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UNIT II. HOW IT ALL STARTED

Assignment 1

Read the text. Translate it (orally). Make use of the Notes and the Vocabulary.

TEXT

HOW IT ALL STARTED

The end of the 18th century witnessed some of the most profound political

changes in British history. These changes included the loss of the American colonies in 1776 after a seven-year war and the revolutions in agriculture and industry.

The Industrial Revolution is the name given to the period beginning in the

second half of the 18th century in which industry was transformed from

hand-work at home to machine-work in factories. The driving force behind this

development was the increase in population and the consequent increase in demand for products. This was only made possible, however, by a series of inventions such as the steam-engine.

The Industrial Revolution in Victorian Britain entered its second stage: new

Industries were developed, new factories were built, Britain's products were exported all over the world. And it was during Queen Victoria's reign that Britain

became known as «the workshop of the world».

Life in the new factories and towns was one terrible hardship. Men, women,

and children worked fifteen or sixteen hours a day in dangerous, unhealthy conditions for poor wages and lived in dirty slums. At the same time, the working

classes were becoming organized. In the last quarter of the century, there was a

massive increase in trade unionism. Parliament was forced to come to terms with

the new social conditions. The Reform Act of 1832, which granted the franchise

to tenants of land, was followed by other urgently needed social reforms: the creation of the police force; free compulsory education (1870); legal recognition of

trade unions.

World War I was followed by a period of severe hardship. It was a time of

great social unrest and mistrust between the various classes. Unemployment was

high, wages low and there were numerous strikes, including a General Strike in

1926 By all the unions in an unsuccessful attempt to stop the owners of the coalmines cutting miners' wages.

The Great Depression of the 1930s actually began with the collapse of the

American financial markets (the Wall Street crash) in 1929. In" Britain unemployment reached huge proportions: over three million people, out of a total workforce of 14 million, were out of work.

World War II had cost Britain more than a quarter of its national wealth. After the war the Labour government, using the planning experience gained during the war, nationalized the railways and the coal, steel, shipbuilding, gas and electricity industries, and extended the social services provided by the state to include such things as insurance against unemployment, sickness and old age, and free medical care for everyone (NHS, National Health Service). This legislation came to be known as the Welfare State.

There then followed a period of economic growth and prosperity. During the

1950s, there was a period of massive growth in the private sector, above all in the newer industries, particularly car and aircraft production, and wages increased by 40%. Most families could now afford a car, fridge, and a television set, and people began to talk of an affluent society. By the start of the 1960s, however, production was beginning to slow, while wages and prices continued to rise.

The main problems faced by the Government were economic, and it adopted

the severest measures, including wage freezes and a 14% devaluation of sterling, in an unsuccessful attempt to overcome the difficult economic situation. And it was not until the International Monetary Fund began a rescue operation at the end of 1976 that a dramatic recovery got underway. This recovery was also due to the high levels of oil production reached in the North Sea.

Margaret Thatcher — the Iron Lady, as she was called — was elected Prime Minister in 1979, and the Thatcher «revolution» started and dominated the decade. Budgets throughout the 1980s have reduced income tax, and state-owned facilities such as water and British Gas have been handed over to voters. Britain has enjoyed great possessions of knowledge, wealth, and communications. Mrs. Thatcher once said she wanted Britain to make a return to Victorian values. In many respects, the country has. Most significant is Mrs. Thatcher's creation of a new breed of Briton. Using the driving forces of greed and selfishness, Mrs. Thatcher appealed to many voters for the simple reason that they wanted more money in their pockets, more home ownership, more of everything. And after a decade of Thatcherism people have really become better off.