Introduction to Britain
7.11.2019 21:57
United Kingdom is an island and it is surrounded by four seas.
• to the south by the English Channel which separates it from continental Europe
• to the east by the North Sea
• to the west by the Irish Sea and Atlantic Ocean
UK, BRITAIN, GREAT BRITAIN, BRITISH ISLES
UNITED KINGDOM (UK)
The United Kingdom refers to union of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. People of UK are called British.
History of UK
Ø 1536 Act of Union joins England and Wales
Ø 1707 Act of Union unites Scotland and England, together with wales
Ø 1922 Name changed to United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Island, when most of southern counties in
Ireland choose independence.
BRITAIN
Ø Britain is part of an island lying off the western coast of Europe, comprising the main territory of the UK.
Ø Britain is made up of England and Wales.
Ø The origin of the name Britain goes back to Roman times when they called England Britannia.
GREAT BRITAIN
Ø Great Britain is an island lying off the western coast of Europe.
Ø Great Britain is made up of England Wales and Scotland.
Ø The term Great Britain was first used during the reign of King James I in 1603 to refer to separate kingdoms
of England and Scotland, on the same land mass, that were ruled by the same monarch.
Ø People of Great Britain are called The British.
BRITISH ISLES
Ø British Isles is term which refers to two large islands, Great Britain and Northern Ireland,
and 5.000 small islands. Most notably the Isle of Man has its own parliament and laws.
Ø British Isles are Shetlands, Orkneys, Hebrides, Isle of Man, Isle of Scilly, Isle of Wight and
the Channel Islands.
ENGLAND
The largest one in UK and has the largest population.
§ National Anthem God Save the Queen
§ Symbol Red rose (tudor rose)
§ Patron Saint Saint George
§ National Flag Saint George's Cross
§ Capital London
§ Major Political Parties Tory (common people), Labour, Whig (open-minded)
Major Characteristics
§ The administrative and economic centre of UK.
§ Five o'clock tea, stiff upper-lip, middle-class mannerism.
§ Englishness (cold but polite)
SCOTLAND
The second largest are in UK and has the second largest population.
§ Unofficial National Anthem The Flower of the Scotland
§ Symbol Thistle
§ Patron Saint Saint Andrew
§ National Flag Saint Andrew's Cross
§ Capital Edinburgh
§ Major Political Party Scottish Nationalist Party
Major Characteristics
§ Scottish nationalism.
§ Anti-English sentiments.
§ Gaelic language.
§ Highland culture, fresh water lochs
§ Whisky, kilts, medieval castles, bagpipes
§ Edinburgh Theatres Festival
v Each clan has its own kilt.
v They have petrol, so they are rich.
v When the alcohol in whiskey evaporates, it is called Angel's Share.
WALES (CYMRU)
The third largest area in UK and has the third largest population.
§ Unofficial National Anthem Cyrmraeg (Wales)
§ Symbol Leek
§ Patron Saint Saint David
§ National Flag Red-dragon (pendragon) on green-white
§ Capital Cardiff
§ Major Political Party Plaid Cymru (the party of Wales)
Major Characteristics
§ Principality
§ Gaelic language - Welsh
§ Eisteddfod Festival
§ Celtic culture
§ Coal mines
NORTHERN IRELAND
The fourth largest area and has the fourth largest population.
§ Unofficial National Anthem A Londonderry Air
§ Symbol Orangemen (prods)
§ Patron Saint Saint George (prods)
§ National Flag Red Hand on Saint George's Cross
§ Capital Belfast
§ Major Political Parties Ulster Unionists, Sinn Fein (Ourselves Alone) ,
terrorist group
Major Characteristics
§ Section conflict ( protestans vs catholics)
§ Unionism vs Republicanism
§ UVF (Ulster Volunteer Force vs IRA (Irish Republican Army)
§ Celtic background
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
A sovereign state but historically, politically and culturally inseparable from Northern Ireland, hence from UK.
§ National Anthem Soldier's Song
§ Symbol Shamrock
§ Patron Saint Saint Patrick
§ National Flag Tricolour flag; green, white, orange
§ Capital Dublin
§ Major Political Party Sinn Fein
Major Characteristics
§ Gaelic language
§ Republicanism, Catholism
§ Irish pub culture
§ Potato famine
THE STORY OF THE UNION FLAG
The Union Flag/ The Union Jack, since 1801 the word Jack was in use before 1600 to describe the maritime bow flag.
Ireland and Wales Under the control of England since the 12th and 13th centuries.
In 1603, England took over the control of Scotland.
The act of union in 1707 United the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland (the Great Britain).
The act of union 1921 Officially ended. (Irish Free State)
Brief Information
v Saint George (Patron Saint of England) fought against a dragon. He was Greek and Christian and he did not accept converting into Paganism.
v Saint Andrew (saltire cross like Christ)
v Saint Patrick (shamrock, clover)
Fisheries Forestry
§ Island culture § 10 national parks
§ Britain is one of the Europe's leading fishing nations. § Oaks, ash, pine, heaths, arctic vegetation.
§ Decline due to overfishing and EU quotes.
§ Most important ones are cod, haddock, herring and mackerel.
Energy Sources Language
§ Oil and natural gas (oil is from Scotland). § Does not have a constitutionally defined official language. English is the main language.
§ Britain is largely self-sufficient. § Immıgrants naturally brought many foreign languages.
§ Coal used to be the richest natural resource, meeting all the § Pidgin English, developed by the slaves.
energy that needed. It is replaced by oil and natural-gas. Coal
mines are closed because of the cheap production in other
countries and eventually it is replaced by renewable energy
sources.
THE COMMONWEALTH
§ A political association of 53 member states, nearly all of them former territories of the British Empire.
§ Equal in status.
§ No power over each other.
§ Common values and goals are vital.
§ Democracy, human rights, good governance, law, free trade, world peace.
§ Queen Elizabeth II as the head of the Commonwealth.
§ Has no political or executive power.
MULTINATIONAL BRITAIN
§ The British but most people born in the UK prefer to state their nationality as English, Scottish or Welsh.
§ It is a problematic term.
§ Widely used and accepted in the 19th century after the 1801 union.
§ Embracing many types of people and cultures.
§ Shared values, beliefs and identities.
§ Has a mixed race society because of invasions of Romans, Saxons, Vikings, Normans; slavery (African for work force and the most importantly, the former British Empire.
SOCIAL CLASSES
§ Has always been a class-ridden society.
§ Today, multiculturalism and changing economy gradually eroding the British class system but some features the system still remain.
§ Three main classes remains today.
-Upper class: inherited wealth, the oldest families, titled aristocrats.
-The middle class: the majority of the population; industrailists, professionals, business people and shop owners.
-The lower/ working class: agricultural, mine and factory workers.
RELIGION
§ The official religion of England is Christianity.
§ Practiced by the Church of England ( Anglican Church).
§ The church in Wales is also Anglican.
§ In Scotland, the official church (Kirk) is the Presbyterian Church of Scotland.
GENDER MATTERS
§ 1807 The Equal Pay Act
§ 1975 The Sex Discrimination Act
§ 1999 The Sex Discrimination (Gender Reassignment) Regulations
THE EARLIEST TIMES
Britain has not always been an island. It became an island after the end of the last ice age. The temperature rose and the ice cap melted, flooding the lower land that is now
under the North Sea and the English Channel.
Our first evidence of human life is a few stone tools, dating from 250.000 BC these simple objects show that there were two different kinds of inhabitants. The earlier group's
tools are similar to the stone tools found across the north European plain as far as Russia. The other group made stone tools from a central core of flit, probably the earliest
method of human tool making, which spread from Africa to Europe.
Britain became hard to live until another milder period, around 50.000 BC and at that time, a new type of human being arrived, who was the ancestors of the modern British.
Around 10.000 BC as the Ice Age drew to a close, Britain was peopled by small groups of hunters, gatherers and fishers. By about 5000 BC Britain had finally became an island
and had also become heavily forested but this was a disaster for the hunter-gatherers.
About 3000 BC Neolithic (New Stone Age) people crossed the narrow sea from Europe in a boat which was covered with animal skins. These people had the knowledge of
agriculture and knew how to make pottery. They probably came from Iberian (Spanish) peninsula or North Africa coast. They were small, dark and long-headed people and
may be the forefathers of dark-haired inhabitants of Wales and Cornwall. They settled in the western parts of Britain and Ireland, from the Cornwall at the southwest end of
Britain all the way to the far north.
The earlier works, which required a huge organisation of labour, are barrows. Most of these barrows or burial mounds are found on chalk uplands of south Britain. These areas
became overfarmed and the area became hard to live. But the monuments remain. After 3000 BC the chalkland people started building great circles of earth banks. These
henges were centres of religious, economic and political power. The most spectacular one is the Stonehenge. After about 2400 BC huge bluestones were brought to the site
from south Wales. This was because the political authority of the area surrounding Stonehenge was recognised over a very large area, probably over the whole of the British
Isles.
Stonehenge was almost a sort of capital to which the chiefs of other groups came all over from Britain. Stone henges were built in many parts of the Britain.
After 2400 BC new groups of people arrived in southeast Britain from Europe. They were round-headed, stronger and taller than Neolithic Britons. Their influence was soon
felt and they became leaders of British society. Their arrival is marked by the first individual graves, furnished with pottery beakers, from which these people get their name:
the Beaker people. They also brought skills to make bronze tools. Stonehenge remained the most important centre until 1300 BC.
However from about 1300 BC the henge civilisation had become less important and was overtaken by a new form of society in southern England, that of a settled farming
class. From this time power seems to have shifted to Thames Valley and southeast Britain. Hill-forts replaced henges.
THE CELTS
Around 700 BC, another group began arrive. They were tall, and had fair or red hair and blue eyes. These were the Celts, who came from central Europe or further east from
southern Russia. The Celts were technically advanced. The Celts began to control all the lowland areas of Britain. The Celts are important because they are the ancestors of
many people that lives in Scotland, Wales, Ireland and Cornwall.
Even though the Celts were technically advanced and more developed in agriculture, they continued to build hill-forts.
The Celts traded across tribal border and trade probably important for political and social contact between tribes. The two main trade outlets eastwards to Europe were the
settlements along the Thames River in the south and on the Fifth of Forth in the north. For money Celts used iron bars, until they began to copy Roman coins they saw used in
Gaul (France).
The Celtic tribes were ruled over by a warrior class of which the druids seem to have been particularly important members. These druids could not read or write but they
memorised all the religious teachings, the tribal laws, history, medicine etc. The druids from all other tribes met once a year. They had no temples but they met in sacred
groves of trees, on certain hills, by rivers or by river sources.
Celtic women had more independence and freedom. When Romans invaded Britain two of the largest tribes were ruled by women who fought from their chariots. The most
powerful Celt to stand up to the Romans was woman, Boadeica. She was tall, with long, red hair. In 61 AD she let tribe against the Romans and she nearly drove them from
Britain. She destroyed London before se was killed.
The Celts living in Britain today stem from the two main types of Celt who invaded Britain
§ The Goidelic Celts (Gaels or Gaelic) - Scotland, Isle of Man, Ireland
§ The Brythonic Celst (Britons or British) - roughly Wales, Cornwall
The Goidelic Celts were first to invade Britain. They were later pushed into Ireland by their cousins the Brythonic Celts h-who came over in 500 BC - 400 BC.
By the time Julius Caesar was ready to launch his Roman invasion of Britain, more Celts had crossed over from Gaul, and had settled in the south-east of England. These were
largely the Belgic tribes, from what is now southern Belgium and northern France, and they were related to the Britons already here.
THE ROMANS
The Romans came to Britain nearly 2000 years ago and changed the country. Even today, evidence of the Romans being there, can be seen in the ruins of Roman buildings,
forts, roads, and baths can be found all over Britain.
First invasion - Caesar's first raid
In August 55 B.C. (55 years before Jesus was born) the Roman general, Emperor Julius Caesar invaded Britain. He took with him two Roman legions. After winning several
battles against the Celtic tribes (Britons) in south-east England he returned to France.
Second invasion - Caesar's second raid
The following summer (in 54 B.C.) Caesar came to Britain again landing at Walmer near Deal in Kent. This time he brought with him no fewer than five legions (30,000 foot
soldiers) and 2,000 cavalrymen (horse riders). This time the Romans crossed the River Thames. After more fighting, the British tribes promised to pay tribute to Rome and were
then left in peace for nearly a century.
Third and final invasion
Nearly one hundred years later, in 43 A.D. (43 years after Jesus was born), Emperor Claudius organised the final and successful Roman invasion of Britain. General Aulus
Plautius led four legions with 25,000 men, plus an equal number of auxiliary soldiers. They crossed the Channel in three divisions, landing at Richborough, Dover, and Lympne.
Many tribes tried to resist the Romans. It took about four years for the invaders to finally gain control over southern England, and another 30 years for them to conquer all of
the West Country and the mountains and valleys of Wales. The battle for Yorkshire and the remainder of northern England was still underway in AD 70.
v The Romans could not conquer Caledonia as they called Scotland, although they spent over a century trying to do so. At last they built a strong wall along the northern
border, named after the Emperor Hadrian who planned it. At the time, Hadrian's wall was simply intended to keep out raiders from the north but it also marked the
border between the two later countries, England Scotland.
v The most obvious characteristics of Roman Britain was its towns. There were three different kinds of town in Roman Britain, two of which were towns established by
Roman charter. These were the coloniae, towns peopled by Roman settlers; municipia, large cities in which the whole population was given Roman citizenship. The third
one, the civitas, included the old Celtic tribal capitals, through which the Romans administered the Celtic population in the countryside. At first these towns had no walls
but then every town almost every town given walls.
Why did the Romans invade Britain?
Two reasons have been suggested:
The Romans were cross with Britain for helping the Gauls (now called the French) fight against the Roman general Julius Caesar.
They came to Britain looking for riches - land, slaves, and most of all, iron, lead, zinc, copper, silver and gold.
How long did the Romans stay in Britain?
The Romans remained in Britain from 43 AD to 410 AD. That is almost four hundred years (four centuries).
What language did the Romans speak?
The Romans spoke a form of Latin known as vulgar Latin. It was quite different from the Classical Latin that we learn today.
Why did the Romans leave Britain?
Their homes in Italy were being attacked by fierce tribes and every soldier was needed.
Why was the Roman Empire important?
Language
The Romans spoke and wrote in Latin and many of our words are based on Latin words.
The Calendar
It was started by Julius Caesar. It is based on the movement of the earth around the sun, and so is called the 'solar calendar.' The solar calendar has 365 days a year, and 366
days every leap year, or every fourth year. The names of our months are taken from the names of Roman gods and rulers. The month 'July,' in fact, is named after Julius Caesar
himself.
Laws and a legal system
The laws and ways we determine what to do with someone who is accused of breaking a law came originally from the Roman Empire.
The Census
The Roman Empire was huge and included millions of people living over a large area. How did they keep track of all these people? They counted them. The Roman Empire
began the practice of taking a census, or a 'count,' of all the people within its boundaries every so often. Today, many countries take a census every 10 years.
The Romans also gave
straight roads
central heating
concrete
aqueducts (bridges for water)
