The History of the United Kingdom

Britain is a sovereign state in the world, which has been founded based on the union between its two main kingdoms, the British and Empire. It follows both political and economic systems. All these have contributed significantly to the growth and development of the country. From time immemorial, various events have ensured that it remained one of the best-developed countries. Many historical events have also played important role in making Britain an influential nation in different parts of the world. These are discussed below in brief.

History of UK from Prehistory to 1689

Early history

British origin

Prehistoric period

British people originated from many sources. Before the advent of humans, they were mainly hunter-gatherers. They used to live in open areas where there was no civilization around them and it was difficult for them to travel. This provided lots of natural resources for the early inhabitants, such as food and water. However, after human beings appeared, they gradually moved into more settled areas, where humans could settle down. There was a requirement for better roads. Therefore, all these led to changes in the geography of Britain which saw a rise in population.

The Roman Empire

The Roman Empire gained its power by conquering large territory throughout Europe and later spread to North America. At this time, Britain was very weak in terms of military strength and economy but it had the advantage of being located close to other European countries, because of its access to water resources. The Romans had adopted an empire system, with rulers established in London through their local administration and the Emperor being based in Rome. The Roman Empire consisted of twelve provinces (district assemblies) governed by hereditary kings.

The English Commonwealth Act of 1707

The British Parliament passed the first commonwealth act during 1707, which was designed to make Britain self-governing. In the same year, the Statute of Westminster came into force and gave equal powers to both Houses of Assembly and made provision for legislative functions to be shared between the two bodies. Additionally, this act gave powers to each House of Lords and made them responsible only for judicial affairs.

These acts have given representation to each nation, and have ensured that no one is left out and in a position to take part in the decision-making process. For instance, during the American Revolution, several states were given representation in Congress with Washington representing the United States, Franklin representing the United States in Congress, and many other prominent figures representing their state, and in this respect, he became a model of strong leadership.

British rule after 1715

The British government was divided into three key departments – Treasury, Executive and Legislative. Their partition in the nineteenth century, however, had given birth to "three distinct groups" of politicians. As per old historical records, Charles I and Mary Queen of Scots were the most powerful monarchs in Europe.

At the beginning of the 17th century, there were only three political parties. During this decade, the parliamentary system of rule had been introduced to encourage stability. This political system became popular in the whole nation for the reason that it had better systems of checks and balances that have lasted till the present day.

The reign of Elizabeth 1

It was the reign of Elizabeth 1 when the British monarchy began to flourish, and from then onwards it went through various periods of reinforcement. Firstly, she tried to preserve the authority over the royal family to maintain public confidence in her as well as protect the privileges of the family's members. Secondly, she wanted a peaceful transition of power through reducing the number of enemies; while thirdly, she sought a new approach towards governance which can be called modern democracy. Among all these efforts, the institution of the queen's household was enhanced that proved beneficial for the country. This was done so by allowing the queen to appoint a male heir, instead of having any female. Lastly, the marriage of Prince Charles to Anne Boleyn of Belgravia in 1581 added another interesting element to British politics – a woman getting married to a man. So all these, together with the reforms implemented during Elizabeth's reign, made the British government very stable and helped the British government to succeed.

Elizabeth was assassinated in 1603 and was not able to enjoy any benefit due to her position inside the council. This led to the reformation of the constitution and the formation of the Monarchy. She was replaced by James I who ruled from 1604-1611. He initiated great reforms that were carried out up until he died in 1625.

The War of Independence

The war of independence was one of the major events which took place in Britain. In 1815, Britain declared war upon Ireland which led to the invasion of Ireland by Britain in retaliation for the murder of King James I in Dublin in 1606. After the successful invasion, Great Britain promised that it will defend Ireland at all costs.

The settlement of the aftermath of the Irish rebellion led to the creation of the newly independent Republic of Ireland. James 1 once again came into being and became known for signing several treaties and documents during his reign.

During the reign of Charles I, the colony of Georgia was given freedom, but later, it was banned because of its harsh trading policies which saw the colonists lose much money in taxes. They became very poor because of these restrictions.

The Protestant Reformation

The Protestant revolution was started by John Calvin who was a German monk in England while John Martin converted to Protestantism in 1506 and was expelled from Rome following the Council of Trent in 1615. This caused a religious schism between people belonging to the two sects in England.

However, by the end of 1550, people were starting to join the church since they did not like the way things were going. Moreover, many churches were built in England which provided room for worship. The impact of the Protestant church grew tremendously among the middle-class population that was rich people from all walks of life. This made the society of the British nation change and become wealthier.

The reign of Edward 1

Edward introduced some reforms which ensured that every religion in the country was promoted and protected religiously. He signed numerous laws that prohibited Catholic Church from holding office in England. But apart from this, Edward banned Catholics in England to prevent them from taking part in politics. His policies were very effective in that many Catholics were forced to convert to change their stand in the political arena.

The Tudors

In 1536, Henry VIII married Anne Boleyn, who later became his second wife. Together they created a dynasty that ruled Scotland for more than 200 years. By 1553, the Tudors overthrew Richard III who was deposed to be murdered in March 2057. One of the most significant and memorable incidents that followed was the Battle of Bosworth Field. When Henry Tudor died in 1553, the Tudors turned away from the Catholic Church which was started by William Phips. During the reign of Henry VI, the Protestant Reformation spread rapidly all around the country and now a majority of Protestants believe that one of the greatest factors of the Protestant Reformation was the dissolution of the monasteries of priests. Some scholars say that the main aim of the Tudors was to eliminate the power of bishops and the Pope from control over local councils. However, the Tudors never succeeded in achieving their objectives and they were driven out of the country after only nine months. The Tudor regime ended in 1583.

The era of Cromwell

Cromwell was the leader of the Virginia Company which was engaged in colonizing India. During his tenure, New World was seen and he signed various treaties and charters with Indian rulers, which ensured peace on land. On 17 March 1763, he was summoned before the House of Lords and charged with treason and sent to prison for seven years. From this date, England's international strategy is accepted to have been contrarily impacted since the presence of a company officer of Cromwell made it harder for the British government to negotiate with Indian colonial masters. If this trade were taken over by Americans, the British would have lost an opportunity of expanding their colonies.

The Napoleonic Wars

Many wars were fought across Europe but these wars resulted in the downfall of some wealthy nations, whereas others survived while many suffered a lot and even faced devastation by the French.

The Napoleonic Wars involved France and Austria. The struggle started with the conflict of 1712. To begin with, the French were winning against the Austrian Archdukes. However, this did not stop the Austrians from fighting back against them and then the French troops attacked Paris. After that, the battle of Orleans resulted in the defeat of England and the recapture of Paris. This meant that the French were forced to give Spain a free hand. At long last, Napoleon Bonaparte attacked Italy with a multitude of 35,000 men and defeated the Franco-American forces at Waterloo. Although Napoleon won the war and restored the fallen monarchs, he was unable to establish a single European kingdom. Most historians claim that Napoleon was unhappy with the war. This made him start seeking a peace deal with Austria on 12 April 1815 and was supported by the Austro-Spanish allies.

The Hapsburgs

A group of aristocratic families formed in 1792 that included Robert Carr, Lord Herbert Spencer, and Frederick Fitzwilliam. The trio came to be known as the Hapsburgs because they ruled the area and maintained feudalism which was an outdated form of government at that time.

They controlled their lands and had an iron grip on the county of Herefordshire, which was surrounded by barons. Thus, they were able to keep their hold on anyone that they wished to be above others. During their rule, however, they were very corrupt and often committed crimes that put them in trouble with law enforcement agencies. The Hapsburgs had a bad reputation which made them