Between 1642 and 1651, armies loyal to King Charles I and Parliament faced off in three civil wars over longstanding disputes about religious freedom and how the “three kingdoms” of England, Scotland and Ireland should be governed. Notable outcomes of the wars included the execution of King Charles I in 1649, 11 years of republican rule in England and the establishment of Britain’s first standing national army.
Oliver Cromwell was born on 25 April 1599, his father was Robert Cromwell, a modest country gentleman, and his mother was Elizabeth Steward. Oliver spent his childhood in Huntingdon before attending Cambridge University for one year. Cromwell married Elizabeth Bourchier on 22 August 1620, and they went on to have seven children, the most famous being the eldest, Richard (b. 1626). In 1628, he represented a Cambridgeshire borough as a Member of Parliament.
The English Civil Wars comprised three wars, which were fought between Charles I and Parliament between 1642 and 1651.
The wars were part of a wider conflict involving Wales, Scotland and Ireland, known as the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.
The human cost of the wars was devastating. Up to 200,000 people lost their lives, or 4.5% of the population. This was as great a loss, proportionally, as during the First World War.
Battle of Agincourt, (October 25, 1415), decisive battle in the Hundred Years’ War (1337–1453) that resulted in the victory of the English over the French. The English army, led by King Henry V, famously achieved victory in spite of the numerical superiority of its opponent.
On July 14th 1789, a crowd of several thousand people laid siege to the Bastille, a royal fortress, prison and armoury in eastern Paris. After a standoff of several hours, they gained access to the Bastille, overwhelmed its guards and murdered its governor. The fall of the Bastille was chiefly symbolic. The French Revolution would have days of greater political significance. Despite this, the fall of the Bastille has shaped our perceptions of the French Revolution, giving us powerful images of an outraged people in revolution.
recycling, recovery and reprocessing of waste materials for use in new products. The basic phases in recycling are the collection of waste materials, their processing or manufacture into new products
computer security, also called cybersecurity, the protection of computer systems and information from harm, theft, and unauthorized use. Computer hardware is typically protected by the same means used to protect other valuable or sensitive equipment—namely, serial numbers, doors and locks, and alarms.
'Under the cover of the WW2, the Nazis tried to kill every Jewish man, woman and child in Europe.
For the first time in History, science and technology were not used to improve peoples’ lives but for the mass murder of a whole people. Six million Jews, including 1,500,000 children were murdered: this is called the Holocaust. The Nazis also enslaved and murdered millions of other people because of racism, intolerance and prejudice. Roma and Sinti people (sometimes called Gypsies), people with disabilities, Poles, Soviet prisoners of war, Jehovah’s Witnesses, homosexuals and others were killed in vast numbers.
None of this happened very long ago: some of the people involved are still alive today. Nor did it happen very far from where you live. These events occurred in the ‘civilised’ countries of modern Europe. So it was not only the lives of people at the time that were torn apart by the Holocaust, but also our ideas about how human beings treat each other. Because of this the Holocaust is important not only as an event in history but also for how we live our lives today.’
Extract from ‘Torn Apart’ by Imperial War Museum
In an auction sale slaves would be brought from the pen to stand on a raised platform so they could be seen by the buyers. People could inspect the slaves if they wanted to. The auctioneer would decide a price to start the bidding and whoever gave the highest price won.
In a scramble sale all people who wanted to buy a slave would pay the trader an agreed amount of money. The trader would then give them a ticket and all buyers would rush in the pen and grab the slaves they wanted. It was a terrifying ordeal for the slaves.
‘Inside the chimney, high I climb
Its dark inside the sooty stack,
I bang my head, I graze my back,
I lose all sense of passing time,
Inside the chimney,
high I climb
Evacuation was voluntary, but the fear of bombing, the closure of many urban schools and the organised transportation of school groups helped persuade families to send their children away to live with strangers. The schoolchildren in this photograph assembled at Myrdle School in Stepney at 5am on 1 September 1939. The adults accompanying them are wearing arm bands, which identify them as volunteer marshals.
During the long reign (1558–1603) of Elizabeth I, England emerged as a world power and her presence helped unify the country against foreign enemies.
Her reign is often defined in terms of her skillful diplomacy, her action on religious matters, and the defeat of the Spanish Armada, Her reign also saw a brilliant flourishing in the arts.
Charles I was king of England, Scotland and Ireland, whose conflicts with parliament led to civil war and his eventual execution.
Charles I was born in Fife on 19 November 1600, the second son of James VI of Scotland and Anne of Denmark. On the death of Elizabeth I in 1603 James became king of England and Ireland. Charles’s popular older brother Henry, whom he adored, died in 1612 leaving Charles as heir, and in 1625 he became king. Three months after his accession he married Henrietta Maria of France. They had a happy marriage and left five surviving children.
Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre was a French lawyer and statesman who became one of the best-known, influential, and controversial figures of the French Revolution. As a member of the Estates-General, the Constituent Assembly, and the Jacobin Club, he campaigned for universal manhood suffrage, the right to vote for people of color, Jews, actors, and domestic staff
The Enlightenment, also known as the Age of Reason, was a philosophical movement in Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries. At its core was a belief in the use and celebration of reason, the power by which humans understand the universe and improve their own condition. The goals of rational humanity were considered to be knowledge, freedom, and happiness.