r08-09 British history
| Autor: Tomáš Veselý | Škola: G Opatov |
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| Textový náhled: 8 – 9 - British history The Celts The first people to come to Britain were the Celts. They crossed the English Channel about 700 years before Jesus Christ was born. They were farmers and they also knew how to word with metals like iron. They were fierce warriors, too. Their religion was polytheistic: they adored many gods and goddesses; their priests, the Druids, were famous for their magic arts and human sacrifices. The Celts became known as Britons. The Romans In 55 BC Julius Caesar visited Britain but it was only in 43 AD that the Romans conquered the island under Emperor Claudius. They called it "Britannia". They occupied England and Wales for three hundred years but did not succeed in beating Scotland's fierce tribes, called the Picts and the Scots. In fact, Emperor Hadrian built a wall across northern England to defend the Roman territories. The Anglo-Saxons After the Romans left, people called Anglo-Saxons came to Britain from Germany. In the seventh century they controlled most of the island which they called Angleland. The Britons moved north and west and their descendants are the people who live in Cornwall, Wales, Ireland and Scotland. The legendary King Arthur, with his Knights of the Round Table, was their greatest hero. Pope Gregory I decided to convert the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity and by the eighth century all England was Christian. The Vikings The first Viking raiders came to Britain in 789. They came from Scandinavia and first conquered the northern province of Northumbria. They made York their capital. The English asked the King of Wessex, Alfred, to defend them. He built many fortresses and England's first fighting ships. He became the first king of England and was called Alfred the Great. He never beat the Vikings but he made peace by letting them stay in the north and east of England. William the Conqueror 1066 is a very important date for the British. It was the year that the French Duke of Normandy, William, won the Battle of Hastings and became King of England. He was known as William the Conqueror. A new age began for England. William introduced the feudal system. He took the land from the English nobles and gave it the Norman nobles who promised to serve him. He built many castles. The French language and many French customs were introduced, but William also maintained many English laws and practices. The Magna Carta – a step towards democracy In 1215, King John ("Lackland"), an unpopular king, was forced by the nobles to sign this document which limited the king's powers. In fact, the king ruled with absolute power; his wishes were laws and nobody could contrast them. The Magna Carta was the beginning of the end of the feudal system (for example, the king could no longer collect taxes without the Great Council's consent, and a freeman accused of a crime had the right to trail by his peers), and an important step towards democracy. Britain was now a constitutional monarchy. The Hundred Years's War This war between England and France, from 1337 – 1453, began when the English defeated the French fleet and won control of the sea. The English then invaded France but after many battles by 1453 the English held only the French seaport at Calais and the war came to an end. The war of Roses Peace did not come to England after the Hundred Year's War. In 1455 two noble families York and Lancaster began a struggle for the throne which lasted many years. The York symbol was a white rose and the Lancaster symbol was red rose. For this reason the struggle between York and Lancaster was called War of Roses. The Tudors The Tudor family reigned Britain from 1435 to 1603. The second Tudor king, Henry VIII, was responsible for making the country Protestant. He quarreled with the Pope who refused to let him divorce his wife, Catherine of Aragon, who had not given him a son. Henry decided to break away from the Roman Catholic Church and he made himself Head of the Church of England. He destroyed many monasteries and took all their lands and money. Henry married six women in his effort to have sons. He had six wives. He died in 1547 and his son, aged 10, became king but seven years later he died and Henry's first daughter Mary came to the throne. Elizabeth I When Mary died in 1558, Henry's daughter Elizabeth I became Queen. She reigned for 45 years. She was a great queen and brought peace and prosperity. Britain became powerful in the world and won an important naval victory over the Spanish Armada in 1588. Elizabeth encouraged the arts and literature at home and the creation of colonies abroad. This was the first step towards the British Empire. The slave trade began; Britain was economically very strong. Elizabeth never married and had no children. The Stuarts Elizabeth I died in 1603 and the throne passed to her cousin, James VI of Scotland. He was a Stuart. He became James I and reigned until 1625. Religious conflicts began again between Catholics and Protestant and the Puritans, who believed in a simple life and hard work, were persecuted by the Protestants so many of them left to go to America and start a new life. Their first ship was called the Mayflower and sailed from Plymouth in 1620. In 1707 Scotland and England became united as Great Britain. The Industrial Revolution From 1760 to 1850 inventions in the textile industry and enormous industrial changes led to extensive industrialization. This was the era of the Industrial Revolution, when production began to be made in factories instead of in the home. Many people left the countryside and went to live and work in the new large cities. The workers were paid very little and lived in terrible conditions, but the factory owners made a lot of money, using the cheap raw materials brought from the colonies. The Industrial Revolution brought great social changes, too. A new social class was created: besides the nobles, the middle class of rich merchants, and the peasants (lower class), a new class of industrial workers was created. The British Empire One of the most important periods in British history was the reign of Queen Victoria from 1837 to 1901. Britain now had many colonies and Victoria was named Empress of India. When Victoria died Britain was the richest country in the world and had an enormous empire. The Commonwealth Many of Britain's colonies began fighting for independence: Canada, Australia and New Zealand were the first to leave the Empire and this was bad for the economy. In 1931 the Commonwealth was founded. It is an association of 50 countries, which used to be part of the Empire. They co-operate economically and culturally. Many Commonwealth citizens have come to live in Britain making her a multi-racial nation. Ireland Ireland had fought for independence for hundreds of years and, in 1921, Britain finally consented. Only the northern region of Ulster chose to remain part of the United Kingdom. The people living there are mainly Protestant while the rest of the country, now called the Republic of Ireland, is Catholic. Social changes Social reforms begun in the 19th century (in 1833 for example, children under the age of nine were not allowed to work) continued in Britain. Women were given the right to vote in 1918. The Welfare State was founded, providing pensions, financial help for people without work, houses for poor, and so on. The two World Wars World War I began in 1914 and ended in 1918. Thousands of British soldiers died and the economic effects were terrible. World War II slowed down economic and social improvements but in 1947 the National Health Service was established, giving free care (hospitals, doctors, dentists) to all citizens. Margaret Thatcher Britain's first woman prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, leader of the Conservative Party, ruled the country for 11 years and her name will certainly be remembered in the history books. Known as the "Iron Lady", she introduced many unpopular reforms like making cuts in state education and hospital services, selling public housing and making state industries (electricity, telephones) private. Thatcherism, as her economic policy was called, reduced inflation and made many British people feel important again. Loved or hated, she was certainly a very capable stateswoman. | |