Chapter 2　History

Section A　History of the United Kingdom

British history is not as long as some ancient civilizations, but its cultural impact is widespread and deep in many countries throughout the world.

1. Origin of the British Nation

Before the great Ice Age, Great Britain was joined to the continent of Europe. When the Ice Age ended in 7,000 B. C., English Channel and the North Sea formed, and Britain was isolated from the European continent and became an island. Early British history was a history of invasion. Up to Norman Conquest, the British island was invaded by migratory tribes off and on who were living along the southern and eastern coastlines. These invaders came to Britain, settled here, and created early British civilization.

Iberians and the Celtic Invasion

The first known settlers by now were Iberians who came from Iberian Peninsula in Mediterranean in around 2,500 B. C.. Although they were called Iberians, they consisted of different peoples. The Iberians lived in Britain during the Stone and Bronze Ages. They began the early agriculture and used some original tools made of stone. At the same time, the Iberians built the mysterious and great prehistoric monument—Stonehenge, which stands on the vast Salisbury plains, and it still remains a secret that how the original settlers built and what it used to do.

From 700 B. C. to 300 B. C., Celtic tribes from territory that is now Germany and the Netherlands came to Britain and drove the Iberians to the highlands of Wales, Northwest England and Scotland. Compared with the prior settlers, the Celts were better at ironwork and art. They brought their own language and government style with them and imposed them on the settlers in the south. Their government style was based on the basic extended families or clans which gradually formed tribes. They already had a set of standards of protection and punishment, which showed justice among the extended families to some degree. They continued to develop agriculture slowly, and began to hunt and fish although at the same time they still used herding, weaving, and metalwork left by Iberians. Together with the later Germanic tribes, Celtic civilization laid the foundation for modern British history and culture.

Roman Invasion

Chapter 2　History In addition to the Iberians and Celtic invasions, Roman was the third one that invaded Britain. In contrast to the previous invaders, Roman conquerors preferred to assimilate Britain rather than colonize it.

In 55 B. C., the Roman leaders Julius Caesar started the first invasion to Britain; however, it failed because of the bad weather. Just one year later, in 54 B. C., he launched a second attack on Britain. It was a military success, while it did not lead to Roman occupation. It was not until 43 A. D. that Roman took complete control over the Britain land. At that time, Claudius was the Roman Emperor. Nevertheless, the Roman legionnaires were also confronted with severe occupation. For the next hundred years, wars and civil unrest diverted the Roman leaders from further invasion. The Roman left Britain in 410 A. D., because their own country was going to collapse and soldiers needed to protect their own homeland. In the process of Roman invasion of Britain, Britain went through a temporary civilization.

The Invasion of Anglo-Saxons

After the Romans had retreated, the Anglo-Saxons began to invade England. They came from what is now called Scandinavia and Germany. The Anglo-Saxons killed some Celts and pushed the other Celts into the mountains or overseas to Ireland. They established a dominant culture, a common religion and a common form of government.

During this period, the king who was selected as the leader did not have all the power to make the decisions; many decisions were made by twelve of the most respected men within each village. Few of the decisions had been written down; those which hadn't been written down were called Common Law. There is a strong oral literary tradition and Beowulf is a famous epic which survives today.

About the religion the Anglo-Saxons were converted from Pre-Christian to Christianity. Two Irish missionaries, St. Patrick and St. Augustine, brought the Christianity into England and Ireland. Those two versions of Christianity were not the same. One stressed the government of churches by the Roman Pope and the other had self-governed churches. The Anglo-Saxon kings gave the land to bishops and monasteries and forced people to give the tax to Roman Catholic Church.

During the 600-800 years, the Heparchy[1] (Kent, Sussex, Wessex, Essex, Northumbria, East Anglia and Mercia) was established because of the fight between the powerful tribes.

The Invasion of Vikings

At the end of 8th century, the Vikings from Norway, Sweden and Denmark invaded the Great Britain. These marauders came with their keeled boats through the Danube River and the Mediterranean. Ireland, Scotland and Northern England were attacked by the marauders from Norway and Sweden, the southeastern England was invaded by the people from Denmark. Later the Vikings established small kingdoms in these places.

Later these small kingdoms were united by Alfred the Great (849-899) who was the king of Wessex. He was the first one in the history of Britain who called himself as the king of England, and he had many achievements. He defeated Danish attempts to expand "the Danelaw" [2], and regained land, including London; he built a navy and established strong garrisons for protection; he also founded the first public schools for the sons of noblemen and magistrates; meanwhile he began the Chronicle. His son Edward the Elder and his grandson Athelstan were the first true kings of England.

2. The Founding of the Nation

The Norman Conquest

The most important historical episode in British history is the Norman Conquest. The Norman conquest of England began in September 1066 with the invasion of England by William, Duke of Normandy. He became known as the Conqueror after his victory at the Battle of Hastings in October 1066, who defeated the king Harold Ⅱ of England. On December 25, 1066, William was crowned William Ⅰ at Westminster Abbey in London. By early 1071, William had secured control of most of England, although rebellions and resistance continued to approximately 1088.

The Norman Conquest largely removed the native ruling class by replacing it with a foreign, French-speaking monarchy, aristocracy, and clerical hierarchy, which brought about a transformation of the English language and the culture of England in a new era—Norman England.

After the Norman invasion, people in Britain spoke three major languages. The clergy spoke and wrote Latin, the language of Roman; the rulers, military leaders and leaders spoke French; and the common people spoke a variety of German dialects, known as old English.

The Consolidation and Development of Monarchy

During the rule of William's next two successors, strong and centralized government continued in a feudalized society. Henry Ⅱ was the king of England and Normandy, and at his time, almost 2/3 Frances were under his rule. Henry Ⅱ made great contribution to the laws at that time, because he introduced the jury system to British law, and he was called the founding father of the British common law. Besides, the birth of the parliament gave more powers and rights to the common people, and the basis of the political system was established. From 1343, it was divided into two chambers: the upper house (the House of Lords), and the lower house (the House of Commons). The essential spirit was freedom and democracy.

Henry Ⅱ's younger son John was succeeded to throne after his elder son, and at his time, the king's power was growing. In 1204, John lost Normandy and most of his French possessions. Then on June 15, 1216, John was forced to accept the famous document the Great Charter [3] which limited the power of king and included sixty-three clauses. Although the Great Charter had been long popularly regarded as the foundation of English liberties, it was a statement of the feudal and legal relationships between the Crown and the barons, protected the freedom of the Church and the rights of citizens, and limited the power of the king. Its two general principles were that the king was subjected to the law and the king should observe the law.

Edward Ⅰ was King of England from 1272 to 1307, and he was an effective ruler, because he expanded power in England. During his reign, the power of royal courts increased while that of the baronial courts deceased.

In a word, the three kings Henry Ⅱ, King John and Edward directly or indirectly contributed to the development of British politics from Monarchy to constitutional Monarchy.

The Decline of Feudalism

During the Feudal society, there were several wars. The most famous two were the Hundred Years' War and the Wars of the Roses.

The Hundred Years' War was a series of wars between France and England from 1337 to 1453. Although it was called the Hundred Years' War, in fact, it lasted about 116 years. The war had its roots in a dynastic disagreement dating back to the time of William the Conqueror. As the rulers of Normandy and other lands on the continent, the English kings owed feudal homage to the king of France. In 1337, Edward III of England refused to pay homage to Philip Ⅵ of France, leading to the French king claiming confiscation of Edward's lands in Aquitaine, and the war broke out. The attempt by Talbot to retake Gascony, was crushed by Jean Bureau and his cannon at the Battle of Castillon in 1453, which was considered the last battle of the Hundred Years' War. The Hundred Years' War had a significant impact on the English society. It promoted the concept of English nationalism and the development of the textile industry. In addition, the war raised the social position of the bourgeois class. All these factors contributed to the decline of feudalism in Britain.

During the Hundred Years' War, Britain was affected by the Black Death. The bubonic plague broke out firstly, which killed many English. Hence, the number of English population decreased seriously, leading to crops rotted in the field; farm land not cultivated; and food prices rose. The inflation of prices caused hardship to the workers, and many people crowded into the cities. The labor shortage continued and was mostly responsible for the decrease of feudalism and increase of centralized monarchy. The Black Plague, war, famine, and death had ravaged the countries. People began searching for an explanation, and the current church could offer none. The Hundred Years' War was a part of a series of events that shifted people's thinking and paved the way for the period of Reformation that would follow.

The Wars of the Roses were a series of wars for the throne of the England between supporters of two rival branches of the royal House of Plantagenet: the House of Lancaster (with red roses as their symbol) and the House of York (with white roses as their symbol). Both houses battled for power, wealth and ultimately the throne, and it lasted thirty years from 1455 to 1485. At last, the House of Lancaster won and their leader Henry Tutor became the King Henry Ⅶ. Henry Ⅶ united the two houses together by marrying Elizabeth, a daughter of Yorkist Edward IV, and made a new symbol, the Tudor rose, which also meant the end of the Wars of the Roses. After the unity, the economy developed quickly, and the agriculture began to change from the feudal agriculture to the capitalist agriculture, which made the industry and manufacture in England develop very quickly.

3. Transition to the Modern Age

The Tudor Monarchy

The Tudor family ruled England from 1485 to 1603. Under the Tudors, England became a national state with an efficient centralized government, and started changing from a medieval to modern country.

The New Monarchy

Henry Ⅶ was the first monarch of the Tudor Monarch. By careful diplomacy, Henry Ⅶ gave England peace at home and abroad, which enabled him to build up England's navy and foreign trade. One of the main concerns of Henry Ⅶ during his reign was the re-accumulation of the funds in the royal treasury. Through his strict monetary strategy, he was able to leave a considerable amount of money in the Treasury for his son and successor, Henry Ⅷ.

Religious Reformation

Henry Ⅷ was responsible for the religious reform of the church. The reform began as a struggle for a divorce and ended in freedom from the Papacy. Henry Ⅷ wanted to divorce Catherine of Aragon but the Pope refused. Henry's reform was to get rid of the English Church's connection with the Pope, and to make an independent Church of England. He dissolved all the England's monasteries and nunneries because they were more loyal to the Pope than to their kings. The laws such as the Act of Succession of 1534 and the Act of Supremacy of 1535 made his reform possible. He established the Church of England as the national church of the country, and he made himself the supreme head of the Church of England. Henry Ⅷ's reform stressed the power of the monarch and strengthened his position; his attack on the Pope's power encouraged many critics of abuses of the Catholic Church and helped England move away from Catholicism towards Protestantism.

Henry Ⅷ's son Edward Ⅵ carried out drastic religious change. His switch to Protestant theology and his drastic reform had been called "The Reformation" in English history.

After the death of Edward Ⅵ in 1553, his elder sister Mary Tudor became the Queen. Mary, like her mother Catherine, was a devout Catholic. She married Philip Ⅱ of Spain and reestablished Catholicism and brought the Church back under the power of Rome. Mary persecuted and burnt many Protestants for their insistence on Protestant views, so she was given the nickname "Bloody Mary" .

Mary ruled for only a few years and in 1558 she died. Her ostensibly Protestant sister, Elizabeth Ⅰ, became Queen. Elizabeth's religious reform was a compromise of views. She broke Mary's ties with Rome and restored her father's independent Church of England, i. e. keeping to Catholic doctrines and practices but to be free of the Papal control. Her religious settlement was unacceptable to both the extreme Protestants known as Puritans and to ardent Catholics. For nearly 30 years, Elizabeth Ⅰ successfully played off against each other, the two great Catholic powers, France and Spain, and prevented England from getting involved in any major European conflicts. Through her marriage alliances which were never materialized, Elizabeth Ⅰ managed to maintain a friendly relationship with France, so England was able to face the danger from Spain.

The English Renaissance

The English Renaissance was a cultural and artistic movement in England dating from the late 15th and early 16th centuries to the early 17th century. Like most of northern Europe, England saw little of these developments until more than a century later. Renaissance style and ideas were slow in penetrating England, and the Elizabeth era in the second half of the 16th century is usually regarded as the height of the English Renaissance. Renaissance represented the transition in Europe from the Middle Ages to Modern era.

Though Renaissance came to England much later than to the rest of Europe, yet once it did, it was to produce such towering figures as William Shakespeare, Edmund Spenser, Sir Thomas More, Francis Bacon, and to produce a variety of glorious works in world literary heritage. In different countries, Renaissance found varied emphases. The impact on Italy and France was mainly felt in fine arts and science, and in Germany it was religion. Despite all these features, however, the English Renaissance was largely literary, achieving its finest expression in what is known as Elizabethan Drama.

The Civil Wars and Their Consequences

Because of the absolute rule of Charles, the confrontation between Charles Ⅰ and the parliament developed into the civil war. The war began on August 22, 1642 and ended in 1651. Charles Ⅰ was condemned to death. The English Civil War is also called the Puritan Revolution. It has been seen as a conflict between the parliament and the King, and a conflict between economic interests of the Crown and that of the urban middle class. The latter class coincided with their religious (Puritan) ideology while the former correspondingly allied with Anglican religious belief. The English Civil War not only overthrew feudal system in England but also shook the foundation of the feudal rules in Europe.

The Restoration

When Oliver Cromwell died in 1658 and was succeeded by his son, Richard, the regime began to collapse. One of Cromwell's generals, George Monck, occupied London and arranged for new parliamentary elections. The Parliament that was elected in 1660 resolved the crisis by asking the late King's son to return from his exile in France as King Charles Ⅱ. It was called the Restoration.

The Glorious Revolution of 1688

In 1685 Charles Ⅱ died and was succeeded by his brother James Ⅱ. James was brought up in exile in Europe, and he was a Catholic. He hoped to rule without giving up his personal religious views, but England was no more tolerant of a Catholic king in 1688. Therefore, the English politicians rejected James Ⅱ, and appealed to a Protestant king, William of Orange, to invade and take the English throne. William landed in England in 1688. The takeover was relatively smooth, with no bloodshed, nor any execution of the king. This was known as the Glorious Revolution, because it was bloodless and successful. In the following year, Parliament passed the Bill of Rights, which limited the power of the monarch and guaranteed the authority of Parliament. Parliament succeeded in removing a ruling monarch they didn't like and establishing a system known as constitutional monarchy.

4. The Rise and Fall of the British Empire

The Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution may be defined as the application of power-driven machinery to manufacturing. In the 18th century, all of Western Europe began to industrialize rapidly, and in England the process was most highly accelerated. England's head start may be attributed to a number of simultaneous factors or favorable conditions which no other country could match, including stable government, economic freedom, available capital, and mobile labor.

The basic ground for Industrial Revolution was prepared by the Glorious Revolution which ensured the political stability in the country and paved the way for the rapid growth of capitalism in England. The laissez faire policy[4] and domestic tariff-free commerce not only encouraged the development of production but also helped the expansion of markets, domestic and foreign. The capitalists accomplished their "primitive accumulation of capital" through plunder and exploitation during the period between 1688 and the mid 18th century. At home, this was mainly done by the large scale Enclosure Movement. Many small landowners were deprived of their property, and the new class of "landless laborers" had to seek paid employment from large landowners or to find work in the rapidly growing industrial areas. Abroad, from the colonies in America and India, Britain acquired enormous wealth with which to develop its industries. The colonies provided Britain with necessary raw materials and a large market for its industrial products. Such a continuous increase of colonial wealth and trade provided a constantly rising market for British goods. It was this demand for ever-increasing quantities of goods that forced men to use their wits on the mass production of commodities and it was the basic cause of the Industrial Revolution.

The First Industrial Revolution began in the textile industry and was marked by a series of inventions. They were the Spinning Jenny, the water frame, the power loom and the steam engine. These inventions completed the mechanization of the textile industry and prepared the way for a new system of production: large scale industry.

With these developments came a need for a cheap means of transportation. To meet it, entrepreneurs invested in digging canals to ship goods to market. In 1814, the steam locomotive was invented. The first railway was completed in 1825. By 1850, Great Britain had established a railroad system encompassing over 10,000 kilometers of track. Meanwhile, it had also built a large merchant fleet, which carried British-manufactured goods to all parts of the world.

By the middle of the 19th century, the Industrial Revolution was accomplished in Great Britain. The Industrial Revolution brought about dramatic changes in nearly every aspect of British society, including economy, politics, social structures and institutions. Its industrial productivity increased dramatically. As a result, British goods almost achieved a monopoly position in the world market and Britain became the "workshop of the world" by 1830. The country also underwent a process of mass urbanization, and many new cities sprang up, such as Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham and Sheffield. The Industrial Revolution also created changes in the class structure. The capitalist class replaced the old nobility as the most important force in the country, while the industrial working class, the proletariat, worked and lived in an appalling condition.

The Formation of the Empire

The foundation of the empire was already laid in the time of Queen Elizabeth Ⅰ. But the empire came into being during the Industrial Revolution in the 18th and 19th centuries.

By the time Queen Victoria ascended the throne in 1837, Britain had been an empire known as the First British Empire. It included the colonies in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India and many small states in the West Indies. These early colonies were usually started by individual business people for the purpose of trade.

The Victorian Age witnessed the establishment of the Second British Empire. Queen Victoria ruled from 1837 to her death in 1901, the longest reign of any monarch in British history. During Victoria's reign, especially from the 1870s, the British government adopted a very aggressive foreign policy known as New Imperialism. In order to plunder available resources, the government sent British fleet anywhere in the world to dominate the local people. British aggression against China was also in line with this pattern. The British government waged the Opium War against China and forced the Qing government to sign the Treaty of Nanking in 1842. By the end of the 19th century, the British Empire included a quarter of the global population and nearly a quarter of the world's landmass. It became the largest empire in human history, "an empire on which the sun never set" .

Britain in the Two World Wars

By the beginning of the 20th century, the world had entered the period of imperialism. Britain's dominance was challenged by other countries, because they had also established their large manufacturing industries, and they were also in need of foreign markets and raw materials. A conflict of interests and colonial rivalry divided Europe into two camps: "the Central Powers" , including Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria; "the Allied Powers" , including the British Empire, France, the Russian Empire, Italy and the U. S.. World War Ⅰ from 1914 to 1918 was primarily between two European Power blocs. Ultimately, more than 32 countries were involved, 28 of which supported the Allied Powers. The War ended with the victory of the Allies. During the war, the Britain lost much. Apart from the loss of manpower, there had been considerable disruption in economy and society. Though victorious, Britain came out of the war with a huge national debt, and its business was slack. By 1931 Britain entered the Great Depression, which made its position in the capitalist world further weakened.

With the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany, Hitler and Nazism showed off their aggressive momentum in Europe. The German troops invaded Poland on September 1,1939. Chamberlain, the Prime Minister, found his policy of appeasement of German aggression was no longer tenable, and was forced to declare war on Germany on September 3, 1939. The next year Chamberlain resigned and Winston Churchill became the Prime Minister. The whole nation was mobilized and industries were centered on war production. In 1940, the Germany Air Force attacked the airfields in southeastern England, and it destroyed many cities. It was the most critical period of the war for Britain. But the fighter air planes of the Royal Air Force wore down the German strength, and at last the Germans were forced to abandon their plans of invasion. In 1941 the pressure was somewhat alleviated for England. The Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union gave new hope to Britain. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor brought the U. S. into the war. A Grand Alliance was formed. With the unified efforts of Anti-Nazi forces, Germany surrendered unconditionally on May 7, 1945, and Japan was forced to surrender unconditionally in August. World War Ⅱ was over. Great Britain had triumphed over all her enemies, but at great costs—much bloodshed and heavy loss of wealth.

The Fall of the Empire

One of the most far-reaching consequences of the wars was that it hastened the end of Britain's empire. Most of the colonies had joined in the war and contributed to the victory. They were tempered by the war and consequently a large independence movement swept the world soon after the war. The process of decolonization in Africa and Asia accelerated during the late 1950s, after which, of Britain's Asian possessions, only Hong Kong (returned to China in 1997) was still under British control. The British Empire faded away, to be replaced by the Commonwealth of Nations, a loosely organized community of former British colonies.

5. Britain since World War Ⅱ

After World War Ⅱ, the Labor Party under Clement Attlee came into power and created a comprehensive welfare state, with the establishment of the National Health Service, entitling free healthcare to all British citizens and other reforms included the introduction of old-age pensions, free education at all levels, sickness benefits and unemployment benefits, most of which was covered by the newly introduced national insurance, paid by all workers. The Bank of England, railways, heavy industry, coal mining and public utilities were all nationalized.

The Conservatives returned to power in 1951, accepting most of Labor's postwar reforms and presiding over 13 years of economic stability. Labor returned to power under Harold Wilson in 1964 and oversaw a series of social reforms including the decriminalization of homosexuality and abortion, the relaxing of divorce laws and the banning of capital punishment. Edward Heath returned the Conservatives to power from 1970 to 1974 and oversaw the decimalization of British currency, the ascension of Britain to the European Economic Community and the height of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. In the wake of the oil crisis and a miner's strike, Heath introduced the three-day working week to conserve power.

Labor made a return to power in 1974 but a series of strikes carried out by trade unions over the winter of 1978/1979 (known as the Winter of Discontent) paralyzed the country and as Labor lost its majority in parliament, a general election was called in 1979 which took Margaret Thatcher to power and began 18 years of Conservative government. Thatcher initially pursued monetary policies and went on to privatize many of Britain's nationalized companies such as BT Group, British Gas plc, British Airways and British Steel. The controversial Community Charge (poll tax), used to fund local government attributed to Thatcher being ousted from her own party and replaced as Prime Minister by John Major in 1990.

Major replaced the Poll Tax with the council tax and oversaw British involvement in the Gulf War. Despite a recession, Major led the Conservatives to a Surprising victory in 1992. The event of Black Wednesday in 1992, party disunity over the European Union and several scandals involving Conservative politicians led to Labor under Tony Blair winning a landslide election victory in 1997. Blair led Britain into the controversial Iraq War, which contributed to his eventual resignation in 2007, when he was succeeded by his Chancellor Gordon Brown. A global recession in the late 2000s led to Labor being defeated in the 2010 election and replaced by a Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition, headed by David Cameron, which has pursued a large series of public spending cuts to help reduce Britain's budget deficit. Cameron committed his government to Britain's continuing role in Afghanistan and stated that he hopes to remove British troops from the region by 2015.

On September 18, 2014, a referendum was held in Scotland on whether to leave the U.K. and become an independent country. The referendum resulted in Scotland voting by 55% to 45% to remain part of the U.K..

On February 20, 2016, David Cameron announced that a referendum on the UK's membership of the EU (European Union) would be held on June 23, 2016. The result of the referendum was in favor of the country leaving the EU with 51.9% of voters wanting to leave. After the result was declared, Cameron announced that he would resign by October. In the event, he stood down on July 13, with Theresa May becoming Prime Minister.

On July 12, 2018, the British government published a long-awaited white paper on Brexit (Britain exiting from the EU), seeking to create a free trade area with the EU. Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, Dominic Raab told the House of Commons that leaving the EU may involve both challenges and opportunities and the country may rise to the challenges and grasp the opportunities.