The Great in Britain refers to its size, not to its power or influence or any other aspect of the country.

The British Isles comprises many islands, the largest of which is Great Britain - made up of mainland England, Wales and Scotland. Hence the name. However this title has implications way beyond the size of an island.

Back in the nineteenth century there is no doubt that Great Britain (or the United Kingdom, if you prefer) was the most powerful and probably the most wealthy nation on earth. Its empire was still intact and providing raw material imports from all corners of the globe. Its industry, still leading Europe and North America in the steam driven industrial revolution, provided a range of exports and led the world in developments of many kinds.

Much has changed since then. There was a major stutter after the First World War, from which Great Britain never really recovered. The power, wealth and influence which had brought such prosperity for so many years began to wane, particularly as the USA began to grow as an industrial power and get its act together as a world nation of influence.

The basic conservatism of so many British people led to complacency, and consistent growth and development began to give way to the beginnings of stagnation. Then the Second World War came at exactly the wrong time for a gradually waning country.

Wars are so expensive, and Britain did not have the money to fight Nazi Germany. But it had the will and the belief in itself and its people, and so the war began, and with it also began the period of Britain depending on others.

Without American hardware, loans and grants Britain could not have even fought the Second World War, let alone help win it, and when the war was over the great celebrations were tempered by the knowledge, at least among those who knew, that Britain was essentially bankrupt.

Since 1945 successive British governments have promised a return to the days of prosperity and given empty guarantees of continued growth and a better standard of living for all. But the books have never been successfully balanced since the last war.

Continued industrial unrest between complacent and unbending teams of management and gradually more militant trade unions led to failures in all major heavy industries, so that by the time Margaret Thatcher’s government dismantled union power for good and all, Britain had effectively lost its coal, steel, shipbuilding, car and textile markets to other more innovative countries.

In financial terms the value of the pound sterling has gradually declined on world markets. There have been two major devaluations since 1945, and now that the pound floats against other world currencies, its direction is generally downwards.

Manufacturing industry has been replaced as an economic base by service industries, led by the banking, investment and insurance sectors. The financial crisis of 2008 appears to have damaged this area of business severely, and only time will tell if it manages to recover.

It could be said that one of the reasons for the greatness of Britain in years gone by was its people, a mixed breed descended from a range of European immigrants since Saxon times. The level of immigration, largely beginning in a sizeable way in the 1950s has accelerated in the past two decades, and British society now comprises rising percentages of Afro-Caribbeans, southern Asians, Eastern Europeans, and a mix of ethnic, religious and language groups which cannot help but affect the overall ethos of the population.

At the same time and during the same period, beginning in the 1950s and accelerating more recently, the level of emigration of native British people to other parts of the world for a variety of reasons has accentuated the percentage change in the make up of the British population.

In effect Great Britain is not the country it was, in many ways. It has lost its world influence, but still tries to maintain it with increasing frustration. It has lost its financial wealth and needs to look to Europe for financial, trade and economic stability, although many still insist it can succeed alone. It has experienced massive social and demographic changes and the way of life is quite unlike it used to be.

Many would say Britain has become Americanised, and this is essentially true and is a process that would have been hard to avoid, given the financial dependency, the influence of television programmes and films on society, and the effect of fast food on the overall health of the population.

The Great has gone from Britain as it was - but all countries experience constant transition, and only time will tell if any level of greatness will return in the future.