2000 Years of British History: 2 Quiz

Answer: He spoke no English

When Queen Anne died childless the crown passed to her nearest living Protestant relative. The Act of Settlement of 1702 had ensured that Britain would never again have a Catholic monarch. George spoke no English and was more concerned with the affairs of Hanover than Britain.

The first real opposition came in 1715 with the first Jacobite rebellion in an attempt to restore the House of Stuart.

Answer: Ruled when Ireland was incorporated into the United Kingdom

George was well known for the conflicts between himself and his father, especially after the birth of his son Prince George William in 1717. In 1739 Britain went to war with Spain, The War of Jenkin's Ear, which ended up as part of the War of the Austrian Succession.

In 1743 George led an army into battle at Dettingen. This was the final time a British monarch personally led an army on to a field of conflict. Ireland was not granted legislative independence until well after George's death and wasn't fully included into the United Kingdom until early in the 19th century.

Answer: Fishguard

The French force of 1,400 men set sail on February 18 1797 under the command of Irish American William Tate. The plan was to land at Bristol and destroy the city before marching north towards Liverpool. Wind conditions made this impossible so the fleet set out for Cardigan Bay in Wales.

The invasion force was all ashore by early morning on February 23rd and the ships returned to France. The French were not top quality troops, many having spent years in prison, and were more interested in looting food and drink than in fighting. On February 25th they surrendered to a local militia force led by Lord Cawdor. One story is that local women, dressed in their scarlet cloaks and tall black hats were mistaken for soldiers and the French thought they were vastly outnumbered.

Answer: Prussia and Netherlands

Napoleon's army consisted of a large number of veteran soldiers under a single commander. Wellington's army consisted of a mixture of experienced and untried militiamen and was split over a large area. Napoleon had one hope, which was to split the armies. His campaign began well but the allies rallied and were finally victorious.

Answer: 1833

In May 1833 a bill was proposed by Lord Stanley to abolish slavery. It passed into law in August of the same year. It was replaced by a system of apprenticeships which required all those over the age of 6 years old to serve an apprenticeship of either four years for domestic staff or six years for field hands. This system was, in turn, abolished in 1838.

Answer: The Kensington System

The Kensington System was a strict set of rules applied by Victoria's mother, Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfield, and her supposed lover and constant attendant Sir John Conroy. The system was designed to make the future queen totally dependant upon her mother and forbade her to be alone at any time she was not asleep. Even then she had to sleep in the same bedroom as her mother.

When Victoria ascended the throne in 1837, at the age of 18, she had her bed removed from her mother's room and began to distance herself from Conroy.

When she married Prince Albert in 1840 she had her mother evicted from Kensington Palace and had very little contact with her afterwards.

Answer: True

The rebellions took place in 1848 and 1867. Neither succeeded. In 1886 the then Prime Minister, William Gladstone, introduced a bill in parliament to provide Home Rule for Ireland. The bill was defeated by British and Irish supporters of the 1801 Act of Union. Gladstone made a second attempt to introduce the bill in 1893.

It passed through the House of Commons but was rejected by the House of Lords. Ireland remained under British rule until 1922 when the Irish Free State was created as a Dominion.

In 1937 the Irish Free State became the sovereign nation of Ireland. The six counties of Northern Ireland exercised their option to 'opt out' of the Irish Free State under Article 12 of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. They were part of the Irish Free State for just two days.

Answer: Miners' pay and conditions

Following the First World War Britain's coal industry was approaching crisis point. The heavy use of coal during the war years meant that exports dropped dramatically allowing other coal producing countries to take over the markets. Productivity was down but mine owners wanted to keep their profits at the same level as before.

They proposed longer hours and lower wages to maximise their profit margins. The mineowners declared that if the miners did not accept the new conditions they would be 'locked out' from May 1st. Final negotiations failed and the Trades Union Congress announced that the strike would start on May 3rd.

The next day 1.75 million workers were on strike. The strike lasted 10 days when all but the miners returned to work. In November the miners were forced to return to work because of financial hardships and they had to accept the new conditions of longer working days and lower wages.

Answer: Minimum wage

The issues identified by Beveridge were (a) disease, (b) ignorance, (c)poverty, (d) idleness [unemployment] and (e) squalor. To overcome these problems the welfare state provided: (a) free health care for all (the National Health Service), (b) free secondary education, (c) Social Security by providing child benefit (for each child after the first), unemployment and sick pay, industrial injury benefits and benefits for anyone in genuine need, (d) full employment through a planned economy (something that also involved nationalising certain key industries) and (e) increased council housing by setting a target of 300,000 new houses a year and requiring local councils to provide good quality housing for children 'deprived of a normal home life'.

The government also gave authority for several new towns to be built. A national minimum wage was not introduced until April 1999.

Answer: Margaret Thatcher resigns as PM

Margaret Thatcher became Britain's first woman Prime Minister following a general election on 3rd May 1979. She resigned on 22nd November 1990. The Gulf War took place between 16th January and 28th February 1991 following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August the previous year.

The National Lottery was launched on 14th November 1994 and Princess Diana died in a car crash in Paris on 31st August 1997. Other notable events of the decade include the release of Terry Waite in 1991 after five years of captivity, the kidnapping and murder of two year old Jamie Bulger in 1993, Hong Kong was returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1997 after 99 years of British rule, and in 1999 both Wales and Scotland got their own national assemblies.