The History of Great Britain

The early history

• the first people to inhabit the British Isles were settlers from Europe
• they arrived between 3,500 and 3,000 B.C and introduced farming, potery and stone tools
• they lived in the south of England Stonehenge was built by these early inhabitants

Stonehenge

• the largest prehistoric monument, a huge circle of standing stones on Salisbury Plain
• visitors from all over the world come here and wonder at how these huge stones were transported and erected over 3000 years ago

Celtic tribes

• they appeared on the island in 750 B.C.
• they were divided into tribes, one of them was called Britons and the whole island was named Britannia

Roman tribes

• the first roman invasion was led by Julius Caesar in 55 B.C., but Britain wasn´t conquered
• later was conquered under Emperor Claudius n 43 A.D.
• he pushed (vytlačit) a lot of Celts who lived there to the north and west, Celts didn´t like it and that´s why attacked the Romans many times
• Roman Emperor Hadrian wanted to stop them> built a long wall to defend (chránit) the border between England and Scotland
• Roman occupation of Britain lasted nearly 400 years, it´s effects were few, the people didn´t adopt Latin language

Theree Germanic tribes

• in the middle of 5th century the Angles, Saxons and Jutes came from Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands
• they conquered the Celts and drove them into what is now Wales and Scotland

Christianity

• in 597 St. Augustin landed in Kent and brought Christianity to England
• he became the first Archbishop of Canterbury

Alfred the Great

• he was the best-known among the Saxon kings, was very intelligent and well educated and translated books from Latin into Old English

Battle of Hastings (1066)

• this battle change the future of England, when William Duke of Normandy and his soldiers saile
• they defeated the Saxon King Harold, who was killed
• he became King of England = William the Conqueror (dobyvatel)

Thomas Becket

• he became archbishop of Canterbury and refused (odmítl) to submit (podrobit) to Henry
• it was struggle for power between King & Church
• he was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral

The Great Charter of Liberties

• it wrote King John (John Lackland) in 1215
• his Charter limited the absolute power of the king in favour (ve prospěch) of the barons
• later it garanted personal and political freedom of every Englishman

The Hundred Year´s War 1337–1453

• it was war with France, Edward III wanted to be the King of France but the French King wouldn´t agree to this and so began the war
• the war ended in England´s defeat

The War of Roses 1455–1485

• a dynastic struggle for the possession of the Crown between the House of York and the House of Lancaster, whose emblems were a white and red rose
• two powerful branches of the Royal Family for 30 years carried on civil war in order to secure the throne for themselves
• peace was made when Henry VII of Lancaster married Elizabeth of York

The Tudor Period 1485–1603

• it was a turning (obrat) point in English history
• one of the best remembered kings are Henry VIII and his daughter Elizabeth I
• England was in the middle Ages (středověk) a small unimportant country but in Tudor period it became one of the leading (řídící) wordl powers
• there were several factors that contributed (přispěly) to the rise of England as a world power in the 16th century

1. the great geographical discoveries /America, India/
2. trading expeditions were encouraged by Elizabeth I
3. they were often combined with piracy, two well-known pirates = Sir Walter Raleigh (he founded the first english colony in North America and called it Virginia in honour of the Queen) and Sir Francis Drake

something about Henry VIII: he had 6 wives, he became the Head of the English Church instead of Pope, names of his wives (the first Catherine Aragon, Anne Boleyn-was executed, Jane Saymoor, Anne from Cleves, Catherine Howard-executed too, Catherine Parr)

Anne Boleyn´s daughter, Elizabeth became an outstanding (vynikající) Queen of England, she ruled not by force, but by female diplomacy, many european kings longed to control England but she remained unmarried, she kept them hoping and so managed to keep peace with their countries, she was called “Virgin Queen”

the Elizabethan age produced the world´s greatest paywright William Shakespeare

The Civil War 1640–1649

• this century can be characterised as a period of conflict between the King (Royalists) and Parliament (Parliamentarians)
• the country was divided between the supporters of Charles I,who wanted to rule absolutely, and the supporters of Parliament,who wanted to limit the King´s powers
• the conflict let to the civil war which resulted in the abolition of the monarchy and in Cromwell´s military rule (military dictatorship)
• England was declared a republic under the name of The Commonwealth with Oliver Cromwell at its head-his official title was Lord Protector
• this period ended in the Glorious Revolution which marked the end of the English bourgeoise revolution

Industrial Revolution 1760–1850

• in this period Britain became the first industrial power in the world “the workshop the world”
• struggles between France and Britain for world domination started in Napoleonic Wars

The Victorian Era 1837–1901

• is called after Queen Victoria, Britain became the strongest power in the world
• she was just eighteen when she came to the throne, she was good queen and ruled over 60 years – it was for Britain a time of long peace
• Britain became the greatest: industrial power, financial and commercial power, sea power, colonial power
• Victoria was the first monarch to live in Buckingham Palace

Between the two wars

• Britain still remained the greatest sea power and colonial power but it lost its position as the greatest financial power