8.4. Postwar Britain.

8.4.1. The postwar years saw the end of the British colonial empire. In India a movement for independence had been gathering momentum for decades. The British finally withdrew. The national liberation movement was led by Mohandas Gandhi who spent his life campaigning for human rights in India. The abandonment of India was a blow to British prestige and the beginning of the total disintegration of the empire. The next crisis for the empire occurred in Egypt, where British domination of the Suez Canal sustained Britain’s role as a world trader. In 1956 Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser seized the canal. Britain, with military assistance from France and Israel, attempted to retake the canal but failed. The Suez crisis saw Britain lose all of its influence in the region and raised at home the idea that Britain was no longer a great power.

8.4.2. Anyway, within the country private enterprise led the growth of what was being called “the affluent society.” The value of the goods that workers could buy with their wages rose by 40 percent during the 1950s. Two symbols of affluence—cars and televisions—soon became so common that the government undertook a program of motorway expansion. The accession of young Queen Elizabeth II in 1952 provided a ray of light toward a brighter future, as did the extraordinary British accomplishments around the world.

8.4.3. In 1953 a British expedition scaled the world’s highest mountain, Mount Everest; the news of the conquest came on the young Queen's coronation day. Another British expedition crossed Antarctica. In the early 1960s, British popular culture swept the world. For a time the United Kingdom replaced the United States as the leader in fashion and style. The hallmark of the period was the models by British designer Mary Quant. The craze of the day was the miniskirt, which had a hemline well above the knees. Quant began to mass-produce miniskirts in 1961. At the same time, popular British music groups such as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, gained worldwide popularity.

8.4.4. Since the mid-1970s, Britain’s economy received a boost with the discovery and exploitation of abundant oil reserves in the North Sea. Because of this oil, Britain no longer depends on imports of foreign petroleum products and also profits from exports of petroleum products.

One of the most crucial developments in post-war Europe is the emergence of the European Union. Originally, it was the European Economic Community was established by the Treaty of Rome of 1957 and implemented оn January 1, 1958. Later it was renamed as European Community. Finally, Britain joined successfully on January 1, 1973. Things are not so clear with Britain's membership in the European Union. Up to now, Britain remains one of the most Eurosceptic countries of the EU. Despite pro-EU policies of both Blair and Brown, it is expected that most Britons will vote against the EU Constitution, if any referendum takes place.

Lecture 09 education in the uk