Based on your research and experience critically assess how values and Essay

Based on your research and experience critically assess how values and beliefs have changed in Britain over the last century. An - Essay Example These words by one of Britain’s most influential and famous statesmen certainly echo the central themes of this essay. On no level more so than the values and beliefs of the British people has the nature of the United Kingdom changed during the course of the last century. The effect these changes have had will certainly manifest currently, and continue to affect contemporary the youth in the 21st Century, in varied and significant ways. At the turn of the last century, as the world moved into the 1900s, Britain and her Empire stood at the forefront of the world, dominating culture, belief systems, education and politics across the globe. It seemed that the historic continuity of the kingdom would last forever. And throughout this history, Britain was part of Europe, sometimes at war with countries on the continent, sometimes in alliance with them, but always connected to them, perhaps due to proximity. But is has also been due to the close bonds that Britain and the British pe ople have had with European values and beliefs, particularly those of Western Europe, that these ties have remained. And certainly throughout the last century, Britain has been the defender of the values and beliefs of Western Europe (Thatcher, 1988). ... Importantly this system also derived from European influence and philosophical thought. Throughout, Britain has recognised the personal liberty of the individual, and a human rights culture, based on responsibility and duty to the collective, rather than personal gain exclusively (ibid). The religion of Britain and the European continent at large, Christianity, has consistently informed the value systems of Britons, leading to particular set of morals to inform behaviour that is considered acceptable or unacceptable (ibid). Defending this ideal of behaviour, government and civilization has at least twice forced Britain into taking the lead in successive world wars: In both World War I and II, the kingdom did not hesitate to stand up to the forces of autocracy and fascism, respectively, and risk all in defending the democratic rights of its own citizens, as well as the rights of all free peoples to remain free (The Staff of the New York Times, 1965). Continually, though, Britain has a sserted its sovereignty, interacting with Europe and the rest of the world, yet remaining defensive of its own culture, values and civilization. The perception that Britain was leading the world certainly rang true at the beginning of the 1900s, and continued to be valid for at least the first half of that century. It was never in doubt that the British way of life was enviable, defensible and something to be proud of for most Britons. As the Empire declined, and the 20th Century drew to a close, though, both Britons’ own opinions, and world opinion was that the United Kingdom was no longer a world super-power. Perhaps this is in part the explanation