Missouri Southern State University’s 20th annual themed semester focuses on Great Britain, consisting of England, Scotland, and Wales. (The term “United Kingdom” refers to Great Britain plus Northern Ireland.) Great Britain occupies the ninth largest island in the world with an area of about 80,000 square miles or roughly the size of Kansas. With a population of approximately 62 million, Great Britain is the world’s third most populous island after Java (Indonesia) and Honshu (Japan).
Great Britain’s importance is indisputable. It has the world’s fifth biggest economy, is a nuclear power, and holds a permanent seat on the United Nations’ Security Council. It has vibrant cities, scenic beauty, magnificent cathedrals, museums, and castles, and two prestigious universities – Cambridge and Oxford. Last year London’s Heathrow was the world’s sixth busiest airport.
Britain has produced extraordinary contributions to global civilization. Consider these 20 examples:
Such exceptional creativity, coming from a remote island on the periphery of northwestern Europe, suggests a powerful cultural vitality. Perhaps the very fact of detachment from the continent stimulated an outward-looking, entrepreneurial spirit. Shakespeare celebrated his homeland’s uniqueness in Act II of King Richard the Second:
Living on an island, many Britons took to the sea. Adventurers like Henry Hudson and Walter Raleigh in North America, Robert Clive and Thomas Raffles in Asia, Cecil Rhodes in Africa, and James Cook in the South Pacific promoted British colonial interests. By the 19th century it was literally true that “the sun never set on the British Empire.” (An old joke says this was because God didn’t trust the British in the dark!)
London’s imperial rule sparked revolutionary independence movements, and often violence, from the United States to India to Kenya and South Africa.
The colonial legacy lives on in the Commonwealth of Nations, a voluntary association of 53 countries (mostly former colonies) representing nearly one-third of the Earth’s population. The Commonwealth encourages trade, economic development, technical cooperation, and human rights among its members.
The 20th Commonwealth Games were held in Glasgow, Scotland in 2014 as 4,800 athletes from 71 nations and territories competed in 17 sports. Australia will host the 2018 Games.
For Americans, Britain holds special significance. By establishing the original 13 colonies, she provided the political, economic, and social foundations for what became the United States. We see it in place names: Bryn Mawr (Welsh for “big hill”), Pa., New London, Ct., Glasgow, Mo.
Of major importance was the English language, through which an Anglo worldview permeated American culture. But differences in pronunciation, spelling, and vocabulary prompted a quip attributed to George Bernard Shaw that “England and America are two countries separated by a common language.”
Of interest to Missourians, Britain’s wartime prime minister, Winston Churchill, spoke at Westminster College in Fulton on March 5, 1946 at the invitation of President Harry Truman. In what may be the most famous speech by an international visitor in American history, Churchill declared that an “iron curtain” had descended across Europe. That metaphor encapsulated the Cold War which preoccupied U. S. foreign policy for nearly half a century. The National Churchill Museum welcomes visitors to the Fulton campus.
Queen Elizabeth II, now 90, last year passed Queen Victoria as the longest-reigning monarch in British history. Debate continues over whether the high cost of maintaining royalty is justified. But the tradition and pageantry of kings and queens remains ingrained in the national DNA.
British aristocratic society maintains an abundance of nobility and inherited titles. Princes and princesses, dukes and duchesses, knights and dames, marquesses, barons, earls, and viscounts can sound a bit strange to egalitarian Americans. But class distinctions may erode as younger generations of Britons experience increased immigration and the leveling effects of social media.
The British Broadcasting Corporation is arguably the best news organization in the world. Founded in 1922, the BBC broadcasts in 28 languages and offers comprehensive global coverage on its website (bbc.com).
Britain and sports go together. Manchester Union, a football (soccer) club in England’s second biggest city, is ranked by Forbes as the fifth most valuable sports franchise in the world ($3.1 billion). Golf blossomed in the 18th century at St. Andrews, Scotland. The first modern tennis court was unveiled in Wales in 1873, but tournaments soon moved to the London suburb of Wimbledon, now a mecca for tennis. Cricket and rounders were forerunners of baseball. Rugby is named after the English school where the game was invented in 1823. Badminton takes its name from an estate near Gloucester, England. London has hosted the Summer Olympics three times, most recently in 2012.
The Brits love their pets. Westminster Kennel Club shows typically include English Springer Spaniels, Welsh Corgis, Scotland Terriers, and English Sheepdogs. Cat fanciers enjoy breeds like the Scottish Fold, Cornish Rex, Devon Rex, and British Shorthair. This year the Royal Mail issued 10 stamps honoring the 150th birth anniversary of Beatrix Potter, author of The Tale of Peter Rabbit, a classic of children’s literature.
With democratic impulses stretching back over 800 years to the Magna Carta, Britain has held several noteworthy elections recently. In 2014, Scotland rejected independence from the United Kingdom by a 55% to 45% margin. In May 2016, London elected its first Muslim mayor, Sadiq Khan, the son of immigrants from Pakistan. On June 23, in a momentous referendum, voters narrowly (52% to 48%) decided to leave the 28-member European Union. Having endured attacks from the Normans in 1066, the Spanish Armada in 1588, the French under Napoleon in 1805 and the German bombings of 1940, Britain has chosen greater separation from the rest of Europe. An uncertain future lies ahead.
Article is used with permission from an essay by Dr. Allen H. Merriam, MSSU professor of communication (retired).
