Introduction to the Hundred Years War:

Since the Norman Conquest in 1066, the English kings laid claim to parts of France as
well as all of England; this necessarily led to tensions between the two nations. To
complicate matters, King Henry II of England married Eleanor of Aquitaine in 1152, which
gave Henry II control over more of France than the French king. The wars would result in
changes in the governments of both France and England. By the end of the century, thanks
in part of the Black Death, the medieval way of life was beginning to disappear. The Hundred
Years War, between England and France, lasted just over a century, from 1337-1453.
Following an issue with who would succeed to the French throne. Victory passed between
the two countries' leaders, the English won a big treaty victory which would allow the
English King to rule with his French wife over both England and France. Due to his untimely
death, the French reneged on their treaty obligations and successfully launched a new
attack. After the French heroine Joan of Arc was captured and executed, the French rallied
behind her cause and successfully kicked the English out of most of France, thereby ending
the Hundred Years War.

Who fought each other during the Hundred Years War? What's the significance of Eleanor of
Aquitaine?

How long was the Hundred Years War?

Who won the Hundred Years War?

The Hundred Years War: Henry V

Soon after I was crowned as King Henry V of England in 1413, I proposed marriage to
the daughter of French King Charles VI. I asked my future father-in law to return control of
Normandy to my country, but he refused, so I declared war. I defeated France's forces at
Agincourt in 1415 and went on to recapture Normandy in 1419. In a treaty to end the
conflict, King Charles passed over his own son to name me heir to the throne of France in
1420. As the king's son-in-law, I was to one day reign with my wife, the king's daughter, as
king of France as well as serving the people of England as their monarch. Unfortunately, my
many years as a soldier had taken their toll on me. Shortly after the treaty, I fell il. I am
fearful now, that I am lying on my deathbed and shall never, in fact, rule the two lands as I so
desired and be able to truly bring peace to my wonderful subjects.
After Henry V died in 1422, fighting continued until the French gained the upper hand at the
Battle of Orleans in 1429. After twenty-five more years of French victories, the English finally
retreated from all French land except Calais.

Who is King Henry V?

Why is he important to the continuance of the Hundred Years War?

Impact of the Hundred Years War:
The long exhausting war finally ended in 1453. This created a feeling of nationalism
in both England and France. Following the war, people began to think of their king as a
national leader, fighting for the glory of the country rather than simply being an important
feudal lord. This created the first modern nation-states in Europe. While the English suffered
a period of internal turmoil following the war, the French monarchy increased in power and
prestige. It would be another two centuries before England regained prominence in the
world.

Explain the major impacts of the Hundred Years War.

Who is Edward III?

Why is he important to the beginning of the Hundred Years War?

Who was Joan of Arc?

Why is she important to the end of the Hundred Years War?

 Henry VII
Edward Edward Two Richard +
Henry V Henry VI Henry VI
IV IV Princes III Elizabeth
of York

Henry V dies.
Henry VI inherits the throne at a very young age.
Edward IV takes the crown from Henry VI, rules for 10 years, not very liked.
Henry VI gets the crown after it was taken from Edward IV
Edward IV kills Henry VI in a battle and takes the throne once again.
Two young princes are supposed to inherit the crown after Edwards death.
Richard III gets them locked up and takes the throne, marries Elizabeth of York

Elizabeth I
- Optimistic society, healthy economy, political and religious stability
- Cultural heroes:
o Shakespeare
o Thomas More

Stuart dynasty

James I.
- Staunch protestant (very strong protestant)
- English version of the Bible
- Expanded American colonisation
o Jamestown
- Dies

Charles I.
- Son of James I
- Extremely disliked
- Marries a French catholic queen
o Tries to reclaim the French throne
- Ruled without parliament
o He believed that he, as the ruler from the will of God, should just be able to
rule as he pleases
o Parliament pushes against him because they think he is a Catholic
- Triennial Act
o The parliament would meet every three years, but the king would get the
money he asks for
  Disliked by people who thought the King should have all the power
and now the parliament is trying to tell him what to do
 Disliked by the parliament because once every three years is not
enough

Royalists (Cavaliers)
- Led by the King and the Catholic nobles
- Very fancy people

Parliamentarians (Roundheads)
- Oliver Cromwell
o Educated, well-trained, charismatic, liked

Parliamentarians captured the King, but they didn’t know what to do

- He wanted to do something for the people in a semi- legal way

Oliver Cromwell’s rump parliament

- Catholics were mostly afraid to enter the parliament
- Protestants were there
- Tried King Charles I for treason, murder, and tyranny and he is declared a public
enemy
o He gets publicly executed
- His wife runs away with their son who should have become the king

Oliver Cromwell sets up a republic since there is no king

- Abolishes house of Lords, church of England, and the monarchy
- Sets up a harsh, religious-military dictatorship
o The military listened to every word he ordered
When Oliver dies, his son inherits the rule, but no one really likes him, he has no power over
the military, he gives up his rule after 9 months, leaves the country but returns, never gets
imprisoned or tried because he is so unimportant

Charles II
- Restoration period
- Re-establishing the Church of England, the house of Lords, the Parliament
- Secretly a Catholic but pretends to be a puritan
- Didn’t have any proper children, just 12 illegitimate children
- His brother will become king after him

James II
- Ordered to marry a protestant woman
- She converts to Catholic and convinces him to do the same
- No one knows but his brother

William and Mary “invade” England, allow James II to leave with his son, William and Mary
jointly rule, peace and stability returns.
The Victorian Era ends with queen Victoria
- She is a woman

Victorian England
◦ Wealthiest nation in the world - exploiting the empire and the workers during
the Industrial Revolution
◦ Territories on every inhabited continent
◦ Industrial Revolution
◦ Women’s suffrage - women can vote not that they suffer
◦ Pax Britannica (foreign policy)- British peace- the only way the empire can
only live if there is peace within
◦ Naval supremacy

THE SUN NEVER SETS ON THE BRITISH EMPIRE!!

Women
◦ Dual burden in society - run the household and in charge of children,
cleanliness of homes, the man still “leads” the family
◦ In upper class expected to know multiple languages, know to play instruments
◦ Poorer women could work in factories, making textiles- believed that men
couldn’t do it and so women were respected because it was important
◦ If they were educated, they could be a governess so teaching children
◦ Prostitutes
◦ Women couldn’t inherit any properties
◦ The dual burden also meant they were seen as guardians of morality- seen as
weaker but they had more morality

Children
◦ Adults from 5 - they stopped wearing dresses, expected to work, dress
accordingly but they were underpaid, even less than a woman
◦ Long shifts- 12-16 hours
◦ Short shifts were 8-10 hours
◦ Working in mines and factories
◦ Not the most fun childhood experience

Upper class
Middle class
Lower/ working class
Under (sunken) class - homeless, jobless
Edward VII
- Succeeds his mother Queen Victoria
- Saxe-Coburg-Gotha dynasty (you do not inherit mothers’ name
- Called “the peacemaker”
 King of United Kingdom and Ireland
 Emperor of India
o He was called so because he travelled around the empire and
continental Europe to enhance relations

George V
- Scandal free, hardworking, popular
- Tries to save the monarchy:
o Modern British royal conduct
 How to behave basically
 “The Royal Family needs to have the same values as the
middle class”
 Noble Virtues
 Upper class etiquette
 How they talk, how they dress, how they should
act…
- House of Windsor
o Changes the name
- WWI happened during his rule
o They didn’t want to sound German

Dominion
- From a domestic point of view, they are like a sovereign state
- From an external point of view, they are part of the empire
- Still under the monarch

The British Commonwealth of Nations

- Recognised British dominions as separate, independent states
- Currently 56 nations
o 14 of them still have The King as the head
Edward VIII
- Ruled for 1 year (1936)
- Constitutional crisis
o He wanted to marry an American actress that has been
divorced twice already
o He gave up the throne to marry her
- Abdication
- Duke of Windsor
- He screwed up the reputation of the British monarchy a little bit

George VI
- Extremely popular
o He cared about the people
o He stayed in the country during WWII
- Brother of Edward
- A symbol of British determination
o He stayed in the country during WWII
o “Keep calm and carry on”
- Oversaw the beginnings of decolonization

Elizabeth II
- Longest reigning British monarch
- Provided great stability
- Popular and Beloved
- Iconic
- Kept the peace
- Restructured the Commonwealth but still keep the influence

Charles II
- Sausage fingers
- Divorced princess Diana
o Not a cool move
- Waited a long long time for Liz to die
Why did Britain get involved in WWI
- Ententes with France and Russia
o Like an unofficial alliance, not as strong though
- The Schlieffen plan
o German plan to invade France
- 1839 Treaty of Belgian Neutrality
o Britain created Belgium as a buffer between Germany and
France
 Britain had a defence agreement with Belgium to come to
its help once attacked, but if Belgium attacks, it gets no
help

Impacts of WWI on Britain

- Conscription, rationing, bureaucracy
o Mandatory enlistment
o Rationed supplies- Flour, sugar…
- Colonial rebellions and domestic strife
o Ireland rebels
- Economic growth by 14%
o However they have debts to the us
- Larger role in society for women
o Men are off fighting in war so they go and do some jobs
o If she went into a profession previously dominated by men, she
was expected to quit once the men return
 A lot of them keep working even after that
- The Royal Navy maintained global supremacy

David Lloyd George

- Talented Liberal prime minister
- Leads a grand Coalition with the conservatives
- Passes the Unemployment act
o Starts the welfare state
 If you don’t have a job, the government pays you
 After you retire you get pension
- Resigns due to party decline
o Negative consequences for the party
Death of the Liberal Party
- The centrist Liberal Party disappears with George (after he resigns)
- Extremism ensues
o The labour party takes over
- Rightist Conservatives vs. Leftist Labour Party
o Fascist choose conservatives and Marxists choose the leftists
- Conservatives take power
o They offer stability
o Powerful central government
o Laissez- faire economics
 You can have a business, you can have money, you can
just figure everything on your own, the government will
not dictate prices…
o Protectionists of the market
 They want to make sure that stuff sold in the UK is local,
and that foreign products will not outsell them
o Propaganda against the left
 People fear that the leftists are communists, socialists,
that you will have a similar state to Russia, spying…
- The Labour party
o Britain’s working Party
o Very favourable to workers
 Less work, more pay
 Wanted to decrease child labour
 Equal pay for women and children like men
 Support strikes
o Afraid to seem communists or socialists
o They had power because all the workers voted for them but
when The Great Depression happened, they lost them because
they no longer had the money

Overall Changes in Britain

- More egalitarian society
- Energized self consciousness among the workers
o Workers realize that its all of them who are being exploited
o The realize that when they work together they can overpower
the higher class
- Women’s suffrage
o They can vote
o They surprisingly don’t vote just like their husbands
- Expansion of the welfare state
WWII overview
- Who lost
o The Axis Powers
 Germany, Italy, Japan
 (satellite states- Slovakia, Hungary, Romania..)
- Who won
o USA, UK, France, USSR
- When did it start
o 1.9. 1939
 Invasion of Poland by Germany
o Italy and Germany against the UK and France
- How many continents did the fighting occur on?
o 4
- When did it end
o 11.11. 1945
- How did the war impact Britain
o Bombings of London
o after the war a lot of women still work

Winston Churchill
- free market
- imperialist
o trying to keep the empire together
- anti- fascist
o he then turns to the opinion that fascism and communism is
just different sides of the same coin
- conservative
- Member of the parliament
o 1900-1922 and 1924-1964
- Party Leader
o 1940-1955
- Prime minister
o 1940-1945 and 1951-1955
- Led the UK to victory in WWII
- Promoted a lot of things
o Anglo American alliance
o British power
o European unity
 European union
The United Nations
- Five “great powers”
o US, Soviet Union, UK, France and China
The western Bloc
- Capitalist
- Democratic
- Backed by NATO

1950s
- Democracy Had to become favourable again

The nanny state of the 1960

- We expect things from the state
o Defending the nation
o Ensure democracy
o Social benefits

Economy in the UK
- Underperforming
- Loss of Empire
- The people expect the UK to be rich and support them
o Since the UK loses the empire, they lose revenue
- Labour party demands more pay for less work
- For society it is bad
- For individuals it is good

New Universities
- Built new campuses
- High quality education for specific people
o Elitist entrance requirements
o Approx.. 6% of people got in in the 60s
o Approx.. 10% got in in the 70s
- Not only for the wealthy but also for very talented
Cultural Transformation
- 50s and 60s
o Production
o Necessities of existence
 Basic needs for life
 Heating, food, water…
o Political allegiance
 If you are a family of workers, you will vote for the labour
party
 Based off how people’s parents vote or how their people
vote not on individual political views
o Individual needs
- 70s and 80s
o Consumerism
 American pop culture becomes globalised
o Moral dilemmas of prosperity
 Question of minorities
o Political principles
 No longer voting how their parents vote
o Communitarian ideals
 Society needs to help others, help women, minorities
 They are no longer focused on themselves
1980s: upheaval
- Society becomes too good, too efficient
- Problems hit the welfare states
o The number of people retiring and living off of the welfare
outweighs the number of people in the working class which
supports them
 Healthcare is improving, no major wars going on
 More old people who need to be supported
 People don’t have as many children, they are focusing on
economical success
 Less young people who would work and contribute
to the state and the society
- Two solutions
o Free market Liberalism
 Your pension should be enough for living but not for a
very good life, no luxuries or anything
o Increased socialism
Margaret Thatcher
- Conservative Methodist from lower middle class
o She believes if you are a good Christian who works hard you go
to heaven
 If you’re not working, God hasn’t blessed you, you are not
going to heaven I guess
o She understood how some people need to budget for food,
household things
o Her father ran a grocery store
- Lower class liked her because she was one of them
- Religious people liked her because of her believes
- Rich people liked her because she supported their beliefs
- Attended Oxford on a scholarship
o Believed that if she could do it why couldn’t someone else
o Had a degree in chemistry
- Soviets called her the “Iron Lady”
o She took it as a compliment instead of an insult
- First woman to rule a party in the UK
o 1975 to 1990

Thatcherism
- Fiscal conservatism
o Reducing taxes, free market
o Trickle-down economics
o There should be law and there should be order
- Wanted to emphasise each individual
o That way the government doesn’t have to care about you as
much
o Lowering the welfare support
 Unpopular for individuals but good for the society and
the economy
- She cancelled strikes, for example
o If miners protested, she got the army to reopen mines and
miners back to work
o Strikes became useless
- Popular with rural, religious, working, and lower- middle class people
Problems in Northern Ireland
- Regionalism and violence
- Ireland gains home rule (1922)
o Domestically they rule themselves
- UK kept Northern Ireland, but Southern Ireland gains actual
Independence
- Northern Ireland
o Loyal to Britain, Protestant majority
- Ulster Catholic minority is discriminated against
- Options
o Stay with the UK with protestants and the king
o Create Ireland which would be Catholic and have the whole
island
- Religious divide further extended
o Catholics and Protestants
 Separate grocery stores
 Can’t be married together and stay in Ireland
- The Catholic minority would like to be part of Ireland
- The Protestants majority wants to stay with the UK

IRA
- 1960s Dublin has a desire for national reunification
o The government supports this idea but not doing anything
because they are just happy that the people are mad at some
other nation instead of them
- Radical, Marxist, nationalist, terrorist group
- Created because the government didn’t do anything about the
Catholic and the Northern Ireland
- They want one country, one nation, one whole island
- Violent group- bombings, assassinations, guerrilla warfare

Provisional IRA
- Not Marxist
- Also terrorist group
The Troubles (1968- 1998)
- Protestant unionists vs. Catholic republicans
- Walls in the middle of towns to keep people on their own sides
- Point was to make Ireland so unsafe and ungovernable that UK would
just give up and let them be
o Almost worked
- The UK gave them a referendum
o They had the options of:
 Become an independent country
 Stay with the _UK
 Join Ireland
o People who wanted to join Ireland didn’t participate in voting
and the people who wanted to stay with the UK won
- British victory
o Sending military to help end the conflicts
- IRA failure
o Northern Ireland stays with the UK
- Ireland was given its own parliament
o The Republicans and the Unionists have to work together to
rule

Civil war between the Protestants who want the UK and the Catholics who
want Ireland