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data-icon="toc"></em> <a class="font-serif font-weight-bold text-black link-blue" href="https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom">United Kingdom</a> </div> <button aria-label="Close" class="js-sections-close-button btn-link btn-sm btn d-lg-none position-absolute top-0 p-10 right-0" > <em class="material-icons font-26" data-icon="close"></em> </button> </div> <div class="section-content pl-10 pr-20 pl-sm-50 pr-sm-60 pl-lg-5 pr-lg-10 pt-10 pt-lg-0 bg-gray-50 clear-catfish-ad"> <div class="toc mb-20"> <div class="font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mx-15 mb-15 mt-20"> Table of Contents </div> <ul class="list-unstyled my-0" data-level="h1"><li data-target="#ref1"><div class="pl-25"><a class="link-gray-900 w-100" href="/place/United-Kingdom">Introduction & Quick Facts</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"></div></li><li data-target="#ref44671"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><button class="h1-link-drawer-button btn btn-xs btn-circle d-flex rounded" type="button" aria-label="Toggle Heading"><em class="material-icons font-18" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></em></button><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom#ref44671">Land</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44672"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom#ref44672">Relief</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44673"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-highland-zone">The highland zone</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44674"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-lowland-zone">The lowland zone</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44675"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-lowland-zone#ref44675">Drainage</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44676"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-lowland-zone#ref44676">Soils</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44677"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-lowland-zone#ref44677">Climate</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44678"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Plant-and-animal-life">Plant and animal life</a></li></ul></div></li><li data-target="#ref44682"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><button class="h1-link-drawer-button btn btn-xs btn-circle d-flex rounded" type="button" aria-label="Toggle Heading"><em class="material-icons font-18" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></em></button><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Plant-and-animal-life#ref44682">People</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44683"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Plant-and-animal-life#ref44683">Ethnic groups</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44684"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Plant-and-animal-life#ref44684">Languages</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44685"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Religion">Religion</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref225229"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Religion#ref225229">Settlement patterns</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref225230"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Religion#ref225230">Rural settlement</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref225231"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Urban-settlement">Urban settlement</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44686"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Urban-settlement#ref44686">Demographic trends</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44687"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Urban-settlement#ref44687">Population growth</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44688"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Urban-settlement#ref44688">Migration patterns</a></li></ul></li></ul></div></li><li data-target="#ref44689"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><button class="h1-link-drawer-button btn btn-xs btn-circle d-flex rounded" type="button" aria-label="Toggle Heading"><em class="material-icons font-18" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></em></button><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Economy">Economy</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44691"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Economy#ref44691">Agriculture, forestry, and fishing</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44692"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Economy#ref44692">Agriculture</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44693"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Economy#ref44693">Forestry</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44694"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Economy#ref44694">Fishing</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44690"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Economy#ref44690">Resources and power</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref225232"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Economy#ref225232">Minerals</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref225233"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Economy#ref225233">Energy</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44695"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Economy#ref44695">Manufacturing</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44699"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Economy#ref44699">Finance</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44700"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Trade">Trade</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref215040"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Trade#ref215040">Services</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref225234"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Trade#ref225234">Labour and taxation</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44701"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Trade#ref44701">Transportation and telecommunications</a></li></ul></div></li><li data-target="#ref44702"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><button class="h1-link-drawer-button btn btn-xs btn-circle d-flex rounded" type="button" aria-label="Toggle Heading"><em class="material-icons font-18" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></em></button><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Trade#ref44702">Government and society</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref225235"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Trade#ref225235">Constitutional framework</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref215041"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Trade#ref215041">Regional government</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44705"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Local-government">Local government</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44709"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Local-government#ref44709">Justice</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44706"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Local-government#ref44706">Political process</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44710"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Local-government#ref44710">Security</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44716"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Health-and-welfare">Health and welfare</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44717"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Health-and-welfare#ref44717">The National Health Service</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44718"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Health-and-welfare#ref44718">Cash benefits</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44719"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Health-and-welfare#ref44719">Housing</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44712"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Health-and-welfare#ref44712">Education</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44713"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Health-and-welfare#ref44713">Primary and secondary education</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44714"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Health-and-welfare#ref44714">Private schools</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44715"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Higher-education">Higher education</a></li></ul></li></ul></div></li><li data-target="#ref44720"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><button class="h1-link-drawer-button btn btn-xs btn-circle d-flex rounded" type="button" aria-label="Toggle Heading"><em class="material-icons font-18" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></em></button><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Higher-education#ref44720">Cultural life</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref225236"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Higher-education#ref225236">Daily life and social customs</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref225237"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Higher-education#ref225237">The arts</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref225238"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Higher-education#ref225238">Cultural institutions</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref215039"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Sports-and-recreation">Sports and recreation</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44722"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Sports-and-recreation#ref44722">Media and publishing</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44723"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Sports-and-recreation#ref44723">Newspapers</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44724"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Sports-and-recreation#ref44724">Broadcasting</a></li></ul></li></ul></div></li><li data-target="#ref214519"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><button class="h1-link-drawer-button btn btn-xs btn-circle d-flex rounded" type="button" aria-label="Toggle Heading"><em class="material-icons font-18" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></em></button><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Sports-and-recreation#ref214519">History</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44730"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Ancient-Britain">Ancient Britain</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44731" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Ancient-Britain#ref44731">Pre-Roman Britain</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44732"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Ancient-Britain#ref44732">Neolithic Period</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44733"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Ancient-Britain#ref44733">Bronze Age</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44734"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Ancient-Britain#ref44734">Iron Age</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44735" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Roman-Britain">Roman Britain</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44736"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Roman-Britain#ref44736">The conquest</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44737"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Roman-Britain#ref44737">Condition of the province</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref44738"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Roman-Britain#ref44738">Army and frontier</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref44739"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Roman-Britain#ref44739">Administration</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44740"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Roman-society">Roman society</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref44741"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Roman-society#ref44741">Economy</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref44742"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Roman-society#ref44742">Towns</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref44743"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Roman-society#ref44743">Villas</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref44744"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Roman-society#ref44744">Religion and culture</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44745"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Roman-society#ref44745">The decline of Roman rule</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44746"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Anglo-Saxon-England">Anglo-Saxon England</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44747" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Anglo-Saxon-England#ref44747">The invaders and their early settlements</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44748"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Anglo-Saxon-England#ref44748">The social system</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44749"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Anglo-Saxon-England#ref44749">The conversion to Christianity</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44750"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Anglo-Saxon-England#ref44750">The golden age of Bede</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44751" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-heptarchy">The heptarchy</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44752"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-heptarchy#ref44752">The supremacy of Northumbria and the rise of Mercia</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44753"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-heptarchy#ref44753">The great age of Mercia</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44754"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-heptarchy#ref44754">The church and scholarship in Offa’s time</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44755"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-heptarchy#ref44755">The decline of Mercia and the rise of Wessex</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44756" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-period-of-the-Scandinavian-invasions">The period of the Scandinavian invasions</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44757"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-period-of-the-Scandinavian-invasions#ref44757">Viking invasions and settlements</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44758"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-period-of-the-Scandinavian-invasions#ref44758">Alfred’s government and his revival of learning</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44759" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-period-of-the-Scandinavian-invasions#ref44759">The achievement of political unity</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44760"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-period-of-the-Scandinavian-invasions#ref44760">The reconquest of the Danelaw</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44761"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-period-of-the-Scandinavian-invasions#ref44761">The kingdom of England</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44762"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-church-and-the-monastic-revival">The church and the monastic revival</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44763" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-church-and-the-monastic-revival#ref44763">The Anglo-Danish state</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44764"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-church-and-the-monastic-revival#ref44764">The Danish conquest and the reigns of the Danish kings</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44765"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-church-and-the-monastic-revival#ref44765">The reign of Edward the Confessor and the Norman Conquest</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44766"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Normans-1066-1154">The Normans (1066–1154)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44767" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Normans-1066-1154#ref44767">William I (1066–87)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44768"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Normans-1066-1154#ref44768">Resistance and rebellion</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44769"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Normans-1066-1154#ref44769">The introduction of feudalism</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44770"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Normans-1066-1154#ref44770">Government and justice</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44771"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Normans-1066-1154#ref44771">Church–state relations</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44772"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Normans-1066-1154#ref44772">William’s accomplishments</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44773" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-sons-of-William-I">The sons of William I</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44774"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-sons-of-William-I#ref44774">William II Rufus (1087–1100)</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44775"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-sons-of-William-I#ref44775">Henry I (1100–35)</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44776" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-sons-of-William-I#ref44776">The period of anarchy (1135–54)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44777"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-sons-of-William-I#ref44777">Matilda and Stephen</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44778"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-sons-of-William-I#ref44778">Civil war</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44779"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-sons-of-William-I#ref44779">England in the Norman period</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44780"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-early-Plantagenets">The early Plantagenets</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44781" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-early-Plantagenets#ref44781">Henry II (1154–89)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44782"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-early-Plantagenets#ref44782">Government of England</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44783"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-early-Plantagenets#ref44783">Struggle with Thomas Becket</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44784"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-early-Plantagenets#ref44784">Rebellion of Henry’s sons and Eleanor of Aquitaine</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44785"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-early-Plantagenets#ref44785">Richard I (1189–99)</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44786" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/John-1199-1216">John (1199–1216)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44787"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/John-1199-1216#ref44787">Loss of French possessions</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44788"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/John-1199-1216#ref44788">Struggle with the papacy</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44789"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/John-1199-1216#ref44789">Revolt of the barons and Magna Carta</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44790"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/John-1199-1216#ref44790">Economy and society</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44791"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/John-1199-1216#ref44791">The 13th century</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44792" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Henry-III-1216-72">Henry III (1216–72)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44793"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Henry-III-1216-72#ref44793">Minority</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44794"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Henry-III-1216-72#ref44794">Early reign</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44795"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Henry-III-1216-72#ref44795">The county communities</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44796"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Henry-III-1216-72#ref44796">Simon de Montfort and the Barons’ War</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44797"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Henry-III-1216-72#ref44797">Later reign</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44798" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-I-1272-1307">Edward I (1272–1307)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44799"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-I-1272-1307#ref44799">Law and government</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44800"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-I-1272-1307#ref44800">Finance</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44801"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-I-1272-1307#ref44801">The growth of Parliament</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44802"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-I-1272-1307#ref44802">Edward’s wars</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44803"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-I-1272-1307#ref44803">Domestic difficulties</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44804"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Social-economic-and-cultural-change">Social, economic, and cultural change</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44805"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Social-economic-and-cultural-change#ref44805">The 14th century</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44806"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Social-economic-and-cultural-change#ref44806">Edward II (1307–27)</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44807" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-III-1327-77">Edward III (1327–77)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44808"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-III-1327-77#ref44808">The Hundred Years’ War to 1360</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44809"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-III-1327-77#ref44809">Domestic achievements</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44810"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-III-1327-77#ref44810">Law and order</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44811"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-III-1327-77#ref44811">The crises of Edward’s later years</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44812" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Richard-II-1377-99">Richard II (1377–99)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44813"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Richard-II-1377-99#ref44813">The Peasants’ Revolt (1381)</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44814"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Richard-II-1377-99#ref44814">John Wycliffe</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44815"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Richard-II-1377-99#ref44815">Political struggles and Richard’s deposition</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44816"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Richard-II-1377-99#ref44816">Economic crisis and cultural change</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44817"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Lancaster-and-York">Lancaster and York</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44818" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Lancaster-and-York#ref44818">Henry IV (1399–1413)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44819"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Lancaster-and-York#ref44819">The rebellions</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44820"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Lancaster-and-York#ref44820">Henry and Parliament</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44821" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Lancaster-and-York#ref44821">Henry V (1413–22)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44822"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Lancaster-and-York#ref44822">The French war</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44823"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Lancaster-and-York#ref44823">Domestic affairs</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44824" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Lancaster-and-York#ref44824">Henry VI (1422–61 and 1470–71)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44825"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Lancaster-and-York#ref44825">Domestic rivalries and the loss of France</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44826"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Lancaster-and-York#ref44826">Cade’s rebellion</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44827"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-beginning-of-the-Wars-of-the-Roses">The beginning of the Wars of the Roses</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44828"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-beginning-of-the-Wars-of-the-Roses#ref44828">Edward IV (1461–70 and 1471–83)</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44829"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-beginning-of-the-Wars-of-the-Roses#ref44829">Richard III (1483–85)</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44830"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/England-in-the-15th-century">England in the 15th century</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44831"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/England-in-the-15th-century#ref44831">England under the Tudors</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44832" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/England-in-the-15th-century#ref44832">Henry VII (1485–1509)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44833"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/England-in-the-15th-century#ref44833">Economy and society</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44834"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Dynastic-threats">Dynastic threats</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44835"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Dynastic-threats#ref44835">Financial policy</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44836"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Dynastic-threats#ref44836">The administration of justice</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44837" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Henry-VIII-1509-47">Henry VIII (1509–47)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44838"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Henry-VIII-1509-47#ref44838">Cardinal Wolsey</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44839"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Henry-VIII-1509-47#ref44839">The king’s “Great Matter”</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44840"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Henry-VIII-1509-47#ref44840">The Reformation background</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44841"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-break-with-Rome">The break with Rome</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44842"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-break-with-Rome#ref44842">The consolidation of the Reformation</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref275884"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-break-with-Rome#ref275884">The expansion of the English state</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44843"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-break-with-Rome#ref44843">Henry’s last years</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44844"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-VI-1547-53">Edward VI (1547–53)</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44845"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-VI-1547-53#ref44845">Mary I (1553–58)</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44846" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-VI-1547-53#ref44846">Elizabeth I (1558–1603)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44847"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-VI-1547-53#ref44847">The Tudor ideal of government</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44848"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Elizabethan-society">Elizabethan society</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44849"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Elizabethan-society#ref44849">Mary, Queen of Scots</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44850"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-clash-with-Spain">The clash with Spain</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44851"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-clash-with-Spain#ref44851">Internal discontent</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44852"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-early-Stuarts-and-the-Commonwealth">The early Stuarts and the Commonwealth</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44853" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-early-Stuarts-and-the-Commonwealth#ref44853">England in 1603</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44854"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-early-Stuarts-and-the-Commonwealth#ref44854">Economy and society</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44855"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-early-Stuarts-and-the-Commonwealth#ref44855">Government and society</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44856" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/James-I-1603-25">James I (1603–25)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref275885"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/James-I-1603-25#ref275885">Triple monarchy</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44857"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/James-I-1603-25#ref44857">Religious policy</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44858"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/James-I-1603-25#ref44858">Finance and politics</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44859"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/James-I-1603-25#ref44859">Factions and favourites</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44860" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Charles-I-1625-49">Charles I (1625–49)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44861"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Charles-I-1625-49#ref44861">The politics of war</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44862"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Charles-I-1625-49#ref44862">Peace and reform</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44863"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Charles-I-1625-49#ref44863">Religious reform</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44864"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Long-Parliament">The Long Parliament</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44865"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Long-Parliament#ref44865">Civil war and revolution</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44866"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Commonwealth-and-Protectorate">Commonwealth and Protectorate</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44867"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-later-Stuarts">The later Stuarts</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44868" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-later-Stuarts#ref44868">Charles II (1660–85)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44869"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-later-Stuarts#ref44869">The Restoration</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44870"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-later-Stuarts#ref44870">War and government</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44871"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-later-Stuarts#ref44871">The Popish Plot</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44872"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-later-Stuarts#ref44872">The exclusion crisis and the Tory reaction</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44873" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-later-Stuarts#ref44873">James II (1685–88)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44874"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-later-Stuarts#ref44874">Church and king</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44875"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Revolution-of-1688">The Revolution of 1688</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44876" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Revolution-of-1688#ref44876">William III (1689–1702) and Mary II (1689–94)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44877"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Revolution-of-1688#ref44877">The revolution settlement</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref275886"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Revolution-of-1688#ref275886">A new society</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44878"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Revolution-of-1688#ref44878">The sinews of war</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44879" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Anne-1702-14">Anne (1702–14)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44880"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Anne-1702-14#ref44880">Whigs and Tories</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44881"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Anne-1702-14#ref44881">Tories and Jacobites</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44882"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/18th-century-Britain-1714-1815">18th-century Britain, 1714–1815</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44883"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/18th-century-Britain-1714-1815#ref44883">The state of Britain in 1714</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44884" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/18th-century-Britain-1714-1815#ref44884">Britain from 1715 to 1742</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44885"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/18th-century-Britain-1714-1815#ref44885">The supremacy of the Whigs</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44886"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/18th-century-Britain-1714-1815#ref44886">Robert Walpole</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref44887"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/18th-century-Britain-1714-1815#ref44887">George II and Walpole</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref44888"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/18th-century-Britain-1714-1815#ref44888">Foreign policy</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref44889"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/18th-century-Britain-1714-1815#ref44889">Religious policy</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref44890"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/18th-century-Britain-1714-1815#ref44890">Economic policies</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44891"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/18th-century-Britain-1714-1815#ref44891">The electoral system</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44892"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Walpoles-loss-of-power">Walpole’s loss of power</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44893" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Walpoles-loss-of-power#ref44893">Britain from 1742 to 1754</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44894"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Walpoles-loss-of-power#ref44894">The Jacobite rebellion</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44895"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Walpoles-loss-of-power#ref44895">The rule of the Pelhams</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44896"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Walpoles-loss-of-power#ref44896">Domestic reforms</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44897" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/British-society-by-the-mid-18th-century">British society by the mid-18th century</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44898"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/British-society-by-the-mid-18th-century#ref44898">Joseph Massie’s categories</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44899"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/British-society-by-the-mid-18th-century#ref44899">Urban development</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44900"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/British-society-by-the-mid-18th-century#ref44900">Change and continuity</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44901"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/British-society-by-the-mid-18th-century#ref44901">The revolution in communications</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44902" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1754-to-1783">Britain from 1754 to 1783</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44903"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1754-to-1783#ref44903">Conflict abroad</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44904"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1754-to-1783#ref44904">Political instability in Britain</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44905"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1754-to-1783#ref44905">The American Revolution</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44906"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1754-to-1783#ref44906">Domestic responses to the American Revolution</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44907" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1754-to-1783#ref44907">Britain from 1783 to 1815</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44908"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/William-Pitt-the-Younger">William Pitt the Younger</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44909"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/William-Pitt-the-Younger#ref44909">Economic growth and prosperity</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44910"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/William-Pitt-the-Younger#ref44910">The Industrial Revolution</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44911"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/William-Pitt-the-Younger#ref44911">Britain during the French Revolution</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44912"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Napoleonic-Wars">The Napoleonic Wars</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44913"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Napoleonic-Wars#ref44913">Imperial expansion</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44914"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Napoleonic-Wars#ref44914">Great Britain, 1815–1914</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44915" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Napoleonic-Wars#ref44915">Britain after the Napoleonic Wars</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref274567"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Napoleonic-Wars#ref274567">State and society</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref274568"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Napoleonic-Wars#ref274568">The political situation</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44919" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Early-and-mid-Victorian-Britain">Early and mid-Victorian Britain</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref274569"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Early-and-mid-Victorian-Britain#ref274569">State and society</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref274570"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Early-and-mid-Victorian-Britain#ref274570">The political situation</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274571"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Early-and-mid-Victorian-Britain#ref274571">Whig reforms</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274572"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Early-and-mid-Victorian-Britain#ref274572">Chartism and the Anti-Corn Law League</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274573"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Early-and-mid-Victorian-Britain#ref274573">Peel and the Peelite heritage</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274574"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Early-and-mid-Victorian-Britain#ref274574">Palmerston</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274575"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Gladstone-and-Disraeli">Gladstone and Disraeli</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44926"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Gladstone-and-Disraeli#ref44926">Economy and society</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44928"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Cultural-change">Cultural change</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274576"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Cultural-change#ref274576">The development of private life</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274577"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Cultural-change#ref274577">Religion</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274578"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Cultural-change#ref274578">Leisure</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref274579" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Late-Victorian-Britain">Late Victorian Britain</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref274580"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Late-Victorian-Britain#ref274580">State and society</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref274581"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Late-Victorian-Britain#ref274581">The political situation</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274582"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Late-Victorian-Britain#ref274582">Gladstone and Chamberlain</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274583"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Late-Victorian-Britain#ref274583">The Irish question</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274584"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Late-Victorian-Britain#ref274584">Split of the Liberal Party</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274585"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Late-Victorian-Britain#ref274585">Imperialism and British politics</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274586"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-return-of-the-Liberals">The return of the Liberals</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274587"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-return-of-the-Liberals#ref274587">The international crisis</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref274588"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-return-of-the-Liberals#ref274588">Economy and society</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref274589"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-return-of-the-Liberals#ref274589">Family and gender</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref274590"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-return-of-the-Liberals#ref274590">Mass culture</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44948"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1914-to-the-present">Britain from 1914 to the present</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref274520" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1914-to-the-present#ref274520">The political situation</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref274521"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1914-to-the-present#ref274521">World War I</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274522"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1914-to-the-present#ref274522">The Asquith coalition</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274523"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1914-to-the-present#ref274523">Lloyd George</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref274524"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1914-to-the-present#ref274524">Between the wars</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274525"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1914-to-the-present#ref274525">The election of 1918</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274526"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1914-to-the-present#ref274526">Harsh peace and hard times</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274527"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1914-to-the-present#ref274527">Ireland and the return of the Conservatives</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274528"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1914-to-the-present#ref274528">The Baldwin era</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274529"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Baldwin-and-the-abdication-crisis">Baldwin and the abdication crisis</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274530"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Baldwin-and-the-abdication-crisis#ref274530">Foreign policy and appeasement</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref274531"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Baldwin-and-the-abdication-crisis#ref274531">World War II</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274532"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Baldwin-and-the-abdication-crisis#ref274532">The phases of war</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274533"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Baldwin-and-the-abdication-crisis#ref274533">Political developments</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref274534"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-since-1945">Britain since 1945</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274535"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-since-1945#ref274535">Labour and the welfare state (1945–51)</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274536"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-since-1945#ref274536">Economic crisis and relief (1947)</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274537"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-since-1945#ref274537">Withdrawal from the empire</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274538"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-since-1945#ref274538">Conservative government (1951–64)</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274539"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-since-1945#ref274539">Labour interlude (1964–70)</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274540"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-since-1945#ref274540">The return of the Conservatives (1970–74)</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274541"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-since-1945#ref274541">Labour back in power (1974–79)</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274542"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Margaret-Thatcher-government-1979-90">The Margaret Thatcher government (1979–90)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342384"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Margaret-Thatcher-government-1979-90#ref342384">The Falkland Islands War, the 1983 election, and privatization</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342385"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Margaret-Thatcher-government-1979-90#ref342385">Racial discrimination and the 1981 England riots</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342386"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Margaret-Thatcher-government-1979-90#ref342386">The 2001 England riots</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342387"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Margaret-Thatcher-government-1979-90#ref342387">The “Troubles” in Northern Ireland</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342388"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Margaret-Thatcher-government-1979-90#ref342388">“Thatcherism”</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274543"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Margaret-Thatcher-government-1979-90#ref274543">The government of John Major (1990–97)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342389"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Margaret-Thatcher-government-1979-90#ref342389">“Black Wednesday,” epidemic scandals, and Major’s “Citizens Charter”</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342390"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Margaret-Thatcher-government-1979-90#ref342390">“Mad cow disease”</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref342391"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007">The Tony Blair government (1997–2007)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342392"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007#ref342392">The struggle for control of Labour</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342393"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007#ref342393">New Labour, the repeal of Clause IV, and the “third way”</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342394"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007#ref342394">Navigating the European monetary system and the EU Social Chapter</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342395"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007#ref342395">The Good Friday Agreement</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342396"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007#ref342396">London’s local government, House of Lords reform, and devolution for Scotland and Wales</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342397"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007#ref342397">The royal family’s “annus horribilis,” the death of Princess Diana, and the Millennium Dome</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342398"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007#ref342398">The battle for the soul of the Conservative Party</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342399"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007#ref342399">Response to the September 11 attacks</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342400"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007#ref342400">Weapons of mass destruction and the Iraq War</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274544"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007#ref274544">The Gordon Brown government (2007–10)</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref332804"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15">Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition rule (2010–15)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342401"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342401">The U.K. general election of 2010</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342402"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342402">First-past-the-post referendum</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342403"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342403">Intervention in Libya</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342404"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342404"><em>News of the World</em> hacking scandal</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342405"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342405">The 2011 riots, the European sovereign debt crisis, and Cameron’s veto of changes to the Lisbon Treaty</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342406"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342406">The 2012 London Olympics, Julian Assange’s embassy refuge, and the emergence of UKIP</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342407"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342407">The birth of George, rejection of intervention in Syria, and regulation of GCHQ</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342408"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342408">Euroskepticism</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342409"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342409">Scottish independence referendum</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342410"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342410">Economic recovery</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref332805"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref332805">David Cameron on his own (2015–16)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342411"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342411">The U.K. general election of 2015</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342412"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum">The “Brexit” referendum</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref337649"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref337649">The premiership of Theresa May (2016–19)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342413"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342413">The resignation of Cameron, the rise of May, and a challenge to Corbyn’s leadership of Labour</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342414"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342414">Triggering Article 50</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342415"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342415">The Manchester arena bombing and London bridge attacks</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342416"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342416">The snap election campaign</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342417"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342417">The 2017 U.K. general election</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342418"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342418">The Grenfell Tower fire, a novichok attack in Salisbury, and air strikes on Syria</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342419"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342419">The wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Chequers plan, and Boris Johnson’s resignation</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342420"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342420">EU agreement and Parliamentary opposition to May’s Brexit plan</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342421"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342421">Objections to the Irish backstop and a challenge to May’s leadership</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342422"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342422">Parliamentary rejection of May’s plan, May’s survival of a confidence vote, and the Independent Group of breakaway MPs</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342423"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342423">Parliament rejects May’s plan again</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342486"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342486">“Indicative votes,” May’s pledge to resign, a third defeat for her plan, and a new deadline</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref350369"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref350369">The Boris Johnson government</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref344342"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref344342">Boris Johnson’s ascent, the December 2019 snap election, and Brexit</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref347309"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref347309">The coronavirus pandemic</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref350370"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref350370">“Partygate”</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref351071"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref351071">Further scandal and Johnson’s resignation</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref351684"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref351684">The premiership of Liz Truss</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref352183"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref352183">Ascent to office</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref352184"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref352184">The death of Elizabeth II</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref352772"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref352772">Abrupt resignation</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref352803"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref352803">The premiership of Rishi Sunak</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref274545" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Society-state-and-economy">Society, state, and economy</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li 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Josephson</div> <div class="editor-description font-12 font-serif mt-5 clamp-description text-black">Visiting Associate Professor of History, Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts. Visiting Fellow, Davis Center for Russian Studies, Harvard University. Author of <i>New Atlantis Revisited: Akademgorodok,...</i></div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor text-decoration-underline"> Paul R. Josephson</span><span class="text-gray-700 mx-5">•</span><a class="see-all border-gray-700 gtm-byline" rel="nofollow" href="https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/additional-info#contributors">All</a> </div> <div class="font-serif font-12 text-gray-700"> <span class="qa-fact-checked-by">Fact-checked by</span> <div class="editor-popover popover p-0"> <a class="d-block p-20 font-12" href="/editor/The-Editors-of-Encyclopaedia-Britannica/4419" > <div class="editor-title font-16 font-weight-bold">The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</div> <div class="editor-description font-12 font-serif mt-5 text-black">Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.</div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link font-12 "> The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</span></div> <div class="last-updated font-12 font-serif"> <span class="text-gray-700"> Last Updated: <time datetime="2024-11-29T00:00:00CST" >Nov 29, 2024</time> •</span> <a class="byline-edit-history" href="https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/additional-info#history" rel="nofollow">Article History</a> </div></div> </div> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button d-none d-sm-block js-sections-inline-button module-spacing btn d-lg-none"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <div class="d-flex d-sm-none flex-row"> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button js-sections-inline-button module-spacing"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <button class="ai-ask-button btn border-2 ai-ask-button btn border-2 module-spacing btn-sm js-inline-ai-ask-button btn-outline-red-400 border-red-400 p-10 ml-5"> Ask the Chatbot a Question </button> </div> <div class="bg-gray-50 p-15 rounded module-spacing recent-news d-flex flex-column float-false"> <div> <h2 class="font-weight-bold font-14 m-0 d-inline"> News <span class="text-gray-600">•</span> </h2> <div class="recent-news-item first-recent-news-item d-inline"> <a class="font-14 gtm-ap-news-link" href="/news/615557/0bc2de13d41fe6d62753935e91dfb0f8" rel="nofollow">Historic debate on legalizing assisted dying in England and Wales begins</a> <span class="font-14 text-gray-600"> <span>•</span> Nov. 29, 2024, 5:44 AM ET (AP) <button class="btn btn-link d-inline p-0 font-12 js-toggle-recent-news"> <span class="text-gray-500">...</span><span>(Show more)</span> </button> </span> </div> </div> <div class="rest-of-recent-news-items"> <div class="recent-news-item mt-5"> <a class="font-14 gtm-ap-news-link" href="/news/615557/fdd390388f1135f2cab25f8b2abc6507" rel="nofollow">Bill to legalize assisted dying in England and Wales faces heated parliamentary debate</a> <span class="font-14 text-gray-600"> <span>•</span> Nov. 28, 2024, 12:43 PM ET (AP) </span> </div> <div class="recent-news-item mt-5"> <a class="font-14 gtm-ap-news-link" href="/news/615557/d4b32efec6cb63faa1b6302f502f7a3a" rel="nofollow">Former British soldier who broke out of prison is convicted of spying for Iran</a> <span class="font-14 text-gray-600"> <span>•</span> Nov. 28, 2024, 8:26 AM ET (AP) </span> </div> <div class="recent-news-item mt-5"> <a class="font-14 gtm-ap-news-link" href="/news/615557/3aabb665fe0fd3935a370b499a8c5d02" rel="nofollow">The UK will consult on sales targets for automakers during the transition to electric vehicles</a> <span class="font-14 text-gray-600"> <span>•</span> Nov. 27, 2024, 1:08 PM ET (AP) </span> </div> <div class="recent-news-item mt-5"> <a class="font-14 gtm-ap-news-link" href="/news/615557/7c4769141738a58a7c54d988534c1771" rel="nofollow">A new chancellor is elected for Oxford University's 800-year-old post</a> <span class="font-14 text-gray-600"> <span>•</span> Nov. 27, 2024, 8:21 AM ET (AP) </span> </div> <button class="js-toggle-recent-news d-flex btn btn-unstyled font-14 pr-10 rounded-sm mt-10" aria-label="Toggle additional news items"> Show less <em class="material-icons" data-icon="expand_less"></em> </button> </div> </div><span class="marker before-article"></span><section data-level="3" id="ref44902">  <span class="marker PREMOD1 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph"><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henry-Pelham" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Henry Pelham</a> died in 1754 and was replaced as head of the administration by his brother, the duke of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Newcastle-Northern-Ireland" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Newcastle</a>. Newcastle was <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="shrewd" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/shrewd" data-type="EB">shrewd</a>, intelligent, and hard-working and possessed massive political experience. But he lacked self-confidence and a certain breadth of vision, and he was hampered by being in the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/House-of-Lords" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">House of Lords</a>. In 1755 <span id="ref483296"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henry-Fox-1st-Baron-Holland-of-Foxley" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Henry Fox</a> was appointed secretary of state and acted as the administration’s spokesman in the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/House-of-Commons-British-government" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Commons</a>. Fox’s promotion alienated a man who was far more interesting and remarkable than either of these ministers, <span id="ref483297"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Pitt-the-Elder" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">William Pitt the Elder</a>. Pitt had entered <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Parliament" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Parliament</a> as an Opposition MP in the 1730s. In 1746 he had been appointed paymaster general, a highly lucrative state office. But Pitt, whose ambition was for fame and recognition rather than money, remained unsatisfied. The king, however, disliked him and successfully obstructed his career. In 1755 he dismissed Pitt, who began to attack Newcastle on <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="imperial" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/imperial" data-type="EB">imperial</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/foreign-policy" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">foreign policy</a> issues.</p><span class="marker MOD1 mod-inline"></span> <section data-level="4" id="ref44903"> <h2 class="h4">Conflict abroad</h2> <span class="marker PREMOD2 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Although Britain and <span id="ref483298"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/history-of-France" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">France</a> had technically been at peace since 1748, both powers continued to harass each other in their colonial settlements in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/North-America" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">North America</a>, the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/West-Indies-island-group-Atlantic-Ocean" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">West Indies</a>, and India. When the <span id="ref483299"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/French-and-Indian-War" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">French</a> attacked the British colony of Minorca in May 1756, <span id="ref483300"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Seven-Years-War" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">war</a> broke out; Britain allied itself with Prussia and France with <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Austria" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Austria</a>. Like every 18th-century war, this one began badly for Britain; it lost Oswego in North America as well as Minorca. There was an outcry in the press, and Newcastle and Fox resigned. In November Pitt was appointed secretary of state with <span id="ref483301"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Cavendish-4th-Duke-of-Devonshire" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">William Cavendish, duke of Devonshire</a>, serving as <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="nominal" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nominal" data-type="MW">nominal</a> head of the new administration. But Pitt, still lacking royal approval or an adequate majority in the Commons, was dismissed by the king in April 1757. He returned to power in June, forming what was to be a highly effective wartime coalition with Newcastle. Pitt captured the attention and imagination of Parliament and of the people by his <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="rhetoric" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rhetoric" data-type="MW">rhetoric</a> and charisma; Newcastle employed his experience and industry to raise more than £160 million during the course of the war. But what cemented the coalition was Britain’s naval and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/armed-force" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">military</a> successes. In India, where Britain and France were keen competitors, General <span id="ref483302"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Robert-Clive" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Robert Clive</a> captured the French settlement of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Chandannagar" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Chandernagore</a> and then, with the forces of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/East-India-Company" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">East India Company</a>, defeated the army of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Siraj-al-Dawlah" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Siraj-ud-Dawlah</a>, the nawab (ruler) of Bengal, at the <span id="ref483303"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Plassey" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Battle of Plassey</a> on June 23, 1757. The battle lasted only a few hours but decided the fate of India by establishing British dominance in Bengal and the Carnatic, the two most profitable regions of <span id="ref483304"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/history-of-India" class="md-crosslink ">India</a> for European traders. The year 1757, as a <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="consequence" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/consequence" data-type="EB">consequence</a>, is often cited as the beginning of Britain’s supremacy over India, the start of Calcutta’s significance as the headquarters of the East India Company, and the beginning of the end of French influence on the subcontinent. Two years later large sections of the French fleet were destroyed at the naval <span id="ref483305"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Quiberon-Bay" class="md-crosslink ">battle of Quiberon Bay</a>. When <span id="ref483306"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Quebec-North-America-1759" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Quebec</a> fell to General <span id="ref483307"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/James-Wolfe" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">James Wolfe</a> in 1759, British control of <span id="ref483308"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/history-of-Canada" class="md-crosslink ">Canada</a> was effectively secured. The island of <span id="ref483309"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Guadeloupe" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Guadeloupe</a> was captured in the same dramatic year, as were French <a href="https://www.britannica.com/money/market" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">trading</a> bases on the west coast of Africa.</p><span class="marker MOD2 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD3 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Most of these gains were confirmed by the <span id="ref483310"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Treaty-of-Paris-1763" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Treaty of Paris</a> (1763), though <span id="ref483311"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/British-Empire" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Britain</a> restored Guadeloupe to the French in return for control of Canada. In the short term these victories resulted in a mood of patriotic exultation, especially among <span id="ref483313"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/money/mercantilism" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">merchants</a>. They looked to the new <span id="ref483312"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Western-colonialism" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">colonies</a> to provide both fresh stocks of raw materials and <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="eager" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/eager" data-type="EB">eager</a> markets for British manufactured goods: “Trade,” <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Edmund-Burke-British-philosopher-and-statesman" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Edmund Burke</a> gloated, “had been made to flourish by war.” This global victory, however, had been purchased at a high price. The conquest of Canada freed the American colonists from the fear of a French invasion from the north. Anxiety on this score had helped to foster American attachment to Britain. Now these fears had been relieved, and as early as 1760 some Britons and Americans anticipated that this would lead to difficulties. Furthermore, the enormous cost of the conflict led to drastic and sometimes damaging postwar economies, not least the deterioration of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Royal-Navy" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Royal Navy</a>, which would be an important factor in Britain’s defeat in the American Revolution (1775–83). Postwar economies also forced British governments to explore new <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="fiscal" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/fiscal" data-type="EB">fiscal</a> expedients, which aroused discontent at home and in the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/American-colonies" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">American colonies</a>. Finally, the apparent unity and strength of Britain’s elite during the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Seven-Years-War" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Seven Years’ War</a> was deceptive: Newcastle and many of his allies were elderly men, Pitt was difficult and unstable, and old <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Whig-Party-England" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Whig and Tory</a> alignments had ceased to have much meaning. All these factors helped to make the early reign of George III a period of conflict and instability.</p><span class="marker MOD3 mod-inline"></span> </section> <section data-level="4" id="ref44904"> <h2 class="h4">Political instability in Britain</h2> <span class="marker PREMOD4 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph"><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/George-II-king-of-Great-Britain" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">George II</a> died in October 1760 and was succeeded by his grandson, who became <span id="ref483314"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/George-III" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">George III</a>. The new king became one of the most controversial British monarchs. In the first 10 years of his reign administrations changed no fewer than seven times. In October 1761 Pitt resigned and Newcastle was made to share power with the royal favourite, <span id="ref483315"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Stuart-3rd-Earl-of-Bute" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">John Stuart, earl of Bute</a>. In May 1762 Newcastle too resigned, and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Bute-island-Scotland" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Bute</a> alone led the government until his resignation in April 1763. Bute was replaced by <span id="ref483316"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/George-Grenville" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">George Grenville</a>, who was in turn dismissed in July 1765. For the next year <span id="ref483317"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Watson-Wentworth-2nd-Marquess-of-Rockingham" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Charles Watson-Wentworth, marquess of Rockingham</a>, served as first lord of the treasury. But in July 1766 Rockingham was sacked and replaced by Pitt, now elevated to the House of Lords as earl of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Chatham-England" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Chatham</a>. Chatham soon lapsed into <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="manic" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/manic" data-type="EB">manic</a> depression, and from 1768 to 1770 <span id="ref483318"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Augustus-Henry-Fitzroy-3rd-duke-of-Grafton" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Augustus Henry Fitzroy, duke of Grafton</a>, led the government. Only in 1770 did the king find a minister whom he felt he could trust and deal with: <span id="ref483319"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Frederick-North-Lord-North-of-Kirtling" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Frederick, Lord North</a>. Such high political instability undoubtedly hampered British efforts to resolve the problem of its American colonies.</p><span class="marker MOD4 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD5 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">But division and instability were not just confined to the court and parliament. The 1760s were a period of bad harvests, rising food prices, and sporadic unemployment. These economic and social problems helped to fuel the public agitation over <span id="ref483320"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Wilkes" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">John Wilkes</a>, a Protestant dissenter and the son of a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/London" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">London</a> malt distiller. In 1757 he bribed a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/rotten-borough" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">rotten borough</a> to elect him as its member of Parliament. An interesting, irresponsible, and cheerfully immoral man, Wilkes became well known in London society but failed to obtain a government post. His disappointment, as well as a bent toward iconoclasm, pushed him into opposition journalism. In April 1763 issue number 45 of his paper, the <em>North Briton</em> (a reference to the then chief minister Lord Bute, who was Scottish), was judged seditious. The government reacted by issuing a general warrant under which Wilkes and 48 additional persons were arrested. But <span id="ref483321"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Pratt-1st-Earl-Camden" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Sir Charles Pratt</a>, chief <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="justice" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/justice" data-type="MW">justice</a> of the court of commons pleas, determined that this was a <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="breach" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/breach" data-type="MW">breach</a> of Wilkes’s parliamentary privilege, and he acquitted him. Soon after Wilkes fled to France to avoid another trial, this time for obscenity. In 1764 he was expelled from the Commons and tried in absentia for <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="sedition" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sedition" data-type="MW">sedition</a>, libel, and obscenity. But, as he did not return, he was declared an outlaw for impeding royal justice. In 1768, deeply in debt, he returned and was elected MP for the county of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Middlesex-historical-county" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Middlesex</a>, the most populous county <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="constituency" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/constituency" data-type="MW">constituency</a> in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/England" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">England</a>.</p><div class="module-spacing"> </div><span class="marker MOD5 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD6 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Since Wilkes was still an outlaw, Parliament declared him ineligible for election, and for a time he was imprisoned in the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Tower-of-London" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Tower of London</a>. Due in large part to Wilkes’s organizational and <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="propaganda" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/propaganda" data-type="MW">propaganda</a> skills, this precipitated a nationwide agitation; Wilkes was seen not only in England but also in the American colonies as a <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="martyr" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/martyr" data-type="MW">martyr</a> for liberty. His plight raised the question of whether the will of the people or the decision of a Parliament elected by only a fraction of the people was supreme. In 1769 the <span id="ref483322"></span>Society for the Supporters of the Bill of Rights was founded to aid Wilkes and to press for parliamentary reform. Its members demanded parliamentary representation for important new towns such as <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Birmingham-England" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Birmingham</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Leeds-England" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Leeds</a>, and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Manchester-England" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Manchester</a>, the abolition of rotten boroughs, and general admission to the franchise for men of movable property (i.e., traders, merchants, and professionals). The English, as well as the American colonists, were becoming more interested in the connection between parliamentary representation (or the lack of it) and the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="obligation" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/obligation" data-type="EB">obligation</a> to pay taxes.</p><span class="marker MOD6 mod-inline"></span> </section> <section data-level="4" id="ref44905"> <h2 class="h4">The <span id="ref483323"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/American-Revolution" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">American Revolution</a></h2> <span class="marker PREMOD7 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">The American issue was the final and most volatile element in the instability of the 1760s. Tension mounted, as far as British governments were concerned, primarily for two reasons. First, from this decade onward imperial organization received increased attention, and attempts were made to tighten British rule in Ireland and India as well as in the American colonies, a development that caused friction. Fiscal need was the second and more pressing problem. In 1763 the national debt stood at £114 million, and it continued to grow. Since the burden of taxation was already heavy for Britons, the government naturally looked to other sources of revenue. This was the background to George Grenville’s decision, in 1765, to pass the <span id="ref483324"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Stamp-Act-Great-Britain-1765" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Stamp Act</a>, a measure designed to raise revenue in the American colonies by putting a tax on all legal and commercial papers. But it stirred up intense resentment in the colonies and, indirectly, in Britain, when the Americans <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="boycotted" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/boycotted" data-type="MW">boycotted</a> British goods. In 1766 Rockingham repealed the Stamp Act while maintaining Parliament’s right to legislate for the colonies. In 1767 <span id="ref483325"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Townshend-British-statesman" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Charles Townshend</a>, then chancellor of exchequer, levied <span id="ref483326"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Townshend-Acts" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">duties</a> on certain imports into the colonies, including a duty on tea, and linked this proposal with plans to remodel colonial government. These measures <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="exacerbated" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/exacerbated" data-type="MW">exacerbated</a> American discontent, though Parliament was not made to realize how much until 1774.</p><span class="marker MOD7 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD8 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Historians have long disagreed over the question of how far <span id="ref483327"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/George-III" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">George III</a> himself was responsible for these <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="tumultuous" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tumultuous" data-type="MW">tumultuous</a> events. The <span id="ref483328"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Declaration-of-Independence" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Declaration of Independence</a> (1776) unambiguously condemned the king as a tyrant. The so-called 19th-century British Whig historians also criticized the king in very harsh terms, maintaining, at their most extreme, that as a young prince he was indoctrinated with <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="archaic" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/archaic" data-type="MW">archaic</a> and inflated ideas of royal power. When he came to the throne, he supposedly ousted his Whig ministers, replacing them with <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Conservative-Party-political-party-United-Kingdom" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Tories</a>, who were more sympathetic to royal ambitions. His arbitrary aims and policies, it was claimed, provoked the Wilkite agitation in Britain and drove the American colonists to rebel. George was consequently held directly responsible for the break-up of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/British-Empire" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">British Empire</a>. Finally, he was charged with employing bribery and corruption to persuade Parliament to do his bidding.</p><span class="marker MOD8 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD9 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Twentieth-century historians, in particular the Polish-born scholar <span id="ref483329"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Lewis-Bernstein-Namier" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Lewis Namier</a>, have revised many of these extreme judgments. It has now been established that the king was neither educated in <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="arbitrary" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/arbitrary" data-type="EB">arbitrary</a> ideas, nor did he preside over a Tory revival. Ministers such as Bute, Grenville, Townshend, and North regarded themselves as Whigs. But by the 1760s and ’70s “Whig” and “Tory” were terms that had lost precise ideological significance, and the breakdown of these old partisan divisions undoubtedly contributed to ministerial instability at this time. There is little evidence that the king used corrupt influence to make Parliament accept his American policy. Indeed, it is unlikely that he initially even possessed an American policy; royal correspondence shows that he was rarely closely interested in American affairs before 1774. The colonists’ drift toward opposition and independence was probably caused as much by their distance from London and their increasing prosperity as it was by British fiscal measures.</p><span class="marker MOD9 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD10 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">But George III cannot be entirely exonerated. When he succeeded, he was only 22, immature, idealistic, and not well-educated. His appointment of his decorative favourite, Lord Bute, was a breach of the convention that monarchs should choose chief ministers possessed of political experience and proven abilities. In his dealings with other politicians George showed himself throughout his reign to be <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="intransigent" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intransigent" data-type="MW">intransigent</a> and obstinate, and he often confused his own personal feelings with the public welfare. He can scarcely be blamed for wanting to retain such an important part of his empire as the American colonies, but he can legitimately be criticized for insisting that the American war be continued after 1780, by which time it had become clear to his chief minister, Lord North, that Britain had lost.</p><span class="marker MOD10 mod-inline"></span> </section> <section data-level="4" id="ref44906"> <h2 class="h4">Domestic responses to the American Revolution</h2> <span class="marker PREMOD11 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Even at its outbreak in 1775 British attitudes to the American war were mixed. Many Protestant dissenters regarded the Americans as their brethren, for political and religious reasons. The <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/City-of-London" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">City of London</a>, and other commercial centres such as <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Glasgow-Scotland" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Glasgow</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Norwich-England" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Norwich</a>, and Newcastle, objected to the war because it disrupted highly profitable Anglo-American trade. Many British newspapers and cartoons adopted a <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="pacifist" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/pacifist" data-type="EB">pacifist</a> and sometimes even a pro-American line. Other Britons believed, with George III, that rebellion against a monarch was sinful and that Parliament’s authority must be preserved. Conventional patriotism became stronger after 1778, when France, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Spain" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Spain</a>, and belatedly the Dutch, allied themselves with the Americans against Britain.</p><span class="marker MOD11 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD12 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">The next two years proved profoundly difficult. Fears that the French would invade <span id="ref483330"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/history-of-Ireland" class="md-crosslink ">Ireland</a> as a prelude to invading the British mainland led ministers to encourage the creation of an Irish volunteer force some 40,000 strong. The Irish Protestant elite, led by <span id="ref483331"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henry-Grattan" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Henry Grattan</a>, used this force and the French threat to extract <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="concessions" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/concessions" data-type="MW">concessions</a> from London. In 1783 Ireland was granted legislative independence, though it remained subject to George III. Declining British fortunes abroad also revived the issue of parliamentary reform. By 1779 three different reform groups had emerged, all of whom favoured peace with <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/United-States" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">America</a>. The marquess of Rockingham and his parliamentary supporters (including his secretary, Edmund Burke) wanted to reduce official corruption and George III’s influence in government. Another group, led by <span id="ref483332"></span>Christopher Wyvill, a one-time Anglican clergyman, wanted a moderate reform of the representative system. Wyvill and some of his supporters played with the idea of a <span id="ref483333"></span>national association, an assembly of reformers from each county in Britain, that would exist parallel to Parliament and be superior to it in <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="constitutional" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/constitutional" data-type="MW">constitutional</a> zeal. A third small group, led by <span id="ref483334"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-James-Fox" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Charles James Fox</a>, a Whig MP, and by former Wilkite activists, wanted more extensive political reform, including the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Australian-ballot" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">secret ballot</a> and annual general elections. In 1780 they founded the <span id="ref483335"></span>Society for Constitutional Information, which was designed to build public support for political change through the systematic production and distribution of libertarian propaganda.</p><span class="marker MOD12 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD13 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">It was unlikely that any of these reforms would be <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="implemented" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/implemented" data-type="MW">implemented</a>. But the <span id="ref483336"></span>Gordon Riots of June 1780 made it certain that they would not be. In 1778 Parliament had made minor concessions to British <span id="ref483337"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/history-of-Roman-Catholicism" class="md-crosslink ">Roman Catholics</a>, who were excluded from <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/civil-rights" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">civil rights</a>. Anti-Catholic <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="prejudice" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prejudice" data-type="MW">prejudice</a>, however, had been a powerful emotion in Britain since the Reformation in the 16th century, and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Roman Catholicism</a> tended to be associated by many with political absolutism and persecution. A movement to repeal the <span id="ref483338"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Catholic-Relief-Act-Great-Britain-1778" class="md-crosslink ">Catholic Relief Act</a> of 1778, the <span id="ref483339"></span>Protestant Association, started in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Scotland" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Scotland</a> under the leadership of an unstable individual called <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Lord-George-Gordon" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Lord George Gordon</a>. The movement reached London and exploded there in riots that lasted for eight days. More than 300 people were killed, and more damage was done to property than would be done in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Paris" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Paris</a> during the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/French-Revolution" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">French Revolution</a>. For a time these riots gave reform and popular agitation a bad name. To many, the very name of Wyvill’s National Association was dangerously suggestive of the Protestant Association, and the parliamentary reform movement lapsed until the 1790s.</p><span class="marker MOD13 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD14 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Disasters at home were followed by further disasters abroad. Late in 1781 Britain learned of General <span id="ref483340"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Cornwallis-1st-Marquess-and-2nd-Earl-Cornwallis" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Charles Cornwallis’</a>s <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="surrender" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/surrender" data-type="EB">surrender</a> in America at the Battle of <span id="ref483341"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Yorktown-historical-Virginia" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Yorktown</a>. Parliamentary pressure to end the war now became irresistible. When in March 1782 Lord North’s majority in the Commons fell to nine votes, he resigned, against the wishes of George III. A new administration, formed under Lord Rockingham, was committed to peace with America and moderate constitutional reform at home. When Rockingham died in July 1782, <span id="ref483342"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Petty-Fitzmaurice-1st-Marquess-of-Lansdowne" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">William Petty, earl of Shelburne</a>, became first lord of the treasury. In November of that year it was he who had the thankless task of concluding peace with the Americans and formally acknowledging their independence and British defeat in the Treaty of Paris.</p><span class="marker MOD14 mod-inline"></span> </section> </section> <section data-level="3" id="ref44907"> <h2 class="h3">Britain from 1783 to 1815</h2> <span class="marker PREMOD15 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Defeat abroad and division at home led many Britons to believe that their <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/nation-state" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">country</a> was in irreversible decline. The war had cost more than £236.4 million and had apparently brought only humiliation and the loss of one of the most profitable regions of the British Empire. <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="Yet" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/Yet" data-type="EB">Yet</a> recovery was rapid, and by the time Britain again went to war—in 1793, against revolutionary France—it was wealthier and more powerful than it had been at the beginning of George III’s reign.</p><span class="marker MOD15 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD16 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">In February 1783 Britain made a far from disadvantageous <span id="ref483343"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Peace-of-Paris-1783" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">peace</a> with its European enemies. Minorca and Florida were ceded to the Spanish, but <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Gibraltar" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Gibraltar</a> was retained. France was given settlements in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Senegal" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Senegal</a> and Tobago, but Britain recovered other West Indian islands lost during the war. Holland gave Britain freedom of navigation in its spice islands and an important trading base in India. Nonetheless, this peace damaged Shelburne’s reputation, and he resigned. A <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="coalition" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/coalition" data-type="EB">coalition</a> administration was formed, led by <span id="ref483344"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Frederick-North-Lord-North-of-Kirtling" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Lord North</a> and Charles James Fox. The king disliked it and ruthlessly sabotaged it. The Fox–North coalition planned to cement its authority by passing a bill to reform the government of British settlements in India, previously administered by the East India Company alone. The <span id="ref483345"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/India-Bill" class="md-crosslink ">India Bill</a> passed the Commons but, like every other piece of legislation not directly concerned with taxation, it had to be approved by a majority in the House of Lords. In advance of the vote the king let it be known that he would regard any peer who supported the bill with disfavour. The Lords <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="duly" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/duly" data-type="EB">duly</a> threw the bill out in December 1783, providing the king with an excuse to dismiss Fox and North and replace them with William Pitt the Younger, the second son of the late earl of Chatham. 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