Britain in the 20th century.

1. BRITAIN IN THE 20TH CENTURY

2. QUEEN VICTORIA’S DEATH
She gave her name to an era and
became the symbolic representation
of the prestige and power of her
kingdom.
Queen Victoria at the time of her
diamond jubilee celebrating the 60TH year
of her reign.
Who celebrated her diamond
jubilee in 2012?

3. The Queen is escorted through Windsor
Castle to a nearby mausoleum for
internment next to her husband, Albert.
Behind her casket are her son, King
Edward VII, who would succeed her as
King Edward VII, and her grandson
German Kaiser Wilhelm II, who, thirteen
years later, would lead German forces
against Britain in World War I.
King Edward
Kaiser Wilhelm II

4. THE BRITISH EMPIRE IN 1900

5. For much of the Victorian age Britain had managed to steer clear of
international conflicts. The Boer War (1899-1902) in South Africa, in which
it contested control of one of Africa’s riches territories with Dutch settlers,
was the first major British military campaign in many years.
THE BOER WAR
An English reporter
coming from a wealthy
family was taken
prisoner in this war. He
would later become
prime minister of Britain.
Who was he?

6. FIRST WORLD WAR
Causes in the run-up to the First World War:
- International rivalries building up for more than two decades.
- The scramble for Africa had pitted European powers against one another as they
tried to gain control of the continent.
- Germany was piecing together a naval fleet that threatened Britain’s dominance of
the seas.
- Tensions in the Balkans caused by the break-up of the Turkish and Austro-
Hungarian empires
The cartoon portrays Belgium
as a threatened child, and the
stereotyped figure of Germany,
as an aggressive military man
with sausages.

8. This cartoon - 'A Chain of Friendship' - appeared in the American newspaper
the Brooklyn Eagle in July 1914. The caption read: “If Austria attacks Serbia,
Russia will fall upon Austria, Germany upon Russia, and France and England
upon Germany.”

9. Initially the outbreak of hostilities was
greeted with enthusiasm by the British
population, but as the months and
years dragged on this enthusiasm gave
way to horror and revulsion at the loss
of human life.
One million Britons died and over
two million were wounded. Those
returning from the front told of the
inhuman conditions they had had
to endure in the trenches and of
the debilitating effects of gas.

10. The victory of Britain and its allies in 1918 culminated in the
signing of the Versailles treaty (1919) which laid down
punitive measures against Germany that would lead to
future conflict two decades later.
What
happened on
the eleventh
hour of the
eleventh day of
the eleventh
month in 1918?
The poppy is
a symbol of…

11. After World War 1 industrial profits and
wages began to fall and demobilised
soldiers found it difficult or impossible to
find jobs.
By summer 1921 over two million people
were unemployed and strikes were on the
increase.
 There was widespread suffering and
deprivation.
THE DEPRESSION (1918-1939)

12.  The worst period of the Depression
followed the crash of the Wall Street
financial markets in 1929.
 In Britain, unemployment reached 3
million in 1932.
 Slowly, the British economy stabilised
under the National Government and
unemployment began a steady decline
after 1935.
 Re-armament before World War Two
helped to end the depression.
WALL STREET CRASH 1929

13.  The Suffragettes were educated ladies
who have been arguing in favor of
voting rights for women since the 1860s.
 In 1903, Mrs. Emmeline Pankhurst
founded the Women´s Social and
Political Union.
 The right to vote was granted in 1918, to
women over thirty and in 1928 to
women over twenty-one.
SUFFRAGETTE MOVEMENT

14.  World War Two in Europe began on 3rd
September 1939.
 Britain and France declared war on
Germany after Hitler invaded Poland.
 Britain and France had guaranteed the
territorial integrity of Poland in March
1939.
WORLD WAR II

16.  The Blitz was the sustained and
intensive bombing of the United
Kingdom by Nazi Germany during
1940–1941.
 The Blitz killed ~43,000 people and
destroyed over a million house.
 It failed to achieve the Germans'
objectives of knocking Britain out of
the war or rendering it unable to
resist an invasion.
 About 800,000 children were
evacuated to protect them from the
air raids.
THE BLITZ

17. WINSTON CHURCHILL
An almost universal sense of national pride in the country’s determination
to resist German invasion, epitomised by the inspiring rhetoric of wartime
Prime Minister Winston Churchill, produced a degree of national unity not
seen since Victorian times.

18. BLOOD, TOIL TEARS AND SWEAT
"I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat."
We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us
many, many long months of struggle and of suffering. You ask, what is our
policy? I can say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and
with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous
tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime.
That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: It is
victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and
hard the road may be;

19. QUEEN ELIZABETH II
God Save the Queen
 She was crowned in 1953.
 She has ruled for longer than any other Monarch in British history.
 She is Queen of a number of Commonwealth countries as well as
the United Kingdom.
 Nowadays, her role is mainly ceremonial.

20. IRELAND
Which was
the first
English
colony?

22. IRISH CONFLICT

24. The Commonwealth is a group of 53 states, all of which (except for two) were
formerly part of the British Empire. It was seen as a way of maintaining global
unity through shared language, history, and culture.

25. THE WELFARE STATE

26. SOCIETY IN THE 1960S
 The 60s were dramatic years in Britain.
 More permissive society.
 Increase in the proportion of teenagers.
 Economic affluence.
 Radical political protest.
 Music expressing both youth deviance and commercialism (e.g. the
Beatles and the Rolling Stones)

27. FROM THE 1970S ONWARDS
 Britain entered the European Community in 1973.
Who is
talking?

28.  Margaret Thatcher, also known as the Iron Lady, was Britain’s first female
prime minister.
 She remains a controversial figure. Some see her as having saved Britain
from economic decline, others believe she destroyed the livelihoods of
millions of workers.
What do you think
Thatcher and Churchill
have in common?

29.  In 1992 Channel Tunnel opens, linking London and Paris by rail.
 In 1994 first women priests are ordained by the Church of England.
 In 31 August 1997 Diana, Princess of Wales, dies in a car crash in Paris.
 1 January 1999 Britain decides not to join the European Single Currency.
 7 July 2005 suicide bombers kill 52 people on London's transport system.
 In 31 August 1994, the IRA declared a ceasefire.
OTHER MAJOR EVENTS