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The United Kingdom is characterized by a long political
and cultural history with links to other areas of the
world, the largest of which was the one that constituted
the British Empire. Julius Caesar invaded Britannia in
55 and 54 a. , But the island was not subject to Rome
before century I d. C. The Roman province of Britannia
was under its control until the 5th century, in the
territories that today are England and Wales. In this
century, Nordic tribes invaded Britannia and brought
with them Celtic peoples who came to inhabit today's
Wales. Christianity was introduced in the 6th and 7th
centuries. In the 8th and 9th centuries, Vikings prowled
the shores of Britannia and sent armies there. In the
9th century, Alfredo, the Grande , who reigned
between 871-899, repelled the Vikings' invasion. William
of Normandy conquered England at the Battle of Hastings
in 1066, and became William I. Norman kings established
a strong central government and a feudal state. Ricardo
I (1189-99) and his brother Joćo (1199-1216) had
conflicts with the clergy and the nobility and Joćo was
forced to make concessions to the nobility, enshrined in
the Magna Carta of 1215, establishing the constitutional
principle that the king rules according to the
law. During the reign of Edward I (1272-1307), the
establishment of English as a common language
developed. Henry VIII founded the Anglican Church
following the Roman Church's refusal to grant him
authorization for divorce. Henry VIII incorporated Wales
into England. England was driven to maritime and
colonial conquests after the loss of its possessions in
Europe, following the War of the Roses and because it
felt threatened by the Iberian and Dutch power. Isabel
I's reign began the period of English colonial
expansion. After fighting with France, Spain and
Holland, England increased its possessions in America,
which was not well accepted by the Spanish, who in 1588
had intentions of invading England, but the Invincible
Armada was defeated by the British. In 1603 James VI of
Scotland ascended the English throne, and became James I
when he established a union between the two kingdoms. In
1611, the British installed factories in India.
Within the United Kingdom, political life was not
peaceful, a civil war broke out between monarchs and
parliamentarians that ended with the execution of
Charles I in 1649. Eleven years later, the monarchy was
restored with Charles II. The conservative document, Bill
of Rights , of 1689, established the principle that
the crown of England could only be used by
Protestants. In 1707, England and Scotland formed,
through an Act of Union, the Kingdom of Great
Britain. During the reign of George III in 1776, the
American colonies of Great Britain became independent
and it was in this century that colonization began in
Australia. There followed a period of war between the
United Kingdom and revolutionary France and then with
the empire of Napoleon Bonaparte (1789-1815). From 1795,
it occupied the Cape of Good Hope, Malaysia and
Ceylon. In 1801, Great Britain created legislation to
join Ireland and create the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland. From 1874 the empire was enlarged
with the territories of Malaysia, Cyprus, Nigeria,
Egypt, Rhodesia, Kenya, Zanzibar, Uganda,
The United Kingdom was the birthplace of the
Industrial Revolution. The steam engine brought
industrial capitalism, factories grew in the cities and
there was a great exploitation of the working
classes. The writer Charles Dickens portrays this period
of English life. It speaks of the poverty of the workers
of the time, at a time when it was thought that the
machine would finally free the man, but for the workers
it was synonymous with slavery. During the reign of
Queen Victoria (1837-1901), British colonial expansion
reached its zenith, although former dominations such as
Canada and Australia gradually gained independence in
1867 and 1901, respectively. The development of the 19th
century parliamentary government is due to the
leadership of Prime Ministers Robert Peel, Benjamin
Disraeli and William Gladstone.
The United Kingdom entered the First World War as an
ally of France and Russia in 1914. After the First War,
a revolution broke out in Ireland and, in 1921, the Free
State of Ireland wanted to change its status, an
objective only achieved after the World War II when it
became the Republic of Ireland, abandoning the
Commonwealth. In 1939 the United Kingdom entered World
War II and fought Germanic and Japanese forces in
Europe, Africa and Asia. India gained independence
shortly after the war. From the post-war to the 1970s,
the United Kingdom continued to guarantee independence
for the various colonies and dependencies. Northern
Ireland's status has become controversial and British
troops have moved to this territory in order to maintain
order. Violence and terrorism have grown between
communities belonging to the Catholic Church, which has
sided with the Republic of Ireland, and the Protestant
community that intends to continue to side with the
United Kingdom. Northern Ireland and central London are
the places where the most frequent terrorist actions
arise, namely those of the Irish Republican Army, known
as the IRA.
The rule of the Labor Party, initiated in 1924 by
leader Ramsay MacDonald and confirmed in the 1945
elections, imposed a nationalist and socialist policy on
the country. The State bought shares from the Bank of
England, the coal mines, the internal transport network,
aviation, gas and electricity. Subsequently, it was the
Conservative Party's turn to take care of the country's
destinies and carry out a privatization policy in the
iron and steel sectors.
In 1973 the United Kingdom became part of the (then)
European Economic Community, which it would abandon on
31 January 2020, fulfilling the popular will of the
majority expressed in a referendum held in 2016.
Conservative Party Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
ruled the country between 1979 and 1990, having made
major changes to favor the private sector, to the
detriment of state intervention in the economy.
The form of government is a constitutional monarchy,
the head of state is the queen, Isabel II, and the head
of government is the prime minister. The British
monarchy and royal family are part of the national unity
and spirit. The Constitution is not written. Wales and
England are unified politically and administratively and
are legally united by the acts of 1536 and 1542. |
