Another change after the Second World War was that more woman went to work.They has shown that they could do men’s jobs,and many of them had done important war work.In some homes,nothing was different for women,but over the next fifty years,women in the UK slowly saw changes foe themselves in education,work and at home. Their lives would never be the same again.
After the Second World War,many of the UK’s colonies wanted to rule themselves.The south of Ireland had already become independent from the Uk in1921,so the country had now become the Uniten Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Irsland.People from the colonies had fought for the UK during the war,and they felt they had won their freedom.In 1947,India,once a very important parts of the Empire,become independent.In the next twenty years,most the other colonies also did the same.The become independent,but joined the Commonwealth,an organization of the groverments of the UK’s old colonies.
The Uk needed more workers to help rebuild the country after the war,so the groverment invited other Europeans and people from the colonies of the old Empire to move there.Hoping to find good new jobs,many people came,many fron Europe,India,Pakistan and the West Indies.In 1970,there were 1.4 million. Sadly,there were often problems in later years when some of the people born in UK felt that immigrants and their families were talking too many jobs.There is some racism – when people do not like others becouse they have a different colour skin – in the UK today.But most people do not like racism and want all people in UK to live together happily.
In 1952, Elizabeth the Second become the new queen of the UK,and millions of people watched her coronation on TV. The frist TV’s were made in 1920s,but many English people bought TV’s for the frist time for coronation,and in the 1950s,TV startes to become an important part of life in England.
They were many changes in the UK in the second half of the twentieth century.Many of the country’s traditional industries,for example iron,cploth,coal and shipbuilding,began to have problems,amd people working in those industries lost their jobs.New industries become more important,for example banking and pharmaceuticals (drugs and medicines).
In August every year,there is a big street festival in London called the
Nottong Hill Carnival.The Notting Hill Carnival frist began in 1965,to celebrate the music,dance and traditions of many Caribbean people live in London. Today,it is the second biggest street festival in the world.
England today is a very different place than it was one hundres years ago.
Today,England is one of the most multicultural countries in the world,and
many people from the West Indies,Africa,India,Chaina,South-East Asia and
Eastern Europe live here. More than two hundred and fifty different languages are spoken in London! Probably because of this,there are also
many religions in England. England is a Christain country,but different religions are freely followed,and there are many Hindu,Jewish,Sikh and
Buddhist people here.
Society has change in England too.One hundred years ago,most people
married in their early twenties younger and then had children,but today
many more people live alone, and most do not get married or have
children until thery are in their thirties or older.
England’s place in the world,as part of the UK,is also very different.
The UK does not have an empire now,but it is an important country
in Europe and become a member of European Union (then called the EEC)
in 1973. The UK works very closely with the United States of America (USA),
and it also continues to be a member of Commonwealth,together with
fifty two other countries from around the world. Member of the Commonwealth meet every two years to decide how the can best work
together.