MASTER

COURSE 3

YEAR

PERIOD

2,500,000-c. 8300 BC

Palaeolitihic (Old Stone Age)

c. 8300 BC

Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age)

c. 4000 BC

Neolithic (New Stone Age)

c. 2000 BC

Beaker folk (Bronze Age)

c. 600 BC

Celts (Iron Age)

c. 200 BC

Belgic tribes

AD 43

The Romans

AD 410

Germanic tribes (Anglo-Saxons)

8th to 11th centuries

The Scandinavians

AD 1066

The Norman conquest

The British Isles have attracted settlers, invaders & immigrants

throughout their history.
The contemporary British are composed of people of worldwide
origins & are divided into:
- English
- Scots
- Welsh
- Northern Irish.
These populations have mixed roots derived from diverse
settlement & immigration patterns over time in the individual
nations.

The historical developments have created a contemporary society

with multinational and multi-ethnic characteristics.
Assimilation & integration processes are not always successful.
There continue to be asked controversial questions about
The meaning of Britishness
The nature of identities & loyalties in the population
The validity of government immigration & asylum policies

In Palaeolithic period (Old Stone Age)

There were the first people nomads from mainland Europe, who used
rudimentary stone implements.
Homo sapiens appeared during this Palaeolithic period.
In Neolithic period (New Stone Age)
The settlers came from central Europe & settled in eastern Britain
Others arrived by sea from Iberian (Spanish-Portugese) areas & populated
Cornwall, Ireland, Wales, the Isle of Man, western Scotland.
They had more advanced skills in stone carving.
They began to form settled agricultural communities & tamed wild animals.
The Neolithic groups built:
- large wood, soil and stone monuments, like Stonehenge &
Avebury.

The Iron Age (600 BC)

Celtic tribes came from mainland Europe into the islands
They

were divided into different tribes with conflicts between

them
They

were overcome by warring Belgic tribes (also of Celtic

origin) around 200 BC.

The Roman military occupation of the islands (except for Ireland

& most of Scotland) lasted from AD 43 until AD 409.
The term Britain probably derives from the Greek & Latin
names given to England and Wales by the Romans, although it
may stem from Celtic originals.
After Roman withdrawal, Germanic tribes such as Angles,
Saxons & Jutes from north-western Europe invaded the country.

The country was divided into 7 separate & warring Anglo-Saxon

kingdoms in England.
They

suffered from Scandinavian (Viking) military invasions in

the 8th & 9th centuries AD.
Early English history was completed when the Anglo-Saxons
were defeated by French-Norman invaders at the Battle of
Hastings in AD 1066.

THE NORMAN CONQUEST = the last successful external military

invasion of the country.
It

influenced the English people & their language.

French was the language of the nobility for the next 300 years
It initiated many of the social, legal & institutional frameworks, like a
feudal system.
There are no realistic population figures for the early British Isles.
The Domesday Book (11th century) = the 1st systematic attempt to
evaluate Englands wealth & population for taxation purposes.
(It showed a population of 2 million people.)

England, Scotland, Wales & Ireland had tribal and royalist

conflict for centuries.
England made political & military attempts to unite Wales,
Scotland & Ireland under the English Crown.
English monarchs tried to conquer or ally themselves with these
countries:
- as a protection against the threats from the islands &
from continental Europe
- for increased power & possessions.

Internal colonization + political unification of the islands gradually created

what became the British state.
This

process was accompanied by fierce and bloody struggles between &

within the nations, often resulting in lasting tensions and bitterness.
Ireland was invaded in 1169 by Henry II.
Parts of the country were occupied by Anglo-Norman nobles.
Ireland was colonized by the English & the Scots.
In 1801 Ireland became part of the UK, after periods of violence &
political unrest.
In 1921 Ireland was divided into:
Republic of Ireland
Northern Ireland (which remains in the UK)

Wales = Celtic country influenced by Anglo-Norman England.

1282-1285 Edward I occupied Wales and brought it under
English rule.
1536-1542 Acts of Union Wales was integrated legally &
administratively with England.
Scotland remained independent.
The English tried to conquer Scotland by military force but were
repulsed at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314.
Since 1603 Scotland & England shared a common monarch
when James VI of Scotland became James I of England (Union of the
Two Crowns).

England, Wales & Scotland became predominantly Protestant in

religion as a result of the European Reformation.
Henry VIII brake with Rome.
Ireland remained Catholic and tried to distance itself from
England.
Britain is a unstable union of four old nations:
Great Britain (1707) is slightly older than the USA
The United Kingdom (1801)

There were tensions and internal migration between Irish,

Welsh and Scottish people into England.
There were movements of Irish, Welsh & Scottish people
into England.
Immigration from abroad into the British isles continued
due to factors such as:
- religious & political persecution
- trade
- business & employment.

Immigrants had a significant impact on British society.

They contributed to:
- financial institutions
- commerce
- industry & agriculture.
They influenced artistic, cultural and political developments.

Jewish money-lenders entered England with the Norman

Conquest.
Lombard bankers came from northern Italy.
Merchants of the German Hansa League set up their trading
posts in London & on the east coast of England.
In XVI-XVII centuries many newcomers continued to arrive
from overseas.

In 1700 immigration into the country decreased over the next 200
years.
Britain exported more people than it received to North America
and the expanding colonies worldwide.
In the 18th-19th centuries there were many industrial revolutions.
they transformed Britain from an agricultural economy into an
industrial and manufacturing country.

Industrialization expanded commercial markets, which

attracted new immigrants who had the business & financial skills
to exploit the industrial wealth.
By the end of 19th century Britain was the worlds leading
industrial nation and one of the richest.
But it gradually lost its world lead in manufacturing
industry, most of which was in native British hands, as foreign
competition grew.

Immigration & race remain problematic.

Many non-white immigrants & their British-born children
have slowly adapted to the larger society but they retained
their ethnic identities.
Britain has the highest rate of intermarriage & mixed race
relationships in Europe
The term immigrant has become prominent again as debates
about immigration & asylum seekers have become a focus for
public concern and debate.

Minority ethnic in British statistics refers only to non-white

groups (Asian, Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Black African,
Black Caribbean, Iraqi, Chinese, other)
White minority communities in Britain:
- white Irish
- from Old Commonwealth countries: Australia, Canada,
South Africa)
- from European Union countries: Germany, Spain, Italy,
France)
- from USA and Middle East
- Other White

Immigration to Britain has often been seen as a threat to a

presumed British national identity with its presumed moral
and social values.
The meaning of Britishness as an umbrella term to describe
all the people of the contemporary UK is problematic.
Britishness since the 1707 union between England/Wales
and Scotland had been identified with:
- monarchy, Parliament, law & Protestant churches
- expanding empire & military success.

Britishness since the 1801 union of UK was tied to:

- the Victorian monarchy
- the empire
- the Britains industrial & military position in the world.
These

elements have since weakened as Britain has declined as

a global power;
Religious faith has decreased;
Respect for Parliament, the monarchy & the law has lessened.

Foreigners call all British people `English`.

The Scots, Welsh and Northern Irish are regarded largely
as Celtic peoples, while the English are simplistically considered
to be Anglo-Saxon in origin.
What means `British` today in the contexts of
multinational, multi-ethnic UK, a changing Europe & a
globalized world?

Britishness = a contemporary set of:

Shared values, beliefs, opinions & identities
A state

legislation which promotes inclusiveness.

Britishness = the most inclusive & non-discriminatory term to

describe the peoples who comprise the United Kingdom.