- •What great monuments of prehistory still exist in the British Isles?
- •What are the mysteries of Stonehenge?
- •When did the Celts arrive in Britain? What Celtic tribes do you know? Where did they settle?
- •What were the Celts like? How did they organize their family life? What gods did they worship? Who were the Druids? What functions were performed by them?
- •What Celtic languages are still spoken in the British Isles? What is the most flourishing Celtic language today? What are its peculiarities?
- •What historical events are these dates associated with? 55 bc, 54 bc, 43 ad, 410 When and why did the Romans leave Britain?
- •What event in the history of Britain is associated with the Iceni people and their queen? How did the Romans try to defend themselves against the Celtic tribes?
- •What is the most spectacular memorial of the Roman presence in Britain?
- •What did the Romans introduce in the life of the ancient islanders? What languages were spoken in Roman Britain?
- •What Germanic tribes invaded Britain from the Continent in the 5th century?
- •What do you know about King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table? What was Merlin famous for?
- •When was Britain converted into Christianity? Why does the tradition of visiting Canterbury Cathedral continue to this day? How did the new faith influence the life of the Anglo-Saxons?
- •Which of the Anglo-Saxon kings deserved the title of ‘Great’? What were his great accomplishments?
- •What languages were spoken in Anglo-Saxon Britain? What is the great mythological poem written in the West Saxon dialect of Old English? What is it about?
- •When did the Scandinavian invasion begin? Who were the Vikings?
- •How did the Viking rule in Britain affect the life of the islanders?
- •Who was the Anglo-Saxon king before the Norman Conquest? What were the reasons for the Norman invasion?
- •Why were the English forces defeated in the Battle of Hastings? Why is it said that the Battle of Hastings changed the course of English history?
- •What marks the place of the Battle of Hastings?
- •What do you know about William the Conqueror?
- •What did the Normans do to make themselves safe in the new lands?
- •What are some famous castles in Britain? What do you know about them?
- •What is ‘Domesday Book’? What was it written for?
- •What languages were spoken in Norman Britain?
- •What were the most important political, economic and cultural changes after the Norman Conquest?
- •Who was the first Plantagenet King? Why was Thomas Becket murdered? How did the Christian world react to Becket’s martyrdom?
- •What role did Geoffrey Chaucer play for the development of the English language? What languages were books written in before Chaucer in England?
- •What do you know about the Magna Carta?
- •How did King Edward I manage to impose English rule on Wales? What is Caernarfon Castle famous for?
- •What were the reasons for the War of the Roses? Who gave the war its name?
- •Characterise Henry VIII as a man and as a king
- •Why did the English people dislike Queen Mary I?
- •What is the Renaissance? When did it begin in Britain? What spheres of life did the Renaissance influence?
- •Why was the reign of Queen Elizabeth I called ‘the Golden Age’? What were the prominent writers, poets, painters, philosophers and scientists of that period?
- •Why did Elizabeth support many English seamen that caused trouble to Spanish ships? Who were the most famous seamen of the time?
- •What were the reasons and the results of the sea battle between the Armada and the English fleet?
- •What were the reasons for the conflict of the Stuarts with the Parliament?
- •How did the Civil War develop and end? What was King Charles I accused and found guilty of? What was his execution like?
- •What social groups supported Oliver Cromwell? What new kind of army did he create? How did o. Cromwell govern the country?
- •Why did Scotland agree to the union with England in 1707? What was the new official name of the united state?
- •What military heroes glorified Great Britain in the Napoleonic Wars?
- •Why was colonizing foreign lands important? What colonies did Britain have in North America, in the West Indies and India?
- •What did the British government and the American colonies quarrel over? When did the American War of Independence begin? What was the result of the war?
- •What new ideas did the War of Independence bring? What were the revolutionary changes in art in the 18th century?
- •What is the Industrial Revolution? Why did it begin in Britain? What branches of industry were progressing in the 18th century?
- •What new social classes appeared in the 18th century? What caused social unrest in the country? What do you know about Chartism?
- •What disasters did Ireland suffer in 1845, 1846 and 1847? What country did many Irish emigrate to?
- •What were the greatest cultural achievements of the Victorian Age?
- •What moral values are called ‘Victorian’?
- •When did the Windsor family come to power? What important events of the 20th and 21st century did they witness?
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What moral values are called ‘Victorian’?
Queen Victoria was Queen on the UK and Ireland from 1837 until her death in 1901.She succeeded to the throne after George 4(1820-1830) and William 4(1830-1837) She became the Queen when she was 18. The UK was an established monarchy, in which the sovereign (сОвэрин-монарх) held relatively little direct political power. She married Prince Albert and they had 9 children. Albert was irreplaceable for her and his death in 1861 shocked her. She started to avoid public appearances. Victoria became a national icon with strict standards of morality. Her reign lasted 63 years and its known as the Victorian Era. This era is famous for the Victorian standards of personal morality. The qualities such as soberness, punctuality, frugality (фругЭлити-бережливость) were valued before the Victoria’s reign too, but during her reign these values became the most significant.And of course, the familly was the most important thing. The aristocracy and the representatives of the middle-class followed the Queen’s example.
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When did the Windsor family come to power? What important events of the 20th and 21st century did they witness?
The House of Windsor came into being in 1917, when the name was adopted as the British Royal Family's official name by a proclamation of King George V, replacing the historic name of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. It remains the family name of the current Royal Family.
The present Queen Elizabeth 2 has familial ties with most of the monarchs in Europe.During the twentieth century, kings and queens of the United Kingdom have fulfilled the varied duties of constitutional monarchy. One of their most important roles has been acting as national figureheads lifting public morale during the devastating wars of 1914-18 and 1939-45.
The period saw the modernisation of the monarchy in tandem with many social changes which have taken place over the past 90 years. One such modernisation has been the use of mass communication technologies to make the Royal Family accessible to a broader public all over the world.
George V adopted the new relatively new medium of radio to broadcast across the Empire at Christmas; the Coronation ceremony was broadcast on television for the first time in 1953, at The Queen's insistence; and the World Wide Web has been used for the past seven years to provide a global audience with information about the Royal Family. During this period, British monarchs have also played a vital part in promoting international relations. The Queen retains close links with former colonies in her role as Head of the Commonwealth.