Prime Time 6, Coursebook mit Audio-CD und DVD

Why did the Empire decline? The First and Second World Wars not only led to a decline in Britain’s wealth and prestige … 6 . After the wars, the British were more interested in rebuilding their own country than in concentrating on far-away places. They were also beginning to realise that it was no longer feasible to run such a large empire. The dominions (Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the Irish Free State and South Africa) had already officially been given the power to rule themselves by the Statute of Westminster in 1931, … 7 . This set an example to which many other colonies now began to aspire. More colonies were either given self-governing dominion status or became independent. By the late 1960s most of British territories had become independent, although this did not always happen peacefully, … 8 . What legacy did the British Empire leave? The British Empire has had a huge impact on the world. The formation of the Commonwealth has meant that most of the former colonies still have links with Britain. … 9 , a military, police and civil service system based on British models, and English is still the main or secondary language. A who would eventually be given the right to self-rule 0 F B and sometimes even lost new territories 1 C Hong Kong was returned to the People’s Republic of China in 1997, which 2 D but also lessened the political impact of the Empire 3 E even though in practice they had been doing so for some time 4 F covering about a quarter of the world’s land surface 5 G others tried to turn the locals into Englishmen 6 H the urge to prevent other European countries from becoming too powerful 7 I Many of them are Parliamentary democracies with a legal system based on British law 8 J but also prevented contagious diseases to get out of control 9 K Inventions such as the telegraph, railroads and steamships L especially in the case of Ireland b) Look at the painting on the right , The Secret of England’s Greatness, by Thomas Jones Barker (1861). • What does it tell us about the way the Victorians perceived the Empire and its subjects? • Compare the historic scene with our world today and give examples where people might still be treated that way. c) Quickly go through the text and find out what … • size the British Empire had at its height, • helped the British Empire to grow so quickly, • was the result of the securement of trade routes by the British, • was done to improve the lives of the native population, • attitude the British often had towards the culture of the native peoples, • effect the World Wars had on the development of the Empire, • still ties most of the former colonies to Britain. ✔ 35 40 65 Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags r öbv