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EupediaHome>EnglandTravelGuide>EnglishHistory

A Brief History of England

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Highlights
History
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EnglishRegions
EastEngland
EastMidlands
London
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NorthWest
SouthEast
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WestMidlands
Yorkshire

Introduction
WrittenbyMaciamoinMarch2005

Contents

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BudgetplacesinEngland
Traintimetables
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Eupedia Community

1Prehistory&Antiquity
2TheAngloSaxons
3TheVikings
4TheNormans
5Royalintrigues&troubledsuccessions
6HundredYear'sWar&WaroftheRoses
7TheRenaissance
7.1HenryVIII
7.2HenryVIII'schildren
8Religiousstrife&CivilWar
8.1TheRestoration
8.2TheGloriousRevolution
9TheHouseofHanover
9.1GermanGeorges
9.2GeorgeIII:American,French&IndustrialRevolutions
9.1Regency&Reforms
10TheBritishEmpire&VictorianEngland
11TheTwoWorldWars
12ThePostwar

Prehistory & Antiquity

Englandwassettledbyhumansforatleast500,000years.Thefirstmodernhumans(homosapiens)arrivedduringthe
IceAge(about35,000to10,000yearsago),whenthesealevelswerelowerandBritainwasconnectedtotheEuropean
mainland.ItisthesepeoplewhobuilttheancientmegalithicmonumentsofStonehengeandAvebury.
Between 1,500 and 500 BCE, Celtic tribes migrated from Central Europe and France to Britain and mixed with the
indigenousinhabitants,creatinganewcultureslightlydistinctfromtheContinentalCelticone.ThiswastheBronzeAge.
TheRomanstriedafirsttimetoinvadeBritannia(theLatinnameoftheisland)in55BCEunderJuliusCaesar,butweren't
successful until 43 CE, during the reign of Emperor Claudius. In 122 CE, Emperor Hadrian built a wall in the north of
BritanniatokeepthebarbarianPicsatbay.
The Romans controlled most of presentday England and Wales, and founded a large number of cities that still exist

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today. London, York, St Albans, Bath, Exeter, Lincoln, Leicester, Worcester, Gloucester, Chichester, Winchester,
Colchester,Manchester,Chester,Lancaster,wereallRomantowns,asinfactwereallthecitieswithnamesnowendingin
chester,cesterorcaster,whichderivefromLatincastrum("fortification").

The AngloSaxons
The Romans progressively abandoned Britannia in the 5th century as their Empire was falling apart and legions were
neededtoprotectRome.
WiththeRomansgone,theCeltictribesstartedfightingwitheachothersagain,andoneofthelocalchieftainhadthenot
so brilliant idea to request help from the some Germanic tribes from the North of presentday Germany and South of
Denmark.TheseweretheAngles,SaxonsandJutes,whoarrivedinthe5thand6thcenturies.
However,thingsdidnothappenastheCeltshadexpected.TheGermanictribesdidnotgobackhomeafterthefight,and
onthecontraryfeltstrongenoughtoseizethewholeofthecountryforthemselves,whichtheydid,pushingbackallthe
Celtic tribes to Wales and Cornwall, and founding their respective kingdoms of Kent (the Jutes), Essex, Sussex and
Wessex(theSaxons),andfurthernorthEastAnglia,MerciaandNorthumbria(theAngles).These7kingdoms,whichrules
overallEnglandfromabout500to850AD,werelaterknownastheAngloSaxonheptarchy.

The Vikings
From the second half of the 9th century, the Norse from Scandinavia started invading Europe, the Swedes taking up
Eastern Europe, Russia (which they founded as a country) and the Byzantine Empire, the Norwegians raiding Scotland
andIreland,discoveringandsettlingintheFaroeIslands,IcelandandGreenland(andwereinfactthefirstEuropeansto
setfootinAmericain1000AD),whiletheDaneswroughthavocthroughoutWesternEurope,asfarasNorthAfrica.
TheDanesinvadedtheNorthEastofEngland,fromNorthumerlandtoEastAnglia,andfoundedanewkingdomknownas
theDanelaw.AnothergroupofDanesmanagedtotakeParis,andobtainagrantoflandfromtheKingofFrancein911.
This area became the Duchy of Normandy, and its inhabitants were the Normans (from 'North Men' or 'Norsemen',
anothertermfor'Viking').

The Normans
Afterhavingsettledintheirnewlyacquiredland,theNormans,adoptedtheFrenchfeudalsystemandFrenchasofficial
language.
Duringthattime,theKingsofWessexhadresistedandeventuallyvanquishedtheDanesinEnglandinthe10thcentury.
ButthepowerfulCanutetheGreat(9951035),kingofthenewlyunifiedDenmarkandNorwayandoverlordofSchleswig
and Pomerania, led two other invasions on England in 1013 and 1015, and became king of England in 1016, after
crushingtheAngloSaxonking,EdmundII.
Edward the Confessor (10041066) succeeded to Canute's two sons. He nominated William, Duke of Normandy, as his
successor,butuponhisdeath,HaroldGodwinson,thepowerfulEarlofWessex,crownedhimselfking.Williamrefusedto
acknowledge Harold as King and invaded England with 12,000 soldiers in 1066. King Harold was killed at the battle of
Hastings (by an arrow in the eye, as the legend as it), and William the Conqueror become William I of England. His
descendantshavesatonthethroneofEnglandtothisday.
WilliamI(10271087)orderedanationwidesurveyoflandpropertyknownastheDomesdayBook,andredistributedland
amonghisvassals.Manyofthecountry'smedievalcastleswerebuiltunderWilliam'sreign(eg.Dover,Arundel,Windsor,
Warwick,Kenilworth,Lincoln...).
The Norman rulers kept their possessions in France, and even extended them to most of Western France (Brittany,
Aquitaine...).FrenchbecametheofficiallanguageofEngland,andremainedituntil1362,abitafterthebeginningofthe
HundredYears'WarwithFrance.Englishneverthelessremainedthelanguageofthepopulace,andthefusionofEnglish
(amixtureofAngloSaxonandNorselanguages)withFrenchandLatin(usedbytheclergy)slowlyevolvedintomodern
English.

12th & 13th centuries : Royal intrigues & troubled successions

TheEnglishroyalsafterWilliamIhadtheinfamoushabittocontendforthethrone.William'sson,WilliamIIwaskilledwhile
hunting,anditisbelievedthathewasinfactmurdered,sothatWilliam'ssecondson,Henry,couldbecomeking.HenryI's
successionwasalsoagitated,withhisdaughterMatildaandhercousinStephen(grandsonofWilliamI)startingacivilwar
forthethrone.AlthoughStephenwon,Matilda'ssonsucceededhimasHenryII(11331189).ItisunderHenryIIthatthe
UniversityofOxfordwasestablished.
ThefollowingstruggleofHenryII'stwochildrenwasmadefamousbythelegendofRobinHood.RichardI"Lionheart"was
hardly ever in England, too busy defending his French possessions or fighting the infidels in the Holy Land. During that
time,hisbrotherJohn"Lackland"usurpedthethroneandstartledanothercivilwar.
John's grandson, Edward I "Longshanks" (12391307) spent most of his 35year reign fighting wars, first against his
baronsledbySimondeMontfort(seeKenilworth),thenonthe9thCrusade,backhomeannexingWales,andlastbutnot
least against the Scots, led by William Wallace and Robert the Bruce, whose proud resistance was immortalised in the

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HollywoodmovieBraveheart

EdwardI'son,EdwardII,wasallhisfatherwasn't.Hedidn'tlikewar,preferringtopartywithhisfriends.Healsohappened
tobegay,whichledtohisimprisonmentandtragicmurderbyhiswifeandherlover(seeGloucester).

14th & 15th centuries : Hundred Years' War & War of the Roses
Edward III (13121377) succeeded his father at the age of 15 and reigned for 50 years (the second longest reign in
English history after Henry III, queens excluded). His reign was marked by the beginning of the Hundred Years' War
(13371416) and epidemics of bubonic plague ("Black Death"), which killed one third of England (and Europe's)
population.
EdwardIIIwasoftenfightinginFrance,andthegovernmentwascontrolleddefactobyhisthirdsonJohnofGaunt,Duke
of Lancaster. John of Gaunt's son, Henry Bolingbroke, took advantage of his cousin Richard II's absence to proclaim
himself King HenryIV (13671413). Escaping several assassination attempts, Henry also had to deal with the revolt of
OwenGlendower,whodeclaredhimselfPrinceofWalesin1400,thenwiththerebellionoftheEarlofNorthumberland.
HenryV(13871422),famouslydefeatedtheFrenchattheBattleofAgincourtin1415,buthispiousandpeaceloving
sonHenryVI(14211471),whoinheritedthethroneatjustoneyearold,wastohaveamuchmoretroubledreign.The
regent lost most of the English possessions in France to a 17year old girl (Joan of Arc) and in 1455, the Wars of the
Rosesbrokeout.ThiscivilwaropposedtheHouseofLancaster(theRedRose,supportersofHenryVI)totheHouseof
York (the White Rose, supporters of Edward IV). The Yorks argued that the crown should have passed to Edward III'
secondson,LionelofAntwerp,ratherthantotheLancastersdescendingfromJohnofGaunt.
One of the key players was Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, nicknamed "the Kingmaker", for deposing Henry VI for
EdwardIV,thenagainEdwardforHenry9yearslater.
Edward IV's son, Edward V, only reigned for one year, before being locked in the Tower of London by his evil uncle,
Richard III (14521485), although probably not as evil as Shakespeare depicted him in his play. The reason is that
LancastrianHenryTudor(14571509),thehalfbrotherofHenryVI,defeatedRichardIIIattheBattleofBosworthFieldin
1485,andbecameHenryVII,founderoftheHouseofTudor,forwhichShakespearewrote.
Henry Tudor's son is maybe England's most famous and historically important ruler, the magnificent Henry VIII (1491
1547).

The 16th century Renaissance

Henry VIII
Henry VIII is remembered in history as one of the most powerful kings of England. Except for getting married six times,
desperateforamaleheir,HenrychangedthefaceofEngland,passingtheActsofUnionwithWales(15361543),thus
becomingthefirstEnglishKingofWales,thenchanginghistitleofLordofIrelandintothatof(alsofirst)KingofIreland
(1541).
In 1533, Henry divorced his first wife, Catherine of Aragon (Queen Mary's mother, see Peterborough) to remarry Anne
Boleyn(QueenElizabethI'smother),thePopeexcommunicatedHenry,andinreturn,Henryproclaimedhimselfheadof
theChurchofEngland.Toassurethecontrolovertheclergy,Henrydissolvedallthemonasteriesinthecountry(1536
1540)andnationalisedthem,becomingimmenselyrichintheprocess.
Henry VIII was the last English king to claim the title of King of France, as he lost his last possession there, the port of
Calais(althoughhetriedtorecoverit,takingTournaiforafewyears,theonlytowninpresentdayBelgiumtohavebeen
underEnglishrule).
ItwasalsounderHenryVIIIthatEnglandstartedexploringtheglobeandtradingoutsideEurope,althoughthiswouldonly
developtocolonialproportionsunderhisdaughters,MaryIandespeciallyElizabethI(afterwhomVirginiawasnamed).

Henry VIII's children

The10yearoldEdwardVIinheritedthethroneathisfather'sdeathin1547,butdied6yearslaterandwassucceededby
hiselderhalfdaughterMary.MaryI(15161558),astaunchCatholic,intendedtorestoreRomanCatholicismtoEngland,
executingover300religiousdissentersinher5yearreign(whichownedherthenicknameofBloodyMary).Shemarried
thepowerfulKingPhilipIIofSpain,whoalsoruledovertheNetherlands,theSpanishAmericasandthePhilippines(named
afterhim),andwasthechampionoftheCounterReform(read"Inquisition").Marrydiedchildlessofovariancancerin1558,
andherhalfsisterElizabethascendedthethrone.
ThegreatVirginQueenElizabethI(15331603)sawthefirstgoldenageofEngland.Itwasanageofgreatnavigators
likeSirFrancisDrakeandSirWalterRaleigh(seePlymouth),anageofenlightenmentwiththephilosopherFrancisBacon
(15611626),andplaywrightssuchasChristopherMarlowe(15641593)andWilliamShakespeare(15641616).
HerreignwasalsomarkedbyconflictswithFranceandScotland(boundbyacommonqueen,MaryStuart),thenSpain
andIreland.Elizabethwasanundecisiveandprudentruler.Shenevermarried,andwhenMaryStuarttriedandfailedto
takeoverthethroneofEngland,Elizabethkeptherimprisonedfor19years(mostofthetimeinChatsworthHouseunder
theguardoftheEarlofShrewsbury),beforefinallysigningheractofexecution.

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Elizabethdiedin1603,andironically,MaryStuart'sson,JamesVIofScotland,succeededElizabethasKingJamesIof
EnglandthuscreatingtheUnitedKingdom.

The 17th century : Religious troubles & Civil War

JamesI(15661625) was a Protestant, like Elizabeth, and aimed at improving relations with the Catholics. But 2 years
afterhewascrowned,agroupofCatholicextremistsledbyGuyFawkesattemptedtoplaceabombattheparliament's
stateopening,whenthekingandhisentouragewouldbepresent,soastogetridofalltheProtestantaristocracyinone
fellswoop.Theconspiratorswerebetrayedbyoneoftheirnumberjusthoursbeforetheplan'senactment.Thefailureof
theGunpowderPlot,asitisknown(seeCoughtonCourt),isstillcelebratedthroughoutBritainonGuyFawkes'night(5th
November),withfireworksandbonfiresburningeffigiesoftheconspirators'leader.
ThedividebetweenCatholicsandProtestantworsenedafterthisincident.James'ssuccessorCharlesI(16001649)was
eager to unify Britain and Ireland, and wanted to do so as an absolute ruler of divine right, like his French counterpart
LouisXIV.Despitebeingan(Anglican)Protestant,hismarriagewithaFrenchRomanCatholiccombinedwithpoliciesat
odd with Calvinist ideals and his totalitarian handling of the Parliament eventually culminated in the English Civil War
(16421651). The country was torn between Royalist and Parliamentarian troops, and most of the medieval castles still
standingweredestroyedduringthatperiod(eg.Kenilworth,Corfe,Bodiam...).
Charleswasbeheaded,andthepuritanleaderoftheParliamentarians,OliverCromwell(15991658),ruledthecountry
asadictatorfrom1649tohisdeath.HewasbrieflysucceededbyhissonRichardattheheadoftheProtectorate,buthis
political inability prompted the Parliament to restore the monarchy in 1660, calling in Charles I' exiled son, Charles II
(16301685).

The Restoration
The "Merry Monarch", as Charles II was known, was better at handling Parliament than his father, although as ruthless
withothermatters.ItisduringhisreignthattheWhigandTorypartieswerecreated,andthattheDutchcolonyofNew
AmsterdambecameEnglishandwasrenamedNewYork,afterCharles'brother,James,DukeofYork (and later James
II).
Charles II was the patron of the arts and sciences. He helped found the Royal Society and sponsored architect Sir
ChristopherWren,whorebuilttheCityofLondonoftheGreatFireof1666,andconstructedsomeofEngland'sgreatest
edifices. Charles acquired Bombay and Tangiers through his Portuguese wife, thus laying the foundation for the British
Empire.
Although Charles produced countless illegitimate children, 14 of whom he acknowledged (including the Duke of
Monmouth, the Duke of Northumberland, the Duke of Grafton, the Duke of Cleveland, the Duke of Richmond and the
Duke of St Albans), his wife couldn't bear an heir, and when he died in 1685 the throne passed to his Catholic and
unpopularbrotherJames.

The Glorious Revolution

JamesII'sreligiousinclinationsanddespotismledtohisquickremovalfrompowerintheGloriousRevolutionof1688.His
ProtestantdaughterMary,marriedtohisequallyProtestantnephew,WilliamofOrange.Thecouplewas"invited"bythe
Protestant aristocracy to conduct an invasion from the Netherlands. They defeated James' troops at the Battle of the
Boyne, and deposed James II with limited bloodshed. James was allowed to escape to France, where he remained the
rest of his life under the protection of Louis XIV. His son and grandson later attempted to come back to the throne, but
withoutsuccess.
Thenewrulingcouplebecameknownasthe"GrandAlliance".Theparliamentratifiedthatallkingsorqueenswouldhave
to be Protestant from then on. After Mary's death in 1694, then William's in 1702, James's second daughter, Anne,
ascendedthethrone.In1707,theActofUnionjoinedtheScottishandtheEnglishParliamentsthuscreatingthesingle
Kingdom of Great Britain and centralising political power in London. Anne died heirless in 1714, and a distant German
cousin,GeorgeofHanover,wascalledtoruleovertheUK.

The House of Hanover

German Georges
WhenGeorgeI(16601727)arrivedinEngland,hecouldn'tspeakawordofEnglish,andthelegendhasitthathewas
mistakenlyarrestedwhilestrollingaroundhispalace'sgardenwhenquestionedbyhisstaffwhoweren'tfamiliarwithhis
appearance.
Theking'sinabilitytocommunicatewellwithhisgovernmentandsubjectsledhimtoappointadefactoPrimeMinisterin
thepersonofRobertWalpole(16761745).ThismarkedaturningpointinBritishpolitics,asfuturemonarchswerealso
toremainmorepassivefigures,lettingthereinsofthegovernmenttothePrimeMinister.
GeorgeII(16831760)wasalsoGermanborn,andcombinedthetitleofDukeofBrunswickLneburg,Archtreasurerand
PrinceElectoroftheHolyRomanEmpiretothatofKingofGreatBritainandIreland.Hewasapowerfulruler,andthelast
British monarch to personally lead his troops into battle. Hanoverian composer G.F. Handel was commissioned to
composehiscoronationanthem("ZadokthePriest"),whichhasbeensungateverycoronationsince.

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TheBritishEmpireexpandedconsiderablyduringhisreignandthesong"GodSavetheKing"alsodevelopedduringthat
period.SomeothernotablechangesincludethereplacementoftheJulianCalendarbytheGregorianCalendarin1752,
andtheNewYearwasofficiallymovedfrom25Marchto1January.

George III : American, French & Industrial Revolutions

ThefirstHanoveriankingtobeborninEnglandwithEnglishashisnativelanguage,GeorgeIII(17381820)hadoneof
the most troubled and interesting reign in British history. He ascended the throne during the Seven Years' War (1756
1763)opposingalmostallthemajorWesternpowersintwoteams,chieflyBritishagainstFrench,andendedinadefacto
victoryfortheUK,whichacquiredNewFrance(Quebec),Florida,andmostofFrenchIndiaintheprocess.
However,13yearslater,theAmericanWarofIndependence(17761782)startedaftertheBritishgovernmentimposed
aseriesoftaxesonthecolonies.The13Americancolonieswerefinallygrantedtheirindependencein1782andformed
the United States of America. 7 years later, the French Revolution broke out, and Louis XVI was guillotined. George III
sufferedfromanhereditarydiseaseknownasporphyria,andhismentalhealthseriouslydeterioratedfrom1788.By1811
hewaspermanentlyinsane(seeRegencybelow).In1800,theActofUnionmergedtheKingdomsofGreatBritainand
Ireland.
During that time, Britain had to face the ambitions of Napoleon to conquer the whole of Europe. Admiral Nelson's naval
victoryatTraflagar(offthecoastofSpain)in1805,andWellington'sdecisivevictoryatWaterloosavedtheUK,andfurther
reinforced its international position. The 19th century would be dominated by the British Empire, spreading on all five
continents,fromCanadaandtheCaribeanstoAustraliaandNewZealand,viaAfrica,IndiaandSouthEastAsia.
Another notable fact of George III's reign was the start of the IndustrialRevolution, with James Watt's famous steam
engineandthemechanisationofthemanufacturingindustrytransformingthefaceofEnglandtothisday.Greatindustrial
cities such as Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds and Sheffield emerged as the new economic centres of the
country, their population booming several fold. The gap between the rich and the poor increased considerably, as was
poignantlydescribedbyCharlesDickensinsuchnovelsasDavidCopperfield orOliverTwist .

Regency & Reforms

During George III's insanity (18111820), the Prince of Wales was appointed as Regent, then became King George IV
(17621830)athisfather'sdeath.TheRegentwasknownforhisextravaganceandlikingforwomen.Hewasmoreoften
diverting himself in his magnificent Orientalstyle pavilion in Brighton than worrying about the affairs of state in London,
leavingthepowertothePrimeMinister,LordLiverpool(17701828),duringmostofhisreign.
George IV notoriously had poor relationships with his father, and especially his wife, Caroline of Brunswick, refusing to
recogniseherasQueenandseekingtodivorceher.
The King and Lord Liverpool were opposed to the Catholic Emancipation, i.e. the issue of reducing restrictions on the
political rights of Roman Catholics. The Duke of Wellington, however, passed the Catholic Relief Act in 1829 during his
termasPrimeMinister(18281830).
GeorgeIVdiedin1830,andwasreplacedbyhisbrother,WilliamIV(17651837).In1831,theWhigpartycamebackto
powerandEarlGrey(17641845),thenewPrimeMinister(afterwhomtheteaisnamed),reformedtheelectoralsystem.
On the cultural scene, the early 19th century was highly prolific. It was the Romantic period, with poets like Lord Byron
(17881824),PercyByssheShelley(17921822)orJohnKeats(17951821)andnovelistJaneAusten(17751817).Also
worthnotingisthattheworld'sfirststeamtrainwaslaunchedontheStocktonandDarlingtonrailway(NorthEastEngland)
in1825byGeorgeStephenson(17811848).

The British Empire & Victorian England

In1837,WilliamIVdiedofliverdiseaseandthethronepassedtothenextinline,his18yearoldnieceVictoria (1819
1901),althoughshedidnotinherittheKingdomofHanover,wheretheSalicLawforbidwomentorule.
Victoria didn't expect to become queen, was still unmarried and inexperienced in politics, and had to rely on her Prime
Minister,LordMelbourne(17791848),afterwhomtheAustraliancityisnamed.Shefinallygotmarriedtoherfirstcousin,
PrinceAlbertofSaxeCoburgGotha(18191861),andbothwererespectivelynieceandnephewofthefirstKingofthe
Belgians,LeopoldI(ofSaxeCoburgGotha).
PrinceAlbertorganisedtheGreatExhibition(thefirstWorldFair)in1851,andtheprofitswereusedtofoundthegreat
SouthKensingtonMuseum(laterrenamedtheVictoriaandAlbertMuseum)inLondon.
Britainasserteditshegemonyonvirtuallyeverypartoftheglobe,althoughthisresultedinnumerouswars,asforexample
the Opium Wars (183942 & 185660) with Qing China, or the Boer Wars (188081 & 18991902) with the Dutch
speakingsettlersofSouthAfrica.
In 1854, the the United Kingdom was brought into the CrimeanWar (185456) on the side of the Ottoman Empire and
against Russia. One of the best known figure of that war was Florence Nightingale (18201910), who fought for the
improvementofthewomen'sconditionandpioneeredmodernnursing(seeClaydonHouse).
In 1861, Albert died prematurely at the age of 42. Victoria was devastated and retired in a semipermanent state of
mourning.SheneverthelessstartedaromanticrelationshipwithherScottishservantJohnBrown(18261883),andthere

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wereeventalksofasecretmarriage.ThisepisodeofVictoria'slifehasbeentheobjectofthefilmMrsBrown

ThelatteryearsofherreignweredominatedbytwoinfluentialPrimeMinisters,BenjaminDisraeli (18081881) and his

rivalWilliamEwartGladstone(18091898).TheformerwasthefavouriteoftheQueen,andcrownedher"Empressof
India"in1876,inreturnofwhichVictoriacreatinghimEarlofBeaconsfield.Gladstonewasaliberal,andoftenatoddwith
bothVictoriaandDisraeli,butthestrongsupportheenjoyedfromwithinhispartykepthiminpowerforatotalof14years
between1868and1894.Helegalisedtradeunions,advocatedbothuniversaleducationanduniversalsuffrage(well,at
leastformen).
QueenVictoriawastohavethelongestreignofanyBritishmonarch(64years),butalsothemostglorious,assheruled
over40%oftheglobeandaquarteroftheworld'spopulation.

The Two World Wars

Victoria's numerous children married in about all European Royal families, which owned her the affectionate title of
"grandmotherofEurope".Herson,EdwardVII(18411910)wastheuncleofGermanEmperorWilhelmII,TsarNicholasII
ofRussia,KingAlphonsoXIIIofSpain,andCarlEduard,DukeofSaxeCoburgGotha,whileGeorgeIoftheHellenesand
King Frederick VIII of Denmark were his brothersinlaw and King Albert I of Belgium, Manuel II of Portugal, King
FerdinandofBulgaria,QueenWilhelminaoftheNetherlands,andPrinceErnstAugust,DukeofBrunswickLneburg,were
hiscousins.
The alliances between these related monarchs escalated in the GreatWar (WWI) of 19141918 when Archduke Franz
FerdinandofAustriawasassassinatedinSarajevo,andAustriadeclaredwaronSerbia,whichinturnwasalliedtoFrance,
RussiaandtheUK.TheFirstWorldWarleftover9milliondead(includingnearly1millionBritons)throughoutEurope,and
financiallyruinedmostofthecountriesinvolved.ThemonarchiesinGermany,Austria,RussiaandtheOttomanEmpireall
fell,andthemapofcentralandeasternEuropewasredesigned.
The consequences in Britain were disillusionment with the government and monarchy, and the creation of the Labour
Party.TheGeneralStrikeof1926andtheworseningeconomyledtoradicalpoliticalchanges,andwomenweregranted
thesameuniversalsuffrageasmen(fromage21insteadofpreviously30)in1928.
In 1936, Edward VIII (18941972) succeeded to his father George V, but abdicated the same year to marry Wallis
Simpson, a twice divorced American woman. His brother then unexpectedly became George VI (18951952) after the
scandal.
Nazi Germany was becoming more menacing as Hitler grew more powerful and aggressive. Finally Britain and France
were forced to declare war on Germany after the invasion of Poland in September 1939, and so started the Second
World War. The charismatic Winston Churchill (18741965) became the wartime Prime Minister in 1940 and his
speechesencouragedtheBritishtofightofftheattemptedGermaninvasion.Inoneofhismostpatrioticspeechesbefore
theBattleofBritain(1940),ChurchilladdresstheBritishpeoplewith"Weshalldefendourisland,whateverthecostmay
be,weshallfightonthebeaches,weshallfightonthelandinggrounds,weshallfightinthefieldsandinthestreets,we
shallfightinthehillsweshallneversurrender."Andindeed,Britaindidnotsurrender.

The Postwar
In1945,theUKwasbankruptanditsindustrydestroyedbytheBlitzwar,andtheBritishEmpirewasdismantledlittleby
little, first granting the independence to India and Pakistan in 1947, then to the other Asian, African and Caribbean
coloniesinthe1950'sand60's(inthe70'sand80'sforthesmallerislandsoftheeasternCaribbean).
MostoftheseexcoloniesformedtheBritishCommonwealth,nowknownastheCommonwealthofNations.53statesare
now members of the Commonwealth, accounting for 1.8 billion people (about 30% of the global population) and about
25%oftheworld'slandarea.
In1952,ElizabethII(b.1926)ascendedthethroneattheageof26.Althoughshesomewhatrehabilitatedtheimageof
themonarchy,herchildrendidnot,andtheirsentimentalliveshavemadetheheadlinesofthetabloidnewspapersatleast
sincethemarriageofCharles,PrinceofWales,withLadyDianaSpencer(seeAlthorp)in1981.
PopandRockmusicreplacedcolonialremembrancesinthe1960'swithbandsliketheBeattles,PinkFloyd,theRolling
StonesorBlackSabbath.TheHippiesubculturealsodevelopedatthattime.
The70'sbroughttheoilcrisisandthecollapseoftheBritishindustry.ConservativePMMargaretThatcher(b.1925)was
electedin1979andstayeduntil1990.Sheprivatisedtherailwaysandshutdowninefficientfactories,butalsoincreased
the gap between the rich and the poor by cutting on the social security. Her methods were so harsh that she was
nicknamedthe'IronLady'.
ThatcherwassucceededinherpartybytheunpopularJohnMajor,butin1997,the"NewLabour"(moretotherightthan
the"OldLabour")camebacktopowerwithTonyBlair(b.1953).Blair'sliberalpoliciesandunwaveringsupportofneo
conservativeUSPresidentGeorgeW.Bush(especiallyregardingtheinvasionofIraqin2003)disappointedmanyLeftists,
who really saw in Blair but a Rightist in disguise. But Blair has also positively surprised many by his intelligence and
remarkableskillsasanoratorandnegotiator.
Nowadays, the English economy relies heavily on services. The main industries are travel (discount airlines and travel
agencies), education (apart from Oxford and Cambridge universities and textbooks, hundreds of language schools for
learnersofEnglish),music(EMI,HMV,Virgin...),prestigecars(RollsRoyce,Bentley,Jaguar,Lotus,AstonMartin,MG...),

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fashion (Burberry, Dunhill, Paul Smith, Vivienne Westwood, French Connection...), and surprisingly to some, food (well
especiallytea,biscuits,chocolatesandjamorcompanieslikeUnileverandCadburrySchweppes).

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RuneHead 3yearsago

Verygoodhistory.
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YouforgottomentionitscurrentinvasionbyMuslimsandIslamiccrapculture.
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George 2yearsago

Exactlywhatiwaslookingfor...Bothbriefandprecisesummary
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Verygoodbriefhistory
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it'sagloriousenglandhistorythatrecapitulatetheultimeeventoccuriedincountryveryfascinating

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