United Kingdom

=== Prior to the Treaty of Union ===
{{Main|History of England|History of Wales|History of Scotland|History of Ireland}}

[[File:Stonehenge, Condado de Wiltshire, Inglaterra, 2014-08-12, DD 18.JPG|thumb|[[Stonehenge]] in [[Wiltshire]] is a ring of stones, each about {{Cvt|13|ft|0|order=flip}} high, {{Cvt|7|ft|0|order=flip}} wide and 25 [[tonne]]s, erected 2400–2200&nbsp;BC.]]
Settlement by [[Cro-Magnons]] of what was to become the United Kingdom occurred in waves beginning by about 30,000 years ago.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/7069001.stm "Ancient skeleton was 'even older'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210213081240/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/south_west/7069001.stm |date=13 February 2021 }}". [[BBC News]]. 30 October 2007. Retrieved 27 April 2011.</ref> The island has been continuously inhabited only since the last retreat of the ice around 11,500 years ago. By the end of the [[Prehistoric Britain|region's prehistoric period]], the population is thought to have belonged largely to a culture termed [[Insular Celts|Insular Celtic]], comprising [[Britons (historical)|Brittonic Britain]] and [[Gaelic Ireland]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Koch, John T. |url=https://archive.org/details/celticculturehis00koch_128 |title=Celtic culture: A historical encyclopedia |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-85109-440-0 |location=Santa Barbara, CA |page=[https://archive.org/details/celticculturehis00koch_128/page/n1016 973] |url-access=limited}}</ref>
[[File:Baños Romanos, Bath, Inglaterra, 2014-08-12, DD 39-41 HDR.JPG|alt=Photograph of the Baths showing a rectangular area of greenish water surrounded by yellow stone buildings with pillars. In the background is the tower of the abbey.|thumb|The [[Roman Baths (Bath)|Roman Baths]] in [[Bath, Somerset]], are a well-preserved ''[[thermae]]'' from [[Roman Britain]].]]

The [[Roman conquest of Britain|Roman conquest]], beginning in 43 AD, and the 400-year [[Roman Britain|rule of southern Britain]], was followed by an invasion by [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] [[Anglo-Saxon]] settlers, reducing the Brittonic area mainly [[Wales#Post-Roman era|to what was to become Wales]], [[Cornwall]] and, until the latter stages of the Anglo-Saxon settlement, the [[Hen Ogledd]] (northern England and parts of southern Scotland).<ref>{{Cite book |title=[[Encyclopaedia of Wales|The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales]] |publisher=University of Wales Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-7083-1953-6 |editor-last=Davies |editor-first=John |editor-link=John Davies (historian) |location=Cardiff |page=915 |editor-last2=Jenkins |editor-first2=Nigel |editor-link2=Nigel Jenkins |editor-last3=Baines |editor-first3=Menna |editor-last4=Lynch |editor-first4=Peredur I. |editor-link4=Peredur Lynch}}</ref> Most of the [[Anglo-Saxon England|region settled by the Anglo-Saxons]] became unified as the Kingdom of England in the 10th century.<ref>{{Cite magazine |title=Short Athelstan biography |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/athelstan.shtml |magazine=BBC History |access-date=9 April 2013 |archive-date=13 February 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070213191353/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/athelstan.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref> Meanwhile, [[Dál Riata|Gaelic-speakers in north-west Britain]] (with connections to the north-east of Ireland and traditionally supposed to have migrated from there in the 5th century)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mackie, J.D. |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofscotlan00mack_0/page/18 |title=A History of Scotland |publisher=Penguin |year=1991 |isbn=978-0-14-013649-4 |location=London |pages=[https://archive.org/details/historyofscotlan00mack_0/page/18 18–19] |author-link=J.D. Mackie}}; {{Cite book |last=Campbell, Ewan |title=Saints and Sea-kings: The First Kingdom of the Scots |publisher=Canongate |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-86241-874-8 |location=Edinburgh |pages=8–15}}</ref> united with the [[Picts]] to create the [[Kingdom of Scotland]] in the 9th century.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Haigh |first=Christopher |url=https://archive.org/details/cambridgehistori0000unse_a9n8/page/30 |title=The Cambridge Historical Encyclopedia of Great Britain and Ireland |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1990 |isbn=978-0-521-39552-6 |page=[https://archive.org/details/cambridgehistori0000unse_a9n8/page/30 30]}}</ref>
[[File:Bayeux Tapestry WillelmDux.jpg|thumb|The [[Bayeux Tapestry]] depicts the [[Battle of Hastings]], 1066, and the events leading to it.]]
In 1066, the [[Normans]] invaded England from northern France. After [[Norman conquest of England|conquering England]], they seized [[Norman invasion of Wales|large parts of Wales]], [[Norman invasion of Ireland|conquered much of Ireland]] and were invited to settle in Scotland, bringing to each country [[feudalism]] on the Northern French model and [[Norman-French]] culture.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ganshof, F.L. |url=https://archive.org/details/feudalism0000gans_j4b5 |title=Feudalism |publisher=University of Toronto |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-8020-7158-3 |page=165 |url-access=registration}}</ref> The [[Anglo-Normans|Anglo-Norman]] [[ruling class]] greatly influenced, but eventually assimilated with, the local cultures.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chibnall, Marjorie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qJl5Jm-IndUC&pg=PA115 |title=The Debate on the Norman Conquest |publisher=Manchester University Press |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-7190-4913-2 |pages=115–122 |author-link=Marjorie Chibnall |access-date=20 March 2023 |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326164802/https://books.google.com/books?id=qJl5Jm-IndUC&pg=PA115 |url-status=live }}</ref> Subsequent [[House of Plantagenet|medieval English kings]] completed the [[conquest of Wales]] and tried unsuccessfully [[Wars of Scottish Independence|to annex Scotland]]. Asserting its independence in the 1320 [[Declaration of Arbroath]], Scotland maintained its independence thereafter, albeit in [[Anglo-Scottish Wars|near-constant conflict with England]].

The English monarchs, through inheritance of [[Angevin Empire|substantial territories in France]] and claims to the French crown, were also heavily involved in conflicts in France, most notably the [[Hundred Years' War]], while the [[List of Scottish monarchs|Kings of Scots]] were in [[Auld Alliance|an alliance with the French]] during this period.<ref>Keen, Maurice. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/middle_ages/hundred_years_war_01.shtml "The Hundred Years' War"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131214092949/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/middle_ages/hundred_years_war_01.shtml |date=14 December 2013 }}. BBC History.</ref>
[[Early modern Britain]] saw religious conflict resulting from the [[Reformation]] and the introduction of [[Protestant]] state churches in each country.<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/479892/Protestantism/41558/The-Reformation-in-England-and-Scotland The Reformation in England and Scotland] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150515015218/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/479892/Protestantism/41558/The-Reformation-in-England-and-Scotland |date=15 May 2015 }} and [https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/293754/Ireland/22978/The-Reformation-period Ireland: The Reformation Period & Ireland under Elizabeth I] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150521133445/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/293754/Ireland/22978/The-Reformation-period |date=21 May 2015 }}, Encyclopædia Britannica Online.</ref> The [[English Reformation]] ushered in political, constitutional, social and cultural change in the 16th century and [[State religion|established]] the [[Church of England]].&nbsp;Moreover, it defined a national identity for England and slowly, but profoundly, changed people's religious beliefs.<ref>{{Cite web |title=English Reformation c1527-1590 |url=https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/the-english-reformation-c1527-1590/ |access-date=20 January 2023 |website=The National Archives |language=en-GB |archive-date=2 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221202002512/https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/the-english-reformation-c1527-1590/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Wales was [[Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542|fully incorporated into the Kingdom of England]],<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=5 November 2009 |title=British History in Depth&nbsp;– Wales under the Tudors |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/tudors/wales_tudors_01.shtml |magazine=BBC History |access-date=21 September 2010 |archive-date=7 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207145836/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/tudors/wales_tudors_01.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref> and Ireland was constituted as a kingdom in personal union with the English crown.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nicholls |first=Mark |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofmodernb0000nich |title=A history of the modern British Isles, 1529–1603: The two kingdoms |publisher=Blackwell |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-631-19334-0 |location=Oxford |pages=171–172 |url-access=registration}}</ref> In what was to become Northern Ireland, the lands of the independent Catholic Gaelic nobility were confiscated and [[Plantation of Ulster|given to Protestant settlers]] from England and Scotland.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Canny |first=Nicholas P. |url=https://archive.org/details/makingirelandbri00cann |title=Making Ireland British, 1580–1650 |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-19-925905-2 |pages=189–200 |url-access=registration}}</ref>

In 1603, the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland were united in a [[personal union]] when [[James I of England|James VI, King of Scots]], inherited the crowns of England and Ireland and moved his court from [[Edinburgh]] to London; each country nevertheless remained a separate political entity and retained its separate political, legal, and religious institutions.<ref>Ross, D. (2002). ''[[iarchive:chronologyofscot0000ross|Chronology of Scottish History]]''. Glasgow: Geddes & Grosset. p. 56. {{ISBN|978-1-85534-380-1}}; Hearn, J. (2002). ''Claiming Scotland: National Identity and Liberal Culture''. Edinburgh University Press. p. 104. {{ISBN|978-1-902930-16-9}}</ref>

In the mid-17th century, all three kingdoms [[Wars of the Three Kingdoms|were involved in a series of connected wars]] (including the [[English Civil War]]) which led to the temporary overthrow of the monarchy, with the [[execution of Charles I|execution of King Charles I]], and the establishment of the short-lived [[unitary republic]] of the [[Commonwealth of England]], Scotland and Ireland.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=English Civil Wars |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/187936/English-Civil-Wars |access-date=28 April 2013 |archive-date=2 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150502204708/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/187936/English-Civil-Wars |url-status=live }}; {{Cite web |date=14 March 2010 |title=Scotland and the Commonwealth: 1651–1660 |url=http://www.archontology.org/nations/uk/scotland/01_laws.php |access-date=9 March 2015 |publisher=Archontology.org |archive-date=16 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120716194016/http://www.archontology.org/nations/uk/scotland/01_laws.php |url-status=live }}</ref>

Although the [[Restoration (1660)|monarchy was restored]], the [[Interregnum (1649–1660)|Interregnum]] along with the [[Glorious Revolution]] of 1688 and the subsequent [[Bill of Rights 1689]] in England and [[Claim of Right Act 1689]] in Scotland ensured that, unlike much of the rest of Europe, [[royal absolutism]] would not prevail, and a professed Catholic could never accede to the throne. The [[British constitution]] would develop on the basis of [[constitutional monarchy]] and the [[parliamentary system]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lodge |first=Richard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EBSpvBxGyqcC |title=The History of England&nbsp;– From the Restoration to the Death of William III (1660–1702) |publisher=Read Books |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-4067-0897-4 |page=8 |orig-date=1910 |access-date=29 September 2020 |archive-date=28 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328140723/https://books.google.com/books?id=EBSpvBxGyqcC |url-status=live }}</ref> With the founding of the [[Royal Society]] in 1660, science was greatly encouraged. During this period, particularly in England, the development of [[English navy|naval power]] and the interest in [[Age of Discovery|voyages of discovery]] led to the acquisition and settlement of [[First British Empire|overseas colonies]], particularly in North America and the Caribbean.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tudor Period and the Birth of a Regular Navy |url=http://www.royal-navy.org/lib/index.php?title=Tudor_Period_and_the_Birth_of_a_Regular_Navy_Part_Two |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111103013901/http://www.royal-navy.org/lib/index.php?title=Tudor_Period_and_the_Birth_of_a_Regular_Navy_Part_Two |archive-date=3 November 2011 |access-date=8 March 2015 |website=Royal Navy History |publisher=Institute of Naval History }}; {{Cite book |last=Canny |first=Nicholas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eQHSivGzEEMC |title=The Origins of Empire, The Oxford History of the British Empire Volume I |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-19-924676-2 |ref=refOHBEv1 |access-date=29 September 2020 |archive-date=11 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111135256/https://books.google.com/books?id=eQHSivGzEEMC |url-status=live }}</ref>

Though previous attempts at uniting the two kingdoms within Great Britain in 1606, 1667, and 1689 had proved unsuccessful, the attempt initiated in 1705 led to the [[Treaty of Union]] of 1706 being agreed and ratified by both parliaments.
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