Le Royaume-Uni


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1. Basic facts
Capital city
London
Countries
Great Britain: England, Scotland, Wales

Northern Ireland (Ulster)
Currency
Pound sterling (£)
The national flag
The Union Jack composed of 3 crosses: St George's (England); St Andrew's (Scotland); St Patrick's (Ireland)
The national anthem
God Save the Queen
National emblems
rose (England)
leek (Wales)
thistle (Scotland)
shamrock (Ireland)
National motto
honni soit qui mal y pense (shamed be he who thinks ill of it)

2. British institutions
The Government
Executive power
The Prime Minister: Head of the Cabinet
The Cabinet (Chancellor of the Exchequer (finance); the Lord Chancellor (justice); the Home Secretary; the Foreign Secretary; the Defence Secretary …)

Legislative power
The Houses of Parliament:
  • the House of Commons (650 elected members);
  • the House of Lords (92 non-elected members).
The monarch
Queen (or King): represents the nation → a constitutional monarchy

The Commonwealth
The Commonwealth of Nations → an intergovernmental organization of 54 independent member states. (All except Mozambique and Rwanda used to be part of the British Empire)
The Commonwealth was created in 1926: Britain and its dominions agreed that they were 'equal in status, in no way subordinate one to another in any aspect of their domestic or external affairs'.
The member states share common values including the promotion of democracy and human rights.
The Head of the Commonwealth → Queen Elizabeth II.


3. Key dates
1066
William the Conqueror (Duke of Normandy) invaded Britain → the Battle of Hastings.
1509-1547
The reign of Henry VIII (monarch with 6 wives) → he caused the Reformation: the Church of England left the Roman Catholic Church to become independent.
1642-1660
The Civil War: Oliver Cromwell became head of the 'republic'.
1833
The abolition of slavery in the British Empire.
The British Empire developed the slave trade during the 18th century to increase its economic prosperity by forcing slaves from Africa to work on its plantations in the West Indies. The British slave trade was ceased in 1807 and slaves in the British Empire emancipated in 1834.
1837-1901
The reign of Queen Victoria: the British Empire was at its height in terms of expansion and prosperity.
1936
King Edward VIII abdicated to marry an American divorcee Wallis Simpson. Elizabeth II's father George VI became King.
1952
Coronation of Elizabeth II.
2011
Prince William, heir to the throne, married Kate Middleton.

4. Places of power
10 Downing Street
Official residence of the Prime Minister
Westminster
Site of the Houses of Parliament (and Big Ben)
Buckingham Palace
The Queen's official residence in London
The City
The historical centre of London, home to the Stock Exchange and the major banks
Oxford and Cambridge
The two oldest and most prestigious British universities

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