A long illustrious history Flashcards
Section 3
Is the statement below TRUE or FALSE? ‘In 1921 a peace treaty was signed which led to Ireland becoming two countries.’
False
In which battle during the First World War did the British suffer 60,000 casualties on the first day?
The Somme
During the ‘Great Depression’ of the 1930s, which TWO major new industries developed?
Automobiles and aviation
Iron age - people learned how to make weapons and tools out of iron; lived in roundhouses, grouped together into larger settlements and procted “hills”; spoke Celtic language family; Iron Age had a sophisticated culture and economy. They made the first coins to be minted in Britain; Iron age marks the beginnings of British history
Romans
The Romans - The Romans remained in Britain for 400 years; Areas of what is now Scotland were never conquered by the Romans, and the Emperor Hadrian built a wall in the north of England to keep out the Picts (ancestors of the Scottish people); They built roads and public buildings, created a structure of law, and introduced new plants and animals; first Christian communities;
The Anglo-Saxons
The Anglo-Saxons invaded after the romans left to protect other areas of the Empire; the Jutes, the Angles and the Saxons. The languages they spoke are the basis of modern-day English; The Anglo-Saxons were not Christians when they first came to Britain;
Missionaries from Ireland spread the religion in the north; St Patrick (Ireland); St Columba (Monestary Island off scotland); St Augustine (Rome) became the first Archbishop of Canterbury;
Vikings
Denmark, Norway, Sweden; Defeated by King Alfred the Great (united Anglo-Saxons;
Viking threats united those up north - One king - Kenneth MacAlpin. The term Scotland began to be used to describe that country.
The Norman Conquest
1066 - Battle Hashtings. William the Conqueror defeated Harold (Saxon king at the time); The Norman Conquest was the last successful foreign invasion of England and led to many changes in government and social structures in England; Norman’s were not able to conquer Scotland
Domesday Book (census)
The middle ages
- 1k years (Fall of Roman empire to 1485); Constant war between English, Welsh and Scottish kings;
- 1284 King Edward I of England introduced the Statute of Rhuddlan, which annexed Wales to the Crown of England.
- In 1314 the Scottish, led by Robert the Bruce, defeated the English at the Battle of Bannockburn
- Some kings fought in crusades
- 100 years war (116 years total) Battle of Agincourt in 1415, where King Henry V’s vastly outnumbered English army defeated the French.
- Ireland was independent; small sectioned ruled by England = Pale
The Black Death
- The Normans used a system of land ownership known as feudalism.
- Following the Black Death, the smaller population; less need to grow food; There were labour shortages and peasants began to demand higher wages. New social classes appeared
- Move to towns - created strong middle class
- Black death reduced Pale population
Legal and Polical changes
- Parliament began to develop into the institution it is today
- King John was forced to sign the Magna Carta; established the idea that even the king was subject to the law
- House of Lords (nobility, great landowners and bishops)
- House of Commons (Knights, who were usually smaller landowners, and wealthy people from towns and cities)
- Scotland 3 houses known as Estates: he lords, the commons and the clergy.
- This was also a time of development in the legal system. England (precedence); Scotland codified (written down)
Distinct Identity
- The Middle Ages saw the development of a national culture and identity
- By 1400, in England, official documents were being written in English, and English had become the preferred language of the royal court and Parliament.
- The Canterbury Tales - Geoffrey Chaucer wrote a series of poems in English about a group of people going to Canterbury on a pilgrimage.
- ## Scotland remained speaking gaelic - John Barbour, who wrote The Bruce about the Battle of Bannockburn.
War of the Roses
- In 1455, a civil war was begun to decide who should be king of England
- House of Lancaster
- House of York
The Tudors and Stuarts
- Henry VIII was most famous for breaking away from the Church of Rome and marrying six times
- The six wives of Henry VIII
- During the reign of Henry VIII, Wales became formally united with England by the Act for the Government of Wales. The Welsh sent representatives to the House of Commons and the Welsh legal system was reformed.
- HVIII»_space;> Edward VI (Protestant)»>Mary (Bloody Mary; Catholic; Persecuted protestants)»>Elizabeth I (Protestant)
- Elizabeth the 1st - struck balance between Protestant and Catholics;
- 1588 Defeat of the Spanish Armada
- Mary Stuart (often now called ‘Mary, Queen of Scots’) was a Catholic
- Sir Francis Drake, one of the commanders in the defeat of the Spanish Armada, was one of the founders of England’s naval tradition. His ship, the Golden Hind, was one of the first to sail right around (‘circumnavigate’) the world.
- Elizabeth I»_space;> James (VI) I of England
- King James I of England, Wales and Ireland but Scotland remained a separate country.
Rise of Parliament
- James later organised similar plantations in several other parts of Ireland. This had serious long-term consequences for the history of England, Scotland and Ireland
- James I»_space;> Charles I
- Charles I tried ruling without parliament - Divine Right of Kings
- Scotland meant that he had to recall Parliament - but they did not belive in his methods/reforms of the church; did not help him raise funds
- The country split into those who supported the king (the Cavaliers) and those who supported Parliament (the Roundheads)
- The king’s army was defeated at the Battles of Marston Moor and Naseby. Charles was held prisoner by the parliamentary army and in 1649 he was executed
- England declared itself a republic, called the Commonwealth - Oliver Cromwell General
- Charles II to be king. He was crowned king of Scotland and led a Scottish army into England. Cromwell defeated the army. Charles II fled to EU. Parliament now controlled Scotland as well as England and Wales
- Cromwell death his son could not hold the Title Lord Proctector
- The Habeas Corpus Act became law in 1679. - Every prisoner has a right to a court hearing
- Charles II LIKED SCIENCE . Created oldest science society- Among its early members were Sir Edmund Halley, who successfully predicted the return of the comet now called Halley’s Comet, and Sir Isaac Newton
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Catholic king - The Glorious Revolution
- Charles II»_space;> James (VII) II; catholic;
- William of Orange took over with no resitance
- Glorious Revolution- because there was no fighting in England and because it guaranteed the power of Parliament, ending the threat of a monarch ruling on his or her own as he or she wished
- James’ supporters became known as Jacobites.
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Constitutional monarchy – the Bill of Rights
- The Bill of Rights, 1689, confirmed the rights of Parliament and the limits of the king’s power
- Whigs and the Tories - This was the beginning of party politics.
- constitutional monarchy - still not a democracy as we know it
- Many moved to Americas but many also moved to England - protestants Huguenots but also Jews
- The Act of Union, known as the Treaty of Union in Scotland, was therefore agreed in 1707, creating the Kingdom of Great Britain
- George I, to be the next king, because he was Anne’s nearest Protestant relative
- George I did not speak English well so created Prime Minister - Sir Robert Walpole
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The Enlightenment
- uring the 18th century, new ideas about politics, philosophy and science were developed. This is often called ‘the Enlightenment
- One of the most important principles of the Enlightenment was that everyone should have the right to their own political and religious beliefs and that the state should not try to dictate to them
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The Industrial Revolution
- efore the 18th century, agriculture was the biggest source of employment in Britain. There were many cottage industries, where people worked from home to produce goods such as cloth and lace.
- Manufacturing jobs became the main source of employment in Britain.
- This was also a time of increased colonisation overseas. Captain James Cook mapped the coast of Australia and a few colonies were established there. Britain gained control over Canada, and the East India Company, originally set up to trade, gained control of large parts of India. Colonies began to be established in southern Africa.
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The slave trade
- In 1807, it became illegal to trade slaves in British ships or from British ports, and in 1833 the Emancipation Act abolished slavery throughout the British Empire. The Royal Navy stopped slave ships from other countries, freed the slaves and punished the slave traders.
- After 1833, 2 million Indian and Chinese workers were employed to replace the freed slaves.
The Victorian Age
- It was a time when Britain increased in power and influence abroad.
- Within the UK, the middle classes became increasingly significant and a number of reformers led moves to improve conditions of life for the poor.
