History of London
![Picture](/uploads/1/9/7/7/19775055/6849903.png)
London was originally part of the Roman Empire. It was situated on the Thames River because it was a link for trade between the East and West. In 410 Roman armies left London. After that Vikings from Scandanavia and Germanic Anglo Saxons attacked for control at different times. The Germanic groups won and established Anglo Saxon culture in London by 800. In 1066 William the Conqueror became King of England and freed London from Vikings who had attacked again. William the Conqueror built the White Tower in London which became part of the Tower of London. It still is there today! Trade happened alot in London and the city grew a lot from Roman times. By the 1100s there were lots of trade guilds which made different goods. During medieval times the heart of London was around St. Paul's Cathedral and The Tower of London. Westminster was further out of London then and it is where the government of England established Parliament then. During the 1500s London became wealthier and more crowded and a profitable cloth trade was established there. Many people died in London during the Black death of bubonic plague of 1665. People lived close together and there was no sanitation system so many citizens of London died. Then in 1666 there was a Great Fire which destroyed 4/5ths of the city center including St Paul's Cathedral. But by the 1700s a new city had been built. It became a financial and cloth trade center for the growing British Empire. In 1830 2 million people lived in London. The British Empire began to expand to find places to sell its cloth and other goods and started a process of colonization in India and Africa. Also during the Industrial Revolution of the 1800s there were factories and poor areas that started to be built, but also museums, concert halls and great parks were built in the nicer areas. During World War II London was bombed a lot and suffered lots of damage.I n the first half of the 20th century London was a big manufacturing center. Now it is a financial center of the world which attracts business people and tourists.
How the History of London has shaped London's Culture
![Picture](/uploads/1/9/7/7/19775055/1367696003.jpg)
London's history has shaped London's culture because throughout its history it was a center of trade so that attracted a lot of people to live there from different places. Now as a financial and tourist capital, London has a really exciting culture. People from lots of other places live there, so there are lots of areas of subculture. It is major European capital so it attracts a lot of tourists and there are a lot of historical buildings from London's history for people to see like the Tower of London, St. Paul's Cathedral, The British Museum, Westminster Abbey and Big Ben at Parliament. Tourism is now a major industry because of this and is a major employer. It is also one of the financial capitals of the world now, so a lot of people live and work there or travel there on business because of that.