The Twentieth Century
- 1. July 1916 – Britain attacked German positions on the river Somme
- compulsory joining of men> acceptance of refusal
- 1917 drove back the Turks after fights in Iraq, Palestine & Dardanelles
- 1916 Germany offered to make peace – refused! (public feeling)
- 1916 battle of Jutland (adm. Jellicoe draw back German submarines that were sinking supply ships)
- 1917 Russia made peace with Germany (Bolshevik revolution)
- November 1918 the arrival of American troops made Germany surrender – end of the WWI.
- 1919 Versailles (J.M. Keynes (not to punish Germans) – refused)
- 1897 suffragettes
- 1918 men older than 21 and women over 30 were allowed to vote
- 1926 general strike by all workers – ended in 9 days
- 1930s economy back on track in the Midland and the south (motor industry and fear of another war)
- 1920 the League of Nations
- 1935 Italy attacked Ethiopia – no action was taken

- 1938 Neville Chamberlain – Czechoslovakia (Munich)
- 1939 Poland> Britain entered the war + Winston Churchil became a new prime minister> start of the WWII.
- 1940 France & British Air Force
- 1941 Japan attacked British colonies (surrendered Singapore)
- Germany attacked Soviet Union and Japan attacked USA
- July 1943 Italy surrendered
- May 1945 Germany surrendered
- Japan surrendered after Hiroshima & Nagasaki> the end of the WWII.
- United Nations
- 2 blocks: Western (NATO) and Eastern (Warsaw Pact)
- 1848 – 48 Soviet Union tried to capture West Berlin
- 1950s research into space, design of nuclear weapon & international ballistic missiles
- 1960s interest in joining EC
- 1956 Suez Canal – political defeat
- new ideas about basic human right (NHS, free secondary education, NAA…)
- nationalized industry
- US Marshall Aid Programme
- youthful pop culture

• Edward VIII. – gave up the throne and married a divorced American women in 1936
• George VI. – visits to bombed areas in Britain
• Elizabeth II. – since 1952

- the loss of empire – UN Charter 1945, India 1947 (Ghandi), Suez, Commonwealth, Flaklands 1982 (Argentina), Palestine, Ceylon
- 1949 Britain joined European countries to form the Council of Europe
- 1957 refused to join European Common Market
- 1973 member of the EC
- loyalty to USA
- immigrant’s problem
- 1980s riots in Liverpool, Bristol and London
- 1984 steel mills and coal mines closed> strike (defeated after a year)
- Margaret Thacher – 1979, reelected 1983 “Falklands factor”, returned national industry to private sector
- 1981 Social Democratic Party
- 1982 Alliance