ANGLAIS CPGE - M.Delaby

Fiches culturelles

CHAPITRE 51

THE MAIN CONFLICTS INVOLVING GREAT-BRITAIN S1337-1453 : The Hundred Years’ War opposed England and France. The most famous Battles won by England were those of Crécy (1346) and Azincourt (1415). Finally, the English only held Calais because of the counter offensive directed by Joan of Arc.

MILESTONES - 1337-1453 : Hundred Years’War - 1455-1485 : The War of Roses

1455-1485 : The War of Roses opposed two English families : Lancaster (red rose) and York (white rose). The origin of this civil war is an alleged throne usurpation. The Lancaster’s forefathers were accused of taking the power irregularly at the time of Henry IV (1399). As a consequence, several sovereigns were killed by plotters : Henry VI (1471), Edward V (1485) and Richard III (1485). Finally, the two roses were unified by the marriage of Henry VII (Lancaster family) and Edward IV’s daughter (York family). 1642-1646 : A civil war opposed parliamentary forces conducted by Oliver Cromwell and Charles I forces. Charles I failed into his fight against Scotland, not following the guidelines of the Parliament. He fled in Scotland but he was returned to England. He refused to accept a compromise and was executed in 1649.

- 1775-1783 : Independence

13th-18th centuries : England went on colonization. Wales were conquered in the 13th century, Ireland in the 16th century, Scotland on the 18th century (in the battle of Culloden in 1746). There was an enormous rivalry between France and England : England took Canada and India from the French.

- 1792-1815 : Napoleonic Wars

1775-1783 : Britain struggled to conserve its American colonies but this war leaded to the independence of the United States.

- 1642-1646 : Civil war

1792-1815 : Britain resisted to Napoleon’s Empire invasion. Battles of Trafalgar (1805) and Waterloo (1815) put an end to the French expansion. 19th century : England struggles in the Crimean War (1853) and the Opium Wars (1839-1853 and 1856-1860).

- 19th century : Crimean and Opium Wars - 1914-1918 : WW1 - 1939-1945 : WW2

1914-1918 : Great Britain was implicated in WWI. Allied with France after the Entente Cordiale in 1904, Great Britain fought against the invasion of Belgium by the Germans. For this war, Great Britain called a large part of the young people. In parallel, Ireland protested and finally obtained their independence in 1921 (Irish Free State). Some skirmishes between the English and the Irish were conducted 35 years later (1956-1962). 1939-1945 : WWII opposed Great Britain and the nazis. Fearing an invasion, Great Britain defended its territory through the Dunkirk trap or the Battle of Britain, in the air (1940-1941). Finally, the nazi regime lost the war and the English one had to rebuild the destroyed cities. 1982 : Great Britain faced a war in Falklands Islands, after its invasion by Argentina. 1990-2014 : Great Britain struggles against terrorism after the « Operation Granby », know as « Desert Storm » in the United States and the third Gulf War, which aim was to defeat Saddam Hussein

- 1982 : Falklands War - 1990-2015 : Gulf Wars

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