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The Kingdom of Great Britain, also known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain,[1] was a state in Western Europe, in existence from 1707 to 1800. A state is a political association with effective Sovereignty over a geographic Area and representing a Population. Western Europe at its most general meaning means 'all the countries in the West of Europe ' It was created by the merger of the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England, under the Acts of Union 1707, to create a single kingdom encompassing the whole of the island of Great Britain. The Kingdom of Scotland ( Gaelic: Rìoghachd na h-Alba, Scots: Kinrick o Scotland) was a State in northwest Europe The Kingdom of England was a State (927-1707 located in Western Europe dating from the ninth or tenth century to the early eighteenth century when it was legally The Acts of Union were a pair of Parliamentary Acts passed during 1706 and 1707 by the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland to put into See also Kingdom of Great Britain Great Britain (Breatainn Mhòr Prydain Fawr Breten Veur Graet Breetain is the larger of the two main islands A new single parliament and government, based in Westminster in London, controlled the new kingdom. Westminster is an area of Central London, within the City of Westminster. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. The two separate kingdoms of Scotland and England had shared the same monarch since James VI, King of Scots, became King of England in 1603 following the death of Queen Elizabeth I. The Union of the Crowns was the Accession of James VI, King of Scots, to the throne of England in March 1603 thus uniting Scotland and England James VI and I (19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625 was King of Scotland as James VI, and King of England and King of Ireland as James The Kings of Wessex, who conquered Kent and Sussex from Mercia in 825 became increasingly dominant over the other kingdoms of England during
The Kingdom of Great Britain was superseded by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801 when the Kingdom of Ireland was absorbed with the enactment of the Act of Union 1800 following the suppression of the Irish Rebellion of 1798. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom from 1 January 1801 until 12 April 1927 The Kingdom of Ireland (Ríocht na hÉireann was the name given to the Irish state from 1541 by the Crown of Ireland Act 1542 of the Parliament of Ireland. The phrase Act of Union 1800 (or sometimes Act of Union 1801) (Acht an Aontais 1800 is used to describe two complementary Acts whose official United Kingdom titles are The Irish Rebellion of 1798 (Éirí Amach 1798 Turn Oot 1798 or 1798 rebellion as it is known locally was an uprising in 1798 lasting several months against the
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Political structure
The island of Great Britain was ruled by a single monarch with two titles (King of England and King of Scotland) following the Union of the Crowns in 1603, except during the Interregnum and during the joint reign of William and Mary. The English Interregnum was the period of Parliamentary and Military rule in the land occupied by modern-day England and Wales after the See also William III of England, Mary II of England The phrase William and Mary usually refers to the joint sovereignty over the Kingdom of England William III or William of Orange (14 November 1650 &ndash 8 March 1702 He is informally known in Northern Ireland and Scotland as "King Billy" Mary II (30 April 1662 &ndash 28 December 1694 reigned as Queen of England, Ireland and Scotland from 1689 until her death From 1707, however, the monarch of the Kingdom of Great Britain ruled by the power of a single unified Crown of Great Britain, rather than by the power of both crowns of the previously separate Kingdoms. TalkCommonewalth realm.--> The monarchy [2] The succession to the throne was determined by the English Act of Settlement, rather than the Scottish equivalent, the Act of Security. The Act of Settlement is an act of the Parliament of England, originally filed in 1700 and passed in 1701 to settle the succession to the English throne The Act of Security 1704 (also referred to as the Act for the Security of the Kingdom) was a response by the Parliament of Scotland to the Parliament of England The adoption of the Act of Settlement required that the heir to the English throne be a Protestant descendant of Sophia of Hanover, effecting the future Hanoverian succession. Protestantism refers to the forms of Christian faith and practice that originated in the 16th century Protestant Reformation. Electress Sophia of Hanover (born Sophia Countess Palatine of Simmern; 14 October 1630 – 8 June 1714) was the youngest daughter The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, was the overthrow of King James II of England (VII of Scotland in 1688 by a union The Act of Union 1707 extended this to the new unified Kingdom of Great Britain. [3]
Legislative power was vested in the Parliament of Great Britain, which replaced the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in 1707 following the ratification of the Acts of Union by both the Parliament of England and Parliament of Scotland The Parliament of England was the Legislature of the Kingdom of England. This article is about the pre-1707 parliament The article on the devolved legislative body established in 1999 is at Scottish Parliament. [4] As with the modern Parliament of the United Kingdom, the Parliament of Great Britain included three elements: the House of Commons, the House of Lords, and the Crown-in-Parliament. The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories The House of Commons' is the Lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords The House of Lords is the second house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is also commonly referred to as "the Lords" The Queen-in-Parliament (or during the reign of a male monarch King-in-Parliament) sometimes referred to as the Crown-in-Parliament, is a technical term of England and Scotland were given seats in both the House of Lords and the House of Commons of the new parliament. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. Although Scotland's representation in both houses was smaller than its population indicated it should have been, representation in parliament was at that time based not on population but on taxation, and Scotland was given a greater number of seats than its share of taxation warranted. Under the terms of the union, Scotland sent 16 representative peers to the Lords and elected 45 members to the Commons, with the rest being sent from England and Wales. A political union is a type of state which is composed of or created out of smaller States Unlike a Personal union, the individual states share a common government In the United Kingdom, representative peers were individuals elected by the members of the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of Ireland to represent them History The Roman occupation of Britain was the first period in which the area of present-day England and Wales was administered as a single unit (with the exception [5] This cooperation still forms the basis of British politics today.
Name
Often, the Kingdom of Great Britain is given the alternative name of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, which is often shortened to United Kingdom. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located There is substantial debate over whether the latter name is acceptable. [6] The Acts of Union refer in name to the United Kingdom of Great Britain in several places; critics argue in rebuttal that the word "united" is only a descriptive word, and not part of the style, citing the Acts of Union themselves, which state that England and Scotland were "United into One Kingdom by the Name of Great Britain". [7]
The name "United Kingdom" is sometimes preferred for purposes of continuity, particularly in the military and colonial spheres. At the time of the Act of Union 1800, which unambiguously styled the country as the "United Kingdom", the British were embroiled in the Great French War and the British Empire possessed many colonies in the Americas, India, and Australia. The Great French War is a term sometimes used to describe the period of almost continuous conflict April 20, 1792 to November 20, 1815, The British Empire was the largest empire in history and for over a century was the foremost global power. The Americas are the lands of the Western hemisphere or New World, consisting of the Continents of North America and South America India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. Some who would otherwise prefer the term "Kingdom of Great Britain" thus use "United Kingdom" to avoid using two different names for a single military and colonial power, which may confuse the discussion.
However "United Kingdom" seems to have come into popular use, and so at the time of the Act of Union with Ireland the name was officially adopted.
Britain in the 18th century
- Further information: British Empire, Georgian era, and History of the United Kingdom
Peace between England and the Netherlands in 1688 meant that the two countries entered the Nine Years' War as allies, but the conflict - waged in Europe and overseas between France, Spain and the Anglo-Dutch alliance - left the English a stronger colonial power than the Dutch, who were forced to devote a larger proportion of their military budget on the costly land war in Europe. The British Empire was the largest empire in history and for over a century was the foremost global power. The arts Especially during the mid-18th century the period was marked by cultural vibrancy with the establishment of the British Museum in 1753 and the contributions The history of the United Kingdom — British history — as an unified Sovereign state begins with the legistlative union between the kingdoms of England The Nine Years' War (1688–97 – often called the War of the Grand Alliance or the War of the League of Augsburg – was a major war of the late 17th [8] The 18th century would see England (after 1707, Britain) rise to be the world's dominant colonial power, and France becoming its main rival on the imperial stage. [9]
The death of Charles II of Spain in 1700 and his bequeathal of Spain and its colonial empire to Philippe of Anjou, a grandson of the King of France, raised the prospect of the unification of France, Spain and their respective colonies, an unacceptable state of affairs for Britain and the other powers of Europe. Charles II ( November 6 1661, Madrid – November 1 1700, Madrid was the last Habsburg King of Spain and the Philip V of Spain ( December 19, 1683 - July 9, 1746) born Philippe de France, Fils de France and duc d'Anjou In 1701, Britain, Portugal and the Netherlands sided with the Holy Roman Empire against Spain and France in the War of the Spanish Succession. The Holy Roman Empire ( HRE; German Heiliges Römisches Reich (HRR, Latin Sacrum Romanum Imperium (SRI was a union of territories in Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. In the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714 several European powers combined to stop French succession to the Spanish throne and what would likely have been a resulting The conflict, which France and Spain were to lose, lasted until 1714. At the concluding peace Treaty of Utrecht, Philip renounced his and his descendents' right to the French throne. The Treaty of Utrecht that established the Peace of Utrecht, rather than a single document comprised a series of individual peace treaties signed in the Dutch Spain lost its empire in Europe, and though it kept its empire in the Americas and the Philippines, it was irreversibly weakened as a power. The British Empire was territorially enlarged: from France, Britain gained Newfoundland and Acadia, and from Spain, Gibraltar and Minorca. Newfoundland — ˈn(jufənˌlænd (Terre-Neuve Talamh an Éisc — is a large island 15 km off the east coast of The Association for Computer Aided Design In Architecture ( ACADIA) is a Non-profit organization active in the area of Computer-aided architectural design Gibraltar (dʒɨˈbrɒltər is a British overseas territory located near the southernmost tip of the Iberian Peninsula overlooking the Strait of Gibraltar Minorca ( Catalan and Spanish: Menorca; from Latin Balearis Minor, later Minorica "minor island" is one of the Gibraltar, which is still a British overseas territory to this day, became a critical naval base and allowed Britain to control the Atlantic entry and exit point to the Mediterranean. Gibraltar (dʒɨˈbrɒltər is a British overseas territory located near the southernmost tip of the Iberian Peninsula overlooking the Strait of Gibraltar The British Overseas Territories are fourteen territories that are under the Sovereignty of the United Kingdom, but which do not form part of the United Kingdom
Deeper political integration of Britain had been a key policy of Queen Anne (reigned 1702–14), the last Stuart monarch of England and Scotland and the only Stuart monarch of the Kingdom of Great Britain). Anne (6 February 1665 – 1 August 1714 became Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702 succeeding William III of England and II of England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. Under the aegis of the Queen and her advisors a Treaty of Union was drawn up, and negotiations between England and Scotland began in earnest in 1706. The Treaty of Union is the name given to the agreement that led to the creation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the Political union of England (including The Acts of Union received royal assent in 1707, uniting the separate Parliaments and crowns of England and Scotland and forming the Kingdom of Great Britain. The granting of Royal Assent is the formal method by which a constitutional monarch completes the legislative process of Lawmaking by formally assenting to an Anne became formally the first occupant of the unified British throne and Scotland sent 45 MPs to the new parliament at Westminster. This article is a List of Parliaments of England Devolved English Parliament is about the debate on a devolved parliament for England
The Seven Years' War, which began in 1756, was the first war waged on a global scale, fought in Europe, India, North America, the Caribbean, the Philippines and coastal Africa. The Seven Years' War (1756&ndash1763 involved all of the major European powers of the period causing 900000 to 1400000 deaths The signing of the Treaty of Paris (1763) had important consequences for Britain and its empire. The Treaty of Paris, often called the Peace of Paris, or the Treaty of 1763, was signed on February 10, 1763, by the kingdoms of Great Britain In North America, France's future as a colonial power there was effectively ended with the ceding of New France to Britain (leaving a sizeable French-speaking population under British control) and Louisiana to Spain. The Viceroyalty of New France (Nouvelle-France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period extending from the exploration of the Louisiana (La celina+mario) was the name of an administrative district of New France. Spain ceded Florida to Britain. Florida ( is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the In India, the Carnatic War had left France still in control of its enclaves but with military restrictions and an obligation to support British client states, effectively leaving the future of India to Britain. The Carnatic Wars (also spelled Karnatic Wars) was a series of military contests during the 18th century between the British, the French, the Marathas French India is a general name for the former French possessions in India. The British victory over France in the Seven Years War therefore left Britain as the world's dominant colonial power. [10]
During the 1760s and 1770s, relations between the Thirteen Colonies and Britain became increasingly strained, primarily because of resentment of the British Parliament's ability to tax American colonists without their consent. The Thirteen Colonies were part of what became known as British America, a name that was used by Great Britain until the Treaty of Paris (1783 recognized the [11] Disagreement turned to violence and in 1775 the American Revolutionary War began. In this article the inhabitants of the thirteen colonies that supported the American Revolution are primarily referred to as "Americans" with occasional references to "Patriots" The following year, the colonists declared the independence of the United States and with economical and naval assistance from France, would go on to win the war in 1783. The United States Declaration of Independence is a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4 1776 announcing that the thirteen American colonies then
The loss of the United States, at the time Britain's most populous colony, is seen by historians as the event defining the transition between the "first" and "second" empires,[12] in which Britain shifted its attention away from the Americas to Asia, the Pacific and later Africa. Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, published in 1776, had argued that colonies were redundant, and that free trade should replace the old mercantilist policies that had characterised the first period of colonial expansion, dating back to the protectionism of Spain and Portugal. Adam Smith ( baptised 16 June 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish moral philosopher and a pioneer of Political economy. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations is the Magnum opus of the Scottish economist Adam Smith. Free trade is a system in which the trade of goods and services between or within countries flows unhindered by government-imposed restrictions Mercantilism is the idea that a colony should export more goods than it imports and that a colony should sell at higher prices and buy at lower prices The growth of trade between the newly independent United States and Britain after 1783[13] confirmed Smith's view that political control was not necessary for economic success.
During its first century of operation, the focus of the British East India Company had been trade, not the building of an empire in India. The Honourable East India Company ( HEIC) referred to most commonly as the East India Company, also historically and colloquially as John Company, or Company interests turned from trade to territory during the 18th century as the Mughal Empire declined in power and the British East India Company struggled with its French counterpart, the La Compagnie française des Indes orientales, during the Carnatic Wars of the 1740s and 1750s. The French East India Company ( French: La Compagnie française des Indes orientales or Compagnie française pour le commerce des Indes orientales) was a The Carnatic Wars (also spelled Karnatic Wars) was a series of military contests during the 18th century between the British, the French, the Marathas The Battle of Plassey, which saw the British, led by Robert Clive, defeat the French and their Indian allies, left the Company in control of Bengal and a major military and political power in India. The Battle of Plassey (পলাশীর যুদ্ধ Pôlashir Juddho) was a decisive British East India Company victory over the Nawab of Bengal Clive of India redirects here For the film see Clive of India (film. Etymology and ethnology The exact origin of the word Bangla or Bengal is unknown though it is believed to be derived from the Dravidian-speaking tribe Bang In the following decades it gradually increased the size of the territories under its control, either ruling directly or indirectly via local puppet rulers under the threat of force of the Indian Army, 80% of which was composed of native Indian sepoys. The Indian Army (Bharatiya Thalsena भारतीय थाल्सेना is one of the armed forces of India and has the responsibility for land-based A sepoy (ˈsipɔɪ (from Persian سپاهی Sipâhi meaning "soldier" was a native of India, a soldier allied to a European power usually the
In 1770, James Cook had discovered the eastern coast of Australia whilst on a scientific voyage to the South Pacific. Captain James Cook FRS RN ( – 14 February 1779) was an English Explorer, Navigator and For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. The First voyage of James Cook was the initial Pacific exploratory voyage of James Cook (he had previously sailed with the merchant navy and Royal Navy In 1778, Joseph Banks, Cook's botanist on the voyage, presented evidence to the government on the suitability of Botany Bay for the establishment of a penal settlement, and in 1787 the first shipment of convicts set sail, arriving in 1788. Sir Joseph Banks 1st Baronet, GCB, PRS (13 February 1743 &ndash 19 June 1820 was an English naturalist, botanist and patron of Botany Bay is a bay in Sydney, New South Wales, a few kilometres south of the Sydney central business district. During the late 18th and 19th centuries large numbers of Convicts were transported to the various Australian penal colonies by the British government
At the threshold to the 19th century, Britain was challenged again by France under Napoleon, in a struggle that, unlike previous wars, represented a contest of ideologies between the two nations. Napoleon Bonaparte (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821 was a French military and political leader who had a significant impact on the History of Europe. [14] It was not only Britain's position on the world stage that was threatened: Napoleon threatened invasion of Britain itself, and with it, a fate similar to the countries of continental Europe that his armies had overrun. The Napoleonic Wars were therefore ones that Britain invested large amounts of capital and resources to win. The Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815 involved Napoleon's French Empire and a shifting set of European allies and opposing coalitions French ports were blockaded by the Royal Navy, which won a decisive victory over the French fleet at Trafalgar in 1805. The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British armed services (and is therefore known as the Senior Service) The Battle of Trafalgar ( 21 October 1805) was a historic sea battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the
Monarchs
- Anne (1707–1714), previously Queen of England, Queen of Scotland, and Queen of Ireland since 1702. Anne (6 February 1665 – 1 August 1714 became Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702 succeeding William III of England and II of The Kings of Wessex, who conquered Kent and Sussex from Mercia in 825 became increasingly dominant over the other kingdoms of England during The monarch of Scotland was the Head of state of the Kingdom of Scotland. The designation King of Ireland (Rí na hÉireann and Queen (regnant of Ireland was used during three periods of Irish history.
- George I (1714–1727)
- George II (1727–1760)
- George III (1760–1801), continued as King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until 1820. George I (George Louis German Georg Ludwig; 28 May 1660 &ndash 11 June 1727 For the first year of his life George was the only heir to his father's and three childless George II (George Augustus 10 November 1683 &ndash 25 October 1760 was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg ( George III (George William Frederick 4 June 1738 George III's long reign was marked by a series of military conflicts involving his kingdom much of the rest of Europe and places
References
- ^ Act of Union 1707, Article 2.
- ^ Act of Union 1707, Article 1.
- ^ Act of Union 1707, Article 2.
- ^ Act of Union 1707, Article 3.
- ^ Act of Union 1707, Article 22.
- ^ "Rough guide to British history". 29 April 2006. The Times. URL accessed 13 May 2006.
- ^ Act of Union 1707, Article 1.
- ^ Anthony, Pagden (1998). The Origins of Empire, The Oxford History of the British Empire. Oxford University Press, 441.
- ^ Anthony, Pagden (2003). Peoples and Empires: A Short History of European Migration, Exploration, and Conquest, from Greece to the Present. Modern Library, 90.
- ^ Anthony, Pagden (2003). Peoples and Empires: A Short History of European Migration, Exploration, and Conquest, from Greece to the Present. Modern Library, 91.
- ^ Niall, Ferguson (2004). Empire. Penguin, 73.
- ^ Anthony, Pagden (1998). The Origins of Empire, The Oxford History of the British Empire. Oxford University Press, 92.
- ^ James, Lawrence (2001). The Rise and Fall of the British Empire. Abacus, 119.
- ^ James, Lawrence (2001). The Rise and Fall of the British Empire. Abacus, 152.
See also
| Preceded by: Kingdom of England c 927–30 April 1707 Kingdom of Scotland c 843–30 April 1707 | Kingdom of Great Britain 1 May 1707 – 31 December 1800 | Succeeded by: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 1 January 1801–5 December 1922 |
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