United Kingdom

History

The union of these four countries developed over a period of 700 years, beginning with the Statute [Page 1806]of Rhuddlan in 1284 which brought Wales under the control of the English monarchy. This relationship was formalized in 1535 with the Laws in Wales Act which made Wales subject to acts of the English parliament. In 1603, the failure of Elizabeth I to provide an heir for the English throne led to the accession of King James VI of Scotland and the union of the monarchies of England and Scotland. The Act of Union of 1707 suspended the Scottish parliament and led to the creation of a single unified parliament at Westminster. The Act of Union of 1801 achieved the same end for Ireland; however, this union lasted for only a little over 100 years and in 1922, the southern portion of the island of Ireland achieved independence as the Irish Free State and resulted in the change to the current name in 1927.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the UK was one of the countries in Europe best positioned to take advantage of the innovations in navigation and exploration that opened up the New World to European exploitation. Unlike many European countries, colonization by the UK was not primarily driven by the crown but by independently financed merchant companies. This private entrepreneurship led to an explosion in private wealth that in turn was available as investment capital when the industrial revolution began in the 18th century. Colonization also provided raw materials and a critical mass of middle-class merchants who were accustomed to taking risks, and who formed the UK's entrepreneurial class.

The advantages of early industrialization and an expanding global empire to provide raw materials made the UK the first true world superpower in the 19th century. At its greatest extent the British Empire covered one quarter of the land surface of the earth and contained one third of the world's population. However, by the middle of the 20th century challenges from new powers such as Germany, Russia, and the United States, together with the physical and financial devastation of two World Wars led to the dismantling of the empire and the diminishing of the UK's industrial power. By the 1960s, the financial and political weakening was sufficient to persuade the UK to apply for membership in the newly formed European Economic Community. Membership was achieved in 1972 and while British membership in the European Union (EU) has never been overwhelmingly popular in the country, the current Labor government has created a much more positive working relationship with Brussels than the Conservative administration that was in power throughout the 1980s and much of the 1990s.

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