League of Nations
After the foundation of the League of Nations (1921), the Briand-Kellogg Pact joins 59 nations determined to settle international controversies by peaceful means.
Nationalist Governments are led by MacDonald first and by Conservatives later.
Labour Cabinet of Clement Attlee
The Labour Cabinet of Clement Attlee starts reconstructing the country, nationalises industries and lays the foundations of the welfare state.
India independent
Britain grants independence to India, but gives up her mandate over Palestine, where the State of Israel is founded in 1948.
Eire leaves the Commonwealth
The Republic of Ireland (Eire) leaves the Commonwealth.
Iron-curtain’
The world splits into two blocs: the ‘West’ led by the USA and Britain on the one side, and the USSR dominated ‘iron-curtain’ countries on the other.
Students’ revolt
A students’ revolt spreads from Paris to Britain, the young oppose authority and the affluent society and create a real and proper counter-culture.
Government of Margaret Thatcher
The Conservative Margaret Thatcher holds power for eleven years. Her right-wing political recipe envisages privatisation, deregulation of markets and a slim role for the State in society.
Thatcher insists on imposing a poll tax and is elbowed out of power by her own party.
Government of Tony Blair
The ‘New Labour’ Leader Tony Blair is elected three times in a row.
Britain joins NATO forces in an effort to end ethnic cleansing policies in Kosovo.
Attack on the WTC Twin Towers
Following the Al Qaeda attack on the WTC Twin Towers, Britain, the US and other nations jointly fight Saddam Hussein in the Iraq war and the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.
Coalition government
The Conservative David Cameron establishes a Coalition government (Conservatives + Liberal Democrats).
Brexit
The majority of British people vote in a referendum to leave the European Union, stock markets plunge worldwide losing more than 2 trillion dollars in value and the British pound falls to its lowest level in 30 years, Cameron resigns and Theresa May of the same party replaces him ("Brexit").
ISIS attacks
22 people are killed by an ISIS suicide bomber in Manchester. ISIS attacks kill 8 people in London.
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Descrizione
Anglo-Saxon tribes were led by a king, who was helped by professional warriors (thanes) linked to him by a strong sense of loyalty. Whereas the Celtic clan system was based on kinship (blood relations), the basis of aristocracy and kingship is a personal tie between the warrior and his lord.
The warriors that conquered the country were soon joined by groups of common people (ceorls) including peasants, women, and children.
Unlike ceorls, thanes were warriors who had been given more land (up to 5 hides) as a reward for their services. In times of war, each family (owning a hide) provided a fully-armed man. As ceorls only fought in cases of need, while thanes specialized in fighting, a sharp class division arose between warriors and peasants. The thane offered defence in exchange for services, and local ceorls would either work for him or pay him a sort of rent ‘in kind’ (a part of their produce).
The social structure of Britain was about to develop into a feudal system: the thane was about to become a feudal lord, while ceorls, bordars (those owning less than a hide) and cottars (who owned only a cot = small house, or hut) were becoming serfs. Besides ceorls and thanes, there was a third social class: the clergy, or class of priests.
Being the only ones able to read and write, clergymen promoted civilisation and culture. Priests and monks were the earliest legal advisers, teaching kings how to draw up documents and charters and change the law of the country, which had always been based on custom only
