The Danish raids on England

Anglo-Saxon Britain was not a united country. There were a lot of small kingdoms which constantly waged wars against one another for supreme power. These little kingdoms were weak and could not hold out against attacks from abroad.

Beginning with the 8^th century, pirates from Scandinavia and Denmark began raiding the eastern shores of Britain. In the 9^th century the country had to struggle with the Danes. At first they acted as pirates attacking the country & robbing it, but later they came in larger numbers conquering one territory after another. They landed their longboats, killed & robbed the population of the towns and villages and sailed away. Gradually they began settling in Britain and seized more and more land. The Anglo-Saxons understood that their small kingdoms must unite in order to struggle against the Danes. In the 9^th century Egbert, the king of Wessex, one of the stronger Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, united several neighbouring kingdoms. The united kingdom got the name of England, and Egbert became the first king of the united country. The kingdom of Wessex alone was left to resist the Danes.

Alfred, the grandson of Egbert, became king in the year 871, when England's danger was greatest. The Danes, who had settled on the eastern shores of Britain, continued robbing and killing the people of England and occupying more and more land. Alfred gathered a big army and gave the Danes a great battle at Maldon in 891. The Danes were defeated in this battle, but still they remained very strong and dangerous, and Alfred hurried to make peace with them.He had to give the Danes the greater portion of England. The kingdom that was left in Alfred's pocession was Wessex. There were some years of piece, and during this time Alfred built the first English navy. He translated the Church history and parts of the Bible from Latin into Anglo-Saxon. He started the famous Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the first history of England. It was lucky for Wessex to have a very talented king who organized the struggled against the Danes. This was Alfred who ruled from 871 to 901, and who eventually defeated the Danes making them sign a peace agreement. Though the country was divided into two parts - one under the Saxons, and the other under the Danes, peace was won and later the English took over the land occupied by the Danes. Alfred was also a great lawgiver and a patron of learning. He is considered to be the founder of the English fleet. The Anglo-Saxon kings that ruled after Alfred, continued fighting the Danes, until all England was once more ruled by English kings. But 80years after Alfred's death the Danes came again with great armies and occupied much of the territory. Again Britain was divided into two parts: the northern part ruled by the Danes, and Wessex in the south ruled by English kings. The Danes continued their attacks on Wessex and finally occupied the whole the territory. In 1016, the king of Denmark Canute became also, the king of England. Canute was a strong monarch and gave England peace for nearly 20 years. When he died in 103B his two sons ruled England for a short time one after the other. With the death of Canute's second son in 1042, the Danish rule was over. An English king came to the throne.

5. The Norman conquest and the establishment of feudalism.
The last of the invaders to come to Britain were the Normans from France. In 1066 Duke William of Normandy defeated the English at the battle of Hastings on the 14th of October in 1066 and established his rule in the country as king of England. He is known as William the Conqueror. The Normans settled in the country, and the French language became the official language of the ruling class for the next 3 cen. The monarchy which was established by William effective. The feudal system contributed to the growth of power of the state, and little by little England began to spread its power. Wales was the first to be conquered by England in 13^th cen, but the English never felt safe there because of Welsh opposition. This explains why the English built so many castles located in North Wales.Though Wales was conquered by England, the Welsh continued to struggle for their independence. At the beginning of the 15th century there was a great rising, but the situation was seriously changed when in 1485 - the English throne passed to Henry VII of the Welsh House of Tudor. In 1536 and 1542 Henry VIII brought Wales under the English parliament through special Acts of Union. Since the 16th century Wales has been governed from London. In today's Government there is a special department and minister for Welsh affairs.

Scotland managed to be independent for quite a long time, though the English tried hard to conquer it. In the 14th century Robert Bruce led the struggle against the English, but he was defeated by the English king Edward I and had to hide on an island between Scotland and Ireland. Here Bruce found shelter in a cave. He was in despair. The example with the spider gave Bruce new strength. He managed to organize a new army and defeated the English. However, some years later Edward II, the new English king, decided to attack Robert Bruce in Scotland. He managed to cross the border and reach the Bannock Burn or stream just south of Stirling Castle, which was not taken by the Scots and remained in English hands. Here in the battle of Bannockburn (1314) the English were very seriously defeated, and Scotland continued to be independent for the next three centuries. In 1603 Queen Elizabeth I died and, as she had no children, was succeeded by James Stuart, James VI of Scotland, who became James I of England. He was the son of Mary Queen of Scots, cousin of Elizabeth I. With this union England, Wales and Scotland became known as Great Britain. However, Scotland continued to be quite independent in the 17th century. The final unification took place in 1707, when both sides agreed to form a single parliament in London for Great Britain, although Scotland continued to keep its own system of law, education and have an independent church. Today Scotland is part of the UK. There is a special minister in the Government, the Secretary of State for Scotland. The main dates in the formation of The British state:

664 – the adoption of Christianity in England contributed to the unification of the country. 829 – the Saxon kingdoms fought one against the other. Wessex became the leading kingdom and united the rest of England in the fights against the Danes. The Greater part of the country was united under the name England.

1282 – Wales actually subdued by the Norman English.

1536, 1542 – Henry VIII brought Wales under the English Parliament through special acts of union.

1603 – monarchial union of England and Scotland.

1707 – formation of GB.

1169 – Henry II of England started an invasion of Ireland. A large part of Ireland came under the control of the invaders but there was not much direct control from England during the middle ages. In the 16^th century Henry VIII quarreled with Rome and declared himself head of the Anglican (Protestant) church. Ireland remained catholic. So Henry VIII tried to force Irish catholic to become Anglican. He punished them by taking a lot of their land. This policy was continued by his daughter Elizabeth I. The Northern province of Ulster became the centre of resistance which was crushed by the English in 1607. After this events Ulster became an area of settlement by protesting immigrants from Scotland and England. At the end 18^th century there was a mass risen against the English colonizers which was crushed by the English army. In 1801 a forced union was established with Britain. After a long and bitter struggle the Sourthen part of Ireland became a free state.

6. Modern population of GB. Urban and rural population. The main conurbations.
The population of the UK now is more than 60 million rain people. Recently, there have been many waves of immigration into Britain and movement within the U.K. F.e, many people from Wales, Scotland and Ireland have settled in England. Many foreigners settled in Britain since the beginning of the 20th cen. Commonwealth citizens could enter Britain quite freely. Before the 2 World War most of the Immigrants came from the old dominions: Canada, Australia, Mew Zealand, South Africa. In the late 1930s many Jews came from Germany because of fascist persecution, as well as Poles and people of-other nationalities from Eastern Europe. After 1952 many immigrants came to Britain from the West Indies, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, from some countries of Africa. At this time the British economy was developing rapidly and it needed cheap labour. The immigrants were poor and out of work and had been told there were jobs for them in Britain. Black and Asian people can be seen in every city of Britain, but there is a greater concentration of them in big cities, where it is easier to find work, such as London, Birmingham, Coventry, Manchester and others. Today, more than 5 million people of non-white origin live in Britain and over 80 per cent of them were born in Britain, thus they are British, but with a different colour of their skin. The immigrants usually take the lowest paid jobs, and when there is unemployment they are the first to lose work. In spite of the laws to protect them, there was still discrimination against the non-whites. This led to serious disturbances in many cities of Britain in the early 1980s.

With the movement ofpeople among the countries of the European Union of which Britain is a member, more and more people enter Britain from continental Europe. Today there are many Italians, Greeks, Spaniards and Portuguese living in Britain The arrival of many foreigners has changed life in present-day Britain. British culture has been enriched through its contact with other cultures. For example, the eating and cooking habits of the British have changed. The service sector has also unproved considerably due to the arrival of immigrants. There are many shops run by South Koreans and Vietnamese which are open 24 hours, and any customer can drop in any time to buy things which he needs.

Cultural life has also become interesting due to its diversity. You can visit different exhibitions, enjoy new theatrical performances, music. Today Britain is a multiracial society which benefits from the influences of different peoples and cultures.
Population density: in England — 363 people to the square km. In Wales - 142, in Scotland - 65, in Northern Ireland - 125. The Highlands of Scotland, the northern Pennines and mountainous Wales - are very sparsely populated. The most highly populated regions are the industrial districts: South- East England with Greater London, the Midlands, Lancashire, West Yorkshire, South Hales, Clydeside in Scotland and North-East England. The population of England is and has been for centuries, greater than that of all other parts of Britain.

As regards the proportion of urban population Britain probably holds the first place in the world. Over 90% of its population live in towns. In Britain there are 91 towns with the population of over 100 thousand people. About one third of the country's population is concentrated in the town districts, which comprise numerous merged towns and are called conurbations. The seven major metropolitan areas which have been denoted as 'conurbations' are: Greater London, Central Clydeside, Merseyside, south-East Lancashire, Tyneside, the West Midlands and West Yorkshire

These regions are famous for their poor and worn out residential districts and high population density and narrow streets of old towns and cities. They create very serious problems, including traffic. People have tended to leave city centres and conurbations because of their unhealthy environment, although such migration may not necessarily mean a change of job but rather an increase in the distance of travel to and from work. In other cases it has been a consequence of falling employment in city centres.

7. Nation traits of the British people and their traditions.

Some of the British national traits are resulting from the British way of life. The British are known as a people self-assured, absolutely confident in their national sense of superiority, wide toleration of individual differences among themselves, and even among others, it is part of the Englishman's code not to intrude upon his neighbours and their way of doing things. They have their lives to live in their own way.

The British are really conservative,are against any suggestion that some modification of their habits, or the introduction of something new and unknown into their lives. On a national scale their conservatism may be illustrated by the attitude to the monarchy. Local corporations, universities, schools and societies have their own private traditions. Self-assurance, willingness to tolerate eccentricity, law-abidingness, a curious mixture of conservatism and enterprise - all these are generalizations which hold reasonably true of all classes of the British people. Every Englishman is a countryman at heart. Many years he may have lived in the city, but he does not believe he really belongs there.
The village with its church, pub, fishing, cricket, animals, everywhere, especially dogs and horses - all this creates an ideal image of Britain. We should also add to this picture the seaside, a passion for gardening and a love for old customs and traditions. The British people may be conservative about the times they take their holiday, but they have shown themselves very ready to take to new places. Each year more English people go to different parts of continental Europe. Many take their cars, with tents and caravans, others use the travel agents' scheme for group travel and hotel booking. Most people in Britain work a five-day week, from Monday to Friday. Schools, colleges and universities are also closed on Saturdays and Sundays.

On Saturday afternoon the most important sporting events of the week take place - football, rugby, horse-racing and other sports. Some people go and watch, others sit and watch the sports programmes on television. The British are great lovers of competitive sports. Saturday evening is the favourite time for parties, dances, going to the pictures or the theatre, in fact for "going out" generally. If the weather is fine, people may decide to go out for the day. Organized amateur cricket is played between club teams. Rugby is very popular at schools where they have good playing fields for that. Golf & tennis are played by great numbers of people. Another popular game is bingo or lotto, which is usually played in halls or former cinemas. Hunting is a popular sport among the rich.

Sunday is the day when most people are engaged in some activity such as gardening, washing the car, taking the dog for a walk. Another most popular activity on this day consists of a visit to a pub -either a walk to the local pub, or often nowadays a drive to a more pleasant country pub.

The usual meals peculiar to Britain are the English breakfast (early morning), lunch (midday), afternoon tea (4.00-5.00 p.m.) and dinner (7.00-9.00 p.m.)

BREAKFAST is generally a bigger meal than they have on the Continent. The usual English breakfast is porridge or cereals with milk or cream and sugar, bacon and eggs, jam or marmalade with buttered toast, and tea or coffee.

LUNCH is generally eaten about one o’clock. When at home they have cold meat, potatoes, salad and pickles, with a pudding or fruit to follow. Sometimes they may have a mutton chop, or steak and chips, followed by biscuits and cheese. Some people like a glass of light beer with lunch.

AFTERNOON TEA is a sociable sort of thing. Tin classic afternoon tea consists of small sandwiches, bread, butter and jam, scones, sponge cakes, biscuits and sometimes buttered crumpets.

DINNER (7.00-9.00 p.m.) is the ordinary evening meal for sonic middle-class people. Lower class people call it supper. Dinner usually begins with soup, which is followed by fish, roast chicken, potatoes and vegetables, a sweet, fruit and nuts. Coffee and cigarettes are served in the sitting-room.

SUPPER (9.00-10,00 p.m.) is usually a light snack and may include an omelette or sausages, sometimes bacon and eggs and sometimes just bread and cheese, a cup of coffee or cocoa and fruit.

8. Describe GB as a constitutional Monarchy, its role and social influence.
The UK is one of the few developed countries where a constitutional monarchy has survived with its ages-old customs, traditions and ceremonies. There is no written const, in GB. There are 2 basic principles of the British constitution; THE ROLES OF LAW and THE ROLES OF CUSTOMS. In 1215 Magna Carta was accepted which was aimed to limit the powers of the king. In 1265 the 1st parliament was summoned. The Bill of Rights [1689) was a major legal step to const, monarchy.

Since 1689 the power of parliament has grown steadily, while the power of the monarch has weakened. Today the Queen reigns, though she doesn't rule. Being a constitutional monarch the Queen acts on the advice of her prime minister and doesn't make any major-political decisions. The Queen is not only the head of state, but also the symbol of the nation unity. The QUEEN-personifies the state, she is head of the executive, an integral part of legislature, head of the judiciary, the commander in chief of all armed forces, the supreme governor of the established Church of England the Anglican church and the personal Head of the Common wealth. The functions of Q:1) summon/ dissolve P. 2) giving apptoval to Bills passed by both Houses 3) appoint ministers, judges, officers in armed forces etc. 4)conferring peerages, knighthoods and other honours.5) She appoint the PM.6) to declare war/peace, recognize foreign states and governments etc., 7)Q is Head of the Commonwealth where she is represented by the Governor-General appointed by her on the advice of the government of the. country concerned and completely independent of the British government. The general public supports the idea of preserving the Royal family traditions. The 'latter has also become more flexible and open to public. The crown provides unity and stability to Britain and the Commonwealth

9. The structure and composition of the Br. Parliament. The reform of the House of Lords and its role. The House of Commons, composition, role.
Parliament in the UK is based on the principle that the people of the country hold ultimate power. They can exercise this power at least every five years, by voting for the person that they want to represent them in parliament, and by voting in a Government. The Government is made up of around 100 people from the ruling party, chosen by the Prime Minister. The most senior members of the Government are called the Cabinet.

The Government - the elected party - makes all important decisions about how the country is run. Parliament is made up of three institutions: the HC, which has 651 elected representatives called Members of Parliament (or MPs); the HL, which is an unelected second chamber; and the monarchy: the King or Queen.

Every Member of Parliament, no matter what political party he or she belongs to, has to examine the work of the Government. The opposition, which consists of all those parties which are not part of the Government, plays the leading part in this.

The House of Commons is made up of 651 Members of Parliament (MPs) who are elected by the voters (the electorate) to each represent an area of the UK which is known as a constituency. The British people all live in constituencies and have an MP to represent them in the House of Commons. MPs represent all of the people who live in their constituency, whether or not they voted for him or her.

The leader of the political party with the most seats (MPs) in the House of Commons (the governing party) becomes Prime Minister. He or she chooses a number of senior members of their party to become ministers.

Ministers sit on the front bench in the House of Commons, so are known as frontbenchers. The party which has the second largest number of seats in the HC is - the Official Opposition. Its leader is the Leader of the Opposition and will also choose senior members of his or her party to be shadow ministers. They sit on the front bench opposite the Government so are known as Opposition or Shadow front-benchers. All of the other smaller parties are known as Opposition parties even though some may support the Government. All of the MPs who are not either ministers or Shadow ministers are known as back-benchers.

The House of Commons meets in a building called the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, London, in a specially designed chamber.The House of Commons work includes the following:

a) legislation: the House spends nearly half its time making laws.

b) controlling finance: before the Government can raise or spend money, it must have permission from the House of Commons.

c) examining the Government by asking questions, by holding debates and by committee work.