"To give someone some background" means to provide someone with information or context about a specific topic or situation, so they can have a better understanding of it. Full definition
In the introduction give background information on essay topic, to set the foundation for your main text. (custom-paper-writing.com)
To kind of give background in terms of when the project started, it was about two years ago, and the Switch hadn't been announced. (nintendoenthusiast.com)
Given this background of distinctive American concerns, the European developments that really interested the American public were most were often peripheral to European theology. (religion-online.org)