Suez Channel.

American request for military assistance in the Vietnam War.

Margaret Thatcher were closer than in previous years.

It might be interesting to know about the current situation that people are not sure about wheter there still is this "Special relationship" or not.

One of many reasons for that is Trump famously criticizing Theresa May for her handling of Brexit.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/Anglo-American_research_on_the_human_genome_represented_by_Uncle_Sam_and_John_Bull_knitting_DNA._Wellcome_L0020443.jpg
Then, afte r Boris Johnson became Prime Minister, Trump praised him and celebrated comparisons that had been made between the two of them,

whereas Trump himself is greatly unpopular in the United Kingdom.

Sources:
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/apr/28/britain-america-history-special-relationship-highs-and-lows-churchill-to-trump
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Relationship

* https://oxfordre.com/americanhistory/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199329175.001.0001/acrefore-9780199329175-e-285

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom%E2%80%93United_States_relations#Special_Relationship

additional source:

Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ri4prdsa5Q

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Britain and the USA - a special relationship

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S﻿PECIAL RELATIONSHIP is an unofficial term used to describe the political, economic, cultural, diplomatic and military Talking about the special relations, it`s important to keep in mind that the governments of the two nations were enemies after the The term itself can be traced back to the former British Prime minister Winston Churchill, who first used it in a speech in 1945.

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Podcast: News report on "Margaret Thatcher"

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Podcast: News report on "Margaret Thatcher"

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Find out more about Queen Elizabeth II and her legacy!

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Find out more about Queen Elizabeth II and her legacy!

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If you are citizen of an European Union member nation, you may not use this service unless you are at least 16 years old.

Want to get organized in 2022? Let Dokkio put your cloud files (Drive, Dropbox, and Slack and Gmail attachments) and documents (Google Docs, Sheets, and Notion) in order. Try Dokkio (from the makers of PBworks) for free. Available on the web, Mac, and Windows.

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Queen Elizabeth II - an example of an untiring public service

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If you are citizen of an European Union member nation, you may not use this service unless you are at least 16 years old. Want to get organized in 2022? Let Dokkio put your cloud files (Drive, Dropbox, and Slack and Gmail attachments) and documents (Google Docs, Sheets, and Notion) in order.

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News podcast "Britain and the USA - a special relationship"

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News podcast "Britain and the USA - a special relationship"

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Join an activity with your class and find or create your own quizzes and flashcards.

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What is the Commonwealth of Nations and its relevance today! Read on this topic here!

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What is the Commonwealth of Nations and its relevance today! Read on this topic here!

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The Commonwealth of Nations is an association of souvereign states,

including the United Kingdom and many of it`s former dependencies.

It was initially founded to tie the Dominions to the British Empire. These

were British colonies who were administering themselves. Today 30%

of the world`s Population live in states that are members of the

Commonwealth.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_British_Commonwealth_of_Nations_-_together_44-pf-437-2016-001-ac.jpg
1. History of the Commonwealth of Nations

Since the United States of America becoming Independent from Britain many British colonies were granted the state as a Dominion. That means Britain was only interfering in issues concerning their Institution and foreign policies. During the first world war the Dominions became like-minded equals to Britain. Thus, in the years after, the indendence of the Dominions was nearly entirely abolished. As a result, the British Empire became the British Commonwealth. It was now a community of states.

With the receding supremacy of the British, more and more colonies gained independency. Thus, the Commonwealth was no longer British, but multiracial and it`s Name was channged, in 1947, to Commonwealth of nations.

During the next decades more former colonies joined the Commonwealth. Today there are 54 member states in the Commonwealth, of whom some aren`t even former British colonies.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/The_Commonwealth_of_Nations.PNG
2. Organisation of the Commonwealth of Nations

The Commonwealth of Nations is an association of states, that has it`s main Office, the Commonwealth Office, in London. To Exchange Information, there are delegates of every Country in the Commonwealth Office. Furthermore, the is a summit every two years. It`s located in a different state of the Commonwealth every time. At the summit the heads of every Nation discuss important political and economic issues. Also, if there are sanctions against one of the Commonwealth states, this is decided at the summit.

The head of the Commonwealth is Always the British Monarch. Just as in the british constitution, the Monarch is a representative figure. The power belongs to the heads of Government.

3. Purpose of the Commonwealth of Nations

The Commonwealth was founded to substitute the British empire. Even though the British colonies became Independent states, they should still remain connected to the United Kingdom. Today it has the Purpose of facilitating commerce beween the countries as well as retaining Democracy. Also it helps developing poorer countries inside the association. At the Moment for example, the Commonwealth funds poorer countries with masks to protect People from the corona Virus.

There also is a Sports Event called the commonwealth games, where every four years, the best atheletes from every Nation of the Commonwealth compete in different Sports.

If to want to be up to date with current Events around the Commonwealth, you should check out it`s official website:

http://www.commonwealthofnations.org/

Also, there are some interesting Videos and documentations About the Commonwealth of Nations:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ld8uuaNNjeQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbLFWiDPiro

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVj1VdJwsfc

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The Commonwealth of Nations is an association of souvereign states, including the United Kingdom and many of it`s former dependencies. It was initially founded to tie the Dominions to the British Empire. These were British colonies who were administering themselves. Today 30% of the world`s Population live in states that are members of the Commonwealth.

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Find out more on the global financial crisis!

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Find out more on the global financial crisis!

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Website by Julia Albrecht

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"Financial illiteracy is like being in a rainstorm and trying to jump in between the raindrops... eventually it all catches you at the same time." ― Johnnie Dent Jr.

The global financial crisis (GFC) starting in 2007 was a severe worldwide economic crisis, which consequences can still be felt today.
Key facts
The burst of the real estate bubble in the United States caused the GFC. The costs for real estate acquisition were rising constantly. As the prices were expected to rise furtherly, many people bought houses by using credits thinking that the value of the houses would rise that much in the next weeks that they could then repay the credit and even profit from it. That is why more and more citizens with a rather low income bought credits. In some extreme cases, those credits were called NINJA-credits ( No income, no job, no a sset). Suddenly, the costs for real estate acquisition sank heavily and lots of people could not pay back the credits. Therefore, the banks made severe debts and the purchased real estate lost their value.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2007-2009_World_Financial_Crisis.svg

In order to benefit, the banks took higher risks in their business practice. The investment banks led the mortgages bundle to Collateralized Debt Obligations that were surprisingly supported by rating agencies. That means that the mortgages were summarized with other financial products. As a result, the banks didn't trust each other anymore so the financial currencies got into difficulties.

Then, on 15 September 2008, the investment bank Lehman Brothers went bankrupt. Up to that point, it had been assumed that governments would always step in to help any bank that got i nto serious trouble. When Lehman Brothers went down every bank was automatically deemed to be risky and as a consequence the global economy went into freefall.

Many industrial countries suffered from a severe recession. Low interest rates enabled countries with a rather weak economy (e.g. Greece) to loan assets easily and under particularly good conditions, which led to them loaning way more money than their real economy was capable of. In Europe, a currency crisis occurred. Almost all European countries registered a growing national de bt.
Consequences for London
The Bank Northern Rock was the first to collapse in England and it became a symbol of the GFC. The photos of terrified customers that queued up in front of this bank to withdraw money went viral. Nowadays, the British banks are still deeply in debt.

Since the nineties, London's economy had evolved rapidly and the town became a worldwide Mecca for the financial sector. It was one of the most important growth tribe of Britain's economy by times of the crisis and produced 10.1% of the GDP in 2007. London was even more dependent from the banking world. Therefore, they had to face huge losses due to GFC.

Most of the bank employees suffered from intense fear of the future as lots of them lost their job. Moreover, the bonus payment they usually received every year had been cancelled.

The financial crisis is also assumed by many experts to be a reason for Brexit. Former Chancellor Alistair Darling thinks that the 2008 banking crisis and subsequent recession had shaken people's faith in structures and authority and became deeply political.

Santa Crisis is an allegory of the financial crisis that swept the world in 2007. Santa Crisis was conceived in May 2009 by conceptual artist Little Shiva and by anthropologist-economist Paul Jorion.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Santa-Crisis.jpg
Videos and Documentary Additional sources
There are lots of movies about the global financial crisis. Here is a list of some of them.

The Big Short (2015)

Margin Call (2011)

Inside Job (2010)

99 Homes (2014)

The Queen of Versailles (2012)

Sources

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The global financial crisis starting in 2007; consequences for London

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"Financial illiteracy is like being in a rainstorm and trying to jump in between the raindrops... eventually it all catches you at the same time." ― Johnnie Dent Jr. The global financial crisis (GFC) starting in 2007 was a severe worldwide economic crisis, which consequences can still be felt today.

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Podcast "Global financial crisis and its consequences for London"

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Podcast "Global financial crisis and its consequences for London"

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Julia Albrecht

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Find out more about the Industrial Era in Britain!

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Find out more about the Industrial Era in Britain!

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Website by Laetitia Schüssler

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https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:UK_Coal_Production.png

heyday = a phase of particularly high economic success; a period of prosperity

crucible (n) = figurative expression for a cultural mixture; melting pot

colliery = another expression for mine/pit

Industrial Revolution in the North

Industrialization in Great Britain began in the late 18 th century when the first machines replacing handpowered tools and manual workers were invented. One of the most important novelties was the coal-powered steam engine, which soon spurred Britain's locomotives and steam boats. The largest natural coal resources were to be found in the North and the Midlands, where coal deposits in rocks from the Carboniferous age occur.

The heyday of the Industrial Revolution in the North was thereof closely connected to the development of the first deep pit coal mines. However, the building of mills to gain water power of the many Northern rivers and the comparatively cheap labour also played a vital role in the establishment of a strong Northern economy.

Northern economy in the late 19 th and early 20 th century was booming with the export of coal, steel and many other steam-engine manufactured goods like textiles, or heavy industry products such as ships or train wagons. Typical industries in the North were mining, steel making and weaving. Many industries in coastal towns, however, soon specialized on shipbuilding due to their proximity to the ocean, where their products could be sailed off to their buyers directly.

With a flourishing economy the Northern industrial cities like Manchester and Liverpool became crucibles of many political changes in the 19 th and 20 th century - from trade unionism to Manchester capitalism.

Mine closures and deindustrialization

A coal pit in Staffordshire

source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/Among_the_Coal_Pits%2C_Staffordshire_-_John_Keeley_-_ref_Keeley-98134.jpg

source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/Familiar_view_on_coalfield_hillsides_-_geograph.org.uk_-_896806.jpg

The economic recession in the North began with the Great Depression after the first world war, as world trade declined and the demand for coal, steel and ships shrunk. After heavy bombing of Northern industrial towns in the second world war, coal production had decreased as much, as that a national campaign was raised to get the collieries back into effect as Britain's productions capacities had been drained by a lack of energy resources.

With deindustrialization in the second half of the 20 th century the North lost most of its former prestige, as coal was no longer needed as a main supplier of energy. Between 1947 and 1994 the national government decided to gradually close 950 mines. Even the Miner's Strike 1984/85 could not prevent the loss of many jobs and often even brought additional hardship to the small mining towns as some campaigns provoked conflict with national authorities.

This short video about the Miner's strike might help you to get a feeling of what the situation was like (even though it is not set in the North itself): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OA-76QeiuSQ

After the mass mine closures, today only 9% of the Northern workforce are still employed in manufacturing as the main industry has moved on to the service sector. However, the North has remained the poorer part of the country with a typically lower income, higher unemployment rates and more affordable housing than in the South. These persistent differences cause a large part of what refer to as the North-South divide today.

To stimulate the Northern economy, the government has organised a series of programmes to invest in and develop the region and imposed devolution measures to give additional power and money to Northern councils. Northern communities are also receiving help from European funds e.g. the European Union Structural Fund, which helped to create approximately 70,000 jobs after the Global Financial Crisis.

Spectators are worried now, that the loss of these funds in combination with the economic consequences of the Brexit might pose another threat to economic growth in the North.

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The North and the heyday of the Industrial Revolution, mine closures and regeneration

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https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:UK_Coal_Production.png heyday = a phase of particularly high economic success; a period of prosperity crucible (n) = figurative expression for a cultural mixture; melting pot colliery = another expression for mine/pit Industrial Revolution in the North Industrialization in Great Britain began in the late 18 th century when the first machines replacing handpowered tools and manual workers were invented.

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Podcast by Laetitia Schüssler

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Join an activity with your class and find or create your own quizzes and flashcards.

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Podcast: Facts about Scottish history, Today's topic: Bonnie Prince Charlie

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Podcast: Facts about Scottish history, Today's topic: Bonnie Prince Charlie

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Antonella Robl

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Podcast about "Politics in Europe", Today's topic: Queen Elizabeth II

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Podcast about "Politics in Europe", Today's topic: Queen Elizabeth II

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Join an activity with your class and find or create your own quizzes and flashcards.

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Join an activity with your class and find or create your own quizzes and flashcards.

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Antonella Robl

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Join an activity with your class and find or create your own quizzes and flashcards.

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Join an activity with your class and find or create your own quizzes and flashcards.

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Podcast "What's your problem?": Interview with a young Design engineer on traffic problems in London

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Podcast "What's your problem?": Interview with a young Design engineer on traffic problems in London

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Join an activity with your class and find or create your own quizzes and flashcards.

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What do you know about the abdication crisis and Prince Edward? Here's more on this important moment in history!

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What do you know about the abdication crisis and Prince Edward? Here's more on this important moment in history!

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Website by Maia Braun

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Prince Edward, later Duke of Windsor, born in 1894, was the eldest child of George duke of York and Princess Mary of Teck, later King George V and Queen Mary. He trained in the Royal Navy from 1907 to 1911 but served as a staff officer in World War I. The following years after the war, Prince Edward went on broad goodwill tours of the British Empire. Because of his father being ill he took an increasing interest in national affairs. In the 1930s he initiated helping the unemployment crisis and gained a big amount of popularity.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Prince_Edward_(1920_portrait).jpg
It was around this time that Edward met his future wife Wallis Simpson, a divorced, newly wed wife to Navy lieutnant Ernest Simpson. The couple became close friends with the Prince and by 1934 he was deeply in love with Wallis. Before he was able to discuss his circumstance with his father, the King died in 1936 and Edward became King.

King Edward VIII tried to incorporate Wallis into the Royal Family, which was against their affair, as well as The Church of England and almost every British politician. The King´s and Simpson´s relationship was firstly kept out of the British press, but in many other European countries and America it has already aroused vivid comments.

Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin tried to warn the king with the causes of integrating a divorced person into the monarchy. Shortly after the press published stories about the affair and for the first time the word " abdication" appeared in the newspapers. Therefore King Edward VIII submitted his abdication on December 10, 1936 with the following words: "I, Edward the Eighth, ...do hereby declare My irrevocable determination to renounce the throne for Myself and My descendants"

The day after, Parliament approved of/endorsed the instrument of abdication, and the King held a speech on a radio broadcast where he explained: " I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge my duties as King as I would wish to do without the help and support of the woman I love."
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/Edward_abdication.png
That night he left Britain and stayed with friends in Austria, separately from Simpson until she divorced her second husband. The following June the couple married in France.

After his brother was declared King George VI on December 12, 1936, Edward became duke of Windsor, but Wallis was still refused the rank "royal highness", which severely wounded the duke.

The following years the duke and duchess lived mainly in France, travelling to several European countries. In World War II Edward worked as liaison officer with France, then went to Madrid where the Nazis wanted to involve him in a visionary plan to remake him king, as he was a friend of Adolf Hitler, to vanquish Britain.The rest of WWII the duke remained in the West Indies where he led a colony.

After 1945 he and Wallis lived in Paris. Edward occaisionally visited London, e.g. to attend the furnerals of his brother King George (1952) and their mother, Queen Mary (1953). Both the duke and duchess, for the first time, Got invited to an official public ceremony by the Royals to unveil a plaque to Queen Mary at Marlborough House.

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Royalty and Britain, Crises in the monarchy

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Prince Edward, later Duke of Windsor, born in 1894, was the eldest child of George duke of York and Princess Mary of Teck, later King George V and Queen Mary. He trained in the Royal Navy from 1907 to 1911 but served as a staff officer in World War I.

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Podcast on Royal History: The Abdication Crisis

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Podcast on Royal History: The Abdication Crisis

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Podcast by Maia Braun

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Wales and England have always had a special relationship. Find out more here!

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Wales and England have always had a special relationship. Find out more here!

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plomerenglish1112 [licensed for non-commercial use only] / Wales and England in history

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Page history last edited by Verena Plomer 1 year, 7 months ago

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History Podcast "Wales and England in history, Devolution"

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History Podcast "Wales and England in history, Devolution"

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Quiz "British royalty: Abdication crisis"

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Quiz "British royalty: Abdication crisis"

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Find out everything about the fall of the British Empire and racial issues!

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Find out everything about the fall of the British Empire and racial issues!

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Website by Jasdan Danesch

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On this page you will find everything you need to know about the rise and fall of the British Empire and the so called "British race".

Just watch these two videos for a more detailed overview you slug.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQktE-YKlJg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQktE-YKlJg
The British Empire

The first Empire (1583-1783)

The second Empire (1783-1815)

Britain's imperial century (1815-1914)

The British Race

"the empire on which the sun never sets"

The Britons had several reasons for expanding their territory by discovering new land and establishing colonies.

Some of those are as follows:

expanding their economy by establishing and monopolizing trade routes

expanding their political power by having more countries under their power

spreading Christianity

curiosity and adventurous ambition

In the late 16 th century the first attempts to establish colonies in North America failed drastically due to storms lack of of supplies

The British Empire began to take shape during the early 17th century, with the English settlement of North America and the smaller islands of the Caribbean and the establishment of joint-stock companies, most notably the East India Company, to administer colonies and overseas trade.

The Caribbean Colonies

England's most important and lucrative colonies were established in the Caribbean.

Those colonies were:

Output:

The American Colonies

The American colonies were less financially successful than those of the Caribbean, but had large areas of good agricultural land. It also attracted far larger numbers of English emigrants due to its temperate climates.

Those colonies were:

Output:

Workforce

England was in need for people who would work for them. So they established forts on the coast of West Africa and started to to bring slaves by ship to their colonies.

End of the first Empire 1783

After the thirteen colonies were acknowledged independent at the Peace of Paris in 1783, the first British Empire came to an end.

The beginning of a new era

After losing its American colonies, the weakened British Empire decided to shift its attention to a whole new continent.

→ Foundation of first penal settlements in Australia in 1788

→ The transport of convicts to Australia continued until 1840 and to Tasmania until 1853

The rise of the Australian colonies

The Australian colonies became profitable exporters of wool and gold, mainly because of gold rushes in the colony of Victoria, making its capital Melbourne for a time the richest city in the world and the second largest city (after London) in the British Empire.

→ used mainly for trading

The solidification of the British rule

After France was finally defeated by a coalition of European armies in 1815, thus ending the Napoleonic war, the British empire remained as the only mighty force in world.

The Opium War (1839 - 1842)

In 1839, the confiscation by the Chinese authorities at Canton of 20,000 chests of opium led Britain to attack China in the First Opium War, and resulted in the seizure by Britain of Hong Kong Island, at that time a minor settlement

PS: It was Britain that exported those opium chests to to China.

The Crimean War (1854 - 1856)

Crimean War, which involved new techniques of modern warfare, was the only global war fought between Britain and another imperial power during the Pax Britannica and was a resounding defeat for Russia.

→ the British empire asserted dominance over Russia

The British Raj (1858)

In 1858 the British government dissolved the East India Company and assumed direct control over India through the Government of India Act, establishing the British Raj, where an appointed governor-general administered India and Queen Victoria was crowned the Empress of India.

World wars (1914 - 1945)

Truth be told, the first and second world war lessened Britain's political impact, wealth and prestige. After all, a war is very taxing. It costs a a lot of money and many causes many deaths. After the wars Britain was more interested in rebuilding their own country than in concentrating on far-away places. They realized that it wasn't feasible anymore to rule over such a huge empire.

The nail in the coffin

India's partition in 1947 was considered as the loss of the ''Jewel in the Crown''. After this colonies were either given self-governing dominion status or became independent. By the late 1960's most of British territories had become independent, although this did not always happen peacefully, especially in the case of Ireland.

→ In 1997 Hong Kong was handed back to China, thus marking for many "the end of Empire".

The British race refers to the citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It may also refer to citizens of the former British Empire . The complex history and foundation of the UK created a particular sense of nationhood and belonging" in Great Britain and Ireland. The notion of Brutishness and a shared British identity was forged during the 18th century and early 19th century when Britain engaged in several global conflicts with France. Nowadays Scots, Englishmen, the Irish and the Welsh are referred to as British people.

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On this page you will find everything you need to know about the rise and fall of the British Empire and the so called "British race". Just watch these two videos for a more detailed overview you slug.

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What do you  know about Scottish-England history. Here's an update for you!

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What do you  know about Scottish-England history. Here's an update for you!

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The rivalry between England and Scotland had been going on for hundreds of years when Mary Queen of Scots insisted on claiming the English throne. Even though many English Catholics viewed her as the legitimate sovereign her attempts were futile and she was executed by Elizabeth I in 1587. Despite the rivalry between the two queens Elizabeth later named Mary's son James VI of Scotland her successor and House Stuart therefore claimed the English throne. James was the first Monarch to rule over all three kingdoms despite the reluctance of the English to be ruled over by their traditional rival. Besides the crowns being united in 1603 each state still had its own parliament and stayed sovereign.

The tension between the parliament and the King increased the next decades and King Charles I, son of James, was executed in 1649. This following Civil War between the party of the King ( Tories), in favor of Charles II, and the party of the Parliament ( Whigs) was won by the Parliamentarian Cromwell. The Scots were supporters of Charles, who was able to regain his crown after Cromwell's death in 1660.

However, House Stuart could not hold its position for long since they lost the crown during the Glorious Revolution (1688-1689) and the parliament was able to extend its power and is nowadays often refered to as the mother of parliaments.

Due to the grievances of the Scottish against the new political settelment the Jacobites rose, whose aim it was to restore House Stuart to the Britsh throne. Part of the aftermath of the Jacobite uprising was the Glencoe Massacre in 1692. The Clan MacDonald in the Scottish Highlands refused to pledge allegiance to the new monarchs William III and Mary II and were still supporting James II. Some soldiers staying at the MacDonalds as guests received orders to kill their hosts, which caused 38 men to be murdered and 40 women and children to die due to the cold after their houses had been burned down.

In 1707 after a century of sharing a monarch tne Union of Parliaments took place and England and Scotland were now refered to as Great Britain. But still the Jacobites tried to restore the Stuart monarchy and the Stuart claimant Bonnie Prince Charlie or "The Young Pretender" had effective control over Scotland and attempted to extend his victory to England during the 1745 rising. However, he was defeated at Culloden, the Highlanders supporting him were afterwards suppressed and Britsh rule was never seriously challenged again.

https://youtu.be/SlsmMFnKg3Q

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The rivalry between England and Scotland had been going on for hundreds of years when Mary Queen of Scots insisted on claiming the English throne. Even though many English Catholics viewed her as the legitimate sovereign her attempts were futile and she was executed by Elizabeth I in 1587.