Eyewitness History of the World 2.0

THE UNITED KINGDOM

The United Kingdom is made up of Great Britain (England, Scotland, 
and Wales) and Northern Ireland.
EARLY PEOPLES
Britain was inhabited by hunting peoples from about 8000 BC. 
Farming developed by about 4000 BC, with the arrival of new peoples 
from continental Europe. The Bronze Age Beaker people began working 
with copper and tin. They traded far across Europe and built 
impressive monuments and burial chambers. Work began on the great 
stone circle at Stonehenge in about 3100 BC. The Celts came to 
Britain from central Europe in the 800s. They settled throughout 
the country and established ironworking. There was much rivalry 
between different Celtic groups, and they lived within protected 
hill forts.
ROMAN BRITAIN
The Roman general Julius Caesar (102 BC44 BC) landed Roman forces 
in Britain in 55 BC, but it was not until AD 43 that the Romans 
fully occupied the country. It took many years for the invaders 
to overcome resistance to their rule. A notable rebellion was 
led by Boudicca (died AD 60), who was queen of the Iceni people. 
The Romans built advanced cities, roads, and villas, and also 
great walls to exclude the not-entirely subdued Britons.
GERMANIC INVASIONS
After the Romans left Britain in the early 400s, Britain was 
invaded by Germanic peoples, such as the Angles, Saxons, and 
Jutes. By the 550s they had conquered much of the country. Christianity 
reached Britain in 597. The Anglo-Saxons established several 
kingdoms across Britain, and their rulers struggled for power. 
The rulers of Wessex became supreme in the 800s.
THE VIKINGS
Danish Viking invasions began in the 800s. In 878, despite defeating 
the Vikings in battle, Alfred the Great (849899) of Wessex gave 
them a portion of the country under the Danelaw. Viking invasions 
continued, and they ruled much of England from 1016 to 1042.
THE NORMANS
William, Duke of Normandy (10271087), claimed the English crown 
in 1066. Having repelled a Norwegian invasion in the north of 
England, King Harold confronted the Normans at the battle of 
Hastings. Harold was killed, and William crowned king. William 
retained the British system of administration but government 
was dominated by Normans. Norman kings such as Richard I (11571199), 
the Lion-Heart, joined Christian crusades to the Holy Land. 
In 1199 John (11671216) became king. He alienated the powerful 
barons, who eventually forced him to sign the Magna Carta, a 
charter to protect their rights.
ENGLISH EXPANSION
Ireland came under English rule in 1172, and in the late 1200s 
Edward I (12391307) conquered Wales. He tried to unite England 
with Scotland, which led to war. The English were defeated at 
the battle of Bannockburn in 1314. Edward III (13121377) claimed 
the throne of France, starting the Hundred Years War (13371453). 
Despite Henry Vs (13871422) victory at Agincourt in 1415, the 
French eventually drove the English out in 1453.
WAR OF THE ROSES
The War of the Roses began during the reign of the boy king Henry 
VI (14211471). The rival York and Lancaster families fought 
for the throne. Conflict continued intermittently for 30 years 
until the battle of Bosworth in 1485, when the Lancastrians were 
victorious under Henry Tudor (14571509). He took the throne 
as Henry VII and united the houses of York and Lancaster through 
marriage.
THE TUDORS
When the pope refused him a divorce, Henry VIII (14911547) split 
from the Roman Catholic Church and founded the Protestant Church 
of England. Catholics and Protestants fought for control of the 
throne for the next 200 years. England was united with Wales 
in 1536. Under Henrys eldest daughter Mary I (15161558) Protestants 
were cruelly persecuted. Her half-sister, Elizabeth I (15331603) 
ruled for 45 years, and her reign saw a flourishing in learning 
and the arts. To eliminate the Catholic threat to the throne, 
Elizabeth executed her cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots (15421587). 
In 1588 the Spanish Armada attempted an invasion of England, 
but were defeated by bad weather and the navy. English colonies 
were established in North America from the 1580s.
THE STUARTS
The union of England and Scotland took place in 1603 when Elizabeth 
died without an heir. The crown passed to her Protestant cousin, 
James VI of Scotland (15661625). He became James I of England, 
founding the Stuart dynasty. The Gunpowder Plot of 1605 was a 
failed Catholic attempt to blow up Parliament. Guy Fawkes (15701606) 
and the other conspirators were executed. James son Charles 
I (16001649) clashed with parliament, and civil war broke out 
in 1642. Charles and his supporters were defeated and in 1649 
Charles was beheaded. The Puritan leader Oliver Cromwell (15991658) 
ruled the United Kingdom as a Commonwealth, and dealt ruthlessly 
with rebellion in Ireland. Cromwells son proved a weak leader, 
and in 1660 the monarchy was restored under Charles II (16301685). 
In 1665 the Great Plague broke out and the following year the 
Great Fire destroyed much of London. Parliament removed Catholic 
James II in the Glorious Revolution of 1688, confirming its authority 
above Britains monarch. Mary II (16621694) and William of Orange 
(16501702) were invited to take the throne. William defeated 
James and his Irish supporters at the battle of the Boyne in 
Ireland in 1690.
INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
During the Seven Years War (17561763) Britain gained territory 
in Canada and India. Shortly afterward, Britain was defeated 
by some of the North American colonies in the War of Independence 
(17751783). The attempts of the French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte 
(17691821) to invade Britain failed and he was defeated at the 
battle of Waterloo in 1815. Britain was the first country to 
begin the transition from an agricultural to an industrial nation, 
and experienced great social change. Slavery was abolished, a 
Poor Law passed, and workers rights protected. Queen Victoria 
(18191901) came to the throne in 1837 and reigned for more than 
60 years. Education became compulsory, and trade unions were 
legalized. The growth of the British Empire created markets for 
Britains manufactured goods all around the world. The empire 
expanded to include parts of Africa and Southeast Asia.
WORLD WAR I
Britain entered World War I (19141918) when Germany invaded 
Belgium and France in 1914. Four years of inconclusive trench 
warfare followed, with great loss of life. The arrival of U.S. 
forces in 1918 helped the Allies win the war.
DIVISION OF IRELAND
Ireland was made part of the United Kingdom in 1801, after failed 
rebellions against British rule. The campaign for Home Rule grew 
throughout the 1800s, particularly after the Irish famine of 
1846 to 1847. In 1916 nationalists staged a rebellion called 
the Easter Rising, which was crushed by British troops. Irish 
republicans declared independence in 1918, and war broke out. 
After three years a settlement was reached whereby Ireland was 
partitioned. The South became the independent Irish Free State, 
and the counties of Ulster remained within the United Kingdom 
as Northern Ireland.
INTERWAR YEARS
At the end of World War I, after a long campaign, women were 
granted the vote. In 1926 the General Strike broke out, in which 
over two million people stopped work. The British economy suffered 
during the Great Depression of the early 1930s  unemployment 
soared. In 1936 the new king, Edward VIII (18941972), gave up 
the throne to marry the U.S. divorce Wallis Simpson.
WORLD WAR II
In September 1939 Hitler invaded Poland, and the United Kingdom 
declared war on Germany. Winston Churchill (18741965) was prime 
minister throughout the war, and U.K. forces fought in all arenas 
of the conflict. Having occupied most of Europe, Germany prepared 
to invade the United Kingdom. However, the Germans were unable 
to gain enough mastery of the air to launch a sea invasion. The 
Allies mounted a successful landing in France on D-Day, June 
6, 1944, and the war ended the following year.
POSTWAR YEARS
The United Kingdom was impoverished by the war. It had spent 
its foreign investments financing the war effort. The new Labour 
government nationalized the countrys main industries, and brought 
in a national health service. Severe economic restrictions were 
maintained after the war. In 1948 there was an increase in production, 
but taxation remained as high as ever. Continued food rationing 
and the housing shortage caused increasing dissatisfaction with 
the government. By the 1950s the economic situation had improved. 
In 1956 British troops fought Egypt in an attempt to regain control 
of the Suez Canal. This was the last major act of empire, and 
most of the British overseas possessions gained independence 
during the 1950s and 1960s. The British Empire gave way to the 
Commonwealth. Many people from the former empire immigrated to 
the United Kingdom looking for work.
THE 1960S AND 1970S
The 1960s were economic boom years in comparison to the immediate 
postwar period, and British society became enthralled by the 
new youth culture. The capital gained an international reputation 
as swinging London. During the 1970s, however, the country 
was beset by inflation, strikes, and growing unemployment. The 
discovery of oil in the North Sea brought extra revenue. In 1973 
the United Kingdom joined the European Economic Community (EEC), 
now the European Union.
MARGARET THATCHER
In 1979 the United Kingdom elected its first woman prime minister, 
Margaret Thatcher (born 1925). Her commitment to free market 
economics reduced trade union power and brought about the privatization 
of many state-owned services. In 1982 the United Kingdom went 
to war with Argentina over the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands 
(Malvinas) in the South Atlantic. The war ended after 3 months, 
with Argentinas surrender. Economic problems continued as the 
country suffered record levels of unemployment, and the miners 
went on strike in a bitter, year-long confrontation with the 
government. Despite an economic upturn, Thatcher was ousted from 
power by her own party in 1990.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Catholic grievances in Northern Ireland became so serious that 
British troops were sent there in 1969 to maintain order. Their 
alleged misuse of powers worsened tensions in the province. The 
situation deteriorated steadily with the revival of the Irish 
Republican Army (IRA) and the formation of Protestant paramilitary 
groups. The violence spread to Britain, with sporadic bombings 
and shootings, and IRA prisoners hunger strikes. A series of 
peace talks began in the 1990s, accompanied by cease-fires, which 
brought hope that the situation could be resolved.
RECENT EVENTS
U.K. forces fought in the Gulf War in 1991. Hong Kong was returned 
to China in 1997. The growing influence of the European Union 
remains a divisive issue in British politics.

Copyright 1995, 1998 Dorling Kindersley
