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1948

1948

1948 (MCMXLVIII) is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar).

Events

January-February


- January 1 - Nationalisation of UK railways to form British Railways. Arab militants lay siege to the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. First day of the Italian republican constitution.
- January 4 - Burma gains its independence from the United Kingdom.
- January 5 - Warner Brothers shows the first color newsreel (Tournament of Roses Parade and the Rose Bowl).
- January 17 - Truce between nationalist Indonesian and Dutch troops in Java
- January 26 - Teigin poison case - Man masquerading as a doctor poisons 12 out of 15 bank employees of the Tokyo branch of Imperial Bank and takes the money; artist Sadamichi Hirasawa is later sentenced for the crime.
- January 30 - Indian pacifist and leader Mahatma Gandhi is murdered by a Hindu extremist.
- January 30 - 1948 Winter Olympics open in St. Moritz, Switzerland.
- February 1 - Soviet Union begins to jam Voice of America broadcasts.
- February 4 - Ceylon (later renamed Sri Lanka) becomes independent within the British Commonwealth. King George VI becomes King of Ceylon.
- February 18 - Eamon de Valera, head of government since 1932, loses power to an opposition coalition. John A. Costello is appointed Taoiseach of Éire (formerly called the Irish Free State) by President O'Kelly.
- February 24 - The Communist Party seizes control of Czechoslovakia.

March-April


- March 8 - The United States Supreme Court rules that religious instruction in public schools violated the Constitution.
- March 10 - Czech foreign minister Jan Masaryk killed in fall from a window of his apartment in Prague. Later communist government rules it "suicide".
- March 17 - Hell's Angels founded in California
- March 20 - First elections in Singapore
- April 1 - Faroe Islands receive autonomy from Denmark
- April 3 - President Harry Truman signs the Marshall Plan which authorizes $5 billion in aid for 16 countries.
- April 7 - The World Health Organization is established by the United Nations.
- April 7 - Buddhist monastery burns in Shanghai - 20 monks dead
- April 9 - Jorge Eliécer Gaitán's assassination provokes a violent riot in Bogotá (the Bogotazo), and a further ten years of violence in all of Colombia (La violencia).
- April 9 - The Deir Yassin massacre takes place in Palestine.

May

Palestine
- May 1 - 213 communists executed in Greece.
- May 2 - Hour of Charm's last broadcast.
- May 11 - Luigi Einaudi becomes President of the Italian Republic.
- May 14 - Israel is declared as an independent state.
- May 14 - The murder of a three-year-old girl in Blackburn, England leads to the fingerprinting of more than 40,000 men in the city in an attempt to find the murderer.
- May 15 - 1948 Arab-Israeli War: Egypt, Transjordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia attack Israel.
- May 16 - Chaim Weizmann is elected as the first President of Israel.
- May 18 - The First Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China officially convenes in Nanking.
- May 26 - The U.S. Congress passes Public Law 557 which permanently establishes the Civil Air Patrol as the auxiliary of the United States Air Force.
- May 30 - A dike along the Columbia River breaks, obliterating Vanport, Oregon within minutes. 15 people die and tens of thousands are left homeless.

June-July


- June 3 - Palomar Observatory telescope finished in California.
- June 16 - Communist guerillas kill three rubber planters in Malaya.
- June 16 - Three armed men hijack Cathay Pacific passenger plane Miss Macao and shoot the pilot. The plane crashes - one of 27 survives
- June 17 - A Douglas DC-6 carrying United Air Lines Flight 624 crashes near Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, killing all 43 people on board.
- June 18 - State of Emergency declared in Malaysia for communist insurgency - Malayan Emergency begins.
- June 21 - The Deutsche Mark becomes official currency of the Federal Republic of Germany.
- June 24 - Cold War: The Berlin Blockade begins.
- June 28 - Cominform Resolution marks the beginning of the Informbiro period in Yugoslavia and Soviet/Yugoslav split.
- July 5 - British National Health Service Act enacted.
- July 13 - The Coptic and Ethiopian Churches reach an agreement leading to the promotion of the Ethiopian church to the rank of an autocephalous Patriarchate. Five bishops are immediately consecrated by the Patriarch of Alexandria, and the successor to Abuna Qerellos IV is granted the power to consecrate new bishops, who are empowered to elect a new Patriarch for their church.
- July 15 - Attempted assassination of Palmiro Togliatti, general secretary of the Italian Communist Party, incites number of strikes all over the country.
- July 15 - First London, England chapter of Alcoholics Anonymous
- July 20 - Cold War: President Harry S. Truman issues the second peacetime military draft in the United States amid increasing tensions with the Soviet Union (the first peacetime draft occurred in 1940 under President Roosevelt).
- July 24 - Great oil fire in the harbor of Naantali, Finland
- July 26 - U.S. President signs Executive Order 9981, ending racial segregation in the United States Armed Forces.
- July 29 - 1948 Summer Olympics begin in London.
- July 31 - At Idlewild Field in New York, New York International Airport (later renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport) is dedicated.

August-December


- August 1 - The U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations is founded.
- August 12 - USA recognizes the government of South Korea.
- August 19 - Soviet troops fire at German demonstrators that protest against the Berlin Blockade.
- August 23 - World Council of Churches established.
- September 4 - Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands abdicates for health reasons.
- September 5 - Robert Schuman becomes Prime Minister of France.
- September 6 - Juliana becomes Queen of the Netherlands.
- September 17 - Stern Gang assassinates count Folke Bernadotte.
- October 11 - Cleveland Indians defeat the Boston Braves to win the World Series, four games to two.
- November 2 - U.S. presidential election, 1948: Harry S. Truman defeats Thomas E. Dewey for the US presidency.
- November 12 - In Tokyo, an international war crimes tribunal sentences seven Japanese military and government officials to death, including General Hideki Tojo, for their roles in World War II.
- November 15 - Louis Stephen St. Laurent becomes Canada's twelfth prime minister.
- November 16 - Operation Magic Carpet to transport Jews from Yemen to Israel begins.
- November 17 - Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi divorces his second wife, the former Princess Fawzia of Egypt.
- November 24 - In Venezuela, president Rómulo Betancourt is outsed by a military coup. A military junta takes over the government.
- December 7 - Gary Morris, singer and actor
- December 7 - Mads Vinding, Danish bassist
- December 10 - United Nations General Assembly adopts Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
- December 26 - Last Soviet troops withdraw from North Korea.
- December 28 - Member of Muslim Brotherhood assassinates Egyptian Prime Minister Mahmud Fahmi Nokrashi.
- December 30 - The play Kiss Me, Kate opens for the first of 1,077 performances.
- December 31 - 1948 Arab-Israeli War: Israeli troops drive Egyptians from Negev.

Undated


- Empire Windrush immigrant ship arrives in Britain
- Civil war in Costa Rica
- Civil war in Colombia
- Rope (film) released

Unknown date


- Porsche is founded.
- Miranda, the innermost moon of Uranus, is discovered by Gerard Kuiper.
- Casimir effect discovered by Dutch physicist Hendrik Casimir.
- Tunnel of Vielha is opened in Val d'Aran, Spanish Pyrenees.
- Fresh Kills, world's largest landfill, opens in Staten Island, New York.
- The law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom is founded.
- Brandeis University is founded.
- Oakridge Transit Centre opened in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Births

January-February


- January 2 - Mary Archer, British scientist
- January 2 - Deborah Watling, British actress
- January 7 - Kenny Loggins, American singer
- January 10 - Donald Fagen, American keyboardist
- January 10 - Mischa Maisky, Latvian cellist
- January 14 - Carl Weathers, American football player and actor
- January 14 - T-Bone Burnett, American record producer and musician
- January 15 - Ronnie Van Zant, American musician (d. 1977)
- January 16 - John Carpenter, American film director and composer
- January 17 - Davíð Oddsson, Prime Minister of Iceland
- January 19 - Frank McKenna, Premier of New Brunswick and Canadian Ambassador
- January 27 - Mikhail Baryshnikov, Russian-born dancer
- January 28 - Charles Taylor, Liberian president
- January 29 - Marc Singer, Canadian actor
- January 31 - Muneo Suzuki, Japanese politician
- February 1 - Elisabeth Sladen, British actress
- February 3 - Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo, East Timorean Catholic bishop, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
- February 4 - Alice Cooper, American musician
- February 5 - Christopher Guest, American actor, writer, director, and composer
- February 5 - V. Alexander Stefan, American physicist, educator, and writer
- February 14 - Teller, American magician
- February 24 - J. Jayalalithaa, Indian politician
- February 25 - Danny Denzongpa, Indian actor
- February 28 - Steven Chu, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- February 28 - Mike Figgis, American director, writer, and composer
- February 28 - Bernadette Peters, American actress and singer
- February 28 - Mercedes Ruehl, American actress

March-April


- March 1 - Burning Spear, Jamaican singer and musician
- March 2 - Jeff Kennett, Australian politician
- March 2 - R. T. Crowley, pioneer of electronic commerce
- March 9 - Jeffrey Osborne, American singer
- March 12 - James Taylor, American musician
- March 15 - Sérgio Vieira de Mello, Brazilian diplomat (d. 2003)
- March 17 - William Gibson, Canadian writer
- March 20 - John de Lancie, American actor
- March 20 - Bobby Orr, Canadian hockey player
- March 22 - Andrew Lloyd Webber, English composer
- March 22 - Wolf Blitzer, American television journalist
- March 26 - Steven Tyler, American singer (Aerosmith)
- March 28 - Dianne Wiest, American actress
- March 31 - Al Gore, former Vice President of the United States
- March 31 - Rhea Perlman, American actress
- April 1 - Jimmy Cliff, Jamaican musician
- April 15 - Michael Kamen, American composer (d. 2003)
- (April 23)-
- April 29 - Michael Karoli, German musician (d. 2001)

May-July


- May 8 - Felicity Lott, English soprano
- May 11 - Shigeru Izumiya, Japanese musician
- May 12 - Steve Winwood, English singer
- May 14 - Bob Woolmer, British cricket coach
- May 15 - Brian Eno, English musician and record producer
- May 19 - Grace Jones, Jamaican singer and actress
- May 21 - Leo Sayer, English musician
- May 26 - Stevie Nicks, American singer and songwriter (Fleetwood Mac)
- May 29 - Michael Berkeley, British composer
- May 31 - John Bonham, British drummer (Led Zeppelin) (d. 1980)
- June 2 - Todd Rundgren, American singer and record producer
- June 13 - Garnet Bailey, Canadian hockey player and scout
- June 17 - Dave Concepcion, Venezuelan baseball player
- June 19 - Phylicia Rashad, American actress
- June 20 - Ludwig Scotty, President of Nauru
- June 21 - Lionel Rose, Australian boxer
- June 21 - Andrzej Sapkowski, Polish writer
- July 8 - Raffi Cavoukian, Egyptian-born singer
- July 16 - Pinchas Zukerman, Israeli violinist
- July 18 - Hartmut Michel, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- July 21 - Ed Hinton, American sportswriter
- July 21 - Cat Stevens, English musician
- July 21 - Garry Trudeau, American cartoonist
- July 25 - Peggy Fleming, American figure skater
- July 28 - Sally Struthers, American actress
- July 30 - Jean Reno, French actor

August-December


- August 2 - Dennis Prager, American radio talk show host and author
- August 3 - Jean-Pierre Raffarin, Prime Minister of France
- August 13 - Kathleen Battle, American soprano
- August 15 - Uschi Digard, American erotic actress and figure model
- August 20 - Robert Plant, English singer (Led Zeppelin)
- August 30 - Lewis Black, American comedian
- September 4 - Samuel Hui, Hong Kong singer
- September 5 - Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Austrian diplomat and politician
- September 10 - Bob Lanier, American basketball player
- September 10 - Margaret Trudeau, First Lady of Canada
- September 13 - Nell Carter, American singer and actress (d. 2003)
- September 17 - John Ritter, American actor (d. 2003)
- September 22 - Denis Burke, Australian politician
- September 24 - Heinz Chur, German composer
- September 27 - Michele Dotrice, English actor
- September 29 - Bryant Gumbel, American television broadcaster
- October 1 - Sir Sir Peter Blake New Zealand yachtsman (d. 2001)
- October 2 - Avery Brooks, American television actor
- October 2 - Chris LeDoux, American singer and rodeo star (d. 2005)
- October 8 - Johnny Ramone, American guitarist (The Ramones) (d. 2004)
- October 9 - Jackson Browne, American musician
- October 13 - Ted Poe, American politician
- October 17 - George Wendt, American television actor
- November 1 - Jim Steinman, American songwriter and producer
- November 5 - William Daniel Phillips, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- November 10 - Vincent Schiavelli, American actor
- November 14 - Charles, Prince of Wales
- November 16 - Mutt Lange, Rhodesian-born record producer
- November 17 - Howard Dean, American politician
- November 20 - John R. Bolton, U.S. Ambassador to the UN
- November 20 - Barbara Hendricks, American-born soprano
- December 3 - Ozzy Osbourne, British singer
- December 6 - JoBeth Williams, American actress
- December 10 - Abu Abbas, founder of the Palestine Liberation Front (d. 2004)
- December 21 - Willi Resetarits, Austrian musician and cabaret artist
- December 27 - Gérard Depardieu, French actor

Unknown date


- Maurizio Gucci Italian business man and murder victim (d. 1995)
- Edward Rutherfurd, British novelist

Deaths


- January 21 - Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, Italian composer (b. 1876)
- January 30 - Mohandas Gandhi, Indian independence movement leader (assassinated) (b. 1869)
- January 30 - Orville Wright, American co-inventor of the airplane (b. 1871)
- February 2 - Bevil Rudd, South African athlete (b. 1894)
- February 11 - Sergy Eisenstein, Russian film director (b. 1898)
- February 23 - John Robert Gregg, Irish-born inventor of shorthand (b. 1866)
- March 6 - Ross Lockridge, Jr., American novelist (suicide) (b. 1914)
- March 10 - Jan Masaryk, Foreign Minister of Czechoslovakia (b. 1886)
- March 31 - Egon Erwin Kisch, Austrian journalist and author (b. 1885)
- April 9 - Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, Colombian politician (b. 1903)
- April 17 - Suzuki Kantaro, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1867)
- May 15 - Father Edward J. Flanagan, Irish-born priest and founder of Boys Town (b. 1886)
- May 28 - Unity Mitford, British friend of Hitler (b. 1914)
- June 25 - William C. Lee, American general (b. 1895)
- July 5 - Georges Bernanos, French writer (b. 1888)
- July 15 - John J. Pershing, American general (b. 1860)
- July 23 - David Wark Griffith, American film director (b. 1875)
- August 12 - Harry Brearley, English inventor of stainless steel (b. 1871)
- August 16 - Babe Ruth, baseball player (b. 1895)
- September 2 - Sylvanus G. Morley, American scholar and World War I spy (b. 1883)
- September 11 - Muhammed Ali Jinnah, first Governor-General of Pakistan (b. 1876)
- October 24 - Franz Lehár, Hungarian composer (b. 1870)
- November 28 - D.D. Sheehan, Irish politician (b. 1873)
- December 23 - Japanese war leaders (hanged):
  - Kenji Doihara, spy (b. 1883)
  - Koki Hirota, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1878)
  - Iwane Matsui, general (b. 1878)
  - Itagaki Seishiro, military officer (b. 1885)
  - Hideki Tojo, general (b. 1884)
- December 31 - Sir Malcolm Campbell, English land and water racer (b. 1885)

Nobel Prizes


- Physics - Patrick Maynard Stuart Blackett
- Chemistry - Arne Wilhelm Kaurin Tiselius
- Medicine - Paul Hermann Müller
- Literature - T. S. Eliot
- Peace - not awarded Category:1948 als:1948 ko:1948년 ms:1948 ja:1948年 simple:1948 th:พ.ศ. 2491

Leap year starting on Thursday

This is the calendar for any leap year starting on Thursday (dominical letter DC), e.g. 2004. Previous year | Next year This kind of year has 53 weeks in the ISO 8601 week - day format. Furthermore, ISO week 10 (which begins March 1) and all subsequent ISO weeks occur earlier than in any other kind of year. Category:ThursdayCategory:Weeksko:목요일로 시작하는 윤년th:ปีอธิกสุรทินที่วันแรกเป็นวันพฤหัสบดี

Nationalisation

Nationalization or Nationalisation is the act of taking assets into state ownership. Usually it refers to private assets being nationalized, but sometimes it may be assets owned by other levels of government, such as municipalities. Similarly, the opposite of nationalization is usually privatization, but sometimes it may be municipalization. Nationalization that happens after a previous privatization is often called renationalization. A key issue in nationalization is whether the private owner is properly compensated for the value of the institution. The most controversial nationalizations are those where no compensation is paid or an amount unreasonably below the likely market rate (expropriation). Many nationalizations through expropriation have come after revolutions, especially communist ones. In some instances, nationalization occurs as the government seizes the corporate property of a criminal. An example is Renault, which was seized by the French government from its owners because they had collaborated with Nazi Germany. The cost of legally buying a large business is such that many legal nationalizations have happened when firms of national importance run into trouble (close to bankruptcy), and could be acquired by the government for little or no money. A classic example is the UK nationalization in the 1970s of the car-maker British Leyland. At other times governments have felt it important to gain control of institutions and industries of strategic economic importance, such as banks or railways, or of important industries struggling economically. (The case of Rolls Royce plc, nationalised in 1971, is an interesting blend of these two arguments - see below). This policy was sometimes known as ensuring government control of the "commanding heights" of the economy, to enable it to manage the economy better in terms of long-term development and medium-term stability. The extent of this policy declined in the 1980s and 1990s as governments increasingly privatized industries that had been nationalized, replacing their strategic economic influence with use of the tax system and of interest rates. Nonetheless, national and local government has seen the advantage of keeping key strategic assets in institutions that are not strongly profit driven, can raise funds outside the public-sector constraints, but retain some public accountability. Recent UK examples include the vesting of the UK rail track in a not-for profit company, and the divestment of much council housing stock to 'arms-length management companies', often with mutual status.

Notable nationalizations


- Britain - British Coal, British Gas, British Petroleum, British Rail, British Steel, British Leyland, British Airways, the Bank of England, and the telephones division of the Post Office (now British Telecom). All the aforementioned were privatized during the Conservative period in power from 1979 to 1997, except the Bank of England which remains state-owned, but semi-independent. Many - particularly British Steel and British Leyland - fared poorly whilst nationalized. Conversely, British Rail (broken up into multiple parts including train operators, train owners, and a track owner; the latter now effectively deprivatised as Network Rail after near-bankruptcy) fared poorly after privatization.

Another example of a successful large nationalised utility was the CEGB, which was for a time the world's largest integrated electricity generator. Nationalisation was used by all political parties. In 1971 the Conservative government of Edward Heath nationalised the strategically-important aero-engine part of the recently-bankrupt Rolls Royce plc. (It is perhaps note-worthy that Rolls-Royce's Filton factory lay within the South Gloucestershire constituency of the then Minister for Aerospace, Frederick Corfield.)
- Canada - Canadian National Railways, created from several systems nation-wide following their bankruptcy during and after the First World War, and since privatized. Nationalization of electricity during the Quiet Revolution of Quebec, by minister René Lévesque and the Lesage government, to create Hydro-Quebec.There is talk of nationalizing the oil and gas industry thought this may lead to increased feelings of Alberta Separatism.
- United States - All U.S. railroads were nationalized as the United States Railroad Administration during World War I as a wartime measure but were returned to their private owers almost immediately after the war. The National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) was a government corporation created in 1971 for the express purpose of relieving American railroads of their legal obligation to provide intercity passenger service. They were trying to get out of this obligation anyway, but by taking over their passenger rail assets, Amtrak was able to keep the passenger trains running. In 1976 the Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail), another government corporation, was created to take over the operations of six bankrupt rail lines operating primarily in the Northeast U.S.; Conrail was privatized in 1987. Initial plans for Conrail would have made it a truly nationalized system like that during World War I, but an alternate proposal by the Association of American Railroads won out. Organization of the Tennessee Valley Authority entailed the nationalization of the facilities of the former Tennessee Electric Power Company in 1939. In 2001, in response to the September 11th attacks, the then-private airport security industry was nationalized and put under the authority of the Transportation Security Administration.
- Nationalization of the oil industry in numerous countries, including Libya, Kuwait, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela.
- Companies in Cuba after the 1959 revolution bringing Fidel Castro to power in which the assets of foreign (largely U.S.) companies were expropriated without compensation (the USA has long complained about these nationalizations).
- Zimbabwe's nationalization of its food distribution infrastructure.
- 1918, 1948. All manufacturing enterprises in the Soviet Union, in 1918, as well as in other countries of the Soviet bloc (for example, Czechoslovakia in 1948).
- 1918. Many retailing enterprises in the Soviet Union.
- 1944. Renault (seized from Louis Renault after WWII for his collaboration with Nazi Germany). Renault was successful whilst nationalised and remains successful today, after having been privatised in 1996.
- 1948. With the Decree 119 of june 1948 the new romanian communist regime nationalised all the existing private companies and their assests in Romania leading to the transformation of the Romanian economy from a free market economy to a centralised one.
- 1956. Under the presedential decree of 26th July 1956, The Egyptian President Gammal Abdel Nasser nationalised The Canal De Suez(Suez Canal) company. Such act led England, France and Israel to launch a combined attack on Egypt that was stopped by the US and the former Soviet Union.
- 1969. Nationalization of banks in India.
- 1982. The Paris business of M&A advisory firm Rothschild was nationalized and renamed.
- 2003. The Labour Government of New Zealand took an 80% stake in national air carrier Air New Zealand in exchange for a large financial infusion.

See also


- Privatization
- Reprivatization
- Public ownership
- Railway nationalizationCategory:Macroeconomics

United Kingdom

:For other meanings of the terms "United Kingdom" and "UK" , see United Kingdom (disambiguation) and UK (disambiguation). :For an explanation of terms like England, (Great) Britain and United Kingdom see British Isles (terminology). The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (usually shortened to the United Kingdom or the UK) is a country located off the north-western coast of continental Europe, surrounded by the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea, the Irish Sea, and the Atlantic Ocean. It is composed of four constituent parts: three constituent countries—England, Scotland, and Wales—on the island of Great Britain, and the province of Northern Ireland on the island of Ireland. The border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland forms the United Kingdom's principal international land border, although there is a nominal frontier with France in the middle of the Channel Tunnel. The UK has several overseas territories and the Crown dependencies of the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands come under the UK's sovereignty. The UK also has close relationships with the fifteen other Commonwealth Realms, as they all share the same head of state. The UK is also one of the largest member states of the European Union and a founding partner of both the UN and NATO.

Terminology


- United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: The official name for the sovereign state
- United Kingdom: an abbreviation of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
- Britain: an informal term that sometimes means United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and sometimes means Great Britain
- British: an informal term that sometimes means from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and sometimes means from Great Britain
- Great Britain (as a geographical term): the largest island of the British Isles
- Great Britain (as a political term): England + Wales + Scotland
- British Isles (as a geographical term): Great Britain + Ireland + many smaller surrounding islands. This term is disputed, please see below.
- Ireland (as a geographical term): the second largest island of the British Isles
- Ireland (as a political term): an abbreviation of the Republic of Ireland, a sovereign state on the island of Ireland
- Northern Ireland: a political region of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
- Ulster (as a geographical term): Often used to refer to Northern Ireland. It is derived from the Irish Language term 'Ulad.' It was one of the ancient Irish provinces (the others were Connaught, Leinster and Munster.). Although it is normally used to refer to Northern Ireland, Ulster also (traditionally) includes Counties Cavan, Monaghan and Donegal, which lie in the Republic of Ireland. The term Ulster is often favoured by the Protestant community.

History

Protestant Today's state is the latest of several unions formed over the last 1000 years. Scotland and England have existed as separate unified entities since the 10th century. Wales, under English control since the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284, became part of the Kingdom of England by the Laws in Wales Act 1535. With the Act of Union 1707, the separate kingdoms of England and Scotland, having shared the same monarch since 1603, agreed to a permanent union as the Kingdom of Great Britain. The Act of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain with the Kingdom of Ireland, which had been gradually brought under English control between 1169 and 1691, to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was formed in 1922, after bitter fighting which echoes down to the current political strife, the Anglo-Irish Treaty partitioned Ireland into the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland, with the latter remaining part of the United Kingdom. As provided for in the treaty, Northern Ireland, which consists of six of the nine counties of the Irish province of Ulster, immediately opted out of the Free State and to remain in the UK. The nomenclature of the UK was changed in 1927 to recognise the departure of most of Ireland, with the current name being adopted. 1927 The United Kingdom, the dominant industrial and maritime power of the 19th century, played a leading role in developing Western world ideas of property, liberty, capitalism and parliamentary democracy - to say nothing of its part in advancing world literature and science. At its zenith, the British Empire stretched over one quarter of the Earth's surface and encompassed a third of its population. The first half of the 20th century saw the UK's strength seriously depleted from the effects of World War I and World War II. The second half witnessed the dismantling of the Empire and the UK rebuilding itself into a modern and prosperous nation. The UK has been a member of the European Union since 1973. Its attitude towards further integration is conservative, and there is significant Euroscepticism in UK politics. It has not chosen to adopt the Euro, owing to internal political considerations and the government's judgement of the prevailing economic conditions.

Government and politics

The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy, with executive power exercised on behalf of the Queen by the Prime Minister and other cabinet ministers who head departments. The cabinet, including the Prime Minister, and other ministers collectively make up Her Majesty's Government. These ministers are drawn from and are responsible to Parliament, the legislative body, which is traditionally considered to be "supreme" (that is, able to legislate on any matter and not bound by decisions of its predecessors). The UK is one of the few countries in the world today that does not have a codified constitution, relying instead on customs and separate pieces of constitutional law. While the monarch is Head of State and holds all executive power, it is the Prime Minister who is the head of government. The government is answerable chiefly to the House of Commons and the Prime Minister is drawn from this chamber of Parliament by constitutional convention. The majority of cabinet members will be from the House of Commons, the rest from the House of Lords. Ministers do not, however, legally have to come from Parliament, though that is the modern day custom. The British system of government has been emulated around the world - a legacy of the United Kingdom's colonial past - most notably in the other Commonwealth Realms. The Prime Minister is chosen as the MP who can command a majority in the House of Commons - usually the leader of the largest party or, if there is no majority party, the largest coalition. The current Prime Minister is Tony Blair of the Labour Party, who has been in office since 1997. In the United Kingdom the monarch has extensive theoretical powers, but his or her role is mainly, though not exclusively, ceremonial. The monarch is an integral part of Parliament (as the "Crown-in-Parliament") and theoretically gives Parliament the power to meet and create legislation. An Act of Parliament does not become law until it has been signed by the Queen (being given Royal Assent), although no monarch has refused to assent to a bill that has been approved by Parliament since Queen Anne in 1708. Although the abolition of the monarchy has been suggested several times, the popularity of the monarchy remains strong in spite of recent controversies. Support for a British republic usually fluctuates between 15% and 25% of the population, with roughly 10% undecided or indifferent [http://www.mori.com/mrr/2000/c000616.shtml]. The current monarch is Queen Elizabeth II who acceded to the throne in 1952 and was crowned in 1953. Parliament is the national legislature of the United Kingdom. It is the ultimate legislative authority in the United Kingdom, according to the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty. It is bicameral, composed of the elected House of Commons and the unelected House of Lords, whose members are mostly appointed. The House of Commons is the more powerful of the two houses. The House of Commons has 646 members who are directly elected from single-member constituencies based on population. The House of Lords has 724 members (though this number is not fixed): hereditary peers, life peers, and bishops of the Church of England. The Church of England is the established church of the state in England. established church]] The two largest political parties are the Labour Party and Conservative Party. The UK has long had a two-party system, but in the last 20 years the Liberal Democrats have re-emerged as a large third party. The electoral system used for general elections is first-past-the-post. The constitution of the United Kingdom is un-codified and partially unwritten, which means that no single document regulates how the government works, and unwritten constitutional conventions are used extensively. The constitution is based on the principle that Parliament is the ultimate sovereign body in the country. There has long been a widespread sense of national identity in the Celtic nations. Throughout the late 19th century the UK debated giving Ireland home rule. The Scottish National Party was founded in 1934, and Plaid Cymru (Party of Wales) in 1925. Referenda for devolution succeeded in 1997 for Scotland and Wales and in 1998 for Northern Ireland. In 1999, the Scottish Parliament and the National Assembly for Wales were established, the former having primary legislative power. Proportional representation is used for the elections, which has resulted in a Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition government in Scotland. Due to internal disagreements, the Northern Ireland Assembly has been suspended since 2002.

Subdivisions

The United Kingdom is a country that is divided into four constituent parts:
- England
- Scotland
- Northern Ireland
- Wales The constituent parts of the United Kingdom have administrative subdivisions as follows:
- The regions and administrative counties of England
- The council areas of Scotland
- The counties and county boroughs of Wales
- The districts of Northern Ireland The Laws in Wales Act 1535 incorporated Wales and England into England and Wales for legal purposes. Although all four have historically been divided into counties, England's population is an order of magnitude larger than the others so in recent years it has for some purposes been divided into nine intermediate-level Government Office Regions. Each region is made up of counties and unitary authorities, apart from London, which consists of London boroughs. Although at one point it was intended that each or some of these regions would be given its own regional assembly, the plan's future is uncertain, as of 2004, after the North East region rejected its proposed assembly in a referendum. Scotland consists of 32 Council Areas. Wales consists of 22 Unitary Authorities, styled as 10 County Boroughs, 9 Counties, and 3 Cities. Northern Ireland is divided into 26 Districts. Also sometimes associated with the United Kingdom, though not constitutionally part of the United Kingdom itself, are the Crown dependencies (the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey, and the Isle of Man) as self-governing possessions of the Crown, and a number of overseas territories under the sovereignty of the United Kingdom.

Military

The armed forces of the United Kingdom are known as the British Armed Forces or Her Majesty's Armed Forces, officially the Armed Forces of the Crown. Their Commander-in-Chief is the Queen and they are managed by the Ministry of Defence. Ministry of Defence The British Armed Forces are charged with protecting the United Kingdom and its overseas territories, promoting the United Kingdom's wider security interests, and supporting international peacekeeping efforts. They are active and regular participants in NATO and other coalition operations. The United Kingdom fields one of the most powerful and comprehensive military forces in the World. Its global power projection capabilities are second only to those of the United States Armed Forces. The British Army had a reported strength of 112,700 in 2004, including 7,600 women, and the Royal Air Force a strength of 53,400. The 40,900-member Royal Navy is in charge of the United Kingdom's independent strategic nuclear arm, which consists of four Trident Ballistic Missile Submarines, while the Royal Marines provide infantry units for amphibious assault and for specialist reinforcement forces in and beyond the NATO area. This puts total active duty military troops in the 210,000 range, currently deployed in over 80 countries. The UK's special forces, principally the SAS, provides elite commandos trained for quick, mobile, military responses; often where secrecy or covert operations are required. The Royal Navy is the second largest navy in the World in terms of gross tonnage. Despite the United Kingdom's wide ranging capabilities, recent pragmatic defence policy has a stated assumption that any large operation would be undertaken as part of a coalition. Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq (Granby, No-Fly-Zones, Desert Fox and Telic) may all be taken as precedent - indeed the last true war in which the British military fought alone was the Falklands War of 1982, in which military action was initiated by Argentina and the UK was fighting a defensive, rather than offensive, campaign. The British army has been actively involved in the Troubles in Northern Ireland. However, a programme of demilitarisation is being gradually implemented.

Geography

Troubles World Factbook Map of the United Kingdom]] Most of England consists of rolling lowland terrain, divided east from west by more mountainous terrain in the Northwest (Cumbrian Mountains of the Lake District) and north (the upland moors of the Pennines) and limestone hills of the Peak District by the Tees-Exe line. The lower limestone hills of the Isle of Purbeck, Cotswolds, Lincolnshire and chalk downs of the Southern England Chalk Formation. The main rivers and estuaries are the Thames, Severn and the Humber Estuary. The largest urban area is Greater London. Near Dover, the Channel Tunnel links the United Kingdom with France. There is no peak in England that is 1000 metres (3,300 ft) or greater. Wales is mostly mountainous, the highest peak being Snowdon at 1085 metres (3,560 ft) above sea level. North of the mainland is the island of Anglesey. The largest and capital city is Cardiff, located in South Wales. Scotland's geography is varied, with lowlands in the south and east and highlands in the north and west, including Ben Nevis, the UK's highest mountain at 1343 metres (4,406 ft). There are many long and deep-sea arms, firths, and lochs. A multitude of islands west and north of Scotland are also included, notably the Hebrides, Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands. The largest city is Glasgow. Northern Ireland, making up the north-eastern part of Ireland, is mostly hilly. The main cities are Belfast ('Beal Feirste' in Irish) and Londonderry / Derry ('Doire' in Irish). The province is home to one of the UK’s World Heritage Sites, the Giant's Causeway, which consists of more than 40,000 six-sided basalt columns up to 40 feett (12 m) high. In total it is estimated that the UK includes around 1098 small islands, some being natural and some being crannogs, a type of artificial island which was built in past times using stone and wood, gradually enlarged by natural waste building up over time.

Economy

artificial island The United Kingdom, a leading trading power and financial centre, has an essentially capitalist economy, the fourth largest in the world in terms of market exchange rates and the sixth largest by purchasing power parity (PPP) exchange rates. Over the past three decades, the government has greatly reduced public ownership by means of privatisation programmes, and has contained the growth of the Welfare State. Agriculture is intensive, highly mechanised, and efficient by European standards, producing about 60% of food needs with only 1% of the labour force. The UK has large coal, natural gas, and oil reserves; primary energy production accounts for 10% of GDP, one of the highest shares of any industrial state. Services, particularly banking, insurance and business services, account for by far the largest proportion of GDP. Industry continues to decline in importance, although the UK is still Europe's largest manufacturer of armaments, petroleum products, personal computers, televisions, and mobile telephones. Tourism is also important: with over 24 million tourists a year, between China (33) and Austria (19.1), the United Kingdom is ranked as the sixth major tourist destination in the world. The Blair government has put off the question of participation in the Euro system, citing five economic tests that would need to be met before they recommend that the UK adopts the Euro, and hold a referendum.

Society

Demographics

At the April 2001 census, the United Kingdom's population was 58,789,194, the third-largest in the European Union (behind Germany and metropolitan France) and the twenty-first largest in the world. Its overall population density is one of the highest in the world. Almost one-third of the population lives in England's prosperous south-east and is predominantly urban and suburban--with about 7.2 million in the capital of London. The United Kingdom's high literacy rate (99%) is attributable to universal public education introduced for the primary level in 1870 and secondary level in 1900 (except in Scotland where it was introduced in 1696). Education is mandatory from ages five through sixteen. referendum The Church of England and the Church of Scotland function as the official national religions in their respective countries, but most religions found in the world are represented in the United Kingdom. Anglicanism is the state religion that has been established in England since 1534 during the reign of King Henry VIII. During his reign, England broke ties with the Roman Catholic church and established the Church of England as the offical religion of England. Reforms to the nature of the church's relationship to the state have been ongoing, especially concerning the nature of the House of Lords and the appointment of a fixed amount of the lordships going to Lords Temporal, bishops of the Church of England. A group of islands close to continental Europe, the British Isles have been subject to many invasions and migrations, especially from Scandinavia and the continent, including Roman occupation for several centuries. Contemporary Britons are descended mainly from the varied ethnic stocks that settled there before the eleventh century. The pre-Celtic, Celtic, Roman, Anglo-Saxon, and Norse influences were blended on Great Britain under the Normans, Scandinavian Vikings who had lived in Northern France. Although Celtic languages persist in Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, the predominant language is English, which is a West Germanic language descended from Old English, featuring a large amount of borrowings from Norman French.The other indigenous languages include the Celtic languages; Welsh, the closely related Irish and Scots Gaelic, and the Cornish language; as well as Lowland Scots, which is closely related to English; Romany; and British Sign Language (Northern Ireland Sign Language is also used in Northern Ireland). Celtic dialectal influences from Cumbric persisted in Northern England for many centuries, most famously in a unique set of numbers used for counting sheep. Recent immigrants, especially from the Commonwealth, speak many other languages, including Bengali, Cantonese, Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu. The United Kingdom has the largest number of Hindi speaking peoples outside of the Indian sub continent.

Culture

Urdu The United Kingdom contains many of the world's leading universities, including the University of Cambridge, the University of Oxford and the University of London (which incorporates, amongst others, Imperial College and University College London), and has produced many great scientists and engineers including Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin and Isambard Kingdom Brunel; the nation is credited with many inventions including the locomotive, vaccination, television, vacuum, and both the internal combustion and the jet engine. The English language has spread to all corners of the world (primarily because of the country’s empire) and is referred to as a ‘global language’. It is now taught as a second language more than any other around the world. Over the next few decades, it is estimated that approximately half the world’s population will be proficient in the language. Playwright William Shakespeare is arguably the most famous writer in the history of the English language; other well-known writers from the United Kingdom include the Brontë sisters (Charlotte, Emily, and Anne), Jane Austen, William Thackeray, J. R. R. Tolkien, John Milton, H. G. Wells and Charles Dickens. Important poets include Lord Byron, Robert Burns, Lord Tennyson and William Blake. Notable composers from the United Kingdom have included William Byrd, John Taverner, William Lawes, John Dowland, Thomas Tallis, and Henry Purcell from the 16th and early 17th centuries, and, more recently, Sir Edward Elgar, Sir Arthur Sullivan (most famous for working with librettist Sir W. S. Gilbert), Ralph Vaughan Williams and Benjamin Britten in the 19th and 20th. George Frideric Handel spent most of his composing life in England. The BBC is the oldest and perhaps the most respected broadcasting network on the globe, with the BBC World Service radio channel and its news output held in particularly high regard. The other main television networks are ITV, Channel 4, five (TV) and Sky Television. Popular programmes in the UK include the three soaps Eastenders, Coronation Street and Emmerdale, as well as the comedy news quiz Have I Got News For You and Reality TV shows Big Brother and The X Factor. Various British TV formats have been exported to other nations, notably Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, The Weakest Link and The Office. The UK was, with the US, one of the two main contributors in the development of rock and roll, and the UK has provided some of the most famous rock stars, including the Beatles, Queen, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, the Rolling Stones, The Who and many others. The UK was at the forefront of punk rock music in the 1970s with bands such as the Sex Pistols and The Clash, and the subsequent rebirth of heavy metal with bands such as Motörhead and Iron Maiden. In mid to late '90s, the Britpop phenomenon has seen bands such as Oasis, Blur, Radiohead and Coldplay gain international fame. The UK is also at the forefront of electronica, with British artists such as Aphex Twin, Talvin Singh, Nitin Sawhney and Lamb at the cutting edge. The United Kingdom was also associated with music from the Caribbean, with a large number of Jamaicans and other Caribbean nationals being present in the UK.

Sport

A great number of major sports originated in the United Kingdom, including football, golf, cricket, rugby, tennis and boxing. The national sport of the UK is association football, but the UK does not compete as a nation in any major football tournament. Instead, the home nations compete individually as England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It is because of this unique four-team arrangement that the UK currently does not compete in football events at the Olympic Games. However, a united team will probably take part in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, as these are hosted in London. The English and Northern Irish football associations have confirmed participation in this team while the Scottish FA and the Welsh FA have declined to participate. The UK also hosts many world-renowned football clubs, such as Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal in England and Rangers and Celtic in Scotland. Clubs compete in national leagues and competitions and some go on to compete in European competitions. Both forms of rugby are national sports. Rugby League originates from and is generally played in the North of England, whilst Rugby Union is played all over Britain. In Rugby League the UK plays as one nation - Great Britain - whilst in union it is represented by the four nations. England are the current holders of the Rugby Union World Cup. Every four years the British and Irish Lions (comprising the best players from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland) tour other countries. Cricket is also played in the UK, although it is focussed in England. The Wimbledon Championships are an international tennis event held in Wimbledon in south London every summer and are seen as the most prestigious of the tennis calendar. Golf is one of the most popular participation sports played in the UK and St Andrews in Scotland is the sport's home course.

Miscellaneous topics

External links


- [http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/state/nations/ BBC Nations] History of the nations within the UK.
- [http://www.bbc.co.uk British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)]
- [http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/uk.html CIA World Factbook: UK.]
- [http://www.direct.gov.uk Gateway to UK governmental services and websites.]
- [http://www.number-10.gov.uk Number 10 Downing Street]
- [http://www.statistics.gov.uk Office of National Statistics]
- [http://www.opsi.gov.uk Office of Public Sector Information] Source for all UK legislation 1987-present (successor to Her Majesty's Stationery Office).
- [http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/britishisles/ The British Isles] Independent view of the UK.
- [http://www.royal.gov.uk The British Monarchy]
- [http://www.parliament.uk/ The United Kingdom Parliament]
- [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=5703&Pos=&ColRank=1&Rank=272 Official Yearbook of the UK] factbook produced by the Office for National Statistics (years 2000 to 2005 available online).
- [http://www.ukcities.co.uk UK Cities] lists a variety of useful resources for every city in the UK.
- [http://www.justuk.org UK travel guide] United Kingdom for travellers.
- [http://www.world66.com/europe/unitedkingdom World66 Guide to United Kingdom] A travel guide written by its users.
- [http://www.multimap.co.uk www.multimap.co.uk] provides online maps and aerial photographs of the UK.
- [http://www.streetmap.co.uk www.streetmap.co.uk] an alternative to multimap.
- [http://www.freeworldmaps.net/europe/united-kingdom/map.html Physical map of United Kingdom.]
- [http://www.upmystreet.com www.upmystreet.com] detailed localised information about places in the United Kingdom.
- [http://www.parks.it/world/UK/Eindex.html UK Parks] National parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and other protected areas. ----
Category:British Isles Category:European countries Category:European Union member states Category:Members of the Commonwealth of Nations Category:Monarchies A als:Grossbritannien und Nordirland zh-min-nan:Liân-ha̍p Ông-kok ko:영국 ms:United Kingdom ja:イギリス simple:United Kingdom th:สหราชอาณาจักร



British Rail

British Railways (BR), later rebranded as British Rail, ran the British railway system from the nationalisation of the 'Big Four' British railway companies in 1948 until its privatisation in stages between 1994 and 1997. This period saw massive changes in the nature of the railway network: steam traction was eliminated in favour of diesel and electric power, passengers replaced freight as the main source of business, and the network was severely rationalised.

History

Background

The rail transport system in Great Britain developed during the 19th century. After the grouping of 1923 by the Railways Act 1921 there were four large British railway companies, each dominating its own geographic area. These were the Great Western Railway (GWR), the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS), the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) and the Southern Railway (SR). The London Underground and the Glasgow Subway were independent concerns and there was a small number of independent light railways and industrial railways, which did not contribute significant mileage to the system. Neither were non-railway-owned tramways considered part of the system. During the Second World War the railways were taken into state control. They were heavily damaged by enemy action and were run down aiding the war effort.

Nationalisation

The Transport Act 1947 made provision for the nationalisation of the network, as part of a policy of nationalising public services by Clement Attlee's Labour Government. British Railways came into existence on 1 January1948 with the merger of the Big Four, under the control of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Commission (BTC). The Northern Counties Committee lines owned by the LMS in Northern Ireland were quickly sold to the Stormont Government, becoming part of the Ulster Transport Authority (UTA) in 1949.

British Railways

1949 The new system was split geographically into six regions along the lines of the Big Four:
- Eastern Region (ER) — southern LNER lines.
- North Eastern Region (NER) — northern LNER lines in England and all ex-LMS lines east of Skipton.
- London Midland Region (LMR) — LMS lines in England and Wales and most ex-LNER lines west of Skipton.
- Scottish Region — LMS and LNER lines in Scotland.
- Southern Region — SR lines.
- Western Region (WR) — GWR lines. These regions would form the basis of the BR business structure until the 1980s. They retained a level of independence, though there was also some centralisation.

1955 Modernisation Plan

1980s]] After the Second World War, Britain's railways fell behind others in the world. Countries like Japan, USA and France were experimenting with new diesels and electrics. However, Britain wasn't, and the run down network deteriorated even more because of painfully slow rebuilding. Finally, and lately, came the modernisation plan for Britain's railways. It cost the government much more than it should have, because of bad timing. The 1955 Modernisation Plan, detailed in the British Transport Commission's (BTC) Modernisation and Re-equipment of British Railways, argued for spending £1,240 million over a period of 15 years. Services were to be made more attractive to passengers and freight operators, thus recovering traffic which was being lost to the roads. There were three important areas:
- Electrification of principal express routes, the Eastern Region of British Railways, Kent, Birmingham and Central Scotland,
- Large-scale introduction of diesel and electric traction with new coaching stock to replace steam locomotives
- Resignalling and track renewal A government White Paper was produced in 1956, stating that modernisation would help eliminate BR's financial deficit by 1962. However the modernisation plan failed to take into account the effect that mass road transport would have upon the traditional role of the railways, and as a result much money was wasted by heavy investment in things like marshalling yards, at a time when small wagon-load traffic was in rapid decline. Much money was also wasted by the rapid introduction of new classes of diesel locomotives into fleet service without an adequate period of prototype testing, which resulted in several classes being scrapped within a very few years of their being built. The failure of the Modernisation Plan led to a distrust of British Rail's financial planning abilities by the Treasury which was to dog BR for the rest of its existence.

The Beeching Axe and the end of steam

marshalling yardMain article:Beeching Axe In 1963, BR chairman Dr Richard Beeching published the Re-Shaping of British Railways calling for major rationalisation of the system. Many rural routes were unprofitable in the face of increasing competition from road hauliers and the private car. The Beeching Axe fell on most branch lines and some main lines. Some of these lines have since become heritage railways. The early 1960s also saw the "Great Locomotive Cull", with mass withdrawals of steam types, and their replacement with diesels, fewer of which were needed on the shrinking system. Steam traction's last stand came in the North-West of England in August1968. The use of steam locomotives on independent industrial lines, particularly by the National Coal Board (NCB), continued into the 1970s. Many locomotives were preserved, having not been scrapped immediately on withdrawal, but most fell victim to the cutter's torch.
From 1958 to 1974 the West Coast Main Line was electrified in stages at the French voltage of 25 kV50HzACoverhead line electrification. Many commuter lines around London and Glasgow were also electrified, and the Southern Region extended its 750 V DCthird rail system to the Kent coast. However electrification never reached system-wide level as on many other European railways.

British Rail

Europe]] Steam traction on British Railways ended in August1968 after the system was rebranded British Rail. This introduced the double-arrow logo, still used by National Rail to represent the industry as a whole (though some cynics claimed the logo meant the railway "didn't know if it was coming or going"); the standardised typeface used for all communications and signs; and the "rail blue" livery which was applied to nearly all locomotives and rolling
Century Year
19th century: 1824 1852 1880
20th century: 1920 1948 1976
21st century: 2004 2032 2060 2088
22nd century: 2128 2156 2184