The Entire History of England In 11 Minutes

Welcome to Europa Historia. England. From tribal warriors and roman legions, to kings, queens, empires, and world wars. This is the epic history of England. Long before England existed, the island of Britain was home to Celtic tribes like the Brigantes, Insani, Dumnoni, and of course, These tribes traded and fought amongst themselves until 43 AD when the Romans invaded. The Romans conquered Britain with force. They built roads, towns, public bathhouses, which still exist today, and Hadrian's Wall. Rome ruled Britain for 400 years until internal conflict forced them to withdraw. Without strong central leadership, chaos followed. Germanic tribes like the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes moved in. Over centuries, they formed small kingdoms. One of them, Wessex, rose under King Alfred the Great, but new invaders came, the Vikings of Scandinavia. They ravaged and ruled parts of England, culminating in the establishment of the Danelok, a legal and social system that bound regions of Viking-ruled Britain together. King Alfred is the Great for his valiant defense of his kingdom in the face of a much stronger enemy, securing peace with his enemies, and in turn, securing a future for England, which at this point was still just a far-fetched idea in the mind of an ambitious old king. The first king to actually rule over a unified England was the grandson of Alfred, Athelstan. Athelstan, King of the English, reigned from 925 to 939 AD and is recognized for consolidating the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and securing the submission of other British rulers, effectively becoming the first king of all England. In 1066, England changed forever. William, Duke of Normandy, defeated King Harold at the Battle of Hastings and became the first Norman king of England, for which he would be forever remembered as William the Conqueror. The Normans brought castles, French influence, and a new ruling class which almost completely replaced and dispossessed the English elite. The incoming French-speaking aristocracy had a profound and lasting impact on the English language. The Plantagenet dynasty inherited its rule of England under Henry II in 1154 and would reign for a period of 331 years before giving way to the famed Tudor dynasty. The Plantagenets were of Anjou, France. They added the Kingdom of England to their Angevin Empire, which encompassed most of France, making them one of the most powerful lineages in the world. Even with their expanded English power, they fought constantly, both at home and abroad. In 1215, rebellious barons forced King John to sign the Magna Carta, limiting royal power by protecting the privileges of free men, laying groundwork for future democracy. As is the case with most of history, lots of war followed. In 1337, the rulers of England clashed with the House of Valois in France after both parties claimed to be the rightful heirs to the House of Capitaine and the Kingdom of France. The Hundred Years War followed and would not end until 1453, 116 years later. During this time, England was also hit with the Black Death, an epidemic that would eventually kill up to half of England's inhabitants. After over a century of war and disease, England would still not see peace. In 1455, the War of the Roses began, a brutal civil war between the Houses of Lancaster and York over control of the English throne. This war between cousins would last until 1487. Out of this bloodshed rose the Tudors, who would rule England and subsequently Great Britain for 118 years until their line ended with Queen Elizabeth I. Henry VIII of the Tudor dynasty famously split from the Catholic Church in 1534 and created the Church of England with himself as the supreme leader, just to get a divorce. The Acts of Supremacy proclaimed the monarch as head of the Church of England, which is still true to this day. His daughter, Elizabeth I, also known as the Virgin Queen, ushered in a golden age of Renaissance culture, exploration, and the defeat of the First Spanish Armada. England during this time was known for having a well-organized, centralized, and effective government. In 1585, chasing riches and newfound territory in the New World, England settled its first colony in the Americas. Roanoke, as it was called, settled on the coast of Virginia. It failed and was lost and abandoned, famously. This would not deter the English, who would eventually rule over the largest colonial empire in history. Around this same time, England would form the East India Company to compete with French and Dutch interests in the East. After the Tudors came the Stuarts. The Virgin Queen died childless, leaving the throne to her cousin James VI, King of Scots. James inherited the English throne as James I. He created a personal union between the long-time rivals of England and Scotland. He called himself King of Great Britain, a concept foreign at this time in history. In 1611, he authorized the publication of the King James Version of the Holy Bible. This would spark divides between Anglican Protestants and Catholics, and these divides would eventually become too much to bear, sparking the English Civil War. On one side, you had the Anglican Protestant supporters of the Crown Dynasty, headed by King Charles I, known as the Cavaliers. On the other side, you had the Puritan supporters of the Parliament, headed by Oliver Cromwell, known as Roundheads. After a notoriously brutal and costly war between Kingsmen, the Parliamentarians and Oliver Cromwell were victorious. Charles lost his head, and England briefly became a republic under Oliver Cromwell, who declared himself Lord Protector in 1653. After Cromwell's death, Charles II was invited to return from exile and become the monarch of England in 1660. This act was called the Restoration. Charles II was a popular king who invested in the fine arts, high culture, and the performing arts. In 1688, the Bloodless Glorious Revolution established a new age in England. It was decided that the Parliament and Monarchy would rule in tandem, together, though Parliament would have greater leverage overall. The Bill of Rights was introduced the following year in 1689. The main point was that the law could only be established by an Act of Parliament, and the ruling monarch could do nothing about it. England had become a constitutional monarchy. In 1707, England formally united with Scotland to form Great Britain, which would soon become the world's largest empire. The Royal Society, fueled by the enormous extent of the overseas British trading network, made leaping advances in engineering, naval construction, and scientific thought. That's partly why the Industrial Revolution began here in England, transforming society, cities, and humankind forever. This period of rapid advancement, industrialized agriculture, manufacturing, resource extraction, and ease of transportation through railroads and shipping networks was the groundwork for the establishment of the British Empire, on which the sun would never set. Great Britain remained on the outskirts of the French Revolution, but during the Napoleonic Wars, they were forced to engage with the mad military genius. Britain's greatest asset was the English Channel. Without it, we all might be speaking French today. Napoleon planned to invade Britain by sea. If he were able to land troops on mainland Britain, there would have been little the British could do to defend themselves. However, Napoleon's invasion force was defeated by Horatio Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar. Napoleon is almost single-handedly responsible for unifying the historically divided cultures of the British Isles. The people of England, Scotland, and Wales were bitter enemies for most of their shared history, but in the face of overwhelming French power, they came together as one British people, or one might say a United Kingdom. Then came the Victorian Age. Under Queen Victoria, the United Kingdom ruled a quarter of the globe, and London became the largest metropolitan city in the world. The British Navy was the most powerful it had ever been. All those boats allowed the trade to flourish unlike anything seen before. Trains, factories, and signs flourished, and movements led by groups like the Suffragettes fought for universal suffrage, which is the right for all adult citizens to vote in political elections regardless of race, gender, religion, or social status. In the 20th century, the United Kingdom was drawn into two world wars. The first left deep scars and led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of British soldiers. Only two decades after the supposed war to end all wars, the Second World War began, which brought death and destruction unlike England had ever seen. The war in the British mainland was defined by bombings, evacuations, resourcefulness, and Churchill's defiant leadership through what he called Britain's finest hour. Victory came, but the empire unraveled through rapid decolonization and a general pullback of governmental focus in order to rebuild the mainland. Post-war England, as a part of the United Kingdom, became part of a modern democracy. It rebuilt its economy, and it created services such as the National Health Service, which provides publicly funded health care to all permanent residents. The swinging 60s brought cultural revolutions, including in 1963 when the iconic series Doctor Who premiered, symbolizing England's unparalleled contribution to global pop culture. Fast forward to today, England is a land of rich history, global influence, and complex identity. From Shakespeare to the Beatles, parliamentary democracy to football, few nations have left such a mark on the world. And of course, this rapid journey through the entire history of England only scratches the surface. If you'd like to hear more, please let me know in the comments. Thank you for joining us on this historical ride, and if you enjoyed the video, don't forget to like, subscribe, and join us for more historical explorations. Have a good day, everybody.