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Kingdom of Great Britain1
Flag of England
 
Flag of Scotland
1800 Flag of the United Kingdom
Coordinates : 51°30′N 0°07′W / 51.5, -0.117
Union flag 1606 (Kings Colors) Coat of Arms of Great Britain (1714-1801)
Flag Royal coat of arms
Motto
Dieu et mon droit
(English: "God and my right")2
Anthem
God Save the King/Queen
Kingdom of Great Britain
Territory of the Kingdom of Great Britain
Capital London
Languages English (de facto official), Cornish, Scots, Scottish Gaelic, Welsh
Government Parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy
Monarch
 -  1707–14 Anne
 -  1714–27 George I
 -  1727–60 George II
 -  1760–1801 George III
Prime Minister
 -  1721–42 Robert Walpole
 -  1766-1768 William Pitt the Elder
 -  1783–1801 William Pitt the Younger
Legislature Parliament
 -  Upper house House of Lords
 -  Lower house House of Commons of Great Britain
Historical era 18th century
 -  1707 Union 1 May 1707
 -  1801 Union 1 January 1800
Area
 -  1801 230,977 km² (89,181 sq mi)
Population
 -  1801 est. 16,345,646 
     Density 70.8 /km²  (183.3 /sq mi)
Currency Pound sterling
Today part of Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom3
1Cornish: Rywvaneth Breten Veur; Scots: Kinrick o Great Breetain; Scottish Gaelic: Rìoghachd na Breatainne Mòire; Welsh: Teyrnas Prydain Fawr.
2 The Royal motto used in Scotland was In My Defens God Me Defend.
3Flag of England England, Flag of Scotland Scotland, Flag of Wales 2 Wales.

The Kingdom of Great Britain, also known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain,[1][2] was a sovereign state in northwest Europe, in existence from 1707 to 1801. It was created by the merger 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 and its minor outlying islands, excluding Ireland—which remained a separate jurisdiction under the British crown. A single parliament and government, based in Westminster, controlled the new kingdom. The kingdoms had shared the same monarch since James VI, King of Scots became King of England in 1603 following the death of Queen Elizabeth I.

The Kingdom of Great Britain was superseded by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland on 1 January 1801, when Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland by the Acts of Union of 1800 following the suppression of the Irish Rebellion of 1798.

Name[]

The Kingdom of Great Britain is also given the alternative name of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, which is often shortened to United Kingdom, though there is debate over whether the latter name is acceptable.[3] While the Treaty of Union refers to the new state as the United Kingdom of Great Britain in several places, others believe that the word "United" is only an adjective, and not part of the style, citing the subsequent Acts of Union themselves, which state explicitly that the name of the new kingdom is to be Great Britain.[4]

The name "United Kingdom" is sometimes preferred for purposes of continuity, particularly in the military and colonial spheres. At the time of the Act of Union 1800, which unambiguously styled the new state as the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland", the British were embroiled in the Great French War and the British Empire possessed many colonies in North America, India, and Australia. Some who would otherwise prefer the term "Kingdom of Great Britain" thus use "United Kingdom" to avoid using two different names for a single military and colonial power, which may confuse the discussion.

Monarchs[]

  • Anne (1707–1714), previously Queen of England, Queen of Scots, and Queen of Ireland since 1702.
  • George I (1714–1727)
  • George II (1727–1760)
  • George III (1760–1801), continued as King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until 1820.

See also[]

  • Early Modern Britain
  • Georgian era

References[]

  1. ^ Welcome parliament.uk, accessed 2 September 2010
  2. ^ The Union of the Parliaments 1707 Learning and Teaching Scotland, accessed 2 September 2010
  3. ^ "Rough guide to British history". 29 April 2006. The Times. URL accessed 13 May 2006.
  4. ^ Act of Union 1707, Article I.

External links[]

Preceded by:
Kingdom of England
c. 927–1 May 1707
Kingdom of Scotland
c. 843 – 1 May 1707
Kingdom of Great Britain
1 May 1707 – 1 January 1801
Succeeded by:
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
1 January 1801 – 6 December 1922


This page uses content from the English language Wikipedia. The original content was at Kingdom of Great Britain. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with this Familypedia wiki, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons License.


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