2a, The UK- Famous events in its history

The UK has one of the most exciting histories in the world. We can count the history from 15 000 B.C., when 1 T e!idences a"out acti!ity of #eo#le are $nown. o it%s clear, that it%s im#ossi"le to mention all facts and e!ents in British history. o &%m going to s#ea$ only a"out the most im#ortant, well'$nown e!ents. &n about 750 B.C. the Celts a##eared on the islands. They are considered the first tri"e, which a##eared there. They were di!ided into se!eral tri"es. The a"lest of them were the Britons, from whom the British &sles ta$e their name. (uring the 1ST century B.C. and the 1ST century .!. Romans attac$ed British &sles. )irstly it was *ulius Caesar with his troo#s, who crossed the Channel and in!eded Britain. But he didn%t come to settle, he came only to con+uer, to go!ern "y right of su#erior ci!ili,ation. -"out 100 years "ater, Britain was finally con+euered, exce#t northern #art of it, where some enemy tri"es stayed. &n 122 the .adrian%s Wall was "uilt as a #rotection against those tri"es. &n the 5 T. century situation of the Roman Empire deteriorated. /omans withdraw from Britain. )rom that time Angles and Saxons started to settle in Britain. They came from north 0uro#e and they esta"lished 1 $ingdoms, which were finally united "y Alfred the Great, who also defeated Vikings, a tri"e from candina!ia, which attac$ed cotland and was succesfully ad!ancing through 0ngland, until the defeat "y -lfred. 10## is !ery famous date in Britain history. &n this year )rench Duke William of Normandy and his troo#s in!aded to 0ngland. William met with -ngl'saxon $ing .arold and his army at the Batt"e o$ %astin&s. .arold%s army was exhausted "y fights with 2i$ings. Those fights too$ #lace in cotland only 3 days "efore the Battle of .astings. (ue to this -nglo'saxons were defeated, .arold was $illed in that "attle. - new era of history "egan. &n 1215 wea$ and wic$ed ing !ohn was forced "y no"les to sign the Great Charter. )rom that year the King was wea$er and the #eo#le stronger. "he Great Charter is still !alid nowadays and it can "e considered one of the oldest constitution in the world. -n interesting story is conected with the #erson of *ohn. &t%s a"out /o"in .ood and his #eo#le, who fought *ohn for many years. t the en' o$ the 1(T% century Wales was con+euered 4since that time, the 1 T #rince is called the 5rince of Wales6. -lso the 5arliament was firstly summoned 4o"esl7n6. From 1((7 to 1)5( 0nglishmen fought )rance in "he #undred $ear%s War. The reason of the war was demand of 0nglish $ing to get )rench throne. &n one of many "attles also C,ech King fought. &t was in 1389 at the "attle of Cr:cy and our "lind $ing *ohn of ;uxem"urg met a hero%s death while fighting for the )rench. The war ended in 0ngland%s defeat. -nother war too$ #lace only in Britain. &t was "he War of the Roses ' a struggle "etween two #owerful "ranches of royal family. Their em"lems were roses. <ne "ranch was called the #ouse of $ork. "he #ouse of &an'aster was the second one. -fter 30 years of fights the #ouse of &an'( won. #enry V)))( is well'$nown 0nglish $ing, he married six wi!es, most of them were executed. When the 5o#e didn%t allow him to di!orce with one of his wi!es, .enry esta"lished new church called "he Chur'h of England and "e"came its head. .enry was also 1 T $ing with title King of &reland. The be&innin& o$ the 1#T% century is called the Eli*a+ethan Age. (uring that time, Britain was under rule of Eli*a+eth )(. The $ingdom flourished es#ecially culture. 0.g. W(Shakespeare was #roducting his greatest #lays and #oems in that #eriod. )irst colony in -merica ' 2irginia ' was founded. -fter 0li,a"eth the Stuarts ings ruled. Their reign was "ad and led to the Ci,il War "etween Royalists and -arlamentarians. The King was e!en executed and Britain "ecame re#u"lic for short #eriod under rule of dictator .li,er Crom/ell. But after his death, monarchy wasesta"lished again. &n 1##5 ;ondon was attac$ed "y out"rea$ of #lague, called the Great -lague. <ne year later ;ondon was almost destroyed "y the Great 0ire. &n 1707 ' The United Kingdom of =reat Britain 40ng> co6 was esta"lished "y A't of 1nion. &n 177# ' the U - was esta"lished in the De'laration of )ndependen'e and British unsuccesfully fought with -mericans. &n 1*01 the UK of =B and &reland was esta"lished. 8 years later the famous 0nglish seaman, admiral Nelson, met ?a#oleon%s fleet at the Battle of "rafalgar. )renchmen were defeated, "ut ?elson died. +n the 1,T% century the most im#ortant ruler was the 2ueen Vi'toria. he ruled o!er @0 years and during her reign the UK extended all around the world. - small island nation "uild u# #ro"a"ly the greatest em#ire in history of the world. That was #eriod of #eace for Britain. ?ew Aealand, .ong Kong "ecame 0nglish colonies, elementary education "ecame free, Canada "ecame tne 1 T self'go!erning dominion. &n the B0T. century the British 0m#ire starts to decline.

)irstly the UK was threatened "y =erman su"marines and shi#s in the W.W.&. But the main fights too$ #lace in west 0uro#e, in )rance, where millions of young men lost their li!es in terri"le "attles of W.W.&. This war was 1 T, wher su#ermodern wea#ons as #lanes, su"marines and efficient riffles, machine guns and tan$s were used. &n 8 years of war 41C18'196 a new form of war was used ' a the ditch war. &n this form of war , thousands of soldier were attac$ing ditches of enemies. &n those "loody stri$es, troo#s were massacred "y enemy machine guns. The war in the west was started "y =erman, who attac$ed )rance trough Belgium, "ut they were sto##ed "y )renchmen and B0). &n 1C19 were =ermans #ushed "ac$ and defeated. &n B1 years "etween world wars, the UK continued to decline ...