26 January, 2007 |

Feeling of national consciousness of the British

It has historically developed so, that emigrants always seem to some British people as a threat of moral, social and to cultural values, someone whose presence will considerably change a society. However this sight absolutely overlooks difficulties of definition of the British norms during the different periods of history of the Great Britain. Emigrants, certainly, in the certain measure have changed the society and attitudes inside of it, but British Isles have always been occupied by several various cultures. There is a set of distinctions between four nations of England, the Wales, Scotland and Ireland, and also a variety of cultures inside of these countries. Such variety of the cultures and presence of communities of emigrants call into the question a definition “typically British”.
The “Typically British” behavior is attributed to all population of British Isles since 1070, when the Great Britain has been formed. Since then in this concept stability and central institute of management is put without damage to the developed of national traditions. But the history of British Isles prior to the beginning of XVIII century represents not the history of the united state, but the history of four absolutely different countries and their people, who quite often were in the state of war with each other.
The inhabitants of the present United Kingdom have kept the important national and cultural distinctions. Political terms, such as “British” and “Britain” seem artificial to much of them. Foreigners often name British Englishmen, and quite often hardly distinguish the British cultures and do not notice irritation of not English population connected with such reference.
Scots, Welsh and Northern Irish people basically are descendants of the Celts, while Englishmen are descendants of Anglo-Saxons. Critics notice, that many inhabitants of the Great Britain do not consider themselves as “British”, and consider, that is necessary to reconsider this term in a view of multinational country.
Certainly, for centuries, these four nations in any measure have mixed among themselves that was promoted by groups of the emigrants. There have been established political, public and state systems therefore all inhabitants of islands began to feel themselves as a united nation. However British are often confused to Englishmen because, Englishmen are the most numerous of people in territory of the Great Britain, secondly, the uniting of smaller Scots, Irish and Welsh has occurred under the English crown, and, thirdly, because all government is concentrated in England.
It turns out, that the nationalism of Englishmen dominates, and they do not see a special difference in definition of by British or Englishmen. Representatives of other people always differentiate people and the Great Britain in general, and, as a rule, do not suffer domination and influence of Englishmen, consider them absolutely distinct from Englishmen and prefer to  remain Scots (Welsh, Irish), instead of British.
 

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