BRITISH HISTORY

the great geographical discoveries /America, India/

trading expeditions were encouraged by Elizabeth I

they were often combined with piracy, two well-known pirates = Sir Walter Raleigh (he founded the first English colony in North America and called it Virginia in honour of the Queen) and Sir Francis Drake

TWO RULERS – Henry VIII - he had 6 wives, he became the Head of the English Church, because he wanted divorce, but Pope wouldn’t let him do it, so he founded the English Church (names of his wives (the first Catherine Aragon-one daughter Mary, Anne Boleyn-was executed, Jane Seymour, Anne from Cleves, Catherine Howard-executed too, Catherine Parr)

Anne Boleyn´s daughter, Elizabeth became Queen of England, she ruled not by force, but by female diplomacy, many European kings longed to control England, but she remained unmarried, she kept them hoping and so managed to keep peace with their countries, she was called “Virgin Queen”. Also, the Elizabethan age produced the world´s greatest dramatist William Shakespeare.

17th century its called Civil War and the Restoration. The country was divided. On the one side there were royalists supporting the king, on the other side were parliamentarist supporting the parliament. King Charles I wanted to rule absolutely, but Parliament wanted to limit king’s power. Parliamentary forces were led by Oliver Cromwell. England was declared a republic under the name of The Commonwealth with Oliver Cromwell at its head-his official title was Lord Protector. After the civil war monarchy was restored and the era of restoration began. Later King James II was accused of trying to bring back Catholicism. He was deposed, and his son-in-law William of Orange and his wife Mary became joint sovereigns. The event is known as Glorious Revolution. Also, Isaac Newton discovered gravity at this time.

In 18th century Britain and France were rivals in race to conquer the world. Britain started to blossom and became huge, powerful empire. Britain gained a lot of colonies in West Africa, India, Northern America.

19th century was still full of sea discoveries. But France and Spain troubled the Britain at sea. But their fleets were defeated in Battle of Trafalgar by Admiral Nelson. Napoleon lost at Waterloo and Britain continued gaining power and expanding. The industrial revolution fuelled the prosperity of Britain.

The Victorian Era continued the period of stability and economical growth. This period is named after queen Victoria. She was the longest ruling monarch. She had 9 children with prince Albert. After her husband died she was wearing only black. Also, the colonial growth was enormous at that time. Britain is very proud of this period.

In 20th century, there were two wars. Britain was influenced mainly by the second world war. Also, Britain was always on the winner’s side. During the WWII the Prime minister was Winston Churchill – fat man, always smoking a cigar. He led Britain and her allies against the Nazis. He builds a strong relationship with Roosevelt and maintained difficult alliance with Soviet Union. He led Britain to the victory. But people wanted new start, so they voted a new Prime minister. The next iconic prime minister was Margaret Thatcher. She was Britain’s first female PM. She was an advocate of privatisation, reformed trade unions and lowered taxes. But the unemployment raised rapidly and there were civil conflicts. She led Britain to victory in Falkland war. She is known as the Iron Lady.