Great Britain and France -: towards democracySimilarities: size, location, climate, size of population Their histories influenced one another for 1000 years; Roots of the English royal family: an army of William the Conqueror (of Normandy) conquered Britain in 1066 1534 -> Protestant Reformation under Henry VIII; France-> mainly Catholic England -> Industrial Revolution; France-> later Marx based his principles on England UK-> Parliamentary gov; never had a written constitution; France-> absolute monarchy; had more than a dozen constitutions Britain: industrialized, urbanized, rich cultural life; Churchill -> WWII hero Aftermath: Conservative Party (1951; 1970) lost the election The Labour Party won (1945; 1964) 1944: the establishment of the welfare state in Britain; laws: 1944-> the Education Act allowed more people to get education 1948-> the establishment of the National Health Service ->medical care without pay Labour Party-> nationalization : Bank of England, coal mines, civil aviation, fluvial transport, road transport; recovery after WWII -> up to the early 50s rations were kept 1951: Conservative Party returned to power up to 1964 PMs: 1951-1955 W. Churchill 1955-1957 Anthony Eden 1857-1963 H. Macmillan 1963-1964 Alan Douglas Home A period of social consensus, eco growth, full employment; the living standard rose 1964: 1st signs of eco slowdown; period of decline of the welfare state 1964-1970 Labour rule PM: Harold Wilson (economist) -> poor performance in the eco field 1967 -> gov-> IMF loan 1970-1974 -> C.P rule The most difficult period; 1973-> oil shock + Rolls Royce almost bankrupt Strikes throughout the country Pbs with coal-> turned to nuclear energy (also France and other countries) 1974 1979 -> Labour Party Total collapse of the welfare state High unemployment (in 1975 the biggest since the 1930s), inflation Solution => move to the right => Margaret Thatcher -> strong gov = total renounciation of the welfare state Reducing public cpending, the size of the gov, privatization, the bureaucratic apparatus => unemployment rose => protests, strikes 1982 -> the Argentinean gov occupied the Falkland Islands -> UK won the war => national pride 1979-1990-> Margaret Thatcher ; forced to resign lost support in the CP Until 1997 -> CP in power 1997 -> Reformed Labor Party led by Tony Blair came to power France Totally different After 1789-> new pol regime every 20 years: 2 monarchies, 2 empires, 5 Republics, 1 pro-Nazi gov 1792-1804 1st Republic 1848 1851 2nd Republic 1871 1940 3rd Repulic 1946 1959 4th Republic 1959 today 5th Republic Empires: Napoleon Bonaparte 1804 1815 Louis Napoleon 1851 1870 Pro-Nazi -> Vichy Republic -> 1940 1944 WWII-> created a major division in the French political culture 1940 occupied by the Nazi + the Vichy Republic Against the Nazis: under Charles de Gaulle ->established the forces of Free France in Great Britain Others->remained at home and joined the resistance- the Gaullists + the Communists 125,000 trials of ppl who collaborated with the Nazis -> 40,000 sentences =>collapse of traditional center-right policy; MRP -> Movement Republicaine Populaire ->important fot the birth of a center-right party Socialists and communists emerged as major political forces => a movement to oust them from power 1946 -> Charles de Gaulle resigned => ambiguous pol legacy of the 4th Republic 1946-1949 -> absolute parliamentarism -> instabilityColoniesGreat Britain -> after WWII -> lost India (liberation movement of Gandhi) France -> Indochina + Algeria (allowed to become independent -> 1958 crisis the National Liberation Front -> armed struggle against the French) + internal crisis -> pol instability Solution: coming back to Gen de Gaulle Constitution: very powerful president + Parliament De Gaulle returned to power (1959-1969) -> period of international prestige 1968 -> revolutionary year; conflict of generations esp for France, W Germany, Italy Ideological terrorism is born May 1968 -> French students build barricades on the streets of Paris de Gaulle was visiting Romania The Gaullists in power until 1981 1981 -> F. Mitterrand came to power; socialist allied with the communists

Political families1. Gaullists Developed in the aftermath of WWII The Union for a New Republic strongest party (1958-1969) 1st party with Parl majority 1977-> reorganized by Jacques Chirac => Rally for the Republic 1974-1981 -> president Valry Giscard d'Estaing (Union for French democracy split from Chirac)2. Socialists Developed on the basis of SFIO 1920s-1939s -> very powerful Lost in the aftermath of WWII Reorg by Mitterrand in 1971 as the Socialist Party 1981 + communists -> came to power3. Communists Emerged as powerful pol force after WWII 1981 -> grand moment Decline -> after the collape of communism in E-C Europe4. Nationalists National Front -> Jean- Marie Le Pen Came to prominence and fell into oblivion