British history beginning in the 11th century

From the 1st to the 5th century AD, the southeastern part of Great Britain was ruled by the Roman Empire. Later, the Anglos, Saxons, and Jutes invaded one after another. The feudal system began to take shape in the 7th century. England was unified in 829, known as the "Anglo-Saxon Era" in history.

In 1066, William, Duke of Normandy, crossed the sea to conquer England and established the Normandy Dynasty. England and Wales were united in 1536. The bourgeois revolution broke out in 1640, and the Republic of China was declared on May 19, 1649. The dynasty was restored in 1660. The "Glorious Revolution" took place in 1668 and established the constitutional monarchy. England and Scotland united in 1707. In 1801 it merged with Ireland.

Becoming the first country in the world to complete the Industrial Revolution from the 1860s to the 1830s. In 1914, the colonies it occupied were 135 times larger than the mainland. It was the largest colonial power and called itself the "Empire on which the Sun Never Sets." In 1921, 26 counties in the south of Ireland established the "Free State", and the 6 counties in the north remained British.

It began to decline after World War I, and its world hegemony was gradually replaced by the United States. World War II severely weakened its economic strength. With the independence of India and Pakistan in 1947, the British colonial system began to disintegrate. Currently, Britain still has 13 territories overseas. Joined the European Union in January 1973. In 1997 the British Labor Party government came to power.

Vikings and the British

The earliest British did not speak English. Around 3000 BC, the Iberians from the Mediterranean landed in Britain, then the Celts from the European continent, and again the Romans. None of them speak English. Today's British people claim that they are descendants of the Anglo-Saxons. They come from northern Europe and belong to the Germanic people. They speak the earliest Old English. These Vikings were farmers, fishermen, merchants, fighters, and He was a navigator, brave in battle, and defeated the Celts into the mountains of Scotland and Wales.

About the eighth century, another group of Vikings (VIKING) invaded Britain. They came from Norway and Denmark in Northern Europe (today’s Scots and English have some of their ancestry). After defeating one Anglo kingdom after another, finally at the end of the tenth century, the Danish king became the master of England. The English king fled to Normandy, sowing the seeds for the Norman invasion. At the beginning of the 11th century, the Normans took advantage of the opportunity to invade and conquer Britain under the pretext of helping the king of England. The Normans themselves were also a group of Vikings.

In 1588, the British army defeated the Spanish Armada in the English Channel, paving the way for British maritime hegemony. With the invention of Watt's steam engine, Britain began the world's earliest industrial revolution and became a veritable "world factory." With the enhancement of economic strength and the demand for overseas raw materials and markets, Britain carried out large-scale colonial expansion. By the end of the 19th century, Britain had become an unprecedented "sunset" empire.

COMMONWEALTH COUNTRIES

The United Kingdom was once the most powerful country in the world, with colonies spread across all continents, known as the "Empire on which the Sun Never Sets." Including the current United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Egypt, India, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Israel, etc. were all its colonies. English spread throughout the world.

After World War II, the British colonies became independent one after another, but after independence, the colonies established the Commonwealth in order to help each other politically and economically. Commonwealth countries recognize the Queen of England as their supreme head of state. The Queen of England also regularly dispatches governors-general to some Commonwealth countries to serve as the Queen's representative and nominally manage these territories. For example, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, etc.