The history of Great Britain

The first significant act of his rule — an unseemly divorce process with his wife, Caroline of Braunschweig — further inflamed popular hatred of the court and Ministers [1, p. 115].External calm was also threatened by complications caused by the revolutions in Spain, Naples and Greece. Tory Ministers remained faithful to conservative policy, hoping to strengthen the legitimate principle on the mainland to find support for the British aristocracy. But when, Canning joined the Ministry of foreign Affairs, in the foreign policy of England there was a decisive coup. In relation to other powers he adopted the principle of non-interference; tried, although unsuccessfully, to prevent the entry of the French into Spain to restore the old system of government; took the initiative in the recognition of Greece by the warring powers, and January 1, 1825, was the first to recognize the SouthAmerican republics [6].William IV (1830-1837)George was succeeded by his brother William, Duke of Clarence, who reigned as King William IV.Against all expectations, the new king, despite his well-known commitment to reform, held the Wellington Ministry. But at the same time he recognized the July monarchy in France, and this made a favorable impression in the country. However, in the newly elected Parliament, the majority belonged to the Whigs, and the house immediately defeated the Ministry on the maintenance of the court. Wellington resigned, and the king entrusted the new Cabinet to the elderly count Gray, a moderate but consistent Whig. The Electoral Reform Act of 1832 originated in 1831 by the Whig government of Lord Grey in response to widespread unrest. It was defeated three times by the House of Lords and only in December, 1832 it became law. The act disenfranchised most rotten boroughs, and the released seats were redistributed among the counties and previouslyunrepresented boroughs[1, p. 116].Victoria (1837-1901)With the accession of Queen Victoria to the throne in the public life of England became a period of profound internal changes, gradually changing its old aristocratic system in the spirit of modern democracy [5, p. 103]. The first years of the new reign were marked by a movement of chartists in favor of giving people the same rights with the upper and middle classes. The chartist movement recruited supporters mainly among the working masses in large industrial cities and at the end assumed the character of an open uprising, suppressed only by strict measures [4, p. 135].In the field of foreign policy, England during the first years of the reign of Queen Victoria acted everywhere as a natural defender of people's rights, then trampled almost in all European countries. In the Schleswig-Holstein complication, the country took the side of the weakest Denmark; it secretly supported the revolutionary governments in Hungary, Italy, and especially in Sicily, inciting the hatred of all the reactionary governments naming the leader of English foreign policy, Lord Palmerston, the “Lord arsonist”. But Palmerston's liberalism did not prevent him from being the first to recognize the coup d'état carried out in France by Napoleon and to bring friendship with the French Emperor to the conclusion of a formal alliance between two countries.The sepoy revolt in India in 1857 gave rise to the final abolition of the East India company and subordination of the greatest colony in the world to the direct power of the English government. The civil war in the United States causedmanifestations of hot sympathy for the slave-owning States across the British conservatives, which caused England a lot of trouble, settled only in 1872 by the arbitration court in Geneva.The activities of the Cabinet were marked by a number of highly important reforms:In 1869, the Irish national Church was abolished, the income of which is directed to the organization of schools.In 1870, a new law on public education was issued and the Irish land bill was adopted.In 1871, the sale of diplomas in the army was canceled.In 1872, a system of secret ballot was adopted [1, p. 119]In the 19th century Britain became the largest colonial nation in the world (the British Empire). The labour party of Great Britain was founded in 1900.During the First World War, Great Britain was one of the main participants of the Entente, and by its end — among the founders of the Versailles system.The great depression of 1929-1933 seriously affected the economy of Great Britain[3,p. 187].Great Britain of XX centuryIn the second half of the 30s Chamberlain government pursued a policy of “appeasement” of Nazi Germany. In September 1938, the Munich agreement was signed, as a result of which the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia was occupied, and then Czechoslovakia ceased to be an independent state [5,pp. 154-155]During the Second World War, Great Britain was one of the main participants of the anti-Hitler coalition [5,pp. 154-155]After the Second World War, British governments alternately formed labour (1945-51, 1964-70, 1974-79, 1997 to the present) and conservatives (1951-64, 1970-74, 1979-97).In July 1945, the long-delayed General elections were held. The conservative provisional government, which was formed in May and replaced the coalition military government, suffered a crushing defeat, and the labour party came to power with an overwhelming parliamentary majority.In 1945, K. Attlee took the post of Prime Minister. The Minister of foreign Affairs became E. Bevin, the Minister of internal Affairs G. Morrison. The new government introduced the education act, which reorganized the school system and introduced universal free secondary education. The government also introduced laws relating to assistance to the poor, old-age pensions, child benefits and other government obligations. The health care act 1946 provided for the nationalization of hospitals and free medical care. In addition, the number of members of the House of Commons was reduced. In 1949, a law was introduced to nationalize the steel industry.In January 1957, sir Anthony Eden resigned, the cause of which was fatigue, illness and failure in politics. He was replaced by Mr. McMillan, who took the liberty to restore the country's reputation and correct the situation in the conservative party, split on the issue of the Suez canal zone. However, the country prospered, and in October 1959 Macmillan and his party won the General election, winning a parliamentary majority of 100 seats [6].The country was not unanimous on the issue of accession to the EES. In 1962 there was a split in the labour party in this regard. Most of its members, who opposed the accession, were worried about the fate of planning within the framework of the Association of countries with private enterprise economies, as well as the potential threat to the British system and the “island” lifestyle characteristic of most British people. Talks about maintaining ties between the Commonwealth countries had less reason in view of the reduction in trade and the reluctant approval of its Prime Ministers of the UK's accession to the EES. During the difficult negotiations, the government was in a hurry to agree on the economic conditions of Britain and European countries, especially on the issue of agricultural subsidies. However, in early 1963, France proposed to veto Britain's admission to the Common market. McMillan's efforts failed, and no one was able to suggest a program that could replace it.During the collapse of the British colonial Empire, by the mid-1970salmost all English colonies gained independence [4, p. 172]Era of conservativeIn 1979an 18-year conservative erain the United Kingdom started, represented by two conservative Prime Ministers: Margaret Thatcher, who remained in office from 1979 to 1990 and John Major, who was the Prime Minister from 1990 to 1997. This period of the history of Great Britain was marked by:1. The strengthening of the British economy;2. The strengthening the UK's role in the world;3. Overcoming the internal crisis of the 1970sMargaret Thatcher, as a leader of the conservative party that won the election, was appointed Queen Prime Minister in May 1979. She became the first female Prime Minister in British history. However, for the rigidity of the course of her policy and strong nature shewas called an “iron lady”.The largest internal political step of the Thatcher's government was the adoption of anti-union laws,among which were:• The law on the prohibition of solidarity strikes in 1982(the punishment was the following: fines, threat of imprisonment);• The law on trade unions (Trade Union Act) 1984;• The act on employment (Employment act) 1988 – legalized strike-breaking(Betrayal of worker interests by scabs).Another major step in Thatcher's policy was the denationalization of the economy (privatization), as a result of which a number of large enterprises were sold by the state to private hands.In 1989, at the initiative of the government, M. Thatcher introduced a per capita tax. This meant that everyone who had reached the age of 18 and lived in a house or apartment was obliged to pay tax. Such a tax caused widespread resentment of the British people. The law has hit poor and large families. In 1993, the tax was abolished and replaced by a tax on homeowners and tenants, but the introduction of this tax contributed to the political crisis of 1990.By 1990, the government of M. Thatcher has made significant progress in the economy and foreign policy, but the authority of M. Thatcher as a leader had already weakened. The reasons for this were:• her too hard course;• extremely unpopular decision to introduce a per capita tax;• uncompromising policy towards European integration;• «Fatigue» of the party and voters from the same leader (M. Thatcher headed the government for 11 years in a row. It was the longest period for all Prime Ministers in the twentieth century.).In 1990, a crisis broke out in the conservative party. M. Hazeltine (the Minister of defense) raised the issue of Thatcher's confidence as the leader of the party and began to put an “anti-Thatcher”coalition. In the following annual elections M. Thatcher was defeated and resigned as Prime Minister[4, pp. 179-182].ConclusionNow Great Britain is a highly developed industrial state, one of the leading powers. In terms of industrial production, it ranks fifth in the world - after the US, Japan, Germany and France.Today Britain heads the Commonwealth of Nations is a member of NATO, the EU and the G8. It is one of the most developed countries in the world.Only the United States is inferior to the United Kingdom in terms of foreign investment, andin terms of the cost of research work – only the United States, Germany and Japan. London is one of the world's largest financial centers. The UK has an extensive network of banks and insurance companies all over the world. About 1/5 of all world trade operations are produced in English pounds. In terms of foreign trade, the UK ranks fifth in the world and carries out 1/5 of all international passenger and freight traffic.The British have fully recovered from the post-war crisis and look forward to the future.ReferencesАлександроваА.П., КотоваЮ.П. Spotlight on the History of Great Britain.Учебное пособие для аудиторной и самостоятельной работы студентов. – 2-е издание, дополненное. — Орёл: ОГУ имени И.С. Тургенева, 2017. – 306 с.Осипов В. Британия глазами русского. - М.: Новости, 1976. — 208 с.Burns William E. A Brief History of Great Britain. Facts on File, 2009. — 296 p.McDowall , David. An illustrated history of Britain. Longman, 2006. — 188 p.Rodrick Anne B. The History of Great Britain. 2nd Edition. – Greenwood, 2019. – 316 р.Свободная энциклопедия Википедия [Электронный ресурс], статья “History of Great Britain”https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:History_of_Great_Britain