GROUP 3

British
History
 1.
Prehistory
 Prehistory is the time before written
records
Prehistory stretches from then until the
Roman invasion in AD 43.
Hundreds of
thousands of years
before history
began
 Two thousand year ago there was an iron age
celtic cultureb throughout the north-west
european islands
For people in Britain today the
chief significance of the
prehistoric is its of mystery

Some of the stones

come from over 200 miles away in
Wales
ROMANS
( 43–410)
Almost 100 years later, in AD 43 the emperor
Claudius launched a full-scale invasion, and
Britain’s Roman era began

The Romans
stayed in Britain
for almost four
centuries
 The Roman province of Britannia covered
most of present-day England and Wales
It was during this time that a Celtic tribe called the
Scots migrated from Ireland to Scotland

This division of the

Celts into those
who experienced
Roman rule
 This division of the Celts into those
who experienced Roman rule
The remarkable thing about the Romans is
that, despite their long occupation of Britain,
they left very little behind

Londinium (London), were soon

destroyed or fell into disrepair.
The Germanic invasions

3
important
events

(410-1066)
 The Germanic invasions
Settelers from north-
western Europe
The Saxons, Angles and
Jutes
England, "the land of the
Angles"
Introduced new farming
methods and founded the
thousands of self-
sufficient villages
The christianisation of England
Formally Christianised in
597
St. Augustin of
Canterbury
By the end of the 7th
century most of England
were Christian
Influence from the north
Cultural impact
 The Viking invasion

Conquered and settled

the islands around
Scotland and some
Defeated by King Alfred
coastal regions of
Ireland
Settlements are mainly
confined to the north
and east of the country.
 SUMMARY
The cultural differences between the Anglo-
Saxons and the Danes were comparatively
small.
The Danes soon converted to Christianity.
By the end of the tenth century, England was
a United Kingdom with German culture
throughout.
William The England, The Norman
Bastard 1066 AD archers

The medieval period (1066-1458)

 The Norman Conquest
The Battle of Hastings in
1066
King Harold of England
was beaten by William
of Normandy
Normans were of Viking
and French ancestry
Full take-over, not just a
temporary invasion
 udal sy
Fe

st
The

em
 Language
The dominant
language in all walks
of life in England is
Germanic, Middle
English, not Norman
(France).
The Anglo-Saxon
concept of common
law, and not Roman law
 The Medieval church
• The Medieval Church
helped to create one
homogenous society with a
common culture and set of
beliefs.
• Latin, the language of the
church, became the language
of the educated.
• Religious men were still
predominant in collecting
and writing manuscripts.
 Medieval life
• Most people lived in the
country on a feudal manor
where they worked their
own fields and the lands of
the lord of the manor to
whom they owed allegiance.
• Farming changed to
herding as English wool
from sheep became popular.

THE Sixteenth
Century
1485-1603
 TUDOR ERA

The Tudor era was a time of

expansion.
The beginning of the modern
world
+ Christopher Columbus —
discovered America
+ Cabot — explored the seas in
search for Asia
Tudors establish a strong focus power .
Parliament becomes the king's servant and Henry
VIII's break with Rome is established sovereign
as the supreme head of Church and State.
The Renaissance

Denotes the awakening of

hibernation potential in the UK
men are receptive those tools and
combine them.

Interested in Greek and Roman

civilizations and often think about
their times back to the glorious
achievements of the classic Ancient.
 The Reformation comes to
England!
In Britain, the Reformation began less with popular
dissent than with political will.

In 1533, Henry declared his marriage to Catherine of

Aragon null and void.

In 1534 Henry enacts the Act of Succession.

In 1534, Henry also confiscated all land and property

held by the Catholic church.
 THE THEATER
1567 — first mention of a theater
in London
Late Medieval plays had centered
around church and the liturgical
cycle.

16th Century saw traveling

companies of players paid by a
wealthy patron

Shakespeare’s Globe Theater

built 1599
History of the United
Kingdom: 17 Century
The crowns of England and Scotland unite (1603)

Elizabeth I died childless in the

early 17th century, the country had
no clear successor -> borrowed
King James VI of Scotland

Marks the first time two countries

have shared a monarch.

In 1625 the first king of England

died, but was involved in a
number of important events

James I
 THE ENGLISH CIVIL WAR
“Sacred right of kings” to dissolve
a Parliament and marry a Spanish
Catholic a year after ascending the
throne.

"Long Parliament" because Parliament

sat from 1640 to 1660 without being
dissolved.

Ultimately, these grievances against

the King led to a split among the
British, a split that led to the creation
of two armies: the Royalists and the
MPs.
In 1649, Charles I was convicted
of treason and executed. Then
England became known as a
Commonwealth.

Cromwell pursued the King's

regiments and defeated them in
1651.

This ended the Civil War.

Charles II fled to France, leaving
Oliver Cromwell as the country's
leader.
THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION

THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION

Within 30 years of Charles II's restoration

to the throne in 1660, England was once
again on the verge of civil war. In 1688 the
country was invaded by a foreign army
and its King fled, as the Crown was
offered by Parliament to his own nephew
and son-in-law. Yet these events are
usually called the Glorious Revolution.
A list of grievances was drawn up against James II including: cruel
and unusual punishments (he had people who opposed him hanged,
drawn and quartered), he suspended laws passed by Parliament, he
intimidated Anglican bishops, he kept invoking his divine right as
king and usurping Parliamentary law.
The 18th Century and
the House of Hanover
 George I
(1660-1727)

When Anne died without an heir,

the Act of Settlement decreed that the
nearest suitable Protestant should
succeed her. This was George,
the first of the Hanoverians,
a German princeling who proved
an unpopular king.
When George I arrived in England, he
couldn't speak a word of English.
He appointed a de facto Prime
Minister in the person of Robert
Walpole (1676-1745).
This marked a turning point in British
politics, as future monarchs were also
to remain more passive figures,
lending the reins of the government
to the Prime Minister.
 George II
(1683-1760)
George II was also German
born.
He spoke English with a heavy
German accent.
Married the charming and
Protestant Caroline of
Ansbach.
He was a powerful ruler, and
the last British monarch to
personally lead his troops
into battle.

The British Empire expanded

considerably during his
reign; a reign that saw
notable changes.
 George III
(1738-1820)
He was King of Great Britain
and of Ireland from 25
October 1760 until his death
in 1820.
The first Hanoverian king to
be born in England.
One of the most troubled and
interesting reigns in British
history.
 He ascended to the throne during the Seven Years' War
(1756-1763) opposing almost all the major Western powers.

13 years later, the American War of Independence (1776-1782)

broke out and in 1782, 13 American colonies were finally granted
their independence, forming the United States of America.
7 years later, the French Revolution broke out,
and Louis XVI was guillotined.
From 1788, George III
suffered from a hereditary
disease known as porphyria,
and his mental health
seriously deteriorated.

In 1800, the Act of Union

merged the Kingdoms of
Great Britain and Ireland.
The United Kingdom during this time also
had to face the ambitions of Napoleon.

Admiral Nelson's naval victory at

Traflagar in 1805, along with
Wellington's decisive victory at Waterloo

Saved the UK and further reinforced

its international position
 The 19th century
would be dominated
by the British
Empire, spreading
on all five
continents, from
Canada and the
Caribbean to
Australia and New
Zealand, via Africa,
India and South-
East Asia.
The 19th Century
In 1837, then king William IV died of liver
disease and the throne passed to the next in
line, his 18-year old niece Victoria (1819-
1901), although she did not inherit the
Kingdom of Hanover, where the Salic Law
forbid women to rule.

She had to rely on her Prime Minister, Lord

Melbourne (1779-1848).

She finally got married to her first

cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-
Gotha (1819-1861)
 the Opium Wars
Britain asserted its domination on (1839-42 & 1856-60)
virtually every part of the globe with Qing China
during the 19 century. the Boer Wars (1880-81
& 1899-1902) with the
In 1854, the United Kingdom was brought Dutch-speaking settlers
into the Crimean War (1854-56) on the side of South Africa
of the Ottoman Empire and against Russia.

The latter years of Victoria’s reign were

dominated by two influential Prime Ministers,
Benjamin Disraeli (1808-1881) and his rival
William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898).

The strong party support for Gladstone

kept him in power for a total of 14 years
between 1868 and 1894
 Queen Victoria
(1819-1901)
She reigned from 1837-1901, became an
increasingly popular symbol of Britain's
success in the world.
As a hard-working, religious mother often
children, devoted to her husband, Prince
Albert, she was regarded as the
personification of contemporary morals.

Queen Victoria was to have the longest reign of any British

monarch (64 years), but also the most glorious, as she ruled
over 40% of the globe and a quarter of the world's population.
 The
twentieth
century
Queen Victoria died in January 1901, and Edward VII, the son of
Queen Victoria ascended the throne.
Edwardian Britain was a powerful and rich country, much of its
wealth coming from business abroad.

Much of the policy and affairs concerning the Edwardian Britain at that
time were the international ones.
In 1902, when Germany, supported by the
Triple Alliance, became extremely
powerful and the ambitions of the Kaiser
became evident, Britain entered the
Anglo-Japanese alliance to avoid political
isolation.
The war of 1904-1905 between Russia and
Japan made the first one and Britain
nearly enemies, with the end of the war
political situation changed.
In 1907 the Triple Entente of Great
Britain, Russia and France was achieved
as a countermeasure to the expansion of
the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria
and Italy in Balkans.
In 1900 the Labour Representation
Committee, which soon became the Labour
Party, was formed.
The Education Act of 1902 met the demand
for national system of secondary education.
The general election of 1906 gave the
Liberal Party an overwhelming majority in
Parliament.
The years 1911 to 1914 were marked with
strikes by miners, dock workers, and
transport workers.

While the Britain was in the midst of these domestic

problems and disputes, World War I broke out.
 The first large operation in which the British expeditionary force took
part was the battle of Marne in 1915, which also happened to become
the turning point of the whole war in the West front.
The peace among Germany and Britain was signed in 1918.
=> World War I had both positive effect on the British industry and
negative effect on the internal political situation.

In 1936 King Edward VIII ascended

the throne, and a remarkable occasion
took place.
In 1939 World War II broke out
When World War II ended, the British government launched a number of
important programmes in an effort to restore the county’s economy.
In 1949 Britain joined other Western powers in the North Atlantic Treaty
Organisation (NATO)
The late 1940’s in the British Empire were marked with the beginning of
decolonization.
In 1953, Queen Elizabeth II inherited the throne from George VI.

In 1950 brought economic

recovery , Britain has developed
steadily economically, politically,
socially and scientifically.
=> Britain has become one of the
leading countries in the world.
 Interesting Facts About England History

In the 16th century, tex was During the early years of the After 1944, no English women were
introduced to the beards of men 19th century, the British convicted under the Witchcraft Act
by King Henry VIII. government spent 40% part of of 1735.

its outlay on the freedom of

slaves.
Thank You
for listening!