Great Britain and the United Kingdom

Overview

Created by the Acts of Union 1707, merging the Kingdoms of England (with Wales) and Scotland into one state with a single Parliament at Westminster, while Scotland kept its own church and legal system. The Hanoverian succession (George I, 1714) followed the Act of Settlement (1701), which barred Catholics. The Jacobite risings sought to restore the Stuarts: the "Fifteen" (1715) and the "Forty-Five" (1745), the latter led by Charles Edward Stuart ("Bonnie Prince Charlie"), crushed at Culloden (16 April 1746). Britain's global power grew through the War of the Austrian Succession and especially the Seven Years' War (1756–1763), which won Canada and dominance in India ("annus mirabilis" 1759). The century closed with the loss of the American colonies (American War of Independence, 1775–1783) and union with Ireland (1800, effective 1801, creating the United Kingdom).

From 1 January 1801 the state continued as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, formed by the Acts of Union 1800. In the nineteenth century it became the leading industrial and naval power and, by the early twentieth, ruled the largest empire in history. The partition of Ireland and the creation of the Irish Free State in 1922 produced the modern United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The UK was a principal victor in both World Wars, presided over its empire's 20th-century decolonisation, and built a postwar welfare state. It joined the EEC in 1973. Devolution (1998–99) created a Scottish Parliament, a Welsh Senedd and a Northern Ireland Assembly (the latter under the 1998 Good Friday Agreement that ended the Troubles). A 2014 Scottish independence referendum kept the union intact (55% No). The Brexit referendum of 23 June 2016 (51.9% to leave) led to the UK's withdrawal from the EU on 31 January 2020 (transition ending 31 December 2020) — the first and only state to leave the bloc.

Present status (Sept 2026)

constitutional monarchy under King Charles III (since 2022). Prime Minister Andy Burnham (Labour) took office in July 2026 after Keir Starmer, who had won a landslide in July 2024, resigned amid poor polling and heavy May 2026 local-election losses.