History Throughout the UK & The Effect It Had On Culture

October 01, 2024

History Throughout the UK & The Effect It Had On Culture

It should come as no surprise the culture changes as history evolves. In fact some historical events can be so impactful, that they can single handedly shift cultural customs. With this being said, the United Kingdom is certainly no exception to this rule. The United Kingdom is notorious for its rich and lengthy history, so it only makes sense for me to make a blogpost that properly highlights it.

For this post I have made a brief timeline, and I will be highlighting three historical events that drastically shifted culture throughout the United Kingdom. The three historical events will all be from different time periods, in hopes of diversifying this post a bit more. Let's get started!

The first historical event that I would like to highlight is the building of Stonehenge in 2500 BCE. While some may consider this to be more of a monument instead of a historical event, I think that its effect on culture is just too significant to leave out. Stonehenge has been a Phenomenon since its discovery, and has shaped so much wonder throughout our world. An article published by English Heritage states that “Stonehenge has perhaps been the focus of more theories about its origin and purpose than any other prehistoric monument.” It is through today that this incredibly large stone formation was set in place to honor individuals who had passed away, and also a way for ancient civilians to track the sun. This means that Stonehenge was one of the first, as well as one of the largest monuments of its time, that acted as a method of tracking time. Modern day culture around the world revolves around time, and societies internationally revolve around it. It is also important to note modern societies are enamored with how fascinating the building of Stonehenge must have been. The phenomenon about how this monument came to be is true motivation that nothing is impossible.

The second historical event that I have chosen to highlight is World War I. This historical event took place from 1914-1918. The area that is now known as the United Kingdom was tragically devastated by the unthinkable losses that they faced in World War I. These losses truly shifted the culture into the society that we witness much more frequently today. The first cultural shift that occurred as a result of World War I was in regards to gender roles. Prior to World War I, women were homemakers and caretakers, and only the men were allowed to enter the workforce. As a result of the War the men were away at battle, so the women were needed in the workforce. This was one of the first opportunities for women in British culture to show that they were capable of working, and that they had purpose outside of the home. The second cultural shift that we witnessed was the adoption of British stoicism. The British suffered a loss of roughly 900,000 soldiers during World War I, but they were determined to not let that define them. As a result the British remained stoic and in unity with one another. In modern culture the British are still stoic. They show very little emotion in public places, and they always put their best foot forward. All and all World War I left an incredibly large impact on the United Kingdom as a whole.

The last historical event that I will highlight happened a bit more recently. In fact this historical event is still talked about in news sources to this day. The historical event that I am referring to is the death of Princess Diana in 1997. Princess Diana was beloved by people not only in the United Kingdom, but around the world. Surrounding the time of her death it had been revealed that the Princesses husband, now King Charles III, had been having an affair with his now wife Camilla. The public was truly disgusted by the actions of Prince Charles, which resulted in many people feeling a lack of trust with the Monarchy. Princess Diana died at the age of thirty-six, in a car accident in Paris. At the time Diana's car was being swarmed by paparazzi. Sadly the paparazzi continued to swarm the vehicle after the crash. This resulted in harsh criticism towards the British media. This criticism is ever so present today in British culture, with Royales such as Prince Harry continuing to speak out about the level of corruption that the Monarch is involved in surrounding the media. Although the largest culture shift occurred during Princess Diana’s time of mourning, when Queen Elizabeth II spoke. The Queen addressed the nation in a live broadcast. She acknowledged and related to the public's deep grief surrounding the loss of who she called “The People’s Princess.” This speech shifted a lot of citizens' perception surrounding the Monarch, and bridged a very large gap between the people and the Royal Family. This new and restored trust lasted until Queen Elizabeth II’s death in 2022. To learn a bit more about the impact that the Princesses death made, I highly recommend this article.

While I wish I could detail the impacts of all historic events throughout the entire history of the United Kingdom, I certainly am not equipped for that. With that being said I highly recommend learning a bit more about the United Kingdom's history. If you are looking for some recommendations on where to start I highly recommend the documentary The ENTIRE History of The United Kingdom.

The narration for this documentary is great and very easy to understand. I also love that the documentary is less than two hours, which is honestly surprising considering how much history the United Kingdom has. I have also made a brief timeline that I have also attached to this blogpost. If you would like a more in depth description on these events, I highly recommend clicking here.