Great Britain – History

between 6th-3rd century BC first celtic tribes invaded Britain - Lots of names of english rivers and places were taken from the Celts (Avon, Dower)- the Celts were pagans with priests known as Druids. - They lived in tribal organization and the country was divided into many small units under local chieftains.

In 43 AD the Romans (Julius Caesar) invaded southern Britain, -it became the roman colony, called Britania,- they set up their capital in London , they built cities in York, Bath and Chester-The Romans occupation lasted nearly 400 years.. -With Romans came to England also Christianity. -They brought education, social organization, urbanism -They influenced the language.- The names of Roman towns in Britain often end with “-chester” (Manchester) and “-caster” (Lancaster), because it meant “an army camp”.- The famous Hadrian’s Wall was built by Romans as the protection of Celtic invasion. -The Romans had to leave when the Germanic tribes spread all over Europe and invaded Britain at the beginning of the 5th century.

In the middle of 5th century 3 GERMANIC tribes (Angles, Saxons, JUTES) invaded Britain.- In those days a Welsh hero Artur lived. (He managed to pull a magic sword Excalibur from the rock, he lived in Kamelot, his knights sat at the Round table-they were equal.)- The Germanic kings divided England into 7 kingdoms.- The best known Saxon king was Alfred the Great (9th century) -very educated - wrote and translated books - improved education, law system, navy - stopped the Scandinavian invasion to England (From 8th century the VIKINGS started to invade Britain)

Battle of Hastings in 1066- The Duke of Normandy William defeated Harold(saxon king) - he was proclaimed the king of England as William the Conqueror- England became a strong country

Richard, the Lion-Heart (1189-99) spent a lot of time abroad on crusade expeditions- The famous outlaw(psanec) Robin Hood lived in those days- age of Crusades-His brother John(the Lackland) 1199 became the king - lost almost all the English possessions in France - signed the Magna Charta in 1215 - limited the absolute power of king - helped to develop parliamentary system - gave some rights to the nobles - the oldest written constitutional document

The Hundred Year’s War (1338-1453)- between England and France- because of Flanders in France- French led by Joan d’Arc - England definitely lost its power, all the possessions in France - Orleans 1429

The war of roses took place in 15th century- lasted 30 years- the dynastic struggle for the possession of the crown- between the House of York(white rose) and the House of Lancaster(red rose)- Richard 3. was killed (last king of House of York)in the battle of Bosworth - the victor Henry Tudor founded a new dynasty, the House of Tudor - lasted till 1603- England became one of leading world power

Henry 8. – 16th century- six wives - Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Parr- broke away from the Roman Catholic Church and founded the Anglican Church- famous for being educated, ambitious and unscrupulous

Queen Elizabeth I. - The second half of 16th century- Henry’s daughter, the last Tudor monarch- “the virgine queen”- the whole era is called ‘the Elizabethan Age’ - golden age of English history - time of discoveries,renessaince,Shakespeare- Britain became a major sea power and England prospered in many ways- During her reign England´s sailors captured many spanish ships bringing treasure from America.

In 17th century there was a Civil war- caused by a power struggle, between parlamentarians and royalists - king believed that the monarch had asbsolute power, Parlament disagreed- 1651 battle of Worcester- The result of the war was the execution of the king in 1649 - Cromwell(against the royalists) established a republic – the Commonwealth - where he had title Lord Protector- After his death in 1660 the monarchy was restored by Charles II.

The colonial expansion was in 18th century- the age of factories, machines, inventions and commerce- steam engine by James Watt, steam locomotive by George Stephenson

Britain was in the Napoleonic Wars with France in 19th century- In October 1805 Admiral Nelson defeated the Spanish and French near Trafalgar- The final defeat of Napoleon was at Waterloo in 1815.

Industrial Revolution In the 19th century- Queen Victoria was on the throne - 2nd half of the 19th century is called Victorian Age - full of great changes and reforms- caused great social changes in Britain - Many people→to cities, work in factories,creating an urban working class which was often very poor - Many people died from diseses caused by poor hygiene and housing- During that time the British Empire doubled in size

The First World War 1914-18- British economic became weeker- In 1938 British Prime Minister Chamberlain, France and Italy signed the pact with Hitler in Munich allowing Germany to annex the Sudetenland in CR and later the rest of Bohemia and Moravia.- ended in victory for the Allied Powers- positive result was the right to vote given to the British women- In 1929 the Wall Street Exchange Market collapsed and started the great economic depression of 1930’s

the Second World War- The biggest British personality was the British Prime Minister sir Winston Churchill- The air battle - Battle of Britain in 1940 - gone down into history - many of British pilots were from Czechoslovakia and became the British national heroes

In the Post-World-War period was Great Britain one of the founding members of OSN and NATO at the end of 1940s.