British history

The United Kingdom (consists of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) is situated on British Isles. England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland are politically united under a parliament, consisting of the King, the House of Lords and the House of Commons.

The first people, who lived on of the British Isles, were the Neolithic people. We know very little about their culture, but they probably built Stonehenge.

In about 1200 B. C. the Celts arrived from Spain and France.

The first Romans who landed on the British Isles in 55 BC were led by Julius Caesar. The Romans called the country Albion at first (according to the cliffs on the south coast).

In 43 A. D. the Romans invaded Britain. They had to fight with the Iceni tribe but the Iceni were brutally suppressed. Emperor Hadrian built the wall near the northern border against barbarian tribes. The Romans also built straight roads, defensive walls such as Hadrian Wall and the towns London, York, Cardiff.

When the Romans left Britain, Germanic tribes moved into the area - for example the Angles, Jutes and the Saxos.

In the 9th century the Vikings invaded and occupied the east and south of England.

In 1066 William the Conqueror defeated Harold II at the Battle of Hastings and became the King of Britain.

The next important King was Henry VIII. He built the biggest and the most powerful navy and he established his own church. During his reign, Wales was brought into a legal union with England. He had six wives but only one outlived him.

His daughters Elizabeth I became one of the greatest monarchs of England. She took the Throne in 1558. Her enemies tried to kill her several times but they always failed.

During Elizabeth’s reign the seas were dominated by British ships. Her corsairs stole most of the gold from Spanish ships. Then they defeated Spanish Armada which included 130 ships, and it was in the Sea Battle in the English Channel.

In 1694 King William established the Bank of England, and therefore England was the first country experiencing the Industrial revolution.

From 1837 the Queen Victoria reigned. Her husband the Prince Albert was a big fan supporter of the Science and the Arts.

The English established a colony in the North America. They used black people from Africa and they used them as slaves, that is why the English, who had lived in America, became very rich. But later the Americans defeated them in the War of Independence.

But the United Kingdom had more colonies all over the world - e.g. in India, Australia and Africa.

After World War II Britain lost most its colonies and its importance decreased dramatically.

Yet the United Kingdom is a very important and powerful country even today, it has an excellent and properly functioning education system, not so advanced health care, many cultural diversities, lot of multicultural nationalities, and still it is one of the last monarchy that exists.