The Battle of HastingsIn January 1066 the English king, Edward the Confessor, died. He had no children and had told two different men that they could be king after him (Harold Godwinson and William, duke of Normandy). Another man, Harald Hardrada, also thought that he should be king. In the months that followed, three battles were fought for the throne: the Battle of Fulford, the Battle of Stamford Bridge and the Battle of Hastings.

Jan 1066 Edward the Confessor dies and Harold Godwinson seizes the crown

Sept 1066Harald Hardrada lands in Yorkshire and defeats the Saxon army at the Battle of Fulford.

Sept 1066Harold Godwinson hears of Hardrada’svictory and marches north to face him

25 Sept 1066Harold Godwinson defeats Hardrada at the Battle of Stamford Bridge

Oct 1066Godwinson hears that William has landed on the south coast and forces his men to march back down to fight William

14 Oct 1066William and the Normans defeat Godwinson’s Saxon army at the Battle of Hastings

William's army and 700 ships had been ready since August, but strong winds stopped him sailing until late September. However, in September William’s LUCK changed- the wind changed direction, allowing him to sail to England. • William landed at Pevensey on 29 September, built a castle and raided the surrounding area.• Harold II marched quickly south from Stamford Bridge. He left many of his footsoldiers behind and exhausted the others.• The two sides met at Senlac Hill, near Hastings.• Harold II's army were at the top of Senlac Hill. They formed a shield wall to protect themselves. The Norman knights could not charge uphill.• Some of the Norman soldiers began to flee because they thought William had been killed. William took off his helmet to show them he was still

alive.• The Normans pretended to run away, then turned and cut down the Saxons when the inexperienced fyrd (part of the Saxon army) chased them.• William had a well-equipped army. He had knights on horseback and archers with crossbows. Harold II had a traditional Saxon army – his

housecarls fought on foot with axes, the fyrd were just farmers with any weapons they could get.• William used archers to break up the Saxon shield wall.• The housecarls formed a ring round their king.• Harold was killed. It is impossible to know how Harold II died. Most people believe that he was killed by an arrow in the eye. This theory is based

on a scene in the Bayeux Tapestry. The tapestry has the words 'Harold is killed' next to a man with an arrow in his eye, but it is impossible to know which soldier is Harold II because all the Saxon soldiers are dressed identically.

Why did William win the Battle of Hastings?

The consequences of the Battle of Hastings

- William faced fierce rebellions in north of England. He crushed this rebellion brutally by murdering men, women and children and even salting the land so that nothing could grow. This was known as the Harrying of the North

- William needed to know how much he could tax people. He ordered a survey to be conducted to find out exactly how much everyone owned. This was called Domesday Book.

- William built castles all around England. These were excellent bases to defend his rule and were a strong statement to the people of England that William was in charge.

- William also introduced the feudal system to England. This allowed him to keep power over the whole country by sharing out the land he owned. Look at the diagram below to see how it worked.

The Battle of NasebyThe Battle of Naseby is one of the most famous events of the English Civil War. Many historians see it as a turning point in

the fortunes of the parliamentarians.

Causes of the English Civil WarCharles I came to the throne in 1625 and relations between the king and parliament gradually worsened.

The relationship between the King and Parliament broke down for a number of reasons:Religion• Charles I married Henrietta Maria, a Roman Catholic

from France.• The Archbishop of Canterbury, William Laud,

introduced Arminian reforms into the Church of England, which were very similar to Catholicism.

• Many MPs were Puritans. They thought Charles wanted to make England Catholic again.

• Charles believed in the Divine Right of Kings. This is the idea that God had chosen him to be king.

Foreign policy• An expedition to Spain in 1625 failed.• An attack on France in 1627 failed.Limiting the power of ParliamentPeople came to believe that Charles was undermining their liberties:• Charles used a private 'Court of the Star Chamber' to

try and punish his opponents.• When Parliament complained in 1629, he dismissed

them. Until 1640, Charles ruled without a Parliament, a period known as the 'Eleven Years' Tyranny'.

• Charles needed to raise money without Parliament so he used old laws such as Ship Money, which was a tax collected from coastal towns in the Middle Ages to pay for the navy. In 1635 Charles made inland counties pay it too.

The English Civil War was between the parliamentarians (also called the Roundheads) and the royalists (also called the cavaliers).

ConsequencesFollowing the Battle of Naseby, the royalist army was essentially destroyed. The battle has often been seen as the time when Charles lost the English Civil War. He never recovered from the defeat.In 1648, Charles I was captured and was put on trial by parliament for treason. In January 1649 he was beheaded.Following this, Oliver Cromwell was made Lord Protector of England. He ruled the country until his death in 1658. As Lord Protector, Cromwell introduced a lot of Puritan rules and banned a number of things including Christmas dinner celebrations, football and theatre. His son, Richard Cromwell, tried to take over after his father’s death, but the people of England wanted a return of the monarchy. In 1660 Charles II (the son of Charles I) became king in the Restoration of the Monarchy.

The First World War, 1914-1918

29 July1 August

28 July

4 August

2 August

28 July

In June 1914, the Archduke of Austro-Hungary, Franz Ferdinand, was assassinated in Sarajevo by a Serbian nationalist called Gavrilo Princip. A month later, Austro-Hungary declared war on Serbia in retaliation.As Russia was allied with Serbia, Russia declared war on Austria.Germany was allied with Austria, and as such declared war on Russia.France was allied with Russia and thus declared war on Germany.France was joined two days later by Britain who was allied with both Russia and France.The system of alliances in Europe led to the outbreak of war between many different countries.

The Battle of the SommeAt 7.30am on 1 July 1916, whistles were blown along a line of British soldiers. Thousands of men then climbed on to what wasknown as no man's land. This was the first day of the Somme - one of the deadliest battles of World War One. Thousands of soldiers died in a very short amount of time. In total, more than one million soldiers were killed or wounded on both sides of the fight.The people in charge said that the battle had to happen to win the war, but even now people can't agree on whether it was theright decision or a huge mistake. To weaken the German defences, the Allied forces fired shells from artillery guns. The shelling, called a bombardment, went on for a whole week. When it had finished, the British and French soldiers came out of their trenches and headed towards the German lines. They weren't expecting much of a fight because everyone thought that the shellswould have killed the German soldiers. But there was a problem. When the shelling started the Germans hid in special shelterscalled dug-outs. They waited underground for a week and when the shelling finished they came out and fired machine guns at the advancing Allied troops. The British troops were caught in no man's land and couldn't hide from the German bullets. Many soldiers lost their lives. Over time, the British developed a new technique called the creeping barrage. This allowed the British to continue bombarding the Germans whilst their troops advanced.The leader of the British army was General Douglas Haig. Due to the massive loss of life during the battle, he is sometimes known as the Butcher of the Somme.

Nazi Germany

In January 1933, Adolf Hitler, the leader of the Nazi Party, was appointed as Chancellor of Germany.

There were a number of reasons which contributed to the Nazi Party gaining votes in the late 1920s and early 1930s:- Hitler’s skills- Hitler was very persuasive and was a very skilled

public speaker- Hitler’s promises- Hitler promised the German people a variety

of different things in order to gain their votes. This persuaded a lot of people

- The Great Depression- in 1929 the American stock exchange collapsed. The economic disaster soon spread to Germany and by 1932, 6 million people were unemployed. Hitler promised people that he would solve the crisis and give them jobs.

- The Treaty of Versailles- after WWI, Germany had to sign the Treaty of Versailles which was very harsh. The German people hated it and blamed the government for signing it. Hitler promised that he would rip it up.

What was life like in Nazi Germany?

Anti-Semitism means hostility or prejudice towards Jews. Hitler played upon existing anti-Semitism in Germany and blamed Jewish people for Germany’s problems. From 1933 until 1945, the Nazi government led a systematic attack on Jewish people, which culminated in the Final Solution from 1942-1945.