The John Jacob Daubenspeck Family History and Lineage, 1714 to 1961

A Curt History of The United Kingdom

The United Kingdom, also known as Britain or the United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland of Great U.k. and Northern Ireland, is a European region with a long and storied history.  The first modern humans (Homo sapiens) arrived in the region during the Water ice Historic period (about 35,000 to 10,000 years ago), when the ocean levels were lower and Britain was connected to the European mainland.  It is these people who congenital the aboriginal megalithic monuments of Stonehenge and Avebury.

Betwixt 1,500 and 500 BCE, Celtic tribes migrated from Central Europe and French republic to Britain and mixed with the indigenous inhabitants, creating a new civilization slightly distinct from the Continental Celtic one. This came to be known as the Bronze Age.

The Romans controlled virtually of present-twenty-four hour period England and Wales, and founded a big number of cities that withal exist today. London, York, St Albans, Bathroom, Exeter, Lincoln, Leicester, Worcester, Gloucester, Chichester, Winchester, Colchester, Manchester, Chester, and Lancaster were all Roman towns, as were all the cities with names now ending in -chester, -cester or -caster, which derive from the Latin wordcastrum, pregnant "fortification."

History of the United kingdom:  The Anglo-Saxons

In the 5 century, the Romans progressively abased Britannia, as their Empire was falling apart and legions were needed to protect Rome.

With the Romans vacated, the Celtic tribes started warring with each other again, and one of the local chieftains had the (not so smart) idea to request assist from some of the Germanic tribes from the North of present-twenty-four hour period Germany and South of Denmark. These were the Angles, Saxons and Jutes, who arrived in the 5th and 6th centuries.

When the fighting ceased, the Germanic tribes did not, as expected past the Celts, return to their homeland.  In fact, they felt strong enough to seize the whole of the country for themselves, which they ultimately did, pushing dorsum all the Celtic tribes to Wales and Cornwall, and founding their corresponding kingdoms of Kent (the Jutes), Essex, Sussex and Wessex (the Saxons), and further northeast, the kingdoms of Anglia, Mercia and Northumbria (the Angles). These 7 kingdoms, which ruled over the United Kingdom from near 500 to 850 AD, were later known as the Anglo-Saxon heptarchy.

History of the U.k.:  The Vikings

In the latter half of the 9 century, the Norse people from Scandinavia began to invade Europe, with the Swedes putting downward roots in Eastern Europe and the Danes creating problems throughout Western Europe, as far every bit North Africa.

Towards the dawn of the 10 century, the Danes invaded the Northeast of England, from Northumerland to Due east Anglia, and founded a new kingdom known equally the Danelaw. Another group of Danes managed to take Paris, and obtain a grant of land from the King of France in 911. This area became the Duchy of Normandy, and its inhabitants were the Normans (from 'N Men' or 'Norsemen', another term for 'Viking').

History of the United Kingdom: The Normans

Depiction of Cnut the Great After settling in to their newly acquired land, the Normans adopted the French feudal organisation and French as the official language.

During that same catamenia, the Kings of Wessex had resisted, and somewhen vanquished the Danes in England in the 10th century.  However, the powerful Canute the Great (995-1035), king of the newly unified Kingdom of denmark and Norway and overlord of Schleswig and Pomerania, led two other invasions on England in 1013 and 1015, and became male monarch of England in 1016, after crushing the Anglo-Saxon King, Edmund Two.

During the 11 century, the Norman King Edward the Confessor (1004-1066) nominated William, Duke of Normandy, every bit his successor, but upon Edward'due south death, Harold Godwinson, the powerful Earl of Wessex, crowned himself king. William refused to admit Harold as King and invaded England with 12,000 soldiers in 1066.  King Harold was killed at the boxing of Hastings and William the Conqueror become William I of England.

The Norman rulers kept their possessions in France, and fifty-fifty extended them to most of Western France (Brittany, Aquitaine...). French became the official linguistic communication of England, and remained that way until 1362, a brusk time after the beginning of the Hundred Years' War with France. English notwithstanding remained the language of the populace, and the fusion of English language (a mixture of Anglo-Saxon and Norse languages) with French and Latin (used by the clergy) slowly evolved into the modernistic English we know today.

History of the United Kingdom:  12 and 13 Centuries

The English royals that followed William I had the infamous habit to contend for the throne. William'due south son, William II was killed while hunting, although it is widely believed that he was in fact murdered so that William's 2nd son, Henry, could become male monarch. Henry I'due south succession was too fraught with agitation, with his daughter Matilda and her cousin Stephen (grandson of William I) starting a civil war for the throne. Although Stephen somewhen won, information technology was ultimately Matilda's son that succeeded to the throne, condign Henry 2 (1133-1189). It is nether Henry II that the Academy of Oxford was established.

The 2 children of Henry II—Richard I "Lionhearted" and John Lackland—also battled for the throne.  The oldest son, Richard, somewhen succeeded to the throne, but considering he was rarely in England, and instead off defending his French possessions or fighting the infidels in the Holy Land, his brother John Lackland usurped the throne and started some other civil war.

John'due south grandson, Edward I "Longshanks" (1239-1307) spent nearly of his 35-year reign fighting wars, including ane against the Scots, led by William Wallace and Robert the Bruce.  With the assist of these men, the Scots were able to resist, equally immortalized in the Hollywood movie Braveheart.

History of the United Kingdom:  14 and 15 Centuries

Subsequently a brief rule by Edward Longshanks son, his grandson, Edward 3 (1312-1377), succeeded to the throne at the age of 15 and reigned for 50 years. His reign was marked past the beginning of the Hundred Years' War (1337-1416) and deadly epidemics of bubonic plague ("Black Death"), which killed one 3rd of England'due south (and Europe's) population.

Edward III was oftentimes off fighting in French republic, leaving his tertiary son, John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, to run the government.  Subsequently, John'due south son, Henry Bolingbroke, would be proclaimed King Henry Iv (1367-1413).

Henry 5 (1387-1422) famously defeated the French at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, but his pious and peace-loving son Henry VI (1421-1471), who inherited the throne at historic period i, was to accept a much more than troubled reign. The regent lost most of England'south possessions in France to a 17-year old girl (Joan of Arc) and in 1455 the Wars of the Roses broke out. This ceremonious war opposed the Business firm of Lancaster (the Ruby-red Rose, supporters of Henry VI) to the Business firm of York (the White Rose, supporters of Edward IV). The Yorks argued that the crown should have passed to Edward Three' second son, Lionel of Antwerp, rather than to the Lancaster descendant of John of Gaunt.

Edward Iv'south son, Edward V, only reigned for one twelvemonth, before existence locked in the Belfry of London by his evil uncle, Richard Three (1452-1485).  In 1485, Henry Tudor (1457-1509), the one-half-brother of Henry VI, defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field and became Henry 7, founder of the House of Tudor.

Following Henry (Tudor) 7 to the throne was perhaps England's most famous and historically significant ruler, the magnificent Henry VIII (1491-1547).

History of the United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland:  16 Century

Portrait of Henry 8 Henry VIII is remembered in history as 1 of the well-nigh powerful kings of England. He changed the face of England, passing the Acts of Union with Wales (1536-1543), and became the first ruler to declare himself king of both Wales and Ireland.

In 1533, Henry 8 divorced Catherine of Aragon to remarry Anne Boleyn, causing the Pope to anathematize him from the church building.  As a result, Henry proclaimed himself head of the Church of England. He dissolved all the monasteries in the state (1536-1540) and nationalized them, becoming immensely rich in the process.

Henry Eight was the last English king to merits the championship of King of France, as he lost his last possession there, the port of Calais (although he tried to recover information technology, taking Tournai for a few years, the simply town in present-day Belgium to have been under English rule).

Information technology was also under Henry 8 that England started exploring the globe and trading outside Europe, although this would but develop to colonial proportions under his daughters, Mary I and peculiarly Elizabeth I.

Upon the expiry of Henry VIII, his ten-year former son, Edward Half dozen, inherited the throne.  Six years later, nevertheless, Edward Six died and was succeeded by Henry's elder half-daughter Mary. Mary I (1516-1558), a staunch Catholic, intended to restore Roman Catholicism to England, executing over 300 religious dissenters in her 5-year reign (which owned her the nickname of Bloody Mary). She married the powerful Rex Philip Two of Spain, who also ruled over holland, the Spanish Americas and the Philippines (named subsequently him), and was the champion of the Counterreformation.  Mary died childless of ovarian cancer in 1558, and her half-sister Elizabeth ascended to the throne.

The keen Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603) saw the first golden historic period of England. Information technology was an historic period of bang-up navigators like Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh, and an historic period of enlightenment with the philosopher Francis Bacon (1561-1626), and playwrights such as Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593) and William Shakespeare (1564-1616).

Her reign was likewise marked past conflicts with France and Scotland, and afterwards Spain and Republic of ireland. She never married, and when Mary Stuart tried and failed to take over the throne of England, Elizabeth kept her imprisoned for xix years earlier finally signing her act of execution.

Elizabeth died in 1603, and ironically, Mary Stuart's son, James Six of Scotland, succeeded Elizabeth as King James I of England—thus creating the Britain.

History of the United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland:  17 Century

James I (1566-1625), a Protestant, aimed at improving relations with the Catholic Church. But 2 years after he was crowned, a group of Catholic extremists, led by Guy Fawkes, attempted to identify a bomb at the parliament's country opening, hoping to eliminate all the Protestant aristocracy in ane vicious dive. Notwithstanding, the conspirators were betrayed by one of their own just hours before the plan's enactment. The failure of the Gunpowder Plot, every bit it is known, is however celebrated throughout Britain on Guy Fawkes' night (5th Nov), with fireworks and bonfires burning effigies of the conspirators' leader.

Later on this incident, the divide between Catholics and Protestant worsened.  James's successor Charles I (1600-1649) was eager to unify Britain and Ireland.  His policies, still, were unpopular amidst the populace, and his totalitarian handling of the Parliament eventually culminated in the English Civil War (1642-1651).

Charles was beheaded, and the puritan Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658) ruled the country as a dictator from 1649 to his expiry. He was briefly succeeded by his son Richard at the head of the Protectorate, but his political inability prompted the Parliament to restore the monarchy in 1660, calling in Charles I' exiled son, Charles II (1630-1685).

Charles II, known as the "Merry Monarch," was much more than skilful than his father at handling Parliament, although every bit as ruthless with other matters. During his reign, the Whig and Tory parties were created, and the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam became English language and was renamed New York, later Charles' brother, James, Duke of York (and after James Two).

Charles 2 was the patron of the arts and scientific discipline, helping to found the Royal Society and sponsoring some of England's proudest compages. Charles too caused Bombay and Tangiers through his Portuguese wife, thus laying the foundation for the British Empire.

Although Charles produced countless illegitimate children, his wife couldn't deport an heir, and when he died in 1685 the throne passed to his Catholic and unpopular brother James.

James II's unpopularity led to his quick removal from power in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. He was succeeded by his Protestant daughter Mary, who was married to his equally Protestant nephew, William of Orangish.

The new ruling couple became known equally the "Thousand Alliance," and parliament ratified a bill stating that all kings or queens would accept to be Protestant from that point forward. Later Mary's death in 1694, and then William's in 1702, James's second daughter, Anne, ascended to the throne. In 1707, the Act of Spousal relationship joined the Scottish and the English Parliaments thus creating the single Kingdom of Great Britain and centralizing political power in London. Anne died heirless in 1714, and a distant German cousin, George of Hanover, was called to rule over the UK.

History of the Britain:  eighteen Century and the House of Hanover

George I equally Prince of Hanover When George I (1660-1727) arrived in England, he couldn't speak a discussion of English language. The king's inability to communicate well with his regime and subjects led him to appoint a de facto Prime number Minister in the person of Robert Walpole (1676-1745). This marked a turning bespeak in British politics, as future monarchs were also to remain more passive figures, lending the reins of the government to the Prime Minister.

George II (1683-1760) was also High german born. He was a powerful ruler, and the concluding British monarch to personally lead his troops into battle. The British Empire expanded considerably during his reign; a reign that saw notable changes, including the replacement of the Julian Calendar past the Gregorian Calendar in 1752, and moving the engagement of the New year from March 25 to January 1.

George III was the first Hanoverian king to be born in England.  He had ane of the most troubled and interesting reigns in British history. He ascended to the throne during the Seven Years' State of war (1756-1763) opposing almost all the major Western powers in two teams, chiefly British against French, and ended in a de facto victory for the UK, which acquired New French republic (Quebec), Florida, and most of French India in the process.

Thirteen years later, the American War of Independence (1776-1782) broke out and in 1782 13 American colonies were finally granted their independence, forming the United States of America.  Seven years later, the French Revolution bankrupt out, and Louis XVI was guillotined. George 3 suffered from a hereditary disease known equally porphyria, and his mental wellness seriously deteriorated from 1788. In 1800, the Deed of Union merged the Kingdoms of Great United kingdom and Ireland.

The Uk during this time also had to face the ambitions of Napoleon, who desired to conquer the whole of Europe.  Admiral Nelson's naval victory at Traflagar in 1805, along with Wellington'south decisive victory at Waterloo, saved the UK and farther reinforced its international position. The 19th century would be dominated by the British Empire, spreading on all 5 continents, from Canada and the Caribbean to Australia and New Zealand, via Africa, India and S-East asia.

History of the Britain:  19 Century

In 1837, then rex William IV died of liver disease and the throne passed to the next in line, his 18-yr old niece Victoria (1819-1901), although she did non inherit the Kingdom of Hanover, where the Salic Police force forbid women to rule.

Victoria didn't expect to become queen, and being unmarried and inexperienced in politics she had to rely on her Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne (1779-1848).  She finally got married to her starting time cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (1819-1861), and both were respectively niece and nephew of the first King of the Belgians, Leopold I (of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha).

United kingdom asserted its domination on most every part of the globe during the 19 century, resulting in a number of wars, including the Opium Wars (1839-42 & 1856-threescore) with Qing China and the Boer Wars (1880-81 & 1899-1902) with the Dutch-speaking settlers of S Africa.  In 1854, the Great britain was brought into the Crimean War (1854-56) on the side of the Ottoman Empire and confronting Russian federation. One of the best known figures of that state of war was Florence Nightingale (1820-1910), who fought for the improvement of women'southward conditions and pioneered modern nursing.

The latter years of Victoria's reign were dominated past two influential Prime number Ministers, Benjamin Disraeli (1808-1881) and his rival William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898). The quondam was the favorite of the Queen, while Gladstone, a liberal, was often at odds with both Victoria and Disraeli. However, the strong party support for Gladstone kept him in ability for a total of 14 years between 1868 and 1894. He is credited with legalizing trade unions, and advocating for both universal education and suffrage.

Queen Victoria was to have the longest reign of whatever British monarch (64 years), simply too the most glorious, as she ruled over 40% of the globe and a quarter of the world's population.

History of the United Kingdom:  20 Century (Two World Wars)

Victoria'due south numerous children married into many different European Majestic families, The alliances between these related monarchs escalated into the Great War –WWI—from 1914-1918.  Information technology began when Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Republic of austria was assassinated in Sarajevo, and Austria declared war on Serbia, which in turn was allied to France, Russian federation and the UK. The First World War left over nine million dead (including nigh i million Britons) throughout Europe, and financially ruined most of the countries involved. The monarchies in Deutschland, Austria, Russia and the Ottoman Empire all roughshod, and the map of fundamental and Eastern Europe was completely redesigned.

After Earth State of war I, the Labor Political party was created in Britain. The Full general Strike of 1926 and the worsening economy led to radical political changes, including one in which women were finally granted the same universal suffrage as men in 1928.

In 1936, Edward VIII (1894-1972) succeeded to the throne, merely abdicated the same twelvemonth to ally Wallis Simpson, a twice divorced American adult female. His brother then unexpectedly became George VI (1895-1952) after the scandal.

Nazi Germany was condign more menacing as Hitler grew more powerful and aggressive. Finally, Britain and France were forced to declare war on Federal republic of germany after the invasion of Poland in September 1939, marking the beginning of Earth War II.  The popular and charismatic Winston Churchill (1874-1965) became the war-time Prime Minister in 1940 and his speeches encouraged the British to fight off the attempted German invasion. In ane of his about patriotic speeches before the Battle of Britain (1940), Churchill accost the British people with "We shall defend our island, any the toll may exist, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, nosotros shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender." And indeed, United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland did not surrender.

Following World War II, the United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland was bankrupt and in ruins.  The British Empire was dismantled little by fiddling, showtime granting independence to Republic of india and Pakistan in 1947, and then to the other Asian, African and Caribbean colonies in the 1950'south and 60's. Most of these ex-colonies formed the British Democracy, now known equally the Commonwealth of Nations. 53 states are at present members of the Commonwealth, accounting for 1.8 billion people (nearly 30% of the global population) and most 25% of the world'due south state area.

In 1952, the current queen of England, Elizabeth Two, ascended to the throne at the age of 26. The 1960s saw the dawn of pop and rock music, with bands similar the Beatles, Pink Floyd, and the Rolling Stones rise to prominence, and the Hippie subculture developing.

The 1970's brought the oil crunch and the plummet of British industry. Conservative Prime government minister Margaret Thatcher (b. 1925) was elected in 1979 and served until 1990.  Amongst other accomplishments, she privatized the railways and close downward inefficient factories, but she also increased the gap between the rich and the poor past scaling back social security. Her methods were so harsh that she was nicknamed the "Fe Lady."

Thatcher was succeeded in her party by the unpopular John Major, but in 1997, the "New Labor" party came back to ability with the appointment of Tony Blair (b. 1953). Blair'due south liberal policies and unwavering support for neo-conservative The states President George Due west. Bush-league (especially regarding the invasion of Iraq in 2003) disappointed many Leftists, who really saw in Blair simply a Rightist in disguise. Regardless, Blair has impressed many dissenters with his intelligence and remarkable skills as an orator and negotiator.

Today, the English language economy relies heavily on services and, like the balance of the world, is in the procedure of commencement to rebuild afterwards the global economical recession of 2008.  The master industries in the land are travel, didactics, prestigious automobiles and tourism.

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Source: https://www.studycountry.com/guide/GB-history.htm

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