HISTORY OF UK

In 1707, the kingdoms of England and Scotland became united as a kingdom of Great Britain and in 1800, Great Britain united with Ireland to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

England and Wales were the first regions to function under a single government. After several centuries of intermittent warfare, the two nations officially merged and were collectively known as England. The English colonists invaded Ireland and established English domination over the entire island, until the British Parliament passed the Act of Union of 1800. This act created the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. After a long domination by Britain’s protestant majority, Ireland achieved its independence.                                                                               
During the reign of Henry V111 the church in England asserted its independence from the Roman Catholic Church, and it was Henry’s daughter Elizabeth 1, who set up the Church of England on moderate basis. During her reign, England became a world power. The Victorian Era, named after Queen Victoria, saw the growth of democratic system of government. The two important wars during Victoria’s reign were the Crimean war against Russia, and the Boer war, extending British influence in Africa.

The efforts of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain to stem the rising threat of Nazism in Germany failed with German invasion on Poland, followed by Britain’s entry to World war 11 on Sept 3, led by Winston Churchill. In 1951, Churchill became prime minister at the head of a conservative government. He stepped in 1955 in favor of Sir Anthony Eden. A lagging economy brought the Conservatives back to power and on May 3, 1979, Margaret Thatcher became Britain’s first woman prime minister. Although there were continuing economic problems and foreign policy disputes, Margaret Thatcher won a third consecutive term

Eighteen years of conservative rule ended in May 1977 when Tony Blair and the Labour party triumphed. He produced constitutional reform that partially decentralized UK, leading to the formation of separate parliaments in Wales and Scotland. Britain turned over its colony Hong Kong to China in July 1997.
Along with US, Britain launched air srikes against Iraq in December 1998 after Saddam Hussein expelled UN arms inspectors. Britain became the staunchest ally of the US after the Sept 11 attacks. In Oct 2001, British troops again joined the US in the bombing campaign against Afghanistan.

On July 7, 2005, London suffered a terrorist bombing, Britain’s worst attack since World War II, Blair government weathered a major scandal, and after intense pressure from his party, he announced in August that he would resign in 12 months.