What countries are part of Great Britain? Rich in history and culture, it intertwines the traditions of four historical and geographical regions, which are distinguished by their religious characteristics. This island nation has many interesting facts.
The history of the formation of Great Britain dates back to the 1st century BC, when almost all lands came under the rule of the Romans. The latter began the construction of cities and proclaimed Christianity. Later, in the 5th century AD, Germanic tribes captured the islands and drove out the Romans, giving the country the name England.
In the IX-XI centuries. Britain was regularly attacked by Vikings, and in 1066 the island was conquered by the Norman Duke William, who later became King William I of England. Around this time, the island was formed English language, which combines Scandinavian, German and French words.
England developed rapidly. And at the end of the 16th century, international trade became the most developed type of activity.
The state's main competitor in this industry was Spain, which at that time was at war with Holland. In this struggle, England actively supported Holland. Later, Britain more than once showed its strength in military matters, seizing and colonizing new lands in Australia, Asia, America, Africa and Oceania.
Map of the Colonies of the British Empire
In 1707, Great Britain consisted of England, Wales and Scotland, and 100 years later Ireland joined the union. But at the beginning of the 20th century, part of Ireland defended its independence and left the union, and Northern Ireland remained part of the United Kingdom.
At the beginning of the 18th century, the country began to develop rapidly economically. Trade still occupied a significant place. Gradually, Great Britain gained the status of a great naval state, turning into an industrialized power.
In the 20th century, the world was rocked by two wars in which Great Britain was positioned as the future victors. But over time, the influence of the state became less, and in the second half of the 20th century it lost some of its colonies.
Interesting facts about Great Britain are described in this video:
In 1973, the United Kingdom joined the European Union and English became an international language. But later the country was faced with a severe economic recession, to which the migration of Africans contributed to unemployment. Recently, the government has been engaged in the development of industry and science.
UK government
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is located in the British Isles, located in Western Europe. The islands are separated from the mainland by two straits: the English Channel and Pas de Calais. The state occupies the entire part of the island of Great Britain, the northern part of the island of Ireland and a large part of the British Isles.
Great Britain and Ireland, political map
The country covers an area of 244 thousand square meters. km. About 65 million people live in the UK. The capital of the state is London, and its current ruler is Queen Elizabeth II.
As you know, Britain is a constitutional monarchy, the government of which consists of the reigning monarch and parliament, which forms the House of Lords and the House of Commons. Such a government has virtually unlimited influence in matters relating to population and territory. The throne is inherited by seniority. The eldest son or eldest daughter is appointed monarch if there are no sons in the family.
UK composition
The countries that make up the UK are as follows:
- England;
- Scotland;
- Wales;
- Northern Ireland.
England
Everyone knows England as Foggy Albion. It rains here almost every day. But the government of England cares about the ecology of the capital and the whole country. Despite the dreary weather, the capital, London, is a city with a friendly population. Many tourists visit it, because there is something to see here. The most famous attractions are Tower Bridge, Big Ben, the British Museum, and Westminster Abbey. Buckingham Palace, home of the royal family, has become accessible to tourists.
Scotland
In 2012, a referendum took place in Scotland. According to its results, Scotland decided to remain within the UK. The country is famous for whiskey, kilts and bagpipes. The expanses of the state lie on 787 islands. The capital of the country is Edinburgh. The state has not only thousand-year-old traditions and rich history, full of wars, but also a charming nature. Majestic castles, mountain spirit and rocky coastlines make Scotland popular place for tourists. The Scots have a wayward temperament, they are independent and extraordinary, sociable and friendly, but they will not open up to a stranger.
Wales
The Principality of Wales occupies a small territory in the western part of the island of Great Britain with a population of 3 million people. The capital of Wales is Cardiff. The country is a land of amazing landscapes and majestic medieval castles, of which there are countless numbers. Speaking about the beauty of the area, it is impossible to convey in words all the uniqueness of the architecture. This historic area of Great Britain is famous for its cheeses, tender beef and lamb, and seafood is also popular here.
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is known as a major European student center and has a rich culture. The capital of Ireland is Belfast, the city famous for being the builder of the Titanic. Among the attractions of Northern Ireland are the Giant's Causeway, National parks Oxford, Glenariff and Cabble, Cooley Castle.
Great Britain is a country of a combination of nations
The ethnic composition of Great Britain is quite diverse for a European state. As the British Isles suffered numerous attacks from mainland Europe, the Romans, Normans, Saxons and Danes occupied the low-lying terrain, driving the indigenous population into the mountains and to the west and north of the island.
Since the British Isles were a colonial state, the composition of the population here has changed markedly. There was a migration of people from Asia, Africa and the Caribbean. Chinese, Pakistanis, Indians and Africans have diluted the ethnic composition.
Back in the Middle Ages, three main ethnic communities were formed in Great Britain, which were represented by the English, Scots and Welsh. A special role in the political sphere of the country is always played by the relationship between these indigenous peoples.
The national composition of Great Britain is not as diverse as its ethnic composition. After the Second World War there was an influx of workers from European countries, amounting to 1 million people. In addition, every year the country is populated by 50 thousand Europeans and Asians who come here in search of work.
Of the 65 million people, the dominant part is occupied by the English with a population of about 53 million. They mainly live in England, a small part of the English occupy Wales and Scotland.
The second largest population is occupied by the Scots, who are represented by 6 million people. Most of the Celts live in the northwestern part of the island of Great Britain and numerous northern islands.
The Irish make up 1.5 million people in the British Isles, and the Welsh make up 1.2 million. The other nations of Great Britain number about 3 million people.
WHO RULES? It turns out that Elizabeth II is a direct descendant of Patriarch Abraham! She heads the “State of the Jewish Covenant” in Europe. The very word “BRITH-ANIA” is translated from Hebrew as “Land of the Covenant”... Elizabeth II, Queen of Great Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Jamaica. It turns out that Elizabeth II is a direct descendant of Patriarch Abraham! She heads the “State of the Jewish Covenant” in Europe. The word “BRITH-ANIA” itself is translated from Hebrew as “Land of the Covenant.” There are 12 stones in the crown of the British kings, which mean exactly “12 Tribes of Israel”. Queen's EGYPTIAN scepter: its colors are Red, White and Blue. The queen's attributes include an image of BEES - a symbol of power in Egypt. If FEMALE royalty symbolizes the QUEEN BEE, is it because the good old tradition in Britain has CHANGED: instead of KINGS, QUEENS began to rule? And isn’t that why the “Power” of the English kings means Earth? For several centuries now, all the main threads of control of world power have gone to the British royal family. Let's try to understand this issue. Officially, the UK is considered to be a “constitutional monarchy”. As if limited. But - British Queen has the right to DECLARE WAR (without legal restrictions and without explanation); – the Queen of England has the right to dismiss the government (similarly); – the Queen of England has the right to dissolve parliament; – once a year she speaks before parliament and voices her demands for the near future (that is, she actually forms state policy). In domestic affairs the powers of the Crown are wide. Appointment of ministers, privy councillors, members of executive bodies and other officials. In addition, the monarch is the head armed forces(British Army, royal navy, Royal Air Force and Intelligence). The prerogative of the Sovereign is to declare war, make peace, and direct military actions. The prerogatives of the Queen and foreign affairs concern: discuss the terms and ratify treaties, alliances, international agreements; parliamentary decisions are not needed. The Sovereign also accredits British high commissioners and ambassadors, and receives foreign diplomats. The Sovereign is also considered the source of justice, and appoints judges for all types of cases. The general law is that the Crown "can do no wrong"; The monarch CANNOT BE TRIALED in court for criminal offenses. In fact, the Queen controls ALL branches of government - legislative, executive and judicial. And finally, the monarch is the Supreme Ruler of the Anglican Church and can appoint bishops and archbishops (that is, the head of not only temporal, but also spiritual power, which does not exist anywhere in the world, even in Iran). NO ONE PERSON IN THE WORLD HAS A GREATER CONCENTRATION OF POWER POWERS. Even the Korean “Juche”, whom the “democratic media” portrays as an example of a dictator, smokes nervously in the corridor. Moreover, internal almost absolute power is not enough for her. Not counting the countries of the British Commonwealth, which are formally independent, in 16 countries the British Queen is OFFICIALLY considered the head of state and is represented by governors-general appointed by the Queen. Among these countries, for example, is Canada, where the British Queen makes a “friendly visit” every two years, which is actually an inspection. The Governor-General assures the Queen of his loyalty, reports on the current state of affairs and listens to instructions for the near future. If the queen is not satisfied with something, she fires him and appoints a new one. What kind of democracy are you talking about? A rigid vertical of power, not controlled by anyone. For some reason, it is unreasonably believed (the result of powerful ideological brainwashing) that all royal prerogatives are a fiction and a tribute to tradition. Meanwhile, in cases of special need, the queen exercises full power. So, in the 80s, she deprived (temporarily) Margaret Thatcher of information coming from MI-6 intelligence. She personally sent troops into areas affected by mining unrest. And it was the queen who, in the highest authority, made the decision to send troops to Iraq. In addition, this should also be taken into account little known fact : Prince Charles controls the so-called “Island Club”, which includes 4,000 oligarchs from all countries of the Commonwealth. This is the financial and economic “fist” of the British monarchy, with the blow of which it can open or knock down many doors. Moreover, 117 corporations whose headquarters are in the City of London are included in the list of the 500 largest corporations in the world. And the owners and heads of almost all of these corporations are members of the House of Peers (including the infamous Rand Corporation). I am not spreading any conspiracy theories here - these are all well-known facts that are freely available on the Internet. The only thing I did was put them together and looked at them with an unbiased eye. By the way, about democracy and parliamentarism. In Britain, only the lower House of Commons is elected. The upper one, which has the power to overturn the decisions of the lower one - the House of Peers, is hereditary. Representatives of this noble elite almost entirely descend from representatives of such “worthy” professions as racketeers, robbers, smugglers, drug dealers, arms and slave dealers, and pirates. It’s just that instead of “ostrich slippers” they have magnificent coats of arms and personalized liveries. By the way, about piracy. According to numerous indirect evidence, threads from Somali, South Chinese and other pirates lead straight to the British Admiralty. It is from there, according to sources, that information is leaked to the pirates about who, where and when to rob. After all, mind you, despite the constant tricks of captains to bypass dangerous waters, route changes and other tricks, pirates consistently know where the ships will pass, when and what kind of cargo they will carry (and choose the most unprotected and expensive ones). I cannot provide irrefutable evidence here (if I had it, I would have handed it over to the court a long time ago), but there are a lot of indirect indications of this. There is no smoke without fire... And we must not forget that it was the British crown that was directly involved in the drug trade for at least two centuries (this is for those who have forgotten about the “Opium Wars”). And it was not tea that was carried by “tea clippers” - the American War of Independence would not have started because of tea. The patriots were simply tired of their people being destroyed by drugs, and they sank the next batch. However, the British intelligence services still control a significant part of the drug trade. The American invasion of Afghanistan began because the Taliban launched a war on drugs, destroyed all poppy and opium crops on their territory, and also reduced drug trafficking through their territory tenfold. Losing 40-50 billion dollars in drug trafficking was too unpleasant for the British, and they provoked their agents of influence in the United States to invade. Lyndon LaRouche (and a number of other researchers) plainly says that the Presidential Administration is filled with British agents of influence, and their activities are aimed at destroying the United States. The USA, according to him, is rapidly turning into a fascist state, in full accordance with British fascist doctrines (do you remember that the ideology of fascism arose on the Island?). Do you still not believe that this is possible? Then remember the names of the founders of the US Federal Reserve (a private office) - these are the Warburgs, Morgans, Rockefellers and Rothschilds. Or British peers, or bankers of British peers. By the way, Sir Henry Morgan received a peerage and the post of governor of Jamaica for piracy. So did Sir Francis Drake and many others. At the moment, Britain is developing several areas at once, in which they hope to regain their former power and implement their project of a global English monarchy. Firstly, there is a channel through which the British elites influence the American ones. Here the so-called plays a special role. “British-American Community”, the role of which is revealed in his works and speeches by politician, scientist and researcher Lyndon LaRouche. There is a whole network of organizations, clubs and research centers (including the far-right Domestic Fascist Network) that indirectly shape US policy, while being British in property and essence. Secondly, England seriously intends to expand the composition of the Commonwealth member countries. Thus, at the summit in Trinidad and Tobago, Rwanda was admitted there. The unusual situation was that this country had never been English colony– it used to belong to Belgium and Germany. Moreover, when the genocide of the Tutsis began in Rwanda in 1994, the “West” for a long time condoned this. This indicates that England has launched some kind of geopolitical offensive designed to establish hegemony in third world countries. By the way, plans to expand the BS were announced back in 2007 by its general secretary Don McKinnan. At that time, Rwanda, Yemen, Somalia and Israel were named among the candidates. In addition, among the former British colonies, Iraq, Egypt and Israel did not want to be part of the British Commonwealth. In addition, there are oil fields in Libya and Iran that were previously owned by British Petroleum. Can you tell me where the American aggression was directed? And where are the “spontaneous popular uprisings” taking place lately? Strange, in these countries! Technology of attempting to carry out " velvet revolution» in Iran is 90% identical to the one that was used in Ukraine in 2004. Even the symbols and “chips” are practically the same, only instead of orange, green color Islam. At one time, Pakistan also left the British Commonwealth (which also ended in dire consequences for it, coup d'etat 1977 and the coming to power of the military). After which, a few years later, he re-entered the British Commonwealth. The practice of organizing uprisings and supporting separatists has been characteristic of Britain for centuries. Colonel Lawrence, nicknamed Arabian, organized the famous Bedouin uprising against Ottoman rule in 1916-1918. The films portray him in a romantic light, but in reality he was a typical British officer, cold-blooded and calculating, whose task was to weaken the Ottoman Empire. Did the Arabs gain freedom after their uprising then? No, just a couple of years later they fell under the British “protectorate”. And already British companies (the same notorious British Petroleum) began pumping Middle Eastern oil. In general, there are quite a lot of authoritarian rulers in the world. And in Asia, and in Africa, and in Latin America. But there are no complaints against many of them from the “enlightened West”, since they do not object to neocolonial policies, pumping natural resources from their countries and robbing their peoples. And the term “undemocratic regime” applies only to those of them who resist the robbery. Who are considered the main tyrants in the world? Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez, Muammar Gaddafi, Ahmadinejad, Lukashenko. What do they have in common? There is only one thing: nationalization of natural resources was carried out everywhere in these countries (in the case of Belarus, privatization was not carried out), which does not allow the Empires to steal their resources with impunity. We can say with a high degree of confidence that “undemocratic” in the distorting mirrors of Western propaganda has long meant in reality “patriotic, acting in the interests of his country.” Moreover, acting on the sly, behind the scenes, with intrigue and deceit is not new for the British crown. Aldous Huxley, a British writer famous for his dystopian novel O Wondrous new world!”, cites in his research numerous facts of bribery by the British (after the failure of the next landing of expeditionary forces) of the heads of countries included in the anti-Napoleonic coalition. Even monarchs were bribed, including Russian Alexander(Why the hell else would he have led the army at Austerlitz, where Napoleon defeated him?), using the Rothschild banking network for this. It was in countries that were former colonies of Great Britain that the term “comprador” appeared - a person representing the interests of foreign capital in his country. The British ruled not only by force of arms, but also actively bribed and corrupted local elites. And not only military and political, but also the intelligentsia (forming dissidents from it) and traders. By the way, it was the comprador bourgeoisie that most actively opposed the national liberation and socialist movements in the colonies, never supporting them and always acting as a “fifth column.” A couple more interesting facts. In 1914, most of the Ukrainian coal and metallurgical industries were owned by British banks. In the first years of Ukraine's independence, when active privatization was underway, a number of Ukrainian oligarchs received significant loans to purchase enterprises in these industries. And from whom do you think? You won't believe it - from British banks! I have long been interested in where yesterday’s “ordinary Soviet citizens” got hundreds of millions of dollars to buy huge metallurgical plants and mining plants. And when I started digging, it turned out that most of their money was borrowed. And the next logical question immediately arises - are they not just puppets, intermediaries, hired managers, behind whom is British and transnational capital? In poor countries, “poor protesters” suddenly find themselves massively equipped the latest iPhones(worth several thousand) with paid unlimited internet. And among the leaders of the protesters are leaders of NGOs financed by such “democracy promotion organizations” as the American IATP, the Soros Renaissance Foundation or other organizations working for foreign intelligence services. And if you dig, these organizations, long before the start of the riots, in special training camps, are working out the methodology of the processes using grant money. And ambitious, unprincipled young people, greedy for money and power, are selected as leaders of these organizations. But let's return to the British sheep and their machinations. Our compatriots living in Libya en masse informed their relatives that there were no hostilities in the country, the riots were caused by a bunch of stoned or bribed youth, and the hype around this was inflated by “honest and incorruptible democratic media.” No thousands of corpses, no bombing of cities, no “snipers shooting in the head.” There are dozens, if not hundreds, of such messages in the blogosphere. By the way, based on a tip from one of my colleagues, type “unknown snipers” into Google. These mythical creatures appear in dozens of places around the world where there are pockets of instability. Stopping the crowd with snipers is useless and pointless; it simply doesn’t notice them, and the blood only angers it more. Bursts of machine guns overhead are much better at dispersing crowds. But “unknown snipers” (tm) regularly appear and reap their bloody harvest. And then staged photographs and articles about the “atrocities of tyrants” appear in the “democratic media.” Although the “tyrants” themselves do not know where such “joy” comes from. But all this does not concern the “world community”; they do not care that there was no dictatorship in Libya. The media said there was "little democracy" there (that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan), and NATO would be able to seize control of yet another country's oil fields. Russian “independent” media, long ago bought by the West, circulated this news and the majority of Russians swallowed it. The “world community” swallowed the bombing of Serbia, the murder of Milosevic in prison (although some think that he died), the seizure of Iraq and Afghanistan, the murder of Gaddafi. Apparently, they will swallow everything else too.
Egbert the Great (Anglo-Saxon. Ecgbryht, English Egbert, Eagberht) (769/771 - February 4 or June 839) - king of Wessex (802 - 839). A number of historians consider Egbert to be the first king of England, since for the first time in history he united under the rule of one ruler most of the lands located on the territory of modern England, and the remaining regions recognized his supreme power over themselves. Officially, Egbert did not use such a title and it was first used in his title by King Alfred the Great.
Edward II (English: Edward II, 1284-1327, also called Edward of Caernarfon, after his birthplace in Wales) was an English king (from 1307 until his deposition in January 1327) from the Plantagenet dynasty, son of Edward I.
The first English heir to the throne who bore the title “Prince of Wales” (according to legend, at the request of the Welsh to give them a king who was born in Wales and did not speak English, Edward I showed them his newborn son, who had just been born in his camp) . Having inherited the throne of his father at the age of less than 23, Edward II led very unsuccessfully fighting against Scotland, whose troops were led by Robert the Bruce. The popularity of the king was also undermined by his commitment to the favorites hated by the people (they were believed to be the king's lovers) - the Gascon Pierre Gaveston, and then the English nobleman Hugh Despenser the Younger. Edward's reign was accompanied by conspiracies and rebellions, the inspiration of which was often the king's wife, Queen Isabella, daughter French king Philip IV the Fair, who fled to France.
Edward III, Edward III (Middle English Edward III) (November 13, 1312 - June 21, 1377) - king of England from 1327 from the Plantegenet dynasty, son of King Edward II and Isabella of France, daughter of King Philip IV the Fair of France .
Richard II (eng. Richard II, 1367-1400) - English king (1377-1399), representative of the Plantagenet dynasty, grandson of King Edward III, son of Edward the Black Prince.
Richard was born in Bordeaux - his father fought in France on the fields of the Hundred Years' War. When the Black Prince died in 1376, while Edward III was still alive, the young Richard received the title Prince of Wales, and a year later inherited the throne from his grandfather.
Henry IV of Bolingbroke (English: Henry IV of Bolingbroke, April 3, 1367, Bolingbroke Castle, Lincolnshire - March 20, 1413, Westminster) - king of England (1399-1413), founder of the Lancastrian dynasty (junior branch of the Plantagenets).
Henry V (English Henry V) (August 9, according to other sources, September 16, 1387, Monmouth Castle, Monmouthshire, Wales - August 31, 1422, Vincennes (now in Paris), France) - king of England since 1413, from the Lancaster dynasty, one of greatest commanders Hundred Years' War. Defeated the French at the Battle of Agincourt (1415). According to the Treaty of Troyes (1420), he became the heir of the French king Charles VI the Mad and received the hand of his daughter Catherine. He continued the war with Charles’s son, the Dauphin (the future Charles VII), who did not recognize the treaty, and died during this war, just two months before Charles VI; if he had lived these two months, he would have become king of France. He died in August 1422, presumably from dysentery.
Henry VI (English Henry VI, French Henri VI) (December 6, 1421, Windsor - May 21 or 22, 1471, London) - the third and last king of England from the Lancaster dynasty (from 1422 to 1461 and from 1470 to 1471). The only English king who bore the title “King of France” during and after the Hundred Years’ War, who was actually crowned (1431) and reigned over a significant part of France.
Edward IV (April 28, 1442, Rouen - April 9, 1483, London) - king of England in 1461-1470 and 1471-1483, a representative of the York Plantagenet line, seized the throne during the Wars of the Roses.
Eldest son of Richard, Duke of York and Cecilia Neville, brother of Richard III. On his father's death in 1460, he inherited his titles as Earl of Cambridge, March and Ulster and Duke of York. In 1461, at the age of eighteen, he ascended the English throne with the support of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick.
Was married to Elizabeth Woodville (1437-1492), children:
Elizabeth (1466-1503), married to King Henry VII of England,
Maria (1467-1482),
Cecilia (1469-1507),
Edward V (1470-1483?),
Richard (1473-1483?),
Anna (1475-1511),
Catherine (1479-1527),
Bridget (1480-1517).
The king was a great lover of women and, in addition to his official wife, was secretly engaged to one or more women, which later allowed the royal council to declare his son Edward V illegitimate and, together with his other son, imprison him in the Tower.
Edward IV died unexpectedly on April 9, 1483.
Edward V (November 4, 1470(14701104)-1483?) - King of England from April 9 to June 25, 1483, son of Edward IV; not crowned. Deposed by his uncle the Duke of Gloucester, who declared the king and his younger brother Duke Richard of York illegitimate children, and himself became King Richard III. A 12-year-old and a 10-year-old boy were imprisoned in the Tower, further fate their exactness is unknown. The most common point of view is that they were killed on the orders of Richard (this version was official under the Tudors), but various researchers accuse many other figures of that time, including Richard’s successor Henry VII, of the murder of the princes.
Richard III (English: Richard III) (October 2, 1452, Fotheringhay - August 22, 1485, Bosworth) - King of England since 1483, from the York dynasty, the last representative of the Plantagenet male line on the English throne. Brother of Edward IV. He took the throne, removing the young Edward V. At the Battle of Bosworth (1485) he was defeated and killed. One of two kings of England to die in battle (after Harold II, killed at Hastings in 1066).
Henry VII (eng. Henry VII;)
