The Outstanding Events in the Life of Great Britain

There were many outstanding events in the history of Great Britain. England was added to the Roman Empire in 43 AD. After the withdrawal of Roman Legions in 410, waves of Jutes, Angles, and Saxons arrived from German lands. They contended with Danish raiders for control from the 8^th through 11^th centuries. The last successful invasion was by French speaking Normans in 1066, who united the country with their dominions in France.

Opposition by nobles to royal authority forced King John to sign the Magna Carta in 1215, a guarantee of rights and the rule of law. In the ensuing decades, the foundations of the parliamentary system were laid.

English dynastic claims to large parts of France led to the Hundred Years War, 1338-1453, and the defeat of England. A long civil war, the War of the Roses, lasted 1455-85, and ended with the establishment of the powerful Tudor monarchy. A distinct English civilization flourished.

Under Queen Elisabeth I, England became a major naval power, leading to the founding of colonies in the new world and expansion of trade with Europe and the Orient. Scotland was united with England when JamesVI of Scotland was crowned James I of England in 1603.

A struggle Parliament and the Stuart kings led to a bloody civil war, 1642-49, and the establishment of a republic under the Puritan Oliver Cromwell. The monarchy was restored in 1660, but the "Glorious Revolution" of 1688 confirmed the sovereignty of Parliament: a Bill of Rights was granted in 1689.

In the 18^th century, Parliamentary rule was strengthened. Technological and commercial innovation led to the Industrial Revolution. The thirteen North American colonies were lost, but replaced by growing empires in Canada and India.

Great Britain went to war with France in 1793. Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson won a great victory over the French fleet at Trafalgar, off the southern coast of Spain in 1805. But after 11 months of peace, Napoleon started the war again. An allied army led by Duke of Wellington defeated Napoleon at waterloo. Britain’s role in the defeat of Napoleon, 1815, strengthened its position as the leading world power.

Then came the Era of Reforms. In 1831 there was introduced a Reform Bill which gave the vote to the middle classes and representation to factory towns.

The British Empire reached its greatest power during the reign of Queen Victoria which brought prosperity and an expanding empire in Asia and Africa.

Though victorious in World War I, Britain suffered huge casualties and economic dislocation. . Ireland became independent in 1921, and independence movements became active in India and other colonies. The country suffered major bombing damage in World War II, but helped out against Germany single-handedly for a year after the fall of France in 1940.

Great Britain lost more than 900 000 men in World War I, and about 2 100 000 were wounded.

From September, 1940, to May, 1941 fascist Germany attacked and damaged British cities in the Battle of Britain. In World War II Great Britain lost about 360 00 men and some 145000 civilians died on the home front.

Industrial growth continued in the post-war period, but Britain lost its leadership position to other powers.