brief introduction to the UK英国简介

1 Brief Introduction of the Great Britain

Chapter One English History

Section one the natives and the foreign invasions

!. The Primitive Society (3000 BC.—55 BC.)

2. The Slavery Society (55 BC.—43 AD—410 )

3. The Feudualist Society (450—1485 ), Transitional period (1485-1688)

4. The Capitalist Society (1688--now )

I. Primitive society:

About 3000 BC., New Stone. Age, Iberians, the first known settlers of Britain, came to

Britain. They were farming folk who kept animals grew crops. Long barrows were their

communal burial mounds. More dramatic monuments were the henges, the most important

of which was Stonehenge in Whiltshire, constructed before 2000 BC..Exactly why it was

built is unknown, but it must have had religious and political significance.

About 2000 BC., the Beaker Folk arrived from the areas now known as Holland and

Rhineland. These people took their name from distinctive bell-shaped drinking vessels with

which they were buried in crouching positions in individual graves. They brought with them

the art of pottery making, the ability to fashion bronze tools and the custom of individual

burial.

About 700 BC., the Celts came to Britain unitil the arrival of Romans. They came from

eastern and central Europe, now France, Belgium and southern Germany. They came to

Britain in three waves. The first were the Gaels who came here about 600 BC. The second

wave were the Brythons about 400 BC. The third were the Belgae, about 150 BC. The

Celts did not kill off the Iberians. They drove some of them to the north and west.

The Celts were still in their primitive society and the land was covered with dense forests.

They knew nothing of a written language, although they could utter different sound to

exchange ideas. Their language didn‘t disappear completely, either. Some of the Celtic

words or sounds were later assimilated into the English language. Some people in

Scotland and Wales now still speak a language of the Celtic origin. The Celts were

practised farmers. They built houses of wood and wickerwork with a weather-proof coating

of mud. They were iron workers. The Celts‘ religion was Druidism. The Druids ( the wise

man, astrologers and soothsayers ) worshipped and performed their rites in woods by the

light of the moon. There is evidence that they offered up human sacrifaces to their gods.

II. The foreign invasions

1. Roman Conquest (55 BC.—AD.43—410)

In 55—54 B.C., The Roman General Julius Caesar led the Romans to cross the

Channel and invade Britain. They met with much resistance on the part of the natives and bad weather, he decided to withdraw with hostages and prisoners. They got possession of

what is now known as England by driving many of the native Celts to Scotland and Wales

in AD. 43 leaded by the Emperor Claudius..

The Romans brought their Roman civilization. They built towns temples, theaters and

fine buildings. They cleared away the forests, built roads and taught the Britons to cultivate

their land in a better way. They remained in Britain for about 350 years from 43 A. D. to 410

A.D. They ruled the Celts and got the grain to Roman. In 410 A.D, they left England

because their country was going to downfall. The island returned to the control of the

native inhabitants.

The Roman impact upon the Britons was surprisingly limited. 1). The Romans always

treated the Brotons as a subjectpeople of slave class. 2). Never during the 4 centuries did

Romans and Britons intermarry. 3). The Romans had no impact on the language or culture

of ordinary Britons. But they turned the British society into slavery society.

2. Anglo-Saxon Conquest (450 --871)

In the middle of the 5th century, Angles, Saxons, and Jutes crossed the North Sea to

invade the Britain. They were three Teutonic tribes. According to Welsh legends, the British

king of Kent, Vortigern invited two Jutish chief named Hengist and Horsa to help him drive

out Picts and scots. But after driving out the Picts and Scots, they turned upon Vortigern,

and overpowered him after a series of battles. Hengist became the King of Kent in 449.

Then the saxons, users of the short-sword from northern Germany, established their

kingdoms in Essex, Sussex and Wessex from the end of the 5th century to the beginning of

the 6th century. In the second half of the 6th century, the Angles, who came from northern

Germany and were given the name to the English people, settled in East Anglia, Mercia

and Northumbria. These seven city-states have been given the name of Heptarchy.

The Anglo-saxon tribes were at war with each other, each trying to get the upper hand.