England

===Late modern and contemporary periods===
[[File:CanalettoSomersetHouseTerrace.jpg|thumb|The [[River Thames]] during the [[Georgian period]] from the Terrace of Somerset House looking towards St. Paul's, {{Circa|1750}}]]

Under the newly formed Kingdom of Great Britain, output from the Royal Society and other [[English Enlightenment|English initiatives]] combined with the [[Scottish Enlightenment]] to create innovations in science and engineering, while the enormous growth in [[Triangular trade|British overseas trade]] protected by the [[Royal Navy]] paved the way for the establishment of the [[British Empire]]. Domestically it drove the [[Industrial Revolution]], a period of profound change in the [[socioeconomics|socioeconomic]] and cultural conditions of England, resulting in industrialised agriculture, manufacture, engineering and mining, as well as new and pioneering road, rail and water networks to facilitate their expansion and development.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hudson, Pat |title=The Workshop of the World |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/workshop_of_the_world_01.shtml |access-date=10 December 2010 |publisher=BBC}}</ref> The opening of Northwest England's [[Bridgewater Canal]] in 1761 ushered in the [[History of the British canal system|canal age in Britain]].<ref name="Briton20015">{{Harvnb|Office for National Statistics|2000|p=5}}; {{harvnb|McNeil|Nevell|2000|p=4}}.</ref> In 1825 the world's first permanent steam locomotive-hauled passenger railway – the [[Stockton and Darlington Railway]] – opened to the public.<ref name="Briton20015" />
[[File:Turner, The Battle of Trafalgar (1822).jpg|alt=multi-storey square industrial buildings beyond a river|thumb|The [[Battle of Trafalgar]] was a naval engagement between the [[Royal Navy]] and the combined fleets of France and Spain during the [[Napoleonic Wars]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=28 July 2014 |title=Department of History – Napoleonic Wars |url=http://www.westpoint.edu/history/SitePages/Napoleonic%20Wars.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140728203458/http://www.westpoint.edu/history/SitePages/Napoleonic%20Wars.aspx |archive-date=28 July 2014 |access-date=8 April 2021}}</ref>]]
During the [[Industrial Revolution]], many workers moved from England's countryside to new and expanding urban industrial areas to work in factories, for instance at [[Birmingham]] and [[Manchester]],<ref>{{Harvnb|McNeil|Nevell|2000|p=9}}.; {{Cite web |last=Birmingham City Council |author-link=Birmingham City Council |title=Heritage |url=http://www.visitbirmingham.com/arts_and_culture/heritage/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426080011/http://www.visitbirmingham.com/arts_and_culture/heritage/ |archive-date=26 April 2012 |access-date=4 October 2009 |website=visitbirmingham.com}}</ref> with the latter the world's first industrial city.<ref name="Industrial city">{{Cite web |title=Manchester – the first industrial city |url=http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/on-line/energyhall/page84.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309184810/http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/on-line/energyhall/page84.asp |archive-date=9 March 2012 |access-date=17 March 2012 |publisher=Entry on Sciencemuseum website}}</ref> England maintained relative stability throughout the [[French Revolution]], under [[George III]] and [[William Pitt the Younger]]. The [[Regency era|regency of George IV]] is noted for its elegance and achievements in the fine arts and architecture.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Regency {{!}} British Architectural Dates and Styles {{!}} Property {{!}} UK {{!}} Mayfair Office |url=https://www.mayfairoffice.co.uk/members-home/British-Architectural-Styles/British-Architectural-Styles-Regency |access-date=8 April 2021 |website=www.mayfairoffice.co.uk}}</ref> During the [[Napoleonic Wars]], [[Napoleon]] planned to [[Napoleon's planned invasion of the United Kingdom|invade from the south-east]]; however, this failed to manifest and the Napoleonic forces were defeated by the British: at sea by [[Horatio Nelson]], and on land by [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Arthur Wellesley]]. The major victory at the [[Battle of Trafalgar]] confirmed the naval supremacy Britain had established during the course of the eighteenth century.<ref>Bennet, Geoffrey (2004). ''The Battle of Trafalgar''. England: Pen & Sword Books Limited, CPI UK, South Yorkshire.</ref> The Napoleonic Wars fostered a concept of [[Britishness]] and a united national [[British people]], shared with the English, Scots and Welsh.<ref name="Colley1">{{Harvnb|Colley|1992|p=1}}.</ref>

[[File:Frith A Private View.jpg|thumb|The [[Victorian era]] is often cited as a [[Golden Age]]. Painting done by [[William Powell Frith]] to show cultural divisions. ]]
London became the largest and most populous metropolitan area in the world during the [[Victorian era]], and trade within the British Empire – as well as the standing of the British military and navy – was prestigious.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Haggard |first=Robert F. |url={{GBurl|id=53VUwDw_UYMC|q=prestige of the british empire in victorian times|p=13}} |title=The persistence of Victorian liberalism:The Politics of Social Reform in Britain, 1870–1900 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-313-31305-9 |page=13 |access-date=26 December 2010}}</ref> Technologically, this era saw many innovations that proved key to the United Kingdom's power and prosperity.<ref name="Atterbury 2011">{{Cite web |last=Atterbury |first=Paul |date=17 February 2011 |title=Victorian Technology |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/victorian_technology_01.shtml |access-date=13 October 2020 |publisher=BBC}}</ref> Political agitation at home from radicals such as the [[Chartism|Chartists]] and the [[suffragette]]s enabled legislative reform and [[universal suffrage]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Crawford, Elizabeth |title=Women: From Abolition to the Vote |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/abolition/abolition_women_article_01.shtml#five |access-date=10 December 2010 |publisher=BBC}}</ref>

Power shifts in east-central Europe led to World War I; hundreds of thousands of English soldiers died fighting for the United Kingdom as part of the [[Allies of World War I|Allies]].{{Efn|Figure of 550,000 military deaths is for England and Wales.{{Sfn|Cox|1970|p=180}}}} Two decades later, in [[World War II]], the United Kingdom was again one of the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]]. Developments in warfare technology saw many cities damaged by air-raids during [[the Blitz]]. Following the war, the British Empire experienced rapid [[decolonisation]], and there was a speeding-up of technological innovations; automobiles became the primary means of transport and [[Frank Whittle]]'s development of the [[jet engine]] led to wider [[air travel]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Golley, John |date=10 August 1996 |title=Obituaries: Air Commodore Sir Frank Whittle |work=The Independent |location=London |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituaries-air-commodore-sir-frank-whittle-1309015.html |access-date=2 December 2010}}</ref> Residential patterns were altered in England by private motoring, and by the creation of the [[National Health Service (England)|National Health Service]] in 1948, providing [[publicly funded health care]] to all permanent residents free at the point of need. Combined, these prompted the reform of [[local government in England]] in the mid-20th century.<ref>{{Harvnb|Clark|Steed|Marshall|1973|p=1}}; {{Harvnb|Wilson|Game|2002|p=55}}.</ref>

Since the 20th century, there has been significant population movement to England, mostly from other parts of the [[British Isles]], but also from the [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]], particularly the [[Indian subcontinent]].<ref>{{harvnb|Gallagher|2006|pp=10–11}}.</ref> Since the 1970s there has been a large move away from manufacturing and an increasing emphasis on the [[service industry]].<ref name="Thatcher" /> As part of the United Kingdom, the area joined a [[common market]] initiative called the [[European Economic Community]] which became the [[European Union]]. Since the late 20th century the [[politics of the United Kingdom|administration of the United Kingdom]] has moved towards [[devolution|devolved governance]] in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Keating |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Keating (political scientist) |date=1 January 1998 |title=Reforging the Union: Devolution and Constitutional Change in the United Kingdom |journal=Publius: The Journal of Federalism |volume=28 |issue=1 |page=217 |doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.pubjof.a029948}}</ref> [[England and Wales]] continues to exist as a jurisdiction within the United Kingdom.<ref name="BBC Wales">{{Cite web |year=2009 |title=The coming of the Tudors and the Act of Union |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/history/sites/themes/guide/ch11_part2_coming_of_the_tudor.shtml |access-date=9 September 2009 |website=[[BBC Wales]] |publisher=BBC News}}</ref> Devolution has stimulated a greater emphasis on a more English-specific identity and patriotism.<ref>{{harvnb|Kenny|English|Hayton|2008|p=3}}; {{Harvnb|Ward|2004|p=180}}.</ref> There is no devolved English government, but an attempt to create a similar system on a sub-regional basis was rejected by [[2004 North East England devolution referendum|referendum]].<ref name="The Times 2004-11-05" />