The Gate Builders
10-05-2006, 16:06
General Statistics
Convential Long Form: The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland or The British Empire
Convential Short Form: Britain
Government Form: Constitutional Monarchy
Prime Minister: David Lloyd George
Head of State: George V
Capital: London
Population: APPROXIMATELY 35,000,000
Languages: English, Welsh, Gaelic, Cornish,
Land Area: 245,000 km²
Great Britain
The Kingdom of Great Britain was a state in Western Europe, in existence from 1707 to 1800. It was created by the merging of the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England under the Acts of Union 1707 to create a single kingdom encompassing the whole of the island of Great Britain. A new single parliament and government, based in Westminster in London, controlled the new kingdom. The two former kingdoms had shared the same monarch since King James VI of Scotland became King James I of England in 1603.
From 1707 a joint British throne replaced the English and Scottish thrones and a joint Parliament of Great Britain replaced the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England. Scotland and England were given seats in both the House of Lords and the House of Commons of the new parliament. Although Scotland's representation in both houses was smaller than its population indicated it should have been, representation in parliament was at that time based not on population but on taxation, and Scotland was given a greater number of MPs than its share of taxation warranted. Under the terms of the union, Scotland sent 16 representative peers to the Lords and elected 45 members to the Commons.
The Kingdom of Great Britain was superseded by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801 when the Kingdom of Ireland was absorbed with the enactment of the Act of Union 1800 following the suppression of the Irish Rebellion of 1798.
The United Kingdom
Ireland's invasion by the Anglo-Normans in 1170 led to centuries of strife. Successive English kings sought to conquer and pillage Ireland. In the early 17th century, large-scale settlement of the north from Scotland and England began. After its defeat Ireland was subjected, with varying degrees of success, to control and regulation by Britain.
Possibly influenced by the War of American Independence (1775-1783), a united force of Irish volunteers used their influence to campaign for greater independence for the Irish Parliament. This was granted in 1782, giving free trade and legislative independence to Ireland. However, the French revolution had encouraged the increasing calls for moderate constitutional reform. The Society of United Irishmen, made up of Presbyterians from Belfast and both Anglicans and Catholics in Dublin, campaigned for an end to British domination. Their leader Theobald Wolfe Tone (1763-98) worked with the Catholic Convention of 1792 which demanded an end to the penal laws. Failing to win the support of the British government, he travelled to Paris, encouraging a number of French naval forces to land in Ireland to help with the planned insurrections. These were slaughtered by government forces, but these rebellions convinced the British under Prime Minister William Pitt that the only solution was to end Irish independence once and for all.
The legislative union of Great Britain and Ireland was completed on January 1, 1801, in both the Irish and the British parliaments, under the Act of Union 1800, changing the country's name to "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland". Ireland now sent around 100 MPs to the House of Commons3 at Westminster and 28 peers to the House of Lords, elected from among their number by the Irish peers themselves.
Convential Long Form: The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland or The British Empire
Convential Short Form: Britain
Government Form: Constitutional Monarchy
Prime Minister: David Lloyd George
Head of State: George V
Capital: London
Population: APPROXIMATELY 35,000,000
Languages: English, Welsh, Gaelic, Cornish,
Land Area: 245,000 km²
Great Britain
The Kingdom of Great Britain was a state in Western Europe, in existence from 1707 to 1800. It was created by the merging of the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England under the Acts of Union 1707 to create a single kingdom encompassing the whole of the island of Great Britain. A new single parliament and government, based in Westminster in London, controlled the new kingdom. The two former kingdoms had shared the same monarch since King James VI of Scotland became King James I of England in 1603.
From 1707 a joint British throne replaced the English and Scottish thrones and a joint Parliament of Great Britain replaced the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England. Scotland and England were given seats in both the House of Lords and the House of Commons of the new parliament. Although Scotland's representation in both houses was smaller than its population indicated it should have been, representation in parliament was at that time based not on population but on taxation, and Scotland was given a greater number of MPs than its share of taxation warranted. Under the terms of the union, Scotland sent 16 representative peers to the Lords and elected 45 members to the Commons.
The Kingdom of Great Britain was superseded by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801 when the Kingdom of Ireland was absorbed with the enactment of the Act of Union 1800 following the suppression of the Irish Rebellion of 1798.
The United Kingdom
Ireland's invasion by the Anglo-Normans in 1170 led to centuries of strife. Successive English kings sought to conquer and pillage Ireland. In the early 17th century, large-scale settlement of the north from Scotland and England began. After its defeat Ireland was subjected, with varying degrees of success, to control and regulation by Britain.
Possibly influenced by the War of American Independence (1775-1783), a united force of Irish volunteers used their influence to campaign for greater independence for the Irish Parliament. This was granted in 1782, giving free trade and legislative independence to Ireland. However, the French revolution had encouraged the increasing calls for moderate constitutional reform. The Society of United Irishmen, made up of Presbyterians from Belfast and both Anglicans and Catholics in Dublin, campaigned for an end to British domination. Their leader Theobald Wolfe Tone (1763-98) worked with the Catholic Convention of 1792 which demanded an end to the penal laws. Failing to win the support of the British government, he travelled to Paris, encouraging a number of French naval forces to land in Ireland to help with the planned insurrections. These were slaughtered by government forces, but these rebellions convinced the British under Prime Minister William Pitt that the only solution was to end Irish independence once and for all.
The legislative union of Great Britain and Ireland was completed on January 1, 1801, in both the Irish and the British parliaments, under the Act of Union 1800, changing the country's name to "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland". Ireland now sent around 100 MPs to the House of Commons3 at Westminster and 28 peers to the House of Lords, elected from among their number by the Irish peers themselves.