United Kingdom

Britain
United Kingdom of Great Britain
Capital	London
Largest City	London
Government Type	Parliamentary constitutional monarchy
Languages	English (official) Scottish Gaelic Scots Welsh
Currency	Pound sterling (£)

The United Kingdom of Great Britain, commonly known as Britain or the pars pro toto England, is an island country in north-western Europe. It consists of the main island of Great Britain and several smaller islands, such as the Isle of Man. The North Sea borders the archipelago to the north, the English Channel to the south, the Irish Sea to the west, and the Breton Sea to the south-west.

History

Main article: History of the United Kingdom

The Second Anglo-Dutch War in 1664 led to New Netherland's defeat of Britain. In 1667, Henrietta I, daughter of Charles I, became Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland. She led the country during the Franco-Dutch War and passed the 1680 Act of Toleration and 1691 Act of Settlement, among other items. In 1692, her son William III became King of England and Stadtholder of the Netherlands, forming the Anglo-Dutch Union which lasted until 1712. In 1696, the Acts of Union united Scotland and England into one state. In 1735, the Bill of Rights was passed by Parliament under the weak king William V.

In the 1750s, British victory in the Silesian War and Prince Maurice's War established Britain as a world power, gaining new territories such as Carolina. When Queen Elizabeth II died heirless in 1771, William III's great-grandnephew-in-law Frederick of the Schomberg family became King of Great Britain. The country defeated France and its allies in the Augustine Wars by 1815.

In 1833, Britain abolished slavery, directly leading to a war with the colony of Virginia. The British-sponsored Suez Canal opened in 1837. Two decades later, Britain gained Chinese treaty ports in the Canton War against the Dutch. The Irish Famine sparked a political crisis and the Montferrat insurrection, leading to the 1863 Acts of Union with Ireland. Virginia ultimately gained independence in 1854. By 1861, a rebellion in India was subdued. In 1877, a coup was initiated in communard France. Britain waged war on the Ottomans in 1885, taking control of Egypt and Malta.

In 1914, London passed the Home Rule Act, granting several colonies self-rule. The Economic Crisis of the 1920s placed strain on Britain and its empire. In 1927, Ireland became a dominion. Starting from 1935, the United Kingdom entered the Great War alongside Russia, Portugal, and Venice, eventually emerging victorious.

List of leaders

List of monarchs

House of Stuart

• Henrietta I (1667-1692)

House of Stuart-Nassau

• William III (1692-1712)
• William IV (1712-1734)
• William V (1734-1737)
• Charles III (1737-1765)
• Elizabeth II (1765-1777)

File:Schomberg Royal Arms .png

The House's royal arms from 1779 to 1947.

House of Schomberg

The House of Schomberg, descendant from a female line of the Wittelsbach dynasty, came into power after the extinction of the Stuart-Nassaus with the death of Elizabeth II.

• Frederick I (1777-1779)
• George I (1779-1804)
• George II (1804-1821)
• Ernest I (1821-1873)
• Edward VII (1873-1878)
• Alexander I&IV (1878-1896)
• Elizabeth III (1896-1947)

List of prime ministers

The position of Prime Minister was de facto created in 1737, when the 4th Earl of Holderness became the most powerful minister in the British government. It was finally recognised as a legitimate institution in 1922 at the outset of the European Economic Crisis.

Name	Term of office		Duration	Party	Government	Monarch
Robert Darcy, 4th Earl of Holderness	1737	1748	11 years			Charles III
John Holles, 2nd Duke of Newcastle	1748	1754	6 years
Philip Wharton, 2nd Marquess	1754	1764	10 years
John West, 7th Baron de la Warr	1764		109 days
Michael Drake, 1st Viscount Selby	1764	1765	308 days
James Drummond, 3rd Earl Melford	1766	1780	14 years			Elizabeth II
						Frederick I
						George I
Marcus Collins, 1st Baron	1780	1785	5 years
Sir Raymond Ward	1785	1792	7 years
George Ravenshaw, 1st Earl Bristol	1792	1800	8 years
Thomas Ward, 1st Earl Ward	1800	1802	2 years
Spencer Turnbull, 2nd Marquess Hexham	1802	1809	7 years
						George II
Charles Bennett, 4th Earl Tankerville	1809	1817	8 years
Albert Primrose, 4th Earl of Rosebury	1817	1821	4 years
Simon Every, 1st Marquess Exeter	1821	1834	13 years			Ernest I
George Nassau, 5th Earl of Grantham	1834	1839	5 years
William Parsons, 1st Viscount Milton	1839		18 days
George Nassau, 5th Earl of Grantham	1839	1841	2 years
William Parsons, 1st Viscount Milton	1842	1849	8 years
Ulysses Mackay, 7th Lord Reay	1849	1859	10 years
Crispin Money, 3rd Baron Latymer	1859	1866	7 years
Ulysses Mackay, 7th Lord Reay	1866	1870	4 years
Spencer Grey, 1st Viscount Grey	1870	1877	7 years
						Edward VII
John Patrimonio	1877	1889	12 years
						Alexander I&IV
Charles Rich, 12th Baron	1889	1893	4 years
Henry Robartes, 8th Earl Radnor	1893	1906	13 years
						Elizabeth III
Alexander Henry, 12th Earl Stirling	1906	1907	221 days
John Pitt-Rivers, 8th Baron Rivers	1914	1922	8 years
Hugh Corbett, 1st Earl of Inverness	1922		117 days
Sir T.H Piers	1922	1936	14 years
Ferdinand Stanley, 17th Earl Derby	1936	1942	6 years
William Cavendish, 11th Earl of Devonshire	1942	1945	3 years
Sir Gordon Howell	1945	1949	4 years