Two traditional characteristics in the process of British political development

Historically, "Britain" is a very uncertain concept. The habitual mistake of addressing "Britain" in Chinese deepens the ambiguity of the concept of "Britain". Strictly speaking, "Britain" is just the abbreviation of "Kingdom of England", but in fact it is often used to refer to the British Isles, including England, Wales, Scotland and sometimes even England. Of course, in the Middle Ages, the Kingdom of England always occupied an absolute dominant position in the British Isles-Wales was merged into the Kingdom of England at the turn of 13~ 14 century; Scotland surrendered to England in 1286. By 1603, Scotland and England were unified, and 1707 formally merged. Ireland was invaded by Britain in 1 170, and then basically existed as a dependency of the Kingdom of England until 1937, when it officially became independent from England.

Therefore, "Britain" or "Kingdom of England" is often regarded as an interchangeable concept with "Britain". /kloc-In the late 5th century, humanists first used the word "Middle Ages". At that time, it refers to the thousand years from the demise of the Western Roman Empire to the end of the15th century. However, when we focus on Britain, "Middle Ages" usually refers to 1066 Norman Conquest to 1485 Tudor Dynasty Establishment. As the descendants of the invaders, the princes and ministers of the Kingdom of England are full of aggressive blood. Expanding territory and expanding one's own power as much as possible is an important feature of British historical development. Medieval Britain played an important role in European history, although it was at the outer end of European civilization circle. When the expansion of the Kingdom of England in Britain ended, it turned its attention to the European continent across the sea. It is no exaggeration to say that since the Middle Ages, British foreign policy has been permeated with a strong "continental complex"&the British "continental complex" originated from the previous invasions from the mainland for more than a thousand years, and William's conquest of England as Duke of Normandy deepened this complex. For William and his descendants, Normandy is their real home, and England is just an overseas country, which is a rich reward for consolidating the Duke's position in Normandy. Their main attention has been on the mainland, focusing on the struggle with their lords, French kings and other mainland monarchs. Henry II, the founder of Plantagenet Dynasty, was the son of Maud, the granddaughter of William the Conqueror. He relied on his grandfather's legacy, not his grandfather's family, and became a great vassal of the French kingdom. 1 154, Henry II entered Britain, and his territory has spread all over the western part of the European continent, ruling a great empire "extending from the Arctic Ocean to the Pyrenees". England is just an inconspicuous province in its vast empire.

Richard, the son of Henry II, has been conquering each other with mainland monarchs during his ten years in power, and responded to the Pope's call to join the Crusades. Although Richard is deeply loved by British subjects, his life and achievements are all in the European continent, and he has only been to Britain twice and lived in it for only a few months. During this period, England had a close relationship with the mainland, which deeply influenced the thinking of the British people. At this time, the British people were far from forming the so-called island consciousness. They naturally regarded themselves as part of a great empire across the English Channel. This situation changed during the reign of King John. He lost most of the territory painstakingly managed by his father and brother on the mainland, and only kept a few small pieces of territory in aquitaine. Britain has become the backbone of the Plantagenet Empire, and the restoration of the vast territory and strong position of the British royal family during Henry II has in turn become the pursuit of the once-ruled British. This pursuit led to the endless struggle between Britain and France for mainland territory in the following decades, until the two countries signed the Paris Peace Treaty in 1259 and 12. In the peace treaty, the British and French kings made concessions, but the dispute between Britain and France was not completely resolved. Britain continues to occupy mainland territory, enabling the British to continue to rebuild the dream of a great empire on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. However, the provision that the French king provided financial subsidies to the British king in the peace treaty has never been fulfilled, which has become the historical root of the "Hundred Years War" between Britain and France in the future.

British dynasty watch

Wessex dynasty (802- 1066) Albert (802-839)

The Great Alfred (87 1-899)

Edward (Religion) (1042- 1066)

Danish dynasty (10 13- 1042)

Normandy dynasty (1066- 1 154) William (conqueror) (1066- 1087)

Stephen (1135-1154)

Plantagenet Dynasty (Anjou Dynasty) (1 154- 1399) Henry II (1189)

Richard I (Lion Heart King) (1189-1199)

John (Landless) (1199-1216)

Edward I of England, England (1272- 1307)

Lancaster Dynasty (1399- 146 1) Henry IV (1399- 14 13)

York family (146 1- 1485) Edward IV of England, England (146 1- 1483)

Tudor dynasty (1485- 1603) henry vii (1485- 1509)

Henry VIII (1509- 1547)

Elizabeth I (1558- 1603)