the throne. Prior to Edward's death in 1066 however, there had been a change of heart. Edward named Harold of Wessex (the old Earl's son) as his heir. Upon the death of the King, several days later, William found that his inheritance had been snatched away from him and given to Harold of Wessex.
?The sequence of events that followed is well documented elsewhere. In brief, William claimed that on a visit to Normandy in 1064, Harold of Wessex had sworn allegiance to William and promised that he would support him in his claim to the throne. Whether or not this statement was made by Harold is very hard to prove. William used this to gain support amongst European leaders and the church. Harold was a false king, a thief and a usurper. through this line of argument William gained the support of many nobles in many parts of Europe. The offer of riches and reward upon his rightful succession to the English throne, no doubt, also influenced people when offering their support for the Duke of Normandy. To take what was rightfully has, William prepared for the invasion of England. A massive risk, with everything to lose if he was unsuccessful.
?William's Norman fleet, supported by a large number of Bretons and men from Flanders, set sail across the Channel and landed at Perversely, near Hastings. The success of his mission was incredible. A mixture of luck and excellent leadership resulted in the Norman Duke defeating Harold and taking hold of England. The illegitimate son of a Norman Duke had now turned the tables, he was now a King.
?It is in the years after the famous battle of Hastings that William?s strength of character and determination are most visible. For 5 years he faced rebellion after rebellion in England. His forces dealt clinically with each of these and enforced the new, Norman, order with terrifying brutality. New structures of Government, laws and taxation regimes were established across the country and, by the early 1070's, William's rule in England was nigh on unassailable from within.
?Such was the force behind the conquest that by the 1080's William was in a position to take stock of his achievements. His vision and understanding of how to control a population becoming ever more clear. The Domesday Book catalogued most manors within the country, providing the Monarchy with a previously unthought of amount of information about the value of each person. Economically this is a major step forwards in terms of taxation and centralisation of the nations resources. (Although its purpose was to establish how he could pay for his growing army when faced by a potential invasion from Denmark in 1085). The on-going process of castle building demonstrates his determination to dominate the population, enabling his regime to be implemented quickly and, from 1071 onwards, without being openly questioned.
?It is a mistake however to view William as suddenly becoming English. Most of his time was spent in Normandy. England was a much treasured prize, not his home. Normandy itself remained under threat from her neighbours. His growing empire was threatened by the Scandinavian Kings, and so William was occupied for much of the time with further wars and endless diplomacy.
?It was during one of his many campaigns against the French kings that William lost his life. Having attacked the town of Marne William was fatally injured whilst pillaging the town. he died in September of 1087, leaving his Duchy to Robert, his eldest son and England to William (Rufus) his third son. This act demonstrates what William considered to be his most prized possession: England, most certainly, was not that!
?Even in death though William was not beyond causing a commotion. His body, swollen by several years of excessive eating and drinking, proved too large for the stone coffin in which he was to be buried and burst, leaving his remains on the floor of the chapel. Tower of London
Tower of London
The Tower is one of London's most popular visitor attractions and forms a stunning riverside backdrop. The Tower of London came into existence following the Norman conquest (1066) and the need to colonize and defend England. Since then it has been used as a prison, palace, place of execution and a showcase for the Crown Jewels.
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The Tower today is a tourist attraction, featuring the British Crown Jewels, as well as the buildings themselves, a fine armor(special metal clothing that soldiers wore in the past to protect their bodies while fighting) collection, and a remnant (remains) of the wall of the Roman fortress that Claudius built there to protect the city of Londinium (London). In deference to an ancient legend, a number of ravens/reivn/(a large bird of the crow family, with shinny black feathers and a rough unpleasant cry) are fed at the Tower at government expense. Legend has it that Charles II was told that if the ravens left the Tower then the monarchy would fall.
Paper work
?What was the effect of the Norman conquest? Question for Lecture V
?What type of institution (system of government) does Britain exercise? ?Who rules the country?
?Why does the nation retain the monarchy or the national people support/esteem and even love their monarch (queen/king)?
?Who or which institution is invested with the governmental/national-power or state-authority? Lecture V. British government
I. state institution/establishment (system of government) : ? typical constitutional monarchy
Because: 1.The Queen is the Head of State (with limited powers) 2.The government is hers (Her Majesty?s Gov. Or the country is running in the name of the Queen) II. Constitution of government
1.monarch/the sovereign/(king/queen) (on whom the Crown is constitutionally conferred) 2.The Parliament: 1) Upper House/House of Lords
2) Lower House/House of Commons 3. Government/Cabinet
Powers and limitations of the three branches
Powers or functions of the Monarch: 1. Head of state
2. summons, prorogues, dissolves parliament
3. Gives royal Assent to bills passed by the parliament
4.“ Fountain of justice” (on ministerial advice, can pardon anyone who has committed a crime) 5. Fountain of honors (on ministerial advice) she confers noble title 6. “Forms” a government
7. Receives credentials of foreign states ()
8. his/her birth day is national day, a lot of ceremonial formalities of domestic affairs ()
?Limitations of sovereign's power (by basic law known as constitution):
1. No written law to define his/her power, she only does what parliament and the Cabinet want her to do, as if she were acting the Queen in historical play
So his/her participation in gov. is a kind of formality and historical legacy, she is regarded as the living symbol of national unity (she is to provide the national focus for popular loyalty, embodying the highest standard of morality and the continuity of national history)
2. Succession to throne is regulated by Parliament Acts and common law (Act of Settlement of 1770) 3. Has no right to choose her/his spouse
Conclusion: the monarch/sovereign (king or queen) reigns but (she) does not rule
?Windsor Castle is the largest inhabited castle in the world and the oldest in continuous occupation. It is one of the Queen’s three official residences. The magnificent State Apartments are furnished with some of the finest works of art from the Royal Collection, including paintings by Rembrandt, Rubens, Canaletto, Gainsborough and the famous triple portrait of Charles I by Sir
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Anthony Van Dyck.
?Windsor Castle is one of the official residences of Queen Elizabeth II. Since William the Conqueror built the first castle in 1080, its proximity to both London and the old royal hunting forest (now Windsor Great Park) made it popular as a royal residence.
?Over the centuries many kings have lived at Windsor, adding or altering buildings, and a serious fire in 1992, and the subsequent restoration and rebuilding, continued this process of change and renewal. ?The main areas of the castle that can be visited include the State Apartments, where visiting dignitaries are entertained, Queen Mary's Doll's House, the Lower Ward, where you can see the changing of the guard most days at 11.00am, St George's Chapel and the Albert Memorial Chapel. Windsor Castle is a working palace and official engagements sometimes limit areas open to the public. ?Powers of the parliament: 1.Makes laws
2.Elects the country?s chief executive
3.Determines the gov.?s revenue and expenditure
4.Supervises the gov.?s administration of the national affairs and criticizes its mismanagement of public affairs, keeping with the belief that a democracy can not survive without criticism (vote of non-confidence motion, topple the gov. if it thinks of it necessary) ? Limitations of parliament's power:
Has no say on concluding treaties with another country
Powers of Gov. and the Cabinet
?Manages national and foreign affairs
1.Manages/administrates national affairs(public affairs)and foreign affairs, enforce the laws 2.Deploy the troops in the name of Queen ?Restrictions of Gov.?s Powers:
1. Her Majesty?s Gov. in the name of the Queen
2. Parliamentary Gov. or responsible Gov./cabinet (answerable to the Parliament) 3.Asks every penny for its management/administration expenditure
Downing Street
Downing Street is named after Sir George Downing who built houses here in the 17th century. Sir George, 1623-84, spent part of his youth in the American colonies, he was the second graduate from the newly founded Harvard College, before returning to England to fight for the Parliamentarians in the Civil War.
?In 1680 he purchased a piece of land near Whitehall Palace and built a street of houses.
?Four of these houses have survived, and in 1732 George II gave No.10 Downing Street to Sir Robert Walpole and since that time the building has been the official residence of the Prime Minister.
?As well at the Prime Minister's private apartment, No.10 Downing Street houses the Cabinet Room, the State Dining Room, where official guests are entertained, and government offices. The black front door of No.10 Downing Street, guarded by a single policeman, is one of the most famous sights in England.
?Other buildings in Downing Street also have government functions. No.11 is the official residence of the Chancellor of the Exchequer and No.12 houses the Whips' Office, where Party campaigns are organized.
?Until recently Downing Street was open to the public but in 1989 Margaret Thatcher had iron gates erected at the Whitehall end for security purposes. ?Although visible from Whitehall, Downing Street is not open to the public
III. How the government is established or formed up ?1.Political system:
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“Complete” democracy
Because: All the high-ranking officials are elected ?2.Two-party system:
All the parties are granted equal treatment, the majority party of the House of Commons forms the Gov. (“by” the queen), which is called “gov. party, the other one/ones is called “opposition party
Questions for VI Lecture
?How do we describe British economic system? ?Where did the economic theory come from? ?What does the term “laissez-faire” indicate? ?What is Keynesianism?
?How can we understand and describe British “socialism”? ?What is the “British Disease”?
?Can we get some idea of “Thatcher?s Prescription”? Lecture VI. National Economy
?Britain is the first country to start the industrial revolution, generally speaking, the 1st industrialized country.
?British economic system is known as capitalism, private free enterprise or market economy----means of production (basic production facilities) and land can be sold and bought by private individuals. ?A member of G7 and EU
?GDP is $1.5trillion, per capita amounting to $25,000. being as much as more than 28 times of that of China.
British economic mode----laissez-faire ?Background:
?After the greedy English capitalists accomplished their “primitive accumulation of capital” through plunder and exploitation ( confistication of property of churches, colonization of Africa and Asia, the notorious “triangular trade, “enclosure campaign”--- “sheep devour man”), Britain ushered in the industrial revolution, which turned it into the “workshop of the world”. English products flooded the world market. Many cities sprang up; towns became the sources of the nation?s wealth and the urban population increased rapidly. England repealed the Corn Law in 1846 by abolishing high tariffs on imported foods. The change in policy showed that England could now afford to give up protection of its agricultural production because industry had replaced agriculture as the main source of the national income and wealth. Old London
?To meet the need of the time, there appeared a new school of political economy which was systematically expounded by Adam Smith. In his epoch-making book THE WEALTH OF NATIONS, published in 1776,Smith argued that protection of the domestic market was wrong and that nations prospered to the extent that governments allowed trade to remain freely competitive. He argued that prices and wages should be allowed to fluctuate according to supply and demand. Smith believed that all men were selfish and the only way to promote their cooperation was to encourage exchange, It was the duty of society to provide the environment in which one's rise and fall were wholly determined by his individual efforts and ability, that is to say, God helps him who helps himself. His theory has been known as laissez-faire capitalism because it denied the role of government in economic life.
?According to the argument included in THE WEALTH OF NATION, people are naturally selfish. They are eager to gain wealth and power. Their endeavors should not be interfered with because people, though acting from selfish desire to enrich themselves, would be led by\an invisible hand\
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enrich and improve all of society. Extensive cooperation among individuals is necessary for any society. And exchange is the best way to make people help each other. Both parties to an exchange can benefit and no exchange will take place unless both parties benefit so long as the cooperation (exchange) is strictly voluntary and free from outside interference.
?The more people take, the more they have to give. The more goods they make or trade, the more goods society will have. As more and more goods are manufacturered and traded, competitions develops. Competition among manufacturers and merchants helps all people by providing even more goods at lower prices. The government has no other role than preventing monopoly and unfair competition. In the words of Jefferson, the best government is the least government.
Adam Smith(1723 -1790)
Smith was one of those 18th century Scottish moral philosophers whoseimpulses(推动(作用),建议) led to our modern day theories; his work marks the breakthrough of an evolutionary approachwhich has progressivelydisplaced the stationary Aristotelian view. 亚当.斯密（Adam Smith）
?亚当.斯密（Adam Smith，1723～1790），是英国古典政治经济学的主要代表人物之一。他的代表作《国富论》（全称《国民财富的性质和原因的研究》）早以被翻译成十几种文字，全球发行。而他本人也因此被奉为现代西方经济学的鼻祖。
1767年，他返回家乡克科第埋首于《国富论》的写作。1776年，凝聚了亚当.斯密十年心血的《国富论》终于问世。此书一出，极受英国资产阶级的欢迎与褒誉，因为它为实行自由放任的经济政策提供了理论根据。亚当.斯密成了最受欢迎的经济学家，《国富论》的观点成了国会议员的常用论据，甚至连当时的英国首相皮特也自称是斯密的学生。不知不觉间，斯密来到了他一生中最风光得意的时刻。1778年，他出任爱丁堡的海关专员，1787年一度出任格拉斯哥大学的校长，但在经济理论再也没有什么新成就。这究竟是因为他已经来到他所出于的时代所能达到的极限，还是因为\生于忧患，死于安乐\满足于现状而缺乏进取，就有待后人思考。
?无论如何，无可否认的是，《国富论》的确是一部划时代的巨著。它概括了古典政治经济学在形成阶段的理论成就，它最早系统地阐述了政治经济学的各个主要学说，它标志着自由资本主义时代的到来。 State Capitalism
?State capitalism is a popular term to denote the state?s encroachment(侵占、侵犯、侵害、超出界限) on free market capitalism. A Future of Peace and Capitalism made this distinction between free market capitalism and state capitalism: “The difference between free-market capitalism and state capitalism is precisely the difference between, on the one hand, peaceful, voluntary exchange, and on the other, violent expropriation(征用，剥夺（土地财产等）).” The problem is that most people do not realize the differences when using the term capitalism, and incorrectly lump() all capitalism as one or the other.
?John Maynard Keynes：
the most famous economist of thetwentieth century and one of the greatestfigures in the whole history of economic inquiry. His book, The General Theoryof Employment, Interest and Money,Published in 1935, revolutionisedEconomic thinking in the field of macro-economic theory and policy; that is, the Theory of the working of the overalleconomy and of the policy measures to maintain economic stability.Although developments in economicthinking since his day have modifiedconsiderably his theoretical ideas and the policy implications that seemed to flow from them, the gist of his reasoning can still find echoes incontemporary economic discussion.
?Keynesian economics is a theory of total spending in the economy (called aggregate demand) and of its effects on output and inflation.
?Keynesians' belief in aggressive government action to stabilize the economy is based on value
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