British Culture and Civilisation

Flags, symbols, patron saints, mottos

flag: St. Andrews cross (white cross saltire on a blue field) patron saint: St. Andrew symbol: unicorn

England

flag: St. Georges cross (red cross on a white ground) patron saint: St. George symbols: lion, English rose

Wales

flag: a dragon patron saint: St. David symbols: a crown of 3 feathers, daffodiles, leek

Northern Ireland

flag: the cross of St. Patrick patron saint: St. Patrick (?) symbol: shamrock

Union Jack

1606 national flags of Scotland and England united for use at sea 1707 during the reign of Queen Anne it was made the national flag of GB 1801 Ireland united with GB thus forming the present day Union Flag Wales is not included

Mottos

Order of the Garter - Honi Suit Qui Mal Y Pense (shame of him who thinks evil of us) British Monarch in England Dieu et Mon Droit (God and my right) Order of the Thistle and the 3 Scottish regiments of the British Army Nemo me impune lacessit (No one attacks me with impunity)

British Culture and Civilisation

Geography of the British Isles

Scotland

Ben Nevis (1344 m) highest peak rivers: Tye, Clyde, Forth, Tweed lakes: Loch Ness islands: Inner and Outer Hebrides, Shetland, Orkney, Bute cities: Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee, Aberdeen historic regions: The Highlands, The Lowlands

England

Scafell Pike (978 m) highest peak rivers: Tamar, Exe, Thames (S), Great Ouse, Trent, Ouse, Tyne (N) lakes: Windermere (part of the Lake District Naional Park) islands: Channel Islands Jersey, Guernsey, Sark, Alderney; Isle of Man regions: SW, SE, West Midlands, East Midlands, East Anglia, NW, NE, North home counties: counties around London historical / ceremonial counties Yorkshire, Norfolk, Cornwall, Devon maritime claims: Rockall (!) (Cod Wars England vs. Iceland)

Wales

Snowdon (1085 m) highest peak rivers: Severn, Wye islands: Anglesey (Ynys Mn)

Ireland

rivers: Boyne, Liffey, Blackwater, Shannon cities: Cork, Galway, Dublin regions: Connaught, Ulster, Leinster, Munster

British Culture and Civilisation

History of the British Isles

Britain became an island toward the end of the last ice age 250000 BCE first evidence of human life stone tools; tools made out of flint flakes, tools made out of central core of flint

10000 BCE hunters, gatherers, fishers; following deer herds 5000 BCE Britain became an island 3000 BCE Neolithic people from the Iberian peninsula crossed the sea in small wooden boats; kept animals and grew crops of corn; knew how to make pottery

barrows burial mounds made of earth or stone (South Britain) Skara Brae Orkney; stone huts, north east of Scotland after 3000 BCE henges stone circles; centres of religious, political and economic power Stonehenge built in separate stages over a period of more than a thousand years; a sort of capital to which groups of people came from all over Britain; remained the most important centre until 1300 BCE

after 2400 BCE groups of people from continental Europe arrived in SE Britain Beaker People first individual graves furnished with pottery beakers; they brought barley with them; spoke an Indo-European language, replaced stone tools with bronze tools

after 1300 BCE settled farming class; the farmers knew how to enrich the soil with natural waste materials; first villages start to emerge

The Celts

700 BCE arriving in waves over the next 700 years technologically advanced people; knew how to work with iron; advanced ploughing methods ancestors of people from higland Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Cornwall Celtic languages still spoken organised into different tribes

The Romans

Pretani Britain reasons for invasion: Gaulish Celts worked with British Celts; Britain became an important food producer

brought the skills of reading and writing 43 AD Emperor Claudius Britain becomes Roman province Britannia 61 AD major revolt in East Anglia led by Queen Boudicca Scotland Caledonia unconquered after a century 122 AD Hadrians wall border between England and Scotland 3

British Culture and Civilisation

409 AD Rome pulls its last soldiers out of Britain towns grew out of Celtic settlements municipia, civitas castra chester, caster, cester villas large farms

The Saxon invasion

430 AD Germanic tribes started settling invader tribes: the Jutes (Kent, south coast), the Angles (east, north Midlands), the Saxons (between the Jutes and the Angles)

Venerable Bede wrote about the invasion in the Ecclesiastical History of the English People England = The Land of the Angles The Heptarchy (7 kingdoms): Essex, Sussex, Wessex, Middlesex, East Anglia, Northumbria, Mercia

King Offa of Mercia kingship of the English Offas Dyke across the Welsh border

Christianity

597 AD - Pope Gregory the Great sent a monk Augustine to re-establish Christianity in England

601 AD - Augustine became the first archbishop of Canterbury Roman church vs. Celtic church king Offas son crowned at a Christian ceremony minsters monasteries centres of learning and education (Jarrow, Lindisfarne, Iona) Venerable Bede The Ecclesiastical History of the English People King Alfred of Wessex The Anglo Saxon Chronicle

The Vikings

8 century the Vikings arrived from Norway and Denmark burnt churches and monasteries Danelaw the kings of England had no authority over this area Saxon king Ethelred introduced Danegeld the English had to pay tribute to the Danes who would, in return, stop attacking them

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842 raided London 865 invaded Britain 878 king Alfred the Great fought to return the Danelaw to England; won a battle king Canute a Danish king who ruled over England, tried to command the tide

British Culture and Civilisation

The early Middle Ages

Edward the Confessor Ethelreds son chosen by The Witan to rule over England Harold Goodwinson chosen by The Witan to be the next king of England challenged by William, duke of Normandy 1066 the Battle of Stamford Bridge / the Battle of Hastings William the Conqueror, well, conquers England

organised the English kingdom according to the feudal system two basic principles of feudalism: every man had a lord, every lord had land The Domesday Book survey of England and Wales William Rufus his son king of England after Rufus death, his brother Henry became king Henry Is daughter Matilda and his nephew Stephen rivals to the throne; civil war broke between their supporters

Henry II Matildas son married Eleanor of Aquitane; had 2 sons Richard and John Thomas Beckett archbishop of Canterbury murdered by Henrys knights Richard I Lionheart fought in France, killed in battle; his brother John ruled over England during his absence

John Lackland forced to sign Magna Carta (in 1215 in Runnymede) Henry III Johns son fought against Simon de Montfort (established parliament in 1258) Edward I Longshanks Henrys son brought together the first real parliament; conquered Wales

William Wallace Scotlands hero, won one battle against the English army, but was destroyed by Edward in 1297 (Scottish nationalism was born on the day Wallace died )

Robert the Bruce new king of Scotland (If at first you dont succeed, try try try again ) Edward II didnt care about waging wars; homosexual (krucijalan podatak!), eventually murdered by his wife, queen Isobel

British Culture and Civilisation

The late Middle Ages

1348-9 the plague (the black death) spread all over Europe Edward III declared war on France in 1337 The Hundred Years War (116 years) introduced the idea of chivalry into his court The Order of the Garter famous battles: Crecy (1346) the appearance of longbowmen; Poitiers (1356) the English managed to capture the French king

Joan of Arc fought the English; captured, tried and burned as a witch Edward the black prince leader in these 2 battles Richard II Edwards son; a weak king; treacherously murdered Wat Tyler leader of the peasant revolt Henry IV of Lancaster took the crown by force; Lancastrian dynasty subject of two tragedies written by Shakespeare Henry V warrior king; the battle of Agincourt 1453 loss of Gascony marked the end of the Hundred Years War Henry VI the simple-minded king Wars of the Roses Lancaster vs. York Edward IV of York took the throne; died in the battle of Bosworth Field (A kingdom for a horse!) he put Henry VI into the Tower of London his brother, Richard III became regent after Edwards death he murdered his nephews, Edward IV and Edward V Henry VII Tudor united the 2 roses, thus marking the end of the Wars of the Roses literature: William Langland (Piers Plowman), Geoffrey Chaucer (The Canterbury Tales)

The Tudors

1485 1603 the century of Tudor rule English rose red and white symbol of unity between the Lancasters and the Yorks Henry VII sent John Cabot (an explorer) to mainland North America Lambert Simnel, Perkin Warbeck pretenders to the throne Henry VIII his youngest son; disliked the power of the Church in England the six wives of Henry VIII: Catherine of Aragon (divorced); Anne Boleyn (beheaded); Jane Seymour (died; gave him a son Edward VI sickly, died); Anne of Cleaves (divorced); Catherine Howard (beheaded); Catherine Parr (survived)

formed the Church of England (Protestant church) beginning of the huge rift between the Protestants and the Catholics

Thomas Moore wrote Utopia; was beheaded Catherine of Aragon gave him a daughter (Mary) who inherits the throne; Bloody Mary burnt Protestants on a pyre

Calais the last English possession in France lost during her reign 6

British Culture and Civilisation

Elizabeth I a Protestant; killed Catholics; the virgin queen, never married; aka Gloriana, Virginia etc.

the Elizabethan period: William Shakespeare; The Globe Theatre; Edmund Spenser The Faerie Queene; Sir Philip Sydney

Sir Francis Drake an adventurer and a privateer ( pirate with an official letter from the crown the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe in his ship The Golden Hind

Spanish armada a fleet of ships; sent to invade England The English eventually managed to defeat the armada Sir Walter Raleigh involved in creation of several colonies in N. America Ireland The Pale area around Dublin that the English controlled (Beyond the pale intolerable, uncivilised)

The Triangular Trade trade route via the Atlantic Ocean; England traded goods for slaves in Africa, which were sold in North American colonies in return for lumber, whale oil, rice, silk, tobacco and other goods, which were in turn brought back to England

Mary, Queen of Scots (wut? Megec ni nije napisao)

The Stuarts

King James I (of England) / VI (of Scotland) took the throne after Elizabeth; son of Mary, Queen of Scots

England and Scotland entered into a Personal Union; separate kingdoms which share a monarch Stuart dynasty Jacobean era (from the Latin version of the name James) commanded his scholars to write a protestant translation of the Bible; characterised by beauty of language and often quoted

Inigo Jones the most prominent architect of the Jacobean era 5 of November 1605 a plot to blow up the English Parliament led by Guy Fawkes who was discovered and executed
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king Charles James successor England wasnt a democracy Puritans radical Protestants; believed in the literal word of god; closed theatres and didnt like fun

they were the first colonists on the American soil The English Civil War cavaliers (King) vs. roundheads (Parliament) king Charles was tried and executed England no longer a monarchy; Commonwealth ruled by Oliver Cromwell

British Culture and Civilisation

Charles II 1660 The Restoration Period; a merry monarch; unbanned theatres; had many mistresses (Nell Gwyn!)

Samuel Pepys And so to bed a naval clerk who wrote a diary rich in details concerning everyday life

1666 the great fire of London; the whole city was destroyed architecture St. Pauls Cathedral sir Christopher Wren sir Isaac Newton calculus, optics, laws of gravity the Royal Society a prestigious association of scientists Charles II died;: succeeded by his brother James II (Catholic) The Duke of Monmount led a failed rebellion; he claimed to be one of Charles IIs illegitimate children; tried and beheaded

Bloody Assizes series of trials after the Monmouth rebellion (Judge Jeffreys) 1688 Glorious Revolution over throw of king James II by William of Orange and his wife Mary II

supporters of king James were Battle of the Boyne (Ireland) Protestant forces managed to over come king James supporters Orange order Irish protestants Queen Anne successor of William and Mary 1707 the Act of Union England + Scotland = Great Britain archtecture Vanbrugh Blenheim palace in Oxfordshire none of Queen Annes children survived

The eighteenth century

George I from Hanover her successor (Protestant) George II royal patron of Handel Jacobite rebellions 1 Jacobite rebellion led by The old pretender James Francis Edward Stuart, the second one led by his son The young pretender Bonnie Prince Charlie
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Battle of Culloden Jacobite forces defeated; Bonnie Prince Charlie escaped and died in exile 1756 1763 The Seven Years War world war that involved most of the great powers of the time

Britain gained new territories George III the mad king his son ruled as a regent American war for independence art William Hogarth satirical sketches literature dr. Samuel Johnson the first English dictionary architecture palladian style

British Culture and Civilisation

James Cook famous explorer, went on 3 separate voyages accurate maps of the Australian coast

Australia becomes the penal colony during Cooks 3 voyage, he was killed in Hawaii 1789 The French Revolution Napoleonic wars Wellington, Nelson Battle of Trafalgar (vs. France and Spain) admiral Nelson was killed (Kiss me, Hardy)
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Lord Hamiltons forces beat Napoleon during the Peninsular campaign 1815 the Battle of Waterloo George IV prince regent REGENCY; Georgian period; glutton, had many mistresses art Constable, Turner William Wilburforce abolished slavery in Great Britain The Peterloo Massacre Manchester cavalry charged into a crowd of 60,00080,000 that had gathered to demand the reform of parliamentary representation.

The Industrial Revolution the transition to new manufacturing processes Luddites unemployed workers who used to destroy factories and machinery in hopes that the factory owners would employ them

George Stevenson, Richard Trevithick railway Romanticism William IV sailor Billy succeeded by his niece - VICTORIA

British Culture and Civilisation

19th century

Queen Victoria 1837 1901 married to prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha a German noble, Prince Consort when he died, Victoria was devastated; wore mourning clothes for the rest of her life an old lady regal they had many children who got married to the most european noble houses, which led to their relation to queen Victoria (often called the grandmother of Europe)

prince Albert brought the concept of Christmas trees to Britain scientific breakthroughs: Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution; he did his research on Galapagos

Darwins ship: HMS Beagle Michael Faraday: breakthrough in physics industrial development famous engineers: Isambard Kindom Brunel (built bridges and transoceanic ships; Great Eastern, Great Western, Great Britain); Thomas Telford (built bridges: Menai Straits)

neogothic style: Houses of Parliament, Tower Bridge, Big Ben 1851: The Great Exhibition designed to show off various products in the once famous Crystal Palace (which burnt down in 1939)

Pre-Raphaelites: painters, hugely influential: Millais (Ophelia), William H. Hunt, Dante Rossetti wars: The Opium Wars war for drugs against China (Britain won); Hong Kong was also conquered and it was leased from China (until 1997, when Hong Kong was returned to China)

The Crimean War led against Russia; during this time Russia was British enemy #1 (the Battle of Balaclava)

there was a huge military blunder during this war, Lord Tennyson wrote a poem about it (The Charge of the Light Brigade)

The Siege of Sevastopol after this war they started giving medals of honour; a victoria cross; the most prestigious military award (cpt. Smith, vc)

the metal for making these crosses came from captured Russian weapons Florence Nightingale the lady with the lamp a nurse during the Crimean War who organised units of nurses, which was the start of modern nursery

The British rule in India: India is ruled by proxy (by the British East India Company; West India Company Carribean)

BEIC the John company an association of traders the Indian mutiny the so-called Sepoy mutiny (Sepoy native soldiers) caused because the cartridges for their rifles were coated in animal fat

India was ruled directly by the Crown; the Raj British India the great game: war between Russia and Britain over areas in Asia 10

British Culture and Civilisation

Africa: the Cape colony British rule; partition of Africa from 1885-1914 scramble for Africa Great Britain helped Africa modernise Dr. David Livingstone a missionary in Africa, lived among the locals H. M. Stanley a Welsh-American explorer (Dr. Livingstone, I presume) famous explorers: Richard Burton and Speke discovered lake Tanganyika and Victoria, and they found the source of the river Nile

Zulu wars famous conflicts; during these wars the British suffered several defeats Battle of Isandhlwana: Zulu warriors defeated the British army and some survivors were besieged in a storehouse in Rorkes Drift

in the end, the Brits won the war Boer wars 2 wars fought by the British Empire against the Dutch settlers (the boers); Cape colony was British and Transvaal was Boers

Brits wanted to incorporate Boer colonies; they eventually succeeded to do so Robert Peel Prime Minister of the UK, helped create the modern concept of the police force (officers bobbies)

Benjamin Disraeli, Wiliam Gladstone Prime Ministers Theobald Wolfe Tone his ultimate goal was Irish independence Daniel OConnell Irish politician, campaigned for Catholic Emancipation and repeal of the Act of Union

the great potato famine period when the Irish depended on potato crops, which unfortunately failed and they had nothing to eat; most of their food was exported to England, many people died and a large number of them emigrated to N. America

Charles Parnell; founder and leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party; wanted to establish the home rule so that Ireland could be ruled by the Irish, but it failed

The Phoenix Park murders representatives of the Crown were murdered by the Irish patriots 1897 Queen Victorias Diamond Jubilee

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British Culture and Civilisation

20th century

Edward VII ascends to the throne; the Edwardian era the suffragettes, fought for womens right to vote (Emmeline Pankhurst, Christabel Pankhurst) George V a team of explorers set to reach the South Pole; led by captain Scott werent prepared enough; thought ponies were a better choice than huskies upon arriving to the South pole, they found the Norwegian flag and were devastated (cpt. Oates commited suicide: Im just going outside, I may be some time)

World War I: Britain, France and Russia were allies; Germany rival The Western Front where the British soldiers were sent a huge mobilisation a sign that the modern war was fought by thousands of people the poster of Lord Kitchener Britons want you tommies British soldiers; described as courageous lions led by donkeys suffered from the effects of poison gas battles: Ypres, Somme, Vimy Ridge soldiers from Australia and New Zealand auxiliary call ANZAC the Gallipoli campaign; poorly thought out actions the soldiers failed time and time again (Winston Churchill took part in the campaign)

the trench poets wrote about the horrors of war (John McCrae In Flanders Fields) poppy flowers a symbol of the soldiers who died in WWI (11 Nov Remembrance day) Rupert Brooke poet Ireland The Easter Rising 1916 young patriots wanted to take over the post office in Dublin, but they were disorganised; the Irish people were against the way the Brits dealt with the situation; the public opinion changed

Roger Casement Irish nationalist, executed by the British These confrontations led to the Anglo-Irish war; a brutal conflict Black and Tans paramilitary group responsible for assault on many Irish people by the end Ireland was a free state; the North decided they would rather stay under the British rule

The Irish Civil War Eamon De Valera the first president of the IFS (Irish Free State) Michael Collins Irish leader - killed by the Irish republicans The Sun never sets on the British Empire political changes after the end of WWI universal suffrage women were able to vote 2 main political parties Conservatives (Tories) and Liberals (Wigs) 20 century brought a new political party Labour (leftist), which sort of made Whigs obsolete 1926 a very British strike things started to change in the social system 12
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British Culture and Civilisation

Gandhi started a non-violent protest in India, which served as a reminder to The Empire that not everyone wants to live under their rule

Edward VIII married Wallis Simpson she was a twice-divorced commoner, and he chose her over the throne (he abdicated)

his title the Duke of Windsor Windsor was more patriotic than the previous German name (blah of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha)

Neville Chamberlain signed The Munich Agreement, making a pact with Hitler by betraying one of their allies
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1 Sep 1939 start of the 2 World War Winston Churchill considered to be the greatest British PM (Conservative Party) evacuations from Dunkirk most of the soldiers were saved by fishing boats Hitlers attempt to beat Britain and achieve supremacy Battle of Britain fought over the course of several months air fights (the British managed to chase the Germans away)

Spitfire famous aircraft Fritz, The Huns, The Jerries nicknames for the Germans the blitz bombings of cities and towns (London, Coventry) the Baedeker bombing Baedeker was a famous publisher of Tourist Guide to Britain; Oxford was spared because Hitler wanted it for himself

the sinking of HMS Hood a major British warship German warship Bismarck sunk near Dorsetshire The fall of Singapore greatest defeat of the British Empire (?) British POWs (prisoners of war) were mistreated by the Japanese soldiers North Africa battles in the desert; battles in Egypt The Dambusters raid the Ruhr valley was bombed Churchill lost the election by a landslide, to Clement Attlee (Labour Party) rationing a specified amount of ingredients per week; went on a few years after the war had ended

nationalisation fixed charge The National Health Bill was passed National Health Services universal care everyone is entitled to Welfare states government redistributes money 1947 India is lost; violence between the Muslims and the Hindus; partition of India 1960s British colonies proclaim independence from the British Empire (African colonies) most of the possessions in Asia are lost Commonwealth a free association everyone could join immigrations from different parts of the Empire Empire Windrush ship that brought the first large number of immigrants 13

British Culture and Civilisation

1952 Elisabeth II takes the throne the Suez crisis France+Britain held military control of the canal; the Egyptians wanted to nationalise it

pop culture the Beatles The Troubles conflict in Northern Ireland Republic of Ireland gained independence IRA (Irish Republican Army) vs UVF (Ulster Volunteer Force) 1972 Bloody Sunday British soldiers opened fire on unarmed protesters in Derry this event was followed by a series of bombings 1998 (ovo nije greka) Omagh bombing (car bomb attack carried out by the IRA) that same year The Good Friday Agreement was passed, putting a stop to these outbursts (more or less)

1981 hunger strike in The Maze, a prison in Northern Ireland decimalisation Britain finally got decimal currencies (1 pound = 100 pence) before decimalisation, 1 pound equalled to 20 shillings, 1 shilling to 12 d (pennies, the d comes from latin denarius)

coins: farthing (1/4 pence), half penny (1/2 pence), penny (1 pence), twopence (2 pennies/tuppence), threepence (3 pennies/thruppence), groat (4 pence), sixpence (6 pence), shilling (12 pence), florin (2 shillings), half-crown (2 shillings), crown(5 shillings), sovereign/quid (20 shillings/1 pound), guinea (21 shillings)

a penny-farthing old type of bicycle (its name derives from the fact that the size of its wheels can be likened to a penny and a farthing)

1973 Britain joins the European Economic Communion (nowadays known as the EU) 1970s political and economical instability in GB marked by many strikes shortages of petrol, electric power the country was in turmoil winter 1978/1979 the winter of discontent (a Shakespearian phrase; Richard III) Margaret Thatcher became the Prime Minister in 1979 privatisations Arthur Scargill a trade unionist; president of the National Union of Mineworkers the miners started a strike, they became unemployed after the mines were closed 1982 a war with Argentina over Falkland Islands Thatcher set out an expedition force to take back the islands The Battle of Goose Green sinking of the Argentinian ship General Belgrano news headliner GOTCHA! one fo the most controverisal, infamous headlines

Thatcher was succeeded by a leader of the Conservatives, John Major Tony Blair (Labour party) believed he was very charismatic; surrounded by spin doctors 14

British Culture and Civilisation

Cool Britannia a period of increased pride in the culture of the UK free market capitalism strong alliance with the USA Gordon Brown succeeded Tony Blair; unpopular with the masses (dubbed the one -eyed Scottish idiot by Jeremy Clarkson)

2010 David Cameron (Conservative Party) becomes the PM; coalition with Liberal democrats 2012 The Olympic Games in London; Queens Diamond Jubilee stance on the EU according to the latest polls, 56% vote to leave, 30% vote to remain

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