International relations - British People and the rest of the world

It means Britain  has  the most powerful navy  and they practically ruled the world with colonies all over the world. Therefore it is alway daytime somewhere in the empire.  Its peak was around 1920.

Brits where rather patronizing towards others  and did not take their ways and beliefs seriously.

Today they are no longer that chauvinistic, just ignorant.

There are no formal economic or political advantages. Special trading agreements were discontinued after Britain had entered the EC. It keeps the cultural contacts alive.

Bermuda, The Falklands, Gibraltar and several other small islands;  mostly because they are afraid their neighbour countries will swallow them up

in 1982, Argentinia had invaded the Falklands, overseas territory of Britain.  The British army went their to recapture  it. Because it was their territory and because Argentine was ruled by a dictator.

That's 'dienstplicht'; no, not any more , since 1957

Royal Navy, dating back to King Arnold,  the Royal Air Force and  the Army. they their are rather proud of them and persuing a career in the army is still highly respectable.

In Ulster, in 1969,

Not very significant compared to e.g. USA; because there is no national service and the government has cut spending on the armed forces. There is still a small nuclear force.

with the USA , they share the language, Britain use to be the leading Nation, and now it's the USA.  

Because GB cut spending on defence, leading to a decline in power. The power of the USA was growing and they initiate interference in conflicts in the world such as Iraque and Afghanistan 

It has declined  since they joined the EC (European Communities) in 1973 and became part of the European Block.  people are suspicious about the power of Brussels and they  feel  the EU laws and regulations interfere too much in their business, the Brits hate that. Threat to British sovereignty. 

Because it was an economic neccessity and a polical advantage. People call it a neccesary evil. But the Brits still feel Europe and Great Britain are fundamentally  two different things.

it might mean more power to the different nations that form  Britain. 

To the establishment of the Scottish parliament and the Welsh Assembly. In Scotland nationalism is much stronger than in Wales, the Scots want to be independent of England. The  Scottish parliament has consideral powers over the internal scottish affaires, apart from defence, foreign policy and economic policy. Wales totally integrated in England, there is less nationalism. The Welsh Assembly has much less powers than the Scottish parliament.

1922. The most, catholic,  Irish wanted internal self-government and independance in the early 1900 but the protestants in the province of Ulster in the North did not want that. Therefore in 1920 British Government partioned  the country between the Catholic South and the Protestant North. In 1922 Ireland became independent from Britain. The six counties remained within the United Kingdom. 

Northern Ireland is the Northern part of Ireland that belongs to the UK. It became officially separated from Ireland when the republic of Ireland was founded and the majority of the people living in the North, who where mainly unionists, wanted to stay part of England. Ulster is used to be the name of one of the old kingdoms of Ireland and the name is used for Northern Ireland. Ulster as 9 counties but only six of them belong to Northern Ireland, that's why the area is also called 'Six Counties' 

Protestants: unionists, loyalists, (loyal to the union with Britain) 

Catholics: republicans, nationalists (supporting the idea of an independant, single Irish nation, and it republican government

Irish Republican Army, an extremist party who uses extreme violence to reach their goal.

Stormont Castle is the residence of the Parliament in Norhtern Ireland