the history of Britain介绍英国的历史

the history of Britain介绍英国的历史
the history of Britain
介绍英国的历史

the history of Britain介绍英国的历史
ENGLISH
Why should I study English?
English may be useful for your work. Many companies trade internationally. English is one of the most common business languages. If you have a service job (for example, in a shop, hospital or hotel), English may be useful for communicating with foreign customers or patients.
English is the main language of the internet, so if you can use English to obtain information on many subjects
Knowing English makes travel easier, and allows you to communicate with people from many parts of the world
Why should I go abroad to study English?
If you live in an English-speaking country, your English should improve more quickly. You can practice your English when you are not in classes, as you will have many opportunities to hear, read and speak English in everyday life
When living abroad you can meet new people, experience new cultures, see new sights, and become more independent
Travelling abroad gives you the chance to develop new interests and friendships
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UK
These are some of the features of the UK which you may want to consider when deciding if you wish to study, work or live there:
Culture
Note that there are good and bad sides to each characteristic, and there are many exceptions to these stereotypes.
Diversity: There is a wide mix of cultures in the UK. In London there are foreign communities from most parts of the world.
Tolerance: British people are usually tolerant to foreigners, and respect the freedom to have different opinions and beliefs.
Freedom: People usually feel free to express their own opinions and wear what they want. Don't expect people to agree with you all of the time.
Humour: British people have a strong sense of humour, but it can be hard for foreigners to understand when someone is joking.
Cautiousness: People often avoid talking to strangers until they have been introduced, partly to avoid any possible embarrassment.
Creativity: Individual ideas are encouraged. Arts and music are creative. British people are often not so good at working as a group.
Modesty: People are quite modest. They do not like to complain directly: life is peaceful, but when there is poor service it is not challenged and changed.
Language
The UK is where the English language developed. There are more people using English as their first language in the UK than in any other country except the US (the countries with the most English speakers are the US: 230 million, the UK: 60 million, Canada: 20 million, Australia: 15 million, Ireland/New Zealand/South Africa: 3 million). British English is easily understood in many parts of the world. Many people like British accents, although it can take some time for a foreigner to get used to some of the regional varieties. For details, see: English.
Travel
It is easy to travel to the UK. There are flights to London from most parts of the world. You can travel around the UK by trains and bus, although the services are not very efficient. It is usually not necessary for a student to have a car. The country is quite small, so it is easy to make day-trips or to go on holiday to other parts of Britain. The UK is close to the many different countries of continental Europe. If you come to work or study in the UK, you may have the opportunity to experience a variety of different cultures of France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, Germany, Spain, Portugal and other countries. For details, see: Travel.
Health
If you are on a course for more than 6 months, you should be able to obtain free health treatment if you become ill. However, the public health service is not especially efficient, and there can be delays seeing a doctor or obtaining treatment (unless you are seriously ill). For details, see: Personal/Health.
Safety
The UK is a relatively safe country. The police do not usually carry guns, and there are strict controls on the ownership of weapons. However, crime rates have increased in recent years, partly due to an increase in the use of illegal drugs. There are pickpockets in busy areas, so hold on to your belongings carefully. There are not many insects, snakes or dangerous animals in the UK. There is very little risk of earthquakes, hurricanes or other natural disasters, although flooding sometimes occurs in low areas. As in many other parts of the world, there is some risk of terrorist attack. For details, see: Personal/Safety.
Work
If you are given a student visa when you enter the UK, you are allowed to work part-time. The cost of living in the UK (for example, accommodation and food) is quite high, so many students want to find part-time or holiday jobs so that they can afford to stay longer. Employment opportunities exist: unemployment is quite low in many parts of the UK, and there are shortages in certain professions such as nurses and teachers. Voluntary work has a long history in the UK and is usually well-organised. The number of holidays people can take is quite high compared to some other countries, and members of staff are usually encouraged to take them. For details, see: Work.
Education
The British educational system has a good reputation. Accredited qualifications obtained from British schools and universities are recognised in most parts of the world. There are courses in a wide variety of subjects, including many which are open to international students. Language teaching methods in the UK are well developed, although the quality of teaching at language schools can vary a lot. If a language school is recognised by the British Council, it is regularly checked to check that general standards are high. For details, see: Course.
Food
British food does not have a good reputation overseas. However, there is in fact a very wide variety of food available (both traditional British food and international cuisine), especially in the bigger cities. There are many fresh ingredients which are delicious when cooked well. However, many busy people don't pay much attention to preparing food well and prefer instant meals. For details, see: Britain/Food.
Heritage
Britain has an interesting history and is good at preserving its traditions and old buildings and gardens. There are many museums and art galleries.
Environment
There are many green areas, including beautiful parks, gardens and public footpaths. There are many coastal areas, but only a few of these have sandy beaches.
The bigger cities sometimes appear dirty and polluted, but usually this isn't bad enough to cause any serious problems for visitors.
Weather
The British weather is quite moderate. In general the summers are not too hot, and the winters are not too cold. Days are short in the middle of winter (it gets dark before 4pm in December), and long in the middle of summer (it remains light until after 10pm in June). There is usually more rain in the west of the country, and more sunshine in the south. Britain is not an ideal location if you want to sunbathe on a beach or swim in the sea, but the weather is pleasant enough for studying or working, especially between the spring and autumn.
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The British Isles have a rich history going back thousands of years. Unfortunately few of us in Britain really know much about our history. Retrospectively I think there must have been something radically flawed with history as it is taught in out schools as our history is fascinating.
For this history guide, we shall divide the period of British history into four main chunks, and each of these four main chunks then subdivided into bite sized chapters that try to explain the way that things happened
History is an interweaving of events and people, and its not just about kings and queens, its about ordinary people and how events influenced them, and on occasions how they influenced events.
Also one has to realise that Britain is not one nation, but a hodge podge of different peoples who tend to remain distinct in spite of a millenium or more of intermarriage. I have therefore put in separate chapters on Ireland, Scotland and Wales, each with its own history
4000 BC to 1066, the Dawn of Civilisation to the Norman Conquest 4000 to 1500 BC stone age man, the first farmers, Stonehenge
1500 BC to 43 AD the age of hill forts and the Celts
43 AD to 410 AD Roman Britain, they came, they saw, they conquered
410 to 1066 the Romans leave, the Anglo Saxons arrive, the Normans conquer
1066 to 1660, the Norman Conquest to Cromwell 1066 to 1154 the Normans consolidate their conquest
1154 to 1485 the Middle Ages, who wants to be king?
1485 to 1603 Henry VIII, Elizabeth I and the Tudors
1603 to 1660 the divine right of kings to rule, then chop off their heads
1660 to 1918, Cromwell to the end of World War I 1660 to 1715 Restoration and Revolution, the beginning of Empire
1715 to 1815 The German Georges rule Britain
1600 to 1783 Britain in North America - we would rather forget
1815 to 1914 Peace and prosperity, the growth of Empire
Britain in the 20th Century 1914 to 1918 The First World War, carnage without a cause
1918 to 1939 the after effects of World War I, the General Strike
1939 to 1945 Hitler's War
1945 to 2000 Post War Britain - loses an Empire, looks for a role
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English History
Celtic Britain
(The Iron Age) c. 600 BC - 50 AD
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Who were they? The Iron Age is the age of the "Celt" in Britain. Over the 500 or so years leading up to the first Roman invasion a Celtic culture established itself throughout the British Isles. Who were these Celts?
For a start, the concept of a "Celtic" people is a modern and somewhat romantic reinterpretation of history. The “Celts” were warring tribes who certainly wouldn’t have seen themselves as one people at the time.
The "Celts" as we traditionaly regard them exist largely in the magnificence of their art and the words of the Romans who fought them. The trouble with the reports of the Romans is that they were a mix of reportage and political propaganda. It was politically expedient for the Celtic peoples to be coloured as barbarians and the Romans as a great civilizing force. And history written by the winners is always suspect.
Where did they come from? What we do know is that the people we call Celts gradually infiltrated Britain over the course of the centuries between about 500 and 100 B.C. There was probably never an organized Celtic invasion; for one thing the Celts were so fragmented and given to fighting among themselves that the idea of a concerted invasion would have been ludicrous.
The Celts were a group of peoples loosely tied by similar language, religion, and cultural expression. They were not centrally governed, and quite as happy to fight each other as any non-Celt. They were warriors, living for the glories of battle and plunder. They were also the people who brought iron working to the British Isles.
The advent of iron. The use of iron had amazing repercussions. First, it changed trade and fostered local independence. Trade was essential during the Bronze Age, for not every area was naturally endowed with the necessary ores to make bronze. Iron, on the other hand, was relatively cheap and available almost everywhere.
Hill forts. The time of the "Celtic conversion" of Britain saw a huge growth in the number of hill forts throughout the region. These were often small ditch and bank combinations encircling defensible hilltops. Some are small enough that they were of no practical use for more than an individual family, though over time many larger forts were built. The curious thing is that we don't know if the hill forts were built by the native Britons to defend themselves from the encroaching Celts, or by the Celts as they moved their way into hostile territory.
Usually these forts contained no source of water, so their use as long term settlements is doubtful, though they may have been useful indeed for withstanding a short term siege. Many of the hill forts were built on top of earlier causewayed camps.
Celtic family life. The basic unit of Celtic life was the clan, a sort of extended family. The term "family" is a bit misleading, for by all accounts the Celts practiced a peculiar form of child rearing; they didn't rear them, they farmed them out. Children were actually raised by foster parents. The foster father was often the brother of the birth-mother. Got it?
Clans were bound together very loosely with other clans into tribes, each of which had its own social structure and customs, and possibly its own local gods.
Housing. The Celts lived in huts of arched timber with walls of wicker and roofs of thatch. The huts were generally gathered in loose hamlets. In several places each tribe had its own coinage system.
Farming. The Celts were farmers when they weren't fighting. One of the interesting innovations that they brought to Britain was the iron plough. Earlier ploughs had been awkward affairs, basically a stick with a pointed end harnessed behind two oxen. They were suitable only for ploughing the light upland soils. The heavier iron ploughs constituted an agricultural revolution all by themselves, for they made it possible for the first time to cultivate the rich valley and lowland soils. They came with a price, though. It generally required a team of eight oxen to pull the plough, so to avoid the difficulty of turning that large a team, Celtic fields tended to be long and narrow, a pattern that can still be seen in some parts of the country today.
The lot of women. Celtic lands were owned communally, and wealth seems to have been based largely on the size of cattle herd owned. The lot of women was a good deal better than in most societies of that time. They were technically equal to men, owned property, and could choose their own husbands. They could also be war leaders, as Boudicca (Boadicea) later proved.
Language. There was a written Celtic language, but it developed well into Christian times, so for much of Celtic history they relied on oral transmission of culture, primarily through the efforts of bards and poets. These arts were tremendously important to the Celts, and much of what we know of their traditions comes to us today through the old tales and poems that were handed down for generations before eventually being written down.
Druids. Another area where oral traditions were important was in the training of Druids. There has been a lot of nonsense written about Druids, but they were a curious lot; a sort of super-class of priests, political advisors, teachers, healers, and arbitrators. They had their own universities, where traditional knowledge was passed on by rote. They had the right to speak ahead of the king in council, and may have held more authority than the king. They acted as ambassadors in time of war, they composed verse and upheld the law. They were a sort of glue holding together Celtic culture.
Religion. From what we know of the Celts from Roman commentators, who are, remember, witnesses with an axe to grind, they held many of their religious ceremonies in woodland groves and near sacred water, such as wells and springs. The Romans speak of human sacrifice as being a part of Celtic religion. One thing we do know, the Celts revered human heads.
Celtic warriors would cut off the heads of their enemies in battle and display them as trophies. They mounted heads in doorposts and hung them from their belts. This might seem barbaric to us, but to the Celt the seat of spiritual power was the head, so by taking the head of a vanquished foe they were appropriating that power for themselves. It was a kind of bloody religious observance.
The Iron Age is when we first find cemeteries of ordinary people’s burials (in hole-in-the-ground graves) as opposed to the elaborate barrows of the elite few that provide our main records of burials in earlier periods.
The Celts at War. The Celts loved war. If one wasn't happening they'd be sure to start one. They were scrappers from the word go. They arrayed themselves as fiercely as possible, sometimes charging into battle fully naked, dyed blue from head to toe, and screaming like banshees to terrify their enemies.
They took tremendous pride in their appearance in battle, if we can judge by the elaborately embellished weapons and paraphernalia they used. Golden shields and breastplates shared pride of place with ornamented helmets and trumpets.
The Celts were great users of light chariots in warfare. From this chariot, drawn by two horses, they would throw spears at an enemy before dismounting to have a go with heavy slashing swords. They also had a habit of dragging families and baggage along to their battles, forming a great milling mass of encumbrances, which sometimes cost them a victory, as Queen Boudicca would later discover to her dismay.
As mentioned, they beheaded their opponents in battle and it was considered a sign of prowess and social standing to have a goodly number of heads to display.
The main problem with the Celts was that they couldn't stop fighting among themselves long enough to put up a unified front. Each tribe was out for itself, and in the long run this cost them control of Britain.
(Note: The terms "England", "Scotland", and "Wales" are used purely to indicate geographic location relative to modern boundaries - at this time period, these individual countries did not exist).