Istoria Angliei

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Istoria Angliei
Anglia preistorică	(înainte de 43 AD)
Anglia romană	(43 - 410)
Anglia Anglo-Saxonă	(circa 410 - 1066)
Anglia Anglo-Normandă	(1066 - 1154)
Plantageneţii	(1154 - 1485)
Dinastia Lancaster	(1399 - 1471)
Dinastia York	(1461 - 1485)
Dinastia Tudor	(1485 - 1603)
Dinastia Stuart	(1603 - 1714)
Marea Britanie	(după 1707)

Anglia este cea mai mare şi populată dintre cele patru diviziuni administrative şi istorice ale Marii Britanii. Această împărţire datează din secolul al V-lea. Teritoriul Angliei a fost continuu unit începând cu secolul al X-lea. Acest articol se referă la acest teritoriu. Oricum, înainte de secolul al X-lea şi, respectiv, după întronarea regelui James al VI-lea al Scoţiei la tronul Angliei, în 1603, este destul de dificil de distins între istoria Scoţiei, cea a Ţării Galilor şi cea a Angliei, datorită unirii politice a acestor două ţari cu Anglia.

Cuprins 1 Anglia înainte de englezi 2 Cucerirea anglo-saxonă a Angliei celtice 2.1 Vezi şi 3 Anglia în timpul Evului Mediu 3.1 Vezii şi 4 Anglia dinastiei Tudor 4.1 Vezi şi 5 Conflicte religioase şi Războiul Civil 6 Revoluţia industrială 7 Istoria recentă 8 Vezi şi 9 Legături externe 10 Surse suplimentare

[modifică] Anglia înainte de englezi

Articole principale: Anglia preistorică, Anglia epocii fierului şi Anglia romană

Dovezi arheologice indică faptul că actuala parte de sud a Angliei a fost colonizată de oameni cu mult timp înainte de restul Insulelor Britanice. Acest lucru se datorează climatului său mai ospitalier dintre şi din timpul diferitelor ere glaciare ale trecutului îndepărtat. Prima menţiune istorică despre regiune se află în Massaliote Periplus, un manual despre marinărit pentru negustori, considerat că ar data din secolul al VI-lea, î.Hr., deşi legături culturale şi comerciale cu continentul existaseră de milenii înainte de această menţiune. Pytheas din Massilia a scris despre călătoria sa cu scop comercial către insulă în jurul anului 325 î.Hr. Mai târziu, scriitori precum Pliniu cel Bătrân (citându-i pe Timaeus şi pe Diodorus Siculus şi continuându-l pe Poseidonius) menţionează comerţul cu cositor din sudul Angliei, dar există foarte puţine detalii istorice despre oamenii care au trăit acolo. Tacitus a scris că nu existau mari diferenţe de limbaj între oamenii din sudul Angliei şi cei din nord (galii) şi a notat că variatele triburi de britani împărtăşeau caracteristici fizice cu vecinii lor continentali.

Iulius Caesar a vizitat sudul Angliei în anul 55 î.Hr. şi 54 î.Hr. şi a scris în "Despre războiul galez" că populaţia din sudul Angliei era foarte numeroasă şi avea multe în comun cu celelalte triburi din Epoca de Fier de pe continent. Monedele găsite şi munca istoricilor romani de mai târziu au scos la iveală numele câtorva conducători ale triburilor dispersate şi uneltirile lor pentru ceea ce urma să devină Anglia.

Surprinzător, puţine surse istorice descriu Anglia romană. De exemplu, avem doar o singură propoziţie care descrie motivele pentru care s-a construit Zidul lui Hadrian. Chiar invazia claudiană este bine atestată şi Tacitus a inclus în istoria lui revolta lui Boudica sau "Boadicea" din anul 61 d.Hr.. Spre sfârşitul secolului I, istoricii romani menţionează doar fragmente deteriorate de informaţii din îndepărtata provincie. Prezenţa romană a fost când mai puternică, când mai slabă de-a lungul veacurilor, dar până în secolul al V-lea, influenţa romană a decăzut atât de mult încât popoarele care urmau să devină englezi ieşeau la iveală.

[modifică] Cucerirea anglo-saxonă a Angliei celtice

În urma romanilor, care au abandonat sudul insulei până cel mai târziu în anul 410 spre a se concentra asupra problemelor mai presante de acasă, Anglia actuală a fost colonizată progresiv de o succesiune de triburi germanice, adesea în valuri complementare.

Aceste triburi germanice au venit iniţial invitate de Vortigern, rege al Bretonilor, ca mercenari gata să îi ajute pe bretoni în luptele lor împotriva irlandezilor şi picţilor (locuitori antici ai Scoţiei de astăzi).

Cei mai mulţi istorici consideră că valurile de popoare germanice, iuţii, împreună cu numeroşi frizieni şi franci ripuarieni, saxonii din nordul Germaniei şi anglii din Danemarca de astăzi - cunoscuţi generic ca anglo-saxoni - au invadat Anglia din nou pe la mijlocul secolului al VI-lea. Ei erau conduşi de lideri militari şi s-au stabilit pe ţărmul de est. Se crede că ei au cucerit prin luptă teritorii spre vest, în susul Tamisei, în căutare de teren arabil, ocupând câmpiile şi lăsând terenurile nepotrivite din dealuri bretonilor celtici.

Cercetările sugerează că Anglia celtă a suferit o formă de epurare etnică în unele părţi ale ţării din partea invadatorilor anglo-saxoni, în unrma retragerii romane din secolul al 5-lea. Totuşi, profesorii John Davies şi A.W. Wade-Evans consideră că saxonii nu au eliminat întreaga populaţie din zonele ocupate, aşa cum s-a presupus până în secolul al XIX-lea. Populaţia în Marea Britanie este estimată la circa 3,5 milioane în anul 43 d.Hr., când a avut loc invazia romană. Mulţi istorici consideră în prezent că invadatorii de după acest moment, din Europa continentală, nu au avut un impact genetic foarte important asupra britanicilor. Noţiunea că migraţii pe scară largă au provocat schimbări drastice în structura etnică a Angliei a fost puternic discreditată, susţine Simon James, arheolog la Universitatea Leicester, Anglia. Pentru englezi, perioada lor de definiţie este constituită de sosirea popoarelor germanice cunoscute colectiv sub numele de anglo-saxoni. Unii cercetători sugerează că invadatorii numărau doar 10 000, până la 25 000 de oameni, insuficient pentru a disloca locuitorii aflaţi acolo.

Analiza rămăşiţelor umane dezgropate la un cimitir antic din apropiere de Abingdon, Anglis, indică că imigranţii saxoni şi britanicii băştinaşi au trăit alături. "Probabil că avem de-aface cu o majoritate britanică, dominată din punct de vedere politic de o nouă elită", a afirmat Miles. "Ei au fost eliminaţi din punct de vedere cultural, nu genetic". "Schimbări culturale importante, chiar asumarea de noi identităţi, au loc relativ des, fără schimbări genetice importante", a afirmat Simon James.

Increasingly, the Romano-British population (the Britons) was assimilated, a process enabled by a lack of clear unity amongst the British people against a unified armed foe, and the culture pushed westwards and northwards. The settlement (or invasion) of England is known as the Saxon Conquest or the Anglo-Saxon (sometimes "English") Conquest.

In 495, at the Battle of Mount Badon (Badbury rings, Latin Mons Badonicus, Welsh Mynydd Baddon) near the Roman Porchester-Southampton-Poole road, Britons inflicted a severe defeat on an invading Anglo-Saxon army. While it was a major political and military event of the 5th and 6th centuries in Britain, there is no certainty about who commanded the opposing forces. This victory by the British army made it possible to stop the Saxon invasion and secured a long period of peace for Celtic Britain.

In the decisive Battle of Deorham, in 577, the British people of Southern Britain were separated into the West Welsh (Cornwall and Devon) and the Welsh by the advancing Saxons.

By the 4th century AD, many Britons had escaped across the English Channel from Wales, Cornwall and southern Britain, with their chiefs, soldiers, families, monks and priests, and started to settle and colonize the west part (Armorica) of Gaul (France) where they founded a new nation: Brittany.

This flow of Britons increased when Roman troops and authority were withdrawn from Britain, and raiding and settling by Anglo-Saxons and Scotti into Britain increased. The immigrant Britons gave their new country its current name and contributed to the Breton language, Brezhoneg, a sister language to Welsh and Cornish. The name Brittany (from "Little Britain") arose at this time to distinguish the new Britain from "Great Britain". Brezhoneg (the British language) is still spoken in Brittany in 2005.

Beginning with the raid in 793 on the monastery at Lindisfarne, Vikings made many raids on England.

At Dore (now a suburb of the City of Sheffield) Egbert of Wessex received the submission of Eanred of Northumbria in 829 and so became the first Saxon overlord of all England.

After a time of plunder and raids, the Vikings began to settle in England and trade, eventually ruling the Danelaw from the late 9th century. One Viking settlement was in York, called Jorvik by the Vikings. Viking rule left significant traces in the English language; the similarity of Old English and Old Norse led to much borrowing.

The principal legacy left behind in those territories from which the language of the Britons were displaced is that of toponyms. Many of the place-names in England and to a lesser extent Scotland are derived from the Britons' names, including London, Dumbarton, York, Dorchester, Dover and Colchester. Several place-name elements are thought to be wholly or partly Brythonic in origin, particularly bre-, bal-, and -dun for hills, carr for a high rocky place, coomb for a small deep valley.

Until recently it has been believed that those areas settled by the Anglo-Saxons were uninhabited at the time or the Britons had fled before them. However, genetic studies show that the British were not pushed out to the Celtic fringes – many tribes remained in what was to become England (see C. Capelli et al. 'A Y chromosome census of the British Isles'. Current Biology 13, 979–984, (2003)). Capelli's findings strengthen the research of Steven Bassett of Birmingham University; his work during the 1990s suggests that much of the West Midlands was only very lightly colonised with Anglian and Saxon settlements.

[modifică] Vezi şi

• Hengest (Saxon leader, arrived in England in 449, died 488)
• The Venerable Bede (c672-735)
• Offa (reign 757 - 796)
• Egbert of Wessex (770 - 839)
• Alfred the Great (848 - 900)
• Anglo-Saxon Kings

[modifică] Anglia în timpul Evului Mediu

Main article: Britain in the Middle Ages

The defeat of King Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 at the hands of William of Normandy, later styled William I of England and the subsequent Norman takeover of Saxon England led to a sea-change in the history of the small, isolated, island state. William ordered the compilation of the Domesday Book, a survey of the entire population and their lands and property for tax purposes.

The English Middle Ages were to be characterised by civil war, international war, occasional insurrection, and widespread political intrigue amongst the aristocratic and monarchic elite.

Henry I, also known as "Henry Beauclerc" (so named because of his education—as his older brother William was the heir apparent and thus given the practical training to be king, Henry received the alternate, formal education), worked hard to reform and stabilise the country and smooth the differences between the Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman societies. The loss of his son, William, in the wreck of the White Ship in November 1120, was to undermine his reforms. This problem regarding succession was to cast a long shadow over English history.

During the disastrous and incompetent reign of Stephen (1135 - 1154), there was a major swing in the balance of power towards the feudal barons, as civil war and lawlessness broke out. In trying to appease Scottish and Welsh raiders, he handed over large tracts of land. His conflicts with his cousin The Empress Matilda (also known as Empress Maud), whom he had earlier promised recognition as heir, were his undoing: she bided her time in France and, in the autumn of 1139, invaded (with her husband, Geoffrey of Anjou and her half-brother, Robert of Gloucester).

Stephen was captured and his government fell. Matilda was proclaimed queen but was soon at odds with her subjects and was expelled from London. The period of insurrection and civil war that followed continued until 1148, when Matilda returned to France. Stephen effectively reigned unopposed until his death in 1154, although his hold on the throne was still uneasy. When Stephen's son and heir apparent Eustace died in 1153 Stephen reached an accommodation with Matilda which allowed her son, Henry of Anjou, (who became Henry II) to succeed Stephen and in which peace between them was guaranteed.

The reign of Henry II represents a reversion in power back from the barony to the monarchical state; it was also to see a similar redistribution of legislative power from the Church, again to the monarchical state. This period also presaged a properly constituted legislation and a radical shift away from feudalism.

Henry's successor, Richard I, was preoccupied with foreign wars, taking part in the Third Crusade and defending his French territories against Philip II of France. His younger brother John, who succeeded him, was not so fortunate; he suffered the loss of Normandy and numerous other French territories. He also managed to antagonise the feudal nobility and leading Church figures to the extent that in 1215, they led an armed rebellion and forced him to sign the Magna Carta, which imposed legal limits on the King's personal powers.

John's son, Henry III, was only 9 years old when he became King. His reign was punctuated by numerous rebellions and civil wars, often provoked by incompetence and mismanagement in Government, and Henry's perceived over-reliance on French courtiers (thus restricting the influence of the English nobility). One of these rebellions, led (curiously enough) by a disaffected courtier, Simon de Montfort, was notable for its assembly of one of the earliest precursors to the modern British Parliament.

The reign of Edward I (1272-1307) was rather more successful. Edward enacted numerous laws strengthening the powers of his Government, and summoned the first officially sanctioned Parliaments (such as his Model Parliament). He conquered Wales, and attempted to use a succession dispute to gain control of Scotland, though this developed into a costly and drawn-out military campaign, and was ultimately abandoned after the next King, Edward II, suffered a massive defeat at Bannockburn.

The Black Death, an epidemic of bubonic plague that spread over the whole of Europe, arrived in England in 1349 and killed perhaps up to a third of the population. International excursions were invariably against domestic neighbours: the Welsh, Irish, Cornish, Scots and the French, with the principal notable battles being the Battle of Crécy and the Battle of Agincourt. In addition to this, the final defeat of the uprising led by the Welsh prince, Owen Glendower, in 1412 by Prince Henry (later to become Henry V) represents the last major armed attempt by the Welsh to throw off English rule.

Edward III gave land to powerful noble families, including many people with Royal blood in their veins. Because land was equivalent to power in these days, this meant that these powerful men could now try to make good their claim to the Crown. The autocratic and arrogant methods of Richard II only served to alienate the nobility more, and his forceful dispossession in 1399 by Henry IV sowed the seeds for what was to come. In the reign of Henry VI, which began in 1422, things came to a head because of his personal weaknesses and mental instability. Unable to control the feuding nobles, he allowed outright civil war to break out. The conflicts are known as the Wars of the Roses and although the fighting was very sporadic and small, there was a general breakdown in the authority and power of the Crown. Edward IV went a little way to restoring this power but the spadework was generally done by Henry VII.

[modifică] Vezii şi

• English historians in the Middle Ages Important English historians and historical works from the Middle Ages.
• The Bayeux Tapestry commemorating the battle of 1066.

[modifică] Anglia dinastiei Tudor

Main article: Early Modern Britain

The Wars of the Roses culminated in the eventual victory of the relatively unknown Henry Tudor, Henry VII, at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, where the Yorkist Richard III was slain, and the succession of the Lancastrian House was ultimately assured. Whilst in retrospect it is easy for us to date the end of the Wars of the Roses to the Battle of Bosworth Field, Henry VII could afford no such complacency. Before the end of his reign, two pretenders would try to wrest the throne from him, aided by remnants of the Yorkist faction at home and abroad. The first, Lambert Simnel, was defeated at the Battle of Stoke (the last time an English King fought someone claiming the Crown) and the second, Perkin Warbeck, was hanged in 1499 after plaguing the King for a decade.

In 1497, Michael An Gof led Cornish rebels in a march on London. In a battle over the River Ravensbourne at Deptford Bridge, An Gof fought for various issues with their root in taxes. On June 17, 1497 they were defeated, and Henry VII had showed he could display military prowess when he needed to. But, like Charles I in the future, here was a King with no wish to go "on his travels" again. The rest of his reign was relatively peaceful, despite a slight worry over the succession when his wife Elizabeth of York died in 1503.

King Henry VIII split with the Roman Catholic Church over a question of his divorce from Catherine of Aragon. Though his religious position was not at all Protestant, the resultant schism ultimately led to England distancing itself almost entirely from Rome. A notable casualty of the schism was Henry's chancellor, Sir Thomas More. There followed a period of great religious and political upheaval, which led to the English Reformation, the royal expropriation of the monasteries and much of the wealth of the church. The Dissolution of the Monasteries had the effect of giving many of the lower classes (the gentry) a vested interest in the Reformation continuing, for to halt it would be to revive Monasticism and restore lands which were gifted to them during the Dissolution.

Henry VIII had three children, all of whom would wear the Crown. The first to reign was Edward VI of England. Although he showed piety and intelligence, he was only a boy of ten when he took the throne in 1547. His uncle, Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset tampered with Henry VIII's will and obtained letters patent giving him much of the power of a monarch in March of that year. He took the title of Protector. Whilst some see him as a high-minded idealist, his stay in power culminated in a crisis in 1549 when many counties of the realm were up in protest. Kett's Rebellion in Kent and the Prayer Book Rebellion in Devon and Cornwall simultaneously created a crisis during a time when invasion from Scotland and France were feared. Somerset, disliked by the Regency Council for his autocratic methods, was removed from power by John Dudley, who is known as Lord President Northumberland. Northumberland proceeded to adopt the power for himself, but his methods were more conciliatory and the Council accepted him.

When Edward VI lay dying of tuberculosis in 1553, Northumberland made plans to place Lady Jane Grey on the throne and marry her to his son, so that he could remain the power behind the throne. His putsch failed and Mary I took the throne amidst popular demonstration in her favour in London, which contemporaries described as the largest show of affection for a Tudor monarch. Mary, a devout Catholic who had been influenced greatly by the Catholic King of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, tried to reimpose Catholicism on the realm. This led to 274 burnings of Protestants, which are recorded especially in John Foxe's Book of Martyrs. She was highly unpopular among her people, and the Spanish party of her husband, Philip II caused much resentment around Court. Mary lost Calais, the last English possession on the Continent, and became increasingly more unpopular (except among Catholics) as her reign wore on. She successfully repelled a rebellion by Sir Thomas Wyatt.

The reign of Elizabeth restored a sort of order to the realm following the turbulence of the reigns of Edward and Mary when she came to the throne following the death of the latter in 1558. The religious issue which had divided the country since Henry VIII was in a way put to rest by the Elizabethan Religious Settlement, which created the Church of England in much the same form we see it today. Much of Elizabeth's success was in balancing the interests of the Puritans (extreme Protestants) and "die-hard" Catholics. She managed to offend neither to a large extent, although she clamped down on Catholics towards the end of her reign as war with Catholic Spain loomed.

The slave trade (slavery that established Britain as a major economic power can be attributed to Elizabeth, who granted John Hawkins the permission to commence trading in 1562. The number of Africans transported to England was so great due to the slave trade that by 1596 Elizabeth complained that "several blackamoores have lately been brought into this realm of which kind of people there are already too much here". She tried unsuccessfully to expel them via a Proclamation in 1601.

Elizabeth maintained relative government stability apart from the Revolt of the Northern Earls in 1569, she was effective in reducing the power of the old nobility and expanding the power of her government. One of the most famous events in English martial history occurred in 1588 when the Spanish Armada was repelled by Sir Francis Drake, but the war that followed was very costly for England and only ended after Elizabeth's death. Elizabeth's government did much to consolidate the work begun under Thomas Cromwell in the reign of Henry VIII, that is in expanding the role of the government and in effecting common law and administration throughout the realm of England.

In all, the Tudor period is seen as a decisive one which set up many important questions which would have to be answered in the next century and during the English Civil War. These were questions of the relative power of Monarch and Parliament and to what extent one should control the other. Some historians think that Thomas Cromwell effected a "Tudor Revolution" in government and it is certain that Parliament became a lot more important during his Chancellorship. Other historians say the "Tudor Revolution" really extended to the end of Elizabeth's reign when the work was all consolidated. Although the Privy Council, which was the mainstay of Tudor government, declined after the death of Elizabeth, whilst she was alive it was very effective.

[modifică] Vezi şi

• English Renaissance

[modifică] Conflicte religioase şi Războiul Civil

Au existat câteva tentative de asasinat asupra regelui protestant James I, în special Marea Conspiraţie şi Conspiraţiile de Adio din 1603, şi cea mai faimoasă, Conspiraţia Praful de Puşcă din 5 noiembrie 1605, efectuată de un grup de conspiratori catolici, conduşi de Guy Fawkes, care a fost ... şi apoi oferit mai departe pentru a alimenta antipatia din Anglia faţă de credinţa catolică. Primul război civil din Anglia a izbucnit în 1642, îndeosebi ca rezultat al unor serii continui de conflicte dintre regele de atunci Charles I, şi Parlament. Înfrângerea armatei regale de către Noul Model de Armată al Parlamentului în Bătălia de la Naseby din iunie, 1645, a distrus efectiv armatele regelui. Regele a fugit în Scoţia, dar a fost predat de scoţieni, pentru bani, Parlamentului englez. A evadat şi Al Doilea Război Civil a început, deşi urma să fie doar un conflict de scurtă durată, deoarece Parlamentul a asigurat rapid ţara. Capturarea şi procesul ulterior a lui Charles I a dus la execuţia sa prin decapitare în ianuarie 1649 la Whitehall Gate din Londra. Monarhia a fost abolită şi Oliver Cromwell a devenit Lord Protector. După moartea sa, fiul său, Richard Cromwell, a devenit Lord Protector, dar în curând a abdicat. Monarhia a fost restabilită în 1660, după ce Anglia intrase într-o perioadă de anarhie o dată cu întoarcerea regelei Charles II la Londra. În anii 1664/1665, Anglia a fost lovită de vizita Marii Ciume, şi apoi, în 1666, Londra, capitala de lemn a Angliei, a fost măturată de Marele Foc din Londra, care a ars timp de 5 zile, distrugând aproximativ 15.000 de clădiri. În 1689, protestantul olandez William de Orange, William III al Angliei l-a înlocuit pe regele catolic James II. Aceasta a devenit cunoscută sub numele de Revoluţia Glorioasă sau Revoluţia fără Sânge. Oricum, în Scoţia şi Irlanda, catolicii loiali lui James II nu erau foarte mulţumiţi, şi astfel, a rezultat o serie de revolte sângeroase. Acestea au continuat până la mijlocul secolului al 18-lea. Unirea Scoţiei cu Anglia prin Actul Unirii de la 1707 a făcut ca Scoţia să se unească cu Anglia şi Ţara Galilor (Ţara Galilor fusese încorporată deja legal Angliei prin "Legi în Actele Ţării Galilor" din anii 1535-1542 din timpul lui Henry VIII). Acesta nu a fost un proces de armonizare, deoarece Scoţia efectiv capitulase în faţa presiunii economiei englezeşti după eşecul schemei dariene. Acest proces a fost pus în aplicare în Parlamentul scoţian de manevrele politice în interes propriu ale marionetelor englezeşti John Campbell, al 2-lea Duce de Argyll şi James Douglas, al 2-lea Duce de Queensberry. (NB: După Actul de la 1707, istoriile Marii Britanii şi a Angliei se suprapun complet. Deoarece Anglia era hegemonia dominantă, se presupune că cele două sunt mai mult decât apropiate.)

A number of assassination attempts were made on the Protestant King James I, notably the Main Plot and Bye Plots of 1603, and most famously, on 5th November 1605, the Gunpowder Plot, by a group of Catholic conspirators, led by Guy Fawkes, which was stoked up and served as further fuel for antipathy in England to the Catholic faith.

The First English Civil War broke out in 1642, largely as a result of an ongoing series of conflicts between the then King, Charles I, and Parliament. The defeat of the Royalist army by the New Model Army of Parliament at the Battle of Naseby in June 1645 effectively destroyed the King's armies. The King fled to Scotland but was handed over to the English Parliament for money by the Scots. He escaped and the Second English Civil War began, although it was to be only a short conflict, with Parliament quickly securing the country. The capture and subsequent trial of Charles I led to his execution by beheading in January 1649 at Whitehall Gate in London. The monarchy was abolished and Oliver Cromwell became the Lord Protector. After he died, his son Richard Cromwell acceeded him as Lord Protector, but soon abdicated. The monarchy was restored in 1660, after England entered a period of anarchy, with King Charles II reşturning to London.

In 1664/65 England was swept by a visitation of the Great Plague, and then, in 1666, London, the timbered capital city of England, was swept by the Great Fire of London, which raged for 5 days, destroying approximately 15,000 buildings.

In 1689ş, the Dutch Protestant William of Orange, William III replaced the Catholic King James II. This became known as the Glorious Revolution or 'Bloodless Revolution'. However, in Scotland and Ireland, Catholics loyal to James II were not so content, and a series of bloody uprisings resulted. These Jacobite Rebellions continued until the mid-18th century.

The union of Scotland with England in the Act of Union 1707, saw Scotland united with England and Wales (Wales had already been legally incorporated into England by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535-1542 by Henry VIII). This was no process of harmonisation, for Scotland had effectively capitulated to English economic pressure after the failure of the Darién scheme. This process was lubricated in the Scottish parliament by the self-interested political manoeuverings of the English puppets, John Campbell, the 2nd Duke of Argyll and James Douglas, 2nd Duke of Queensberry. (NB: After the 1707 Act, the histories of Great Britain and England overlap heavily. Since England was the dominant hegemony, it is assumed for the purposes of this article that the two are largely coterminous.)

[modifică] Revoluţia industrială

Main article: Economic history of Britain

La sârşitul secolului al 18-lea şi începutul secolului al 19-lea s-au manifestat mişcări sociale considerabile deoarece o societate în mare parte agrară era transformată de progresul tehnologic şi de intensificarea mecanizării, care a fost Revoluţia Industrială. O mare parte din forţa de muncă din agricultură a fost dezrădăcinată de la ţară şi mutată în mari centre urbane de producţie, deoarece fabricile care funcţionau pe bază de abur puteau înlocui tradiţionalele industrii mici, datorită economiilor la scară şi randamentului crescut per muncitor devenit posibil cu ajutorul noilor tehnologii. Aglomerarea ulterioară în zone cu o infrastrucutură redusă de susţinere a cunoscut creşteri dramatice a ratei mortalităţii infantile (până acolo încât multe şcoli de duminică pentru copii preşcolari făceau parte din asociaţii funerare pentru a-şi plăti unii altora înmormântările), a criminalităţii şi a depravării sociale. Tranziţia către industrializare nu a fost chiar fără importanţă pentru muncitori, mulţi dintre ei văzându-şi existenţa ameninţată de acest proces. Dintre aceştia, unii frecvent sabotau sau încercau sa saboteze fabricile. Aceştia erau cunoscuţi drept Luddite. Acest punct de vedere a istoriei Luddite ar trebui de asemeni să fie comparată cu alte puncte de vedere precum Luddism#E._P._Thompson.

The late 18th and early 19th centuries saw considerable social upheaval as a largely agrarian society was transformed by technological advances and increasing mechanisation, which was the Industrial Revolution. Much of the agricultural workforce was uprooted from the countryside and moved into large urban centres of production, as the steam-based production factories could undercut the traditional cottage industries, due to economies of scale and the increased output per worker made possible by the new technologies. The consequent overcrowding into areas with little supporting infrastructure saw dramatic increases in the rise of infant mortality (to the extent that many Sunday schools for pre working age children (5 or 6) had funeral clubs to pay for each others funeral arrangements), crime, and social deprivation.

The transition to industrialisation was not wholly seamless for workers, many of whom saw their livelihoods threatened by the process. Of these, some frequently sabotaged or attempted to sabotage factories. These saboteurs were known as "Luddites". This view of the Luddite history should also be set against alternative views, such as that of E. P. Thompson.

[modifică] Istoria recentă

Main article: History of the United Kingdom

The Act of Union of 1800 formally assimilated Ireland within the British political process, and created a new country "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland" with effect from 1 January 1801, uniting England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland.

Since then England has not existed as an independent political entity, but as a region it has remained highly dominant in the United Kingdom. The majority of the political and economic leadership the UK is English. London has remained the economic and centre of Britain and one of the world's great cities.

During the early 19th century, the working classes began to find a voice. Concentrations of industry led to the formation of guilds and unions, which, although at first suppressed, eventually became powerful enough to resist.

Chartism is thought to have originated from the passing of the 1832 Reform Bill, which gave the vote to the majority of the (male) middle classes, but not to the 'working class'. Many people made speeches on the 'betrayal' of the working class and the 'sacrificing' of their 'interests' by the 'misconduct' of the government. In 1838, six members of Parliament and six workingmen formed a committee, which then published the People's Charter.

The revolutions which spread like wildfire throughout mainland Europe during the 1840s did not occur in England and Queen Victoria's reign was largely one of consensus, despite huge disparities in living standards between the few rich and the multitudinous poor.

The Anglo-Irish treaty of 1921 established the Irish Free State (now the Republic of Ireland) as a separate nation, leaving Northern Ireland as part of the United Kingdom; its official name became "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland".

England bore the full brunt of German bombing during World War II, many of its cities were badly damaged and huge amounts of infrastructure destroyed. England rapidly recovered after the war, and while internationally the relative wealth and power of Britain have faded, England still remains paramount in the British Isles. 1999 saw the establishment of the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly. There is no English equivalent. In part this is a reflection of the hold England has on the British government.

[modifică] Vezi şi

• Bretwalda
• Listă a monarhilor britanici, British monarchs' family tree
• British politics
• Danelaw
• English people
• History of the British constitution
• History of British society
• Timeline of English history
• Population of England - historical estimates
• History of the Jews in England
• History of Britain
• History of Scotland
• History of Ireland
• History of Wales
• History of Cornwall
• Commonwealth
• By county/city: Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Birmingham, Bristol, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Cornwall, County Durham, Cumbria, Derbyshire, Devon, Dorset, East Riding of Yorkshire, East Sussex, Essex, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Herefordshire, Hertfordshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, London, Manchester, Merseyside, Norfolk, Northamptonshire, Northumberland, North Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Rutland, Sheffield, Shropshire, Somerset, Staffordshire, Suffolk, Surrey, Tyne and Wear, Warwickshire, West Midlands, West Sussex, West Yorkshire, Wiltshire, Worcestershire

[modifică] Legături externe

• Site dedicat doar istoriei Angliei (en)
• Textul complet al Istoriei Angliei de la cucerirea normandă la moartea lui (1066 - 1216) din Proiectul Gutemberg

[modifică] Surse suplimentare

• A History of Britain: At the Edge of the World, 3500 BC - 1603 AD by Simon Schama, BBC/Miramax, 2000 ISBN 0786866756
• A History of Britain, Volume 2: The Wars of the British 1603-1776 by Simon Schama, BBC/Miramax, 2001 ISBN 0786866756
• A History of Britain - The Complete Collection on DVD by Simon Schama, BBC 2002 ASIN B00006RCKI
• The Isles, A History by Norman Davies, Oxford University Press, 1999, ISBN 0-19-513442-7
• The History of England, From the First Invasion by the Romans to the Accession of William and Mary in 1688, 1819 by Father John Lingard (Roman Catholic perspective)
• Shortened History of England by G. M. Trevelyan Penguin Books ISBN 0140233237
• History of the English-Speaking Peoples by Sir Winston Churchill Cassell reference, ISBN: 0304363898 -- the writing of which helped bring Churchill to public attention in the 1930s, and which forms the basis of many later reference works