Britain英国概况简答题

Britain英国概况简答题

Britain

1. Where is the U. K.? And what is it made up of? What is its

total area?

- The U.K. is situated in Northwestern Europe, lying to the

north of France and the west of the Netherlands and Denmark. It

is made up of England, Scotland, Wales, numerous smaller

coastal islands and Northern Ireland. Its total area is 242 534

square kilometers.

2. What are the three Germanic tribes who form the basis of

the modern British people?

- The Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes which invaded Britain

form the modern British people. 3. What do you know about the

Roman influence on Britain?

- The Roman occupation lasted for almost 350 years. The

resulting growth of its civilization was more obvious in urban

areas than among the agricultural peasants and weakest in the

resistant highland zone. In the southeastern part, the Romans

influenced life and culture radically. The English upper classes

were thoroughly Romanized and transformed into Roman

landlords and officials. Yet the Romans came to govern and to

trade, not to settle; and they were too few in number to change

the language and customs of the people as they did in France

and Spain. Some of the native people become slaves of the

Romans; true slave society was introduced into England.

4. What were the consequences of the Norman Conquest?

_ (1) The Norman Conquest caused important consequences.

It increased the process of feudalism, which had begun during

Anglo-Saxon times. By the early part of 12th century, the manor system had replaced the village system completely, and

Feudalism was finally established in England.

(2) William the Conqueror established a strong monarchy in

England. The feudal system of England acquired a more

centralized character than in other European countries of the

time.

(3) It brought about changes in the church. The upper ranks

of the clergy were Normanized and feudalized, following the

pattern of lay society,

(4) Along with the Norman came the French language, which

would be the language of court and upper classes until the 14th

century.

5. What were the contents and the nature of the Great

Charter?

- Contents: ( 1) the king was not to exact要求extra payments

from the feudalvassals封臣without their consent; (2) laws were

not to be modified by the arbitrary专断的action of the king; (3)

If the king should attempt to free himself from law, the vassals

had the right to force the king to obey it, by civil war or by

otherwise.

Nature: It was essentially a feudal document. It was made in

the interests of feudal lords, great and small.

6. What do you know about the English Renaissance?

- Renaissance means "rebirth" - Europe rediscovering its

origins in the cultures of ancient Greek and Rome. It was a

cultural movement that arose with rise of the bourgeoisie. They

were disintegrating movements, but also liberating ones and

they were consistently related, by cause and effect, to liberating

movement in politics, commerce and society in every country.

The thinkers who worked for freedom and enlightenment were called humanists. The great English humanist was Sir Thomas

More, who wrote his masterpiece Utopia. The English

Renaissance was largely literary. Shakespeare was the greatest

dramatist of the age.

7. What do you know about the" Glorious Revolution"?

- After three years of struggle, the Whig and Tory leaders at

last united against James Ⅱ, who

intended to establish absolutism in England with the aid of

France and had restored Roman Catholics in civil government, etc.

The leaders of the two parties planned a coup d’état. In June

1688 the leaders of Parliament invited William of Holland and

Mary, daughter of James II, to come and take the throne. William

landed with army and he was so welcomed that James 1I ran

away to France. William and Mary were then crowned as joint

rulers. This was known in history as "The Glorious Revolution".

8. Why did the Industrial Revolution first take place in Britain?

- Because Britain had some special conditions which no other

country could match. These conditions are: the accumulation of

capital; the development of, capitalistic farming; the appearance

of a labor reserve; and the expansion of markets, domestic and

foreign.

9. How did the Industrial Revolution exert a great influence

on both British society and the world?

- The Industrial Revolution was not only a technological

revolution but also a great social upheaval. It exerted a great

influence on both British society and the world. The Industrial

Revolution promoted the development of production. It began

to produce large quantity of low-priced goods in a more efficient

manner. New cities came into being; population increased; the

home market was enlarged. The British goods almost achieved a