 |
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
 |
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
British History Introduction ~ The Dawn of History ~ The Romans ~ The Anglo-Saxons ~ The Vikings ~ The Normans ~ The Middle Ages ~ The Tudors ~ The Stuarts and the Civil War ~ The Hanoverians and American Independence ~ Queen Victoria and the British Empire ~ The Twentieth Century and the Two World Wars Introduction Britain is an island nation made up of three smaller countries- England, Scotland and Wales, along with the Northern part of neighbouring Ireland. Britain's population has always been a mix of peoples from different places. Britain has not been invaded since the Normans came from France in 1066, but it was invaded many times before that. The invaders included Celts, Romans, Anglo-Saxons and Vikings . The Romans first came in 55 BC and Britain was part of the Roman Empire for almost 400 years. Liberty has been important in Britain since the English King John was forced to sign Magna Carta (Latin for Great Charter) in 1215. Magna Carta said that even the king had to obey the law. And in 1783 Britain gave birth to the United States, whose laws, government and many other institutions were based on those of Britain. Britain has always been ready to stand up to dictators, alone if necessary. In the early 1800s the British defeated the Frenchman Napoleon. In the 20th century they fought Hitler and his Nazis. The Dawn of History
The first men and women came to Britain over two and a half million years ago. They were hunters and gatherers of food who used crude stone tools and weapons. But the British Isles only became islands separate from the rest of Europe about 8,500 years ago, when melting ice formed the English Channel! Today the English Channel separates Britain from France and the mainland of Europe. 3,000 years after Britain became an island, new tribes who came by boat from the mainland introduced farming. These tribes built earthworks for protection and as tombs for their dead. Many of these man-made hills and mounds can still be seen. Later on, people learned to build stone monuments. The most amazing is Stonehenge, a circle of huge stones begun about 4,500 years ago. Stonehenge is the world's most famous prehistoric monument. We don't know what it meant or what it was used for, though many different suggestions have been made. About 3,000 years ago the climate in Britain became colder and wetter than before, and people had to move down from high ground. A bit later iron started to be used for tools and weapons instead of bronze. Knowledge of ironworking may have been brought by the Celts, a new wave of immigrants who started to arrive from southern Europe in about 500 BC (500 years Before the birth of Jesus Christ). What we know about the first people in Britain has been worked out by archaeologists from the remains they left behind them. Pytheas, a Greek, was the first person who could read and write to come to Britain. His visit was in about 330 BC, over 2000 years after Stonehenge was begun. Most of what Pytheas wrote has been lost, so we don't have any written record of Britain until the Romans came, almost 300 years after he did! Chasing the Deer is a wild adventure about red deer and people in Scotland 10,000 years ago! The Romans
In 55 BC (55 years Before the birth of Jesus Christ) the Roman general Julius Caesar invaded Britain. Earlier the Belgae, who were Celts from Gaul (what is now France) had settled in southern England. Now they were helping fight the Romans alongside tribes who had stayed behind in Gaul. This is one reason Caesar invaded Britain. He also wanted gold, silver and tin from Britain. His armies won victories against the British tribes, but his boats were wrecked by storms, so he went back to Rome empty-handed. He tried again a year later, in 54 BC, but once again his ships were damaged. Almost a century later, in 43 AD (43 years after the birth of Jesus Christ), the Roman emperor Cladius decided to invade Britain, and sent 40,000 soldiers. The soldiers were scared of the Britons at first, but eventually the Romans conquered most of the country. Some of the Roman soldiers rode elephants. The British had never seen such amazing animals, and were very frightened of them. Britain was part of the Roman Empire for almost 400 years. Gradually the parts of Britain the Romans ruled became peaceful, though early on there were many rebellions. The most famous was led by Queen Boudicca in 61 AD. The Romans were good rulers. They built magnificent roads, many of whose routes are still followed today. You can still see remains of Roman buildings in Britain. The most amazing are the Roman Baths at Bath in England. Here's another great website about the Romans in Britain: The Anglo-Saxons
The Roman army left Britain in AD 410. When they had gone there was no strong army to defend Britain, and tribes called Angles, Saxons and Jutes invaded. They came from Denmark, northern Germany and northern Holland, and are called the Anglo-Saxons. At home their land was poor and often flooded, so they were probably looking for new places to live and farm. Some Saxon soldiers may have been invited over to protect Britain. The Anglo-Saxons rowed across the North Sea in wooden boats, and each boatload of people formed a small settlement of just a few large families. Some of the names they gave to their settlements are still the names of places in Britain. Place names ending in -don, like Swindon, or -ham, like Birmingham, are usually Saxon. Eventually the Anglo-Saxons ruled most of Britain, though they never conquered Cornwall and Wales in the west, or Scotland in the north. They divided the country into kingdoms, and the five main Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were Kent, Anglia, Wessex, Mercia and Northumbria. King Alfred from the kingdom of Wessex, who was called Alfred the Great, became the first king to rule most of England. The Anglo-Saxons gradually converted to Christianity after St Augustine was sent from Rome in 597 AD. Click here for more great information about the Anglo-Saxons The Vikings
The Vikings sailed in their boats, called longships, from the three countries of Scandinavia: Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Some were craftsmen or traders, but they were mostly farmers with large families. When a farmer died the farm was passed to the eldest son in the family, so many of them had to choose between working on their brother's farm or going overseas in search of fame, fortune or new land. Many Vikings were great travellers and sailed all around Europe and the north Atlantic Ocean in their longships. They may even have reached America. Some were fierce pirate raiders, stealing goods and animals and killing or enslaving local people. But most Vikings who sailed overseas were just searching for better land to farm. In 793 AD Viking pirate raiders sailed across the North Sea to a Christian monastery at Lindisfarne in northeast England. They stole its treasures, murdered the monks and terrified everyone. This was followed by other violent Viking raids all over Britain. In 865 a Great Army of Danish Vikings invaded England. There were fierce battles for several years. In the end the Vikings conquered all of northern, central and eastern England, and seized much of the land for their own farms. This area was called the Danelaw. Eventually most of England was won back by the Anglo-Saxons. During the same period, Norwegian Vikings sailed to northern and western Scotland, and seized land for their farms around the coast and islands. They also settled in the Isle of Man and parts of Wales. The Vikings fought battles with swords, spears, axes, bows and arrows. They protected themselves with round wooden shields. Here's a great website about the Vikings: The Normans
In about 1000 AD some of the Vikings who had been raiding France were allowed by the French king to settle in France. They promised to help protect France against other Vikings, and renounced their old gods and converted to Christianity. These Viking settlers in France were called Normans, short for North Men, because they had come from the North. The part of France where they lived is still called Normandy. As time passed, the children and grandchildren of these Vikings got tired of farming in Normandy and decided to go in search of adventure and riches. In 1066, one of them, William, Duke of Normandy, found an excuse to invade England and try to conquer it from the Anglo-Saxons. So he sailed across the English Channel in boats loaded with knights, troops, archers and horses. The Anglo-Saxon King Harold had been forced to march his army north to defeat an invasion by Harald Hardrada of Norway at Stamford Bridge. But as the invading Normans landed in Sussex, King Harold rushed his army south to meet William at Hastings. Their armies were probably about the same size, but William's cavalry gave him the advantage, and Harold's army was exhausted after its long march. The Anglo-Saxon English lost the battle and King Harold was killed. William became the new king of England and was now called William the Conqueror. To control England he built many castles, including the Tower of London, where he lived. In 1069 William and his army reached as far north as Abernethy in Scotland. Here he forced the Scottish king, Malcolm III, to do him homage. William and all his knights spoke French and made French the official language, but the English people spoke Anglo-Saxon. So for many years both French and Anglo-Saxon were spoken in England. But the English we speak in Britain and America today comes mostly from Anglo-Saxon, not French. Click here for more great information about the Normans. The Middle Ages
The time between William the Conqueror's invasion in 1066 and the first Tudor king in 1485 is called the Middle Ages. During the Middle Ages the King and the nobles lived in castles they built as headquarters for ruling the country and for attacking each other. Here are some fun websites that will tell you more about castles: Snayfwickby Castle- from Snaith Primary School in Britain William the Conqueror's grandson, Henry II, married Eleanor of Aquitaine, who brought more French land to Britain. Henry was a strong king, but thought that the church was getting too powerful. Because of this Archbishop Thomas Becket was murdered in his cathedral at Canterbury. The church made Becket a saint, St Thomas of Canterbury.
Henry II's son, King John, got on very badly with the nobles, so they rebelled and forced him to sign Magna Carta in 1215. Magna Carta is Latin for Great Charter. Magna Carta said that even the king had to obey the law. In 1337 John's great-great-grandson, King Edward III, who already ruled a large part of France, said that he was entitled to be king of all of France as well as king of England. This caused a war that lasted on and off until 1453, and is called the Hundred Years War. Scotland helped France in this war. There were famous battles at Crécy (1346) and Agincourt (1415) in France, both won by the English. But when Joan of Arc started to lead the French armies in 1429 the tide turned, and when the war ended in 1453 the English had lost all their French territory except for Calais on the coast. During the Middle Ages there were also fierce contests for the English crown. In 1455 civil wars later called the Wars of the Roses began. A white rose was the badge of the Yorkists, and their opponents the Lancastrians came to be symbolised by a red rose. Both sides' leaders were descended from King Edward III, and both sides said their candidate should be king. Most English nobles took one side or the other. The wars ended in 1485 when the Yorkist King Richard III was defeated at the Battle of Bosworth, and the Welshman Henry VII, the first of the Tudors, came to the throne of England. Did you know that Madoc, a Welsh prince, is said to have discovered America in the 12th century, long before Columbus? For more information click here. The Tudors
The Wars of the Roses ended when the Welshman Henry Tudor united both sides and became Henry VII, the first Tudor king of England. Monarchs usually needed parliament to raise funds for them, but Henry became very rich by forcing the nobles to give him money. That way he did not need to bother with parliament, and weakened the power of the nobility at the same time. Henry's son, King Henry VIII, came to the throne when his father died in 1509. Henry VIII also wanted a son to succeed him, and when his wife Catherine of Aragon did not produce one he tried to divorce her. The pope would not give him a divorce, so Henry made himself the head of a new church called the Anglican Church, or the Church of England, and got his divorce that way. Henry had six wives, one after the other. Henry had defeated the Scots at the Battle of Flodden in 1513, and James IV, The Scottish king, was killed. But James was married to Henry's sister, so later on a Scottish king sat on the English throne and ruled both kingdoms. Find out about Henry VIII's favorite warship, the Mary Rose. Much of the ship was raised in 1982, but more was found in August 2003! For the latest news click here. Henry finally had a son, who succeeded him as King Edward VI in 1547. But the protestant Edward died when he was only 15, and he was succeeded by Queen Mary I, his catholic half-sister. Mary married Philip II of Spain and wanted to make England a Roman Catholic country again. She persecuted protestants just as Edward had persecuted catholics. Mary didn't have any children, so when she died in 1558 Elizabeth, Henry VIII's second daughter, became queen. Elizabeth I was one of England's greatest monarchs, and during her reign sailors went on amazing voyages of exploration and the first colonies were founded in North America. Many great writers lived during Elizabeth's reign, including William Shakespeare, who is still known as the world's greatest playwright. Elizabeth was an Anglican, but she said that she would not "make windows into men's souls" and was a bit more tolerant than most monarchs in those days. In 1588 Spain sent an Armada, or fleet of warships, to invade England, but it was defeated before it could reach the British coast. Elizabeth never married, and was known as the Virgin Queen. The state of Virginia is named after her. What was life like in Tudor Britain? Check out these great websites: The Stuarts and the Civil War
Because Queen Elizabeth I had no children, her cousin, King James VI of Scotland succeeded her in 1603. That way he became King James I of England as well, and was the first king of the whole of Great Britain. It was during his reign, in 1620, that the Pilgrim Fathers set sail for New England aboard the Mayflower. In 1605 the government said that Roman Catholics terrorists were plotting to blow up the King and parliament. This was called the Gunpowder Plot, and is still remembered in England on November 5th, its anniversary. James believed that monarchs were appointed by God, and could rule as they pleased. This was called The Divine Right of Kings and led to trouble with parliament, whose approval the king needed to raise money. These disagreements with parliament became worse in the reign of James's son, who succeeded him as King Charles I in 1625. Eventually a Civil War broke out between armies supporting parliament and those loyal to the king. Parliament won, and after putting King Charles on trial for treason cut off his head in 1649. So Britain became a republic, under the rule of Oliver Cromwell. But Cromwell died in 1658, and in 1660 Charles's son returned from abroad and became King Charles II. He was less rigid than his father and grandfather, and willing to share some of his power with parliament. In 1665 there was a great Plague, and this was followed by the Great Fire of London in 1666. Though Charles II, known as The Merry Monarch, had many mistresses, he had no surviving children by his wife. So the next king was his brother, who became King James II. James had New York named after him when he was Duke of York. But James was a Roman Catholic, and nearly everyone else in Great Britain was now protestant. Parliament and the people didn't want religious strife and persecution again, so they forced James to leave the country and replaced him by a King and Queen, William III and Mary II, Anglicans who both had good claims to the throne. This was called the Glorious Revolution. A law was passed saying no Roman Catholic could ever sit on the throne again. After the deaths of William and Mary, Mary's sister Anne became queen. Ann gave birth to 17 children, but none of them lived for very long, so when she died the throne went to a German who was a descendant of King James I's daughter. The Hanoverians and American Independence
Queen Anne died without children, so the throne went to the ruler of Hanover in Germany, because he was the great-grandson of King James I. The new king became George I, and his line was known as the Hanoverians. But some people still supported the exiled son and grandson of King James II, who could not succeed to the throne because they were Roman Catholics. These people, called Jacobites, rebelled in 1715 and 1745. The great-grandson of George I was King George III. He is the king who was forced to give the United States of America its independence. British people had been settling in North America since the time of Queen Elizabeth I, and by 1760 there were 13 British Colonies there. More Europeans lived under British rule in North America than lived anywhere else outside Britain. But the colonists were becoming more and more fed up with high-handed laws from London, like the Stamp Act of 1765 and the Townsend Acts of 1767. These laws put taxes on goods such as tea. And lots of British people, including many Members of Parliament, supported the colonists. The first casualties of the American War of Independence died in the Boston Massacre of 1770, when British troops shot at demonstrators. In 1773 protestors disguised as Native Americans dumped over 300 chests of imported tea into Boston harbour. This was called the Boston Tea Party. In 1775 fighting broke out at Lexington and Concord, and the Americans invaded Canada. In the same year George Washington was appointed commander-in-chief of the American forces. The Declaration of Independence was issued in 1776, but Washington's troops suffered defeat after defeat by the British. The turning point came with the brilliant American victory at the Battle of Saratoga Springs in 1777. After this, France entered the war on the American side. Before long the British were on the run, and they surrendered at Yorktown in 1781. In 1783, the when Peace of Versailles was signed, George III recognised the independence of the USA. In return Britain kept Canada and got back its territories in the West Indies. America declared war on Britain again in the War of 1812. Britain was fighting the French dictator Napoleon, and the US was annoyed by British treatment of US ships and sailors, who were supposed to be neutral. Britain's support for Native Americans in the American west and Canadians' loyalty to Britain were also sore points. During the war Britain captured Maine and the US invaded Canada. The British also sailed up the Potomac and captured Washington, burning government buildings. The treaty that ended the war in 1814 returned things to the way they had been in 1812. In 1811 George III became too ill to rule, so his son took over, as Prince Regent. The Prince Regent built a fantastic palace called Brighton Pavilion. He became King George IV in 1820, and after him his brother, William IV, reigned from 1830 until 1837. During the reigns of the Hanoverian kings the monarchy became weaker, and parliament more powerful. In 1832 the Reform Act gave more people the vote and made the House of Commons more representative of the population. As time went on, more and more people were given the vote, but it was not until 1928 that everyone in Britain over 21 was included. Queen Victoria and the British Empire
William IV had no children by his wife, so his niece Victoria became queen in 1837. Queen Victoria was only 18 when she came to the throne. When she died in 1901 Victoria had reigned for over 63 years, longer than any other British king or queen. She was heartbroken when her husband, Prince Albert, died in 1861 and shut herself away for many years. But by the time she died Victoria had become one of the best-loved monarchs in Britain's history. During her reign the British Empire grew to include a quarter of the world's population, and became the greatest trading empire the world had ever known. India was called "The Jewel in the Crown" of the British Empire, and Queen Victoria was given the title Empress of India in 1876. Though the American colonies were no longer part of the British Empire, it came to include Canada, Australia, New Zealand and much of Africa and the Middle and Far East. Slavery was abolished throughout the British Empire in 1833. The British Empire was generally humanely governed, especially compared to the overseas empires of other European countries. Many of its administrators genuinely believed that they were helping the people they ruled, and the empire has left a legacy of education, sport, law and democracy to the countries it governed. But historians and others still debate whether the British Empire was good for its member nations in the long run. Britain had led the Industrial Revolution, so more people were working in factories and fewer on the land. Before the Industrial Revolution everything was made by hand, not by machine, as most things are today. The Industrial Revolution also meant that more people lived in cities. In Victoria's reign London became the largest city in the world. Britain was the world leader in most fields during Victoria's reign, but only at the cost of terrible living and working conditions for many of the population, including children. Though Queen Victoria still had some say in ruling the country, during her reign it was parliament that was really in charge. Here are two other great websites about Victorian Britain: The Twentieth Century and the Two World Wars
Queen Victoria was succeeded by her eldest son, who became King Edward VII and gave his name to the Edwardian era. The present Queen, Elizabeth II, is the great-granddaughter of King Edward VII. Britain entered the First World War in 1914. By the time it ended in 1918 over 8 million people had died; 996,230 of them were from Britain and the British Empire. During that war Britain had its first taste of bombs dropped from the air, by huge German airships called Zeppelins. British working people had begun fighting for their rights in Queen Victoria's reign. They became more determined after the First World War, and Britain's first Labour government came to power in 1924. Since then Conservative and Labour have been the two main political parties in Britain. After centuries of discord, southern Ireland separated from the United Kingdom in 1922, and finally became a republic in 1949. In the 1930s millions became unemployed in Britain because of the Great Depression, which started with the New York stock market crash of 1929. Recovery from the Depression had only just started when the Britain began fighting the German Nazis and their allies in September 1939, at the beginning of the Second World War.
In the Second World War Britain was led by Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who belonged to the Conservative Party. His mother was American, and Churchill was one of Britain's greatest leaders. British cities, including London, were badly bombed during the Second World War. Find out about Scotland During the Second World War. If the British people in the armed forces and on the home front were lion-hearted, Churchill was the roar of the lion. He called the time in 1940 when the country stood alone against Hitler, Britain's "Finest Hour". In the Battle of Britain the Royal Air Force defeated Nazi planes and put a stop to Hitler's plans to invade. Here are two great websites about British kids during the Second World War: Britain voted for a Labour government after the War, and the National Health Service was introduced. This gave free health care even to the poorest, and was paid for from taxation. It was part of the Welfare State, that looked after those who could not look after themselves. The Labour government also took charge of major industries and services, such as coal, electricity and the railroads, but later Conservative governments privatized them. Starting with India in 1947, the countries of the British Empire have all become independent. But most of them choose to remain associated with Britain in an organisation called the Commonwealth. People from many of the countries of the Commonwealth have come to live in Britain, making it the vibrant multicultural society it has become. In 1973 Britain joined the European Union, so as to expand trade in Europe. Margaret Thatcher, who led the Conservative party, became Britain's first-ever woman Prime Minister in 1979. In 1982 she sent troops to defeat the Argentine dictator General Galtieri when he invaded the Falkland Islands. Mrs Thatcher was Prime Minister until 1990, and in 1997 Tony Blair, who is Prime Minister today, was elected. We have now arrived at the present day, and Britain's economy has been growing every year for more than ten years! What's more, there is less unemployment in Britain today than in any other big industrial nation. New Zealand was a close ally of Britain all through the 20th century, and this partnership is still going on. |
|
The UK
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
School Stuff ~ About Britain ~ News ~ Interaction ~ Sports ~ Things To Do ~ Bizarre Bits ~ Gallery ~ Home ~ Top |
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
