Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger, Elizabeth I: The Rainbow Portrait (1602-03?)

6000 BCE: British Isles separate from European Mainland: Following the end of the last Ice Age, waters formerly locked up in great ice sheets melt and the levels of the North Sea begin to rise. The British Isles are “born”.

3300-1200 BCE: Stone Circles and ‘Henges’: Burial grounds with rings of standing stones are built in the southwest of England, notably at Stonehenge, Wiltshire around 2000 BCE. The period coincides with the Neolithic Age, when inhabitants of the British Isles start farming.

1200-700 BCE: Iron Age: Celtic culture and tribal kingdoms emerge in Britain and Ireland. They follow an ancient religion overseen by druids and speak the common Brittonic language.

330 BCE: Pytheas circumnavigates Britain: Pytheas of Massilia (Marseilles), a Greek merchant and explorer, circumnavigates the British Isles and produces the first written record of the islands: he describes the inhabitants as skilled farmers, usually peaceable, but formidable in war.

55-4 BCE: Julius Caesar invades England: After conquering Gaul, Roman general Julius Caesar crosses the Channel to send a warning to the British allies of Gaulish tribes. The next year, he invades Britain again but meets tougher resistance from the locals, who have regrouped under Cassivellaunus, ruler of the southeastern Catuvellauni tribe. An impending rebellion in Gaul forces Caesar to withdraw, never to return, but Britain is now within Rome’s sphere of influence.

9 AD: Cunobelinus, King of the Catuvellauni: Cunobelinus – Shakespeare’s Cymbeline – rules the Catuvellauni tribe for 30 years and conquers a huge territory across East Anglia and the southeast. He is described by the Roman historian Suetonius as ‘Britannorum rex’, i.e., king of the Britons. 

43: Claudius conquers Britain: Emperor Claudius sends an army commanded by senator Aulus Plautius to conquer Britain. The Romans meet a large army of Britons, under the Catuvellauni kings Caratacus and Togodumnus, but come out victorious and capture Camulodunum (Colchester), the capital of the Catuvellauni tribe, which becomes the capital of the Roman province of Britain until Londinium, founded on the current site of the City of London around 50 AD, replaces it by the turn of the century. Aulus Plautius becomes the first Roman governor of Britain, but much of the island will not be pacified for another 50 years.

74-80: Romanization: Sextus Julius Frontinus becomes governor of Britain in 74 AD. He and his successor, Gnaeus Julius Agricola, start encouraging native aristocrats to learn Latin, wear the toga and build Roman-style towns and villas.

122: Hadrian’s wall: Emperor Hadrian orders the construction of a 73-mile-long wall across northern Britain, from modern Newcastle to Carlisle, to protect it from the ‘barbarians.’ The wall marks the northernmost boundary of the empire.

211: Two Provinces: To improve Britain’s administration, the province is split in two: the southern part is named Britannia Superior (Upper Britain) with its capital at Londinium, and the northern one Britannia Inferior (Lower Britain), with the capital at Eboracum (York).

250-400: Invasions from the North: Around 250, new enemies threaten the British Isles, including Scots, who raid Ulster and western Scotland, and Picts (from the Latin for ‘painted people’), an amalgamation of tribes from northern Scotland. In the 150 years that follow, other attacks launched by Picts, Scots, but also Franks, Angles and Saxons gradually overwhelm the frontier defences of Roman Britain.

400-10: Roman troops leave Britain: Roman armies withdraw from Britain to defend Italy against the invasion of Alaric the Goth and leave a local garrison too weak to resist barbarian raids. In 410, British leaders appeal to emperor Honorius for help, but he tells them to ‘look to their own defences.’ This marks the end of Roman Britain. 

432: St Patrick arrives in Ireland: Patrick, a Christian Romano-Briton, is kidnapped and enslaved by Irish raiders as a child. He escapes after some years but returns to Ireland in 432 and becomes the first Christian missionary in Ireland. He later becomes the patron saint of Ireland. 

449-550: Angles, Saxons and Jutes invade southeast Britain: Tribes of Angles, Saxons and Jutes from areas corresponding to today’s Germany, Holland and Denmark move into Britain, and push back the local Celtic people towards Wales, the southwest and Scotland. The date of 449 AD for their arrival is taken from the Ecclesiastical History of the English, completed in 731 by the Venerable Bede, a Benedictine monk. Other sources suggest that their arrival was part of a process of conquest and settlement that began earlier and continued until later.

516: King Arthur defeats the Angles and Saxons at Mount Badon: According to Gildas, a British monk and author of The Ruin of Britain, the Anglo-Saxons are defeated by the Britons at Mount Badon, in southwest Britain. Gildas does not name the Britons’ leader but the battle is later associated to the mythical King Arthur, notably in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s 12^th-century Historia Regum Britanniae.

565: Columba and the Iona Monastery: After founding the Irish monasteries of Derry and Durrow, Columba – a Christian missionary – leaves for Scotland and founds a monastery on the island of Iona. For the next two centuries, Iona becomes the most famous centre of Christian learning in the Celtic world and missionaries trained there evangelize much of Scotland and England.

597: Canterbury: In 597, Æthelberht, king of Kent, has a church built in Canterbury, on the site of the future cathedral, and becomes the first English king to convert from paganism to Christianism. In 668, Theodore, a Greek-speaker from Tarsus, is consecrated as the first archbishop of Canterbury; the English church grows stronger and Canterbury becomes a major centre of learning.

789: Viking Raids: The first Viking attack in the British Isles takes place in Portland, Dorset. Such attacks increase in intensity over the coming decades in the southwest of England, Scotland and Ireland, where they take Dublin and make it their local capital.

829: Egbert, King of the West Saxons: Egbert, already the most powerful ruler in southern England, conquers Mercia and Northumbria: Wessex becomes the dominant kingdom in England until 1066.

843: The Kingdom of Scotland is born: Kenneth MacAlpine (Cináed mac Ailpín), amalgamates the kingdoms of the Scots and the Picts into the first kingdom of Scotland.

867: The Vikings’ Great Army captures York: The Vikings assemble a Great Army and initiate a full conquest of Britain, making the city of York, renamed Yorvik, their capital.

878-86: The Danelaw: Alfred the Great, King of Wessex, defeats the Vikings and brings them to terms. Alfred will retain the west of the country, while the east – later known as the Danelaw – remains Viking territory. It is during Alfred’s reign that the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is created: this collection of annals chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons is the oldest surviving piece of narrative prose in Old English.

927: Athelstan, King of all England: Athelstan, king of Wessex, takes York from the Vikings and overcomes the Scots, the Welsh and the Cornish. Having taken the boundaries of his kingdom to their furthest extent, he is the first Anglo-Saxon king that can rightfully be described as king of all England.

975-1025: Beowulf: inspired by local and Scandinavian legends, Beowulf is the first epic poem written in Old English; the story takes place in Denmark and narrates the eponymous hero’s fights against three monsters (Grendel, Grendel’s mother and a dragon).

1014: Brian Bóru is killed at the Battle of Clontarf: Gaelic Ireland is divided into nine kingdoms, but the most powerful of the nine rulers acts as overlord – or High King – to the whole island. In the early 11^th century, Brian Bóru, king of Munster is also High King of Ireland and has subjugated most of the country except for Leinster and the Viking kingdom of Dublin. In 1014, his army defeats both at the battle of Clontarf, north of Dublin; he dies during the battle and becomes an iconic figure in Irish history.

1066: William the Conqueror becomes King of England: In 1042, Edward II (a.k.a Edward the Confessor) becomes the last of the Anglo-Saxon kings of England. When he dies in 1066 without an heir, Harold of Wessex, the son of the most powerful nobleman in the realm, succeeds him. But Harold II is immediately faced with threats from William, duke of Normandy, who claims that Edward the Confessor promised him the English throne, and Harold Hardrada, king of Norway. Hardrada invades England but is defeated and killed at Stamford Bridge, Yorkshire. William of Normandy invades England in his turn and on 14 October 1066, his troops crush Harold’s at the Battle of Hastings. Harold is killed on the battlefield and William is crowned William I at Westminster Abbey, the burial place of Edward the Confessor, from whom he derives his claim to the throne. William undertakes a thorough transformation of the social structure of the country: thousands of English noblemen are dispossessed and replaced by Norman and compliant English barons. In 1085, William commissions a detailed administrative survey of his English realm, called the Domesday Book; the next year, he receives the returns to the survey at Salisbury and holds a large ceremony during which the country’s most powerful men are made to swear loyalty to him.

1087-1106: William’s Succession: William I dies in 1087, leaving three sons: Robert, William Rufus and Henry. The eldest son, Robert, inherits Normandy but no specific succession is determined for England. Nevertheless, William Rufus has himself crowned William II. In the following years, the new king faces several rebellions led by his brother Robert. When he dies in 1100, his youngest brother, Henry, has himself crowned Henry I. In 1106, he defeats his brother Robert at the Battle of Tinchebray, in Normandy. Robert is kept in captivity until his death, and Henry reunites his father’s dominions.

1096: Oxford University: The first evidence of teaching at Oxford goes back to 1096, but the university really starts growing after 1167, when English students are forbidden to study at the Sorbonne and flock back to England. It is structured in the early 13^th century, with a chancellor, masters and colleges, and is granted a royal charter in 1248, under Henry III. In the meantime, a second university is established in Cambridge around 1209, probably by scholars fleeing disputes with Oxford townsfolk.

1153: The Treaty of Wallingford: Henry I’s succession is thrown into crisis when his son, William, dies in 1120 and he must seek an alternative successor. He picks his daughter Matilda, who is married to Geoffrey of Anjou, nicknamed ‘Plantagenet,’ but many of Henry I’s nobles consider a woman unfit to rule. This includes Henry’s own nephew, Stephen of Blois, who has himself crowned king in 1135. In 1139, Matilda lands at Arundel, West Sussex, to claim the crown. A civil war follows, but neither side is strong enough for outright victory. In 1148, Matilda withdraws to France, leaving Stephen as king but with only nominal control over a country where lawlessness is rife. When Stephen’s only son, Eustace, dies in August 1153, Henry of Anjou, Matilda’s son, is the only legitimate heir. His accession is confirmed by the Treaty of Wallingford, and when Stephen dies in 1154, he is crowned Henry II without bloodshed. He is not only king of England, but also rules over most of Wales, Normandy, Anjou, Gascony and parts of France acquired through his marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine.

1170: Murder in the Cathedral: Thomas Becket has been Henry II’s close friend and chancellor, but when the king appoints him Archbishop of Canterbury in 1162, Becket takes the side of the Church against him. The two men become enemies. In 1170, responding to an outburst of frustration by the king against Becket, four knights murder him in Canterbury Cathedral. Becket is later canonised, and Canterbury becomes a site of pilgrimage. In 1174, the cathedral itself is ravaged by fire: the Trinity Chapel is added for the shrine housing Becket’s relics and the eastern end is rebuilt in the new Gothic style. This sets the new standards for English cathedral architecture and the greatest medieval shrines and abbeys, notably Westminster Abbey, which is rebuilt in 1245.

1171: The Anglo-Norman Invasion of Ireland: Henry II lands in Ireland with a large army to assert control over the local Irish kings and the Anglo-Norman lords who have been invading the island and acquiring land there for decades. Henry forces many of the Irish kings, including Ruaidri Ua Conchobair, the last of the Irish High Kings, to submit to him. In 1177, he declares his youngest son, John, to be Lord of Ireland, and authorizes the Norman lords to conquer more land. For the next 750 years, Ireland falls under the domination of its English neighbour.

1189: Richard Lionheart becomes King: When Henry II dies, his eldest son, Richard Lionheart becomes king of England. He soon leaves England to join the Third Crusade, takes Cyprus and Acre but is stopped short of his ultimate goal of Jerusalem. On his return in 1192, he is captured and held prisoner by Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor. A massive ransom is paid, securing his release in 1194. Meanwhile, Richard’s youngest brother, John, has stayed in England and schemed against the king. Richard forgives him and names him as his successor.

1215: The Magna Carta: In 1214, John I is crushed by Philip Augustus of France at the Battle of Bouvines. Philip’s victory allows him to seize Normandy, Anjou and Brittany. John returns to England to face the nobles whose lands he has lost. A rebellion by northern barons leads to a meeting at Runnymede, on the River Thames, during which the Great Charter is signed. The document is a list of baronial grievances against the king and represents the first time that limitations to royal rights are established in law. John dies in 1216 and his nine-year-old son is crowned Henry III.

1237: The Anglo-Scottish Border: The Treaty of York, signed between Henry III and Alexander II of Scotland, fixes the Anglo-Scottish border. It has remained unaltered ever since, with the exception of the disputed town of Berwick.

1258-65: The King’s Council and Parliament: Henry III’s costly wars and foreign favourites have made him unpopular with the English barons. In 1258, a group of rebels led by Simon de Montfort, who married Henry’s sister, impose the Provisions of Oxford on the king, which create a council selected by the barons to advise him. In 1264, de Montfort leads a new rebellion and captures Henry and his son, Edward. Now in control of England, de Montfort summons an assembly made of two knights from each county and two elected representatives of each borough – a precursor to parliament. In 1265, however, de Montfort is killed at the Battle of Evesham by the forces of Prince Edward, and royal authority is restored. In 1272, Henry III dies and is succeeded by Edward.

1284: Edward I annexes Wales: Relations between the Welsh and the English have deteriorated. In 1277, Edward I invades Wales and forces Llywelyn ap Gruffyd, Prince of Wales, to pay homage. In 1282, Llywelyn and his brother Dafydd rebel against Edward but are defeated and killed. In 1284, the Statute of Ruddlan makes Wales part of England and Edward builds a network of castles in Wales to emphasise his power and authority. In 1301, he makes his eldest son, also Edward, prince of Wales, a title the eldest son of the English monarch continues to take to this day.

1290: Expulsion of the Jews: The bulk of the Jewish community in England arrived from France in the 11^th century, acting as bankers to the ruling and business classes. But in an atmosphere of growing anti-Semitism, Edward I turns against the Jews. In 1275, he prohibits Jewish traders from lending on interest, and in 1290, an edict is issued expelling all of them from England. The edict is overturned only in 1657, under Oliver Cromwell.

1295: The Auld Alliance: In 1292, Edward I forces the Scots to accept his sovereignty as ‘lord paramount’ of Scotland and nominates John Balliol as king. The Scots object to these terms and in 1295 they turn to the French for help, forging what comes to be known as the Auld Alliance.

1305: William Wallace is executed: In 1297, Edward I defeats a rebellion by John Balliol, king of Scotland, and deposes him. William Wallace, a Scottish knight, leads the resistance against the English until he is betrayed and executed. He becomes an iconic figure in Scottish culture.

1314: Robert the Bruce defeats Edward II at Bannockburn: In 1306, Robert the Bruce is crowned king of Scotland in defiance of Edward I, who dies on his way north to reassert his authority. In 1314, Edward II, Edward I’s son and successor, in turn leads a 20,000-strong force against him but is defeated at the battle Bannockburn. Scotland’s survival as an independent country is secured.

1327: Edward III becomes King: Edward II’s wife, Isabella, daughter of the King of France, has left for France in 1325 after being badly treated by his favourites, the Despensers. In 1326, she returns to England with her lover, Roger Mortimer, to overthrow the king. Edward II abdicates in favour of his son, Edward, and is murdered on the orders of Isabella and Roger Mortimer. They rule the country in the name of her son, now Edward III, who is 14. But in 1330, Edward seizes control, executes Mortimer and forces Isabella to retire. He goes on to rule for 50 years.

1346: The Battle of Crécy: In July, Edward III invades Normandy and meets Philip VI of France’s large army near Crécy. The much larger French force is repelled with heavy losses by the English and Welsh archers. Crécy is the first great English victory of the Hundred Years’ War. 

1348: The Black Death: The plague starts spreading across Europe in 1347 and appears at various points in the south of England in the summer of 1348. Between 30% and 45% of the population eventually die. The plague recurs regularly, if less severely, during the next seventy years.

1356: The Battle of Poitiers: Edward the Black Prince, Edward III’s eldest son, invades France from Gascony and meets a French army at Poitiers. Although the French have vastly superior forces, they are defeated by the English troops’ better tactics.

1381: The Peasants’ Revolt: Thousands of peasants march on London to protest against a new tax and demand equal rights. At least 1,500 rebels are killed and their leader, Wat Tyler, is arrested and beheaded at Tower Hill.

1384: John Wyclif dies: A precursor of the English Reformation, John Wyclif, a philosopher and theologian, argues that the Bible is the only true Christian authority and encourages its translation into English at a time when only Latin is permitted. He is condemned as a heretic by Pope Urban VI and, after his death, his books are burnt. Despite persecution, the Lollards, as his followers are known, nonetheless continue to spread his ideas.

1387: The Canterbury Tales: Geoffrey Chaucer publishes the Canterbury Tales, in which a group of people recount stories to pass the time on a pilgrimage to Canterbury. The publication makes Chaucer the first great poet of the English language; before him, most writers used either French or Latin in preference to the more plebeian English.

1399: Henry IV overthrows Richard II: Richard II, Edward III’s grandson, became king in 1377 at the age of 10. His uncle, John of Gaunt, is the most powerful man in the kingdom during his minority, but the English nobility is riven by internal factions. In the late 1380s, Richard II clashes with a group of nobles led by his cousin, Henry Bolingbroke, John of Gaunt’s son. They force concessions from him, but after several years, Richard takes his revenge, exiles Bolingbroke and seizes his estates. In 1399, while Richard is leading a military expedition in Ireland, Bolingbroke returns and takes the throne, supported by other nobles hostile to Richard’s autocratic ways. Richard is imprisoned and dies in 1400, possibly assassinated by Henry’s men. Henry IV’s reign is brief and troubled and in 1413, he is succeeded by his son, Henry V.

1415: The Battle of Agincourt: In 1414, Henry V renews England’s claims to the throne of France, whose ruler, Charles VI, is sick and unstable. In 1415, Henry lands in Normandy and the two armies meet at Agincourt where the English inflict a humiliating defeat on the much larger French force, thanks to their archers and superior tactics. In 1420, the Treaty of Troyes makes Henry V regent of France and plans for him to marry Charles’s daughter, Catherine; their heir, Henry VI, will become joint ruler of England and France. 

1422-71: Henry VI: Henry VI is less than a year old when his father dies and a Regency Council is in charge until 1437, when Henry is old enough to rule for himself. Though both King of England and of France, Henry is not interested in government, and his court becomes divided through neglect. By 1453, his mental health deteriorates too. He does, however, leave a rich legacy of educational institutions, as founder of Eton, the country’s first public school (1440), and prestigious colleges like King’s College, Cambridge and All Souls College, Oxford.

1435: The Treaty of Arras: The Treaty of Arras reconciles the long-standing dispute between France and Burgundy, and breaks the Anglo-Burgundian alliance. England is isolated, and its French territories are lost. By 1451, the last part of Henry V’s legacy, Normandy, has been retaken too.

1453: The Battle of Castillon: An English force lands in Bordeaux in an attempt to recapture the province from the French, but it is defeated at the Battle of Castillon, the last major encounter of the Hundred Years’ War. England’s territories in France are now reduced to just one town: Calais.

1455-85: The Wars of the Roses: Henry VI’s bouts of insanity have rendered him incapable of rule. In 1453, Richard, Duke of York, is appointed Lord Protector until Henry recovers. The latter’s family and supporters, led by his wife Margaret, attempt to drive Richard out but they are defeated at the battle of St Albans. The battle marks the beginning of the civil war between the two branches of the royal family – York (symbolized by the white rose) and Lancaster (symbolised by the red rose) – that lasts intermittently for thirty years. In 1461, the Yorkists’ leader, Edward, who has proclaimed himself King Edward IV, inflicts a decisive defeat on the Lancastrians at Towton, Yorkshire. Henry VI and Margaret flee to Scotland. But in 1470, with assistance from Louis XI of France, Margaret returns to England, defeats the Yorkists and restores Henry VI to the throne: his short second reign is known as the Readeption. The next year, Edward IV returns from exile and routs a Lancastrian force at Tewkesbury. Among the casualties is Edward, Prince of Wales and heir of Henry VI; Henry VI himself is murdered in the Tower of London. Edward IV becomes king of England again, but he dies suddenly in 1483; his 12-year-old son is proclaimed Edward V. Edward’s uncle, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, is named protector, and soon lodges the young king in the Tower of London with his younger brother. He has himself crowned Richard III and the two boys are found murdered soon afterward. Opposition to Richard III focuses on the best available Lancastrian claimant, Henry Tudor, a distant descendent of Edward III. In 1485, Tudor meets the armies of York for the final time at Bosworth, where Richard III is killed. Tudor is crowned King Henry VII. He presents himself as the unifier of the realm – symbolised by his adoption of the red and white Tudor Rose – and marries Elizabeth, daughter of the Yorkist king Edward IV, in January 1486.

1476: The first Printed Book is published in England: In 1440, German goldsmith Johannes Gutenberg invents the printing press, which starts the Printing Revolution. In 1476, William Caxton, a merchant and diplomat, establishes the first English printing press at Westminster and publishes the first printed book in England: an edition of Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.

1534-58: The Reformation: In 1509, Henry VIII becomes King of England and receives a special dispensation from the Pope to marry his late brother’s wife, Catherine of Aragon. In 1534, however, he repudiates Catherine, who has failed to give him a male heir, and intends to marry Anne Boleyn instead. But his request for an annulment is rejected by the Pope. In response, Henry breaks from the authority of the Pope, dissolves England’s 800 monasteries, transfers their wealth and lands to the crown and executes all those who question his authority over the English Church, including Sir Thomas More, his Lord High Chancellor and author of Utopia (1516). Years of discord between Protestants and Catholics follow. When Henry VIII dies, Edward, the son he had with his third wife, Jane Seymour, is nine. Edward VI’s uncle, Edward Seymour becomes protector and attempts to transform England into a truly Protestant state. The Book of Common Prayer is introduced and religious imagery in churches is destroyed. Seymour, however, is arrested and later executed; Edward VI himself dies in 1553, aged 15, never ruling in his own right. His half-sister, Mary – the daughter Henry VIII had with Catherine of Aragon – takes the throne. A devout Catholic, Mary I marries Phillip II of Spain, reconciles with Rome and has hundreds of Protestants burnt for refusing to reconvert, earning her the nickname Bloody Mary. When she dies, her Protestant half-sister Elizabeth, daughter of Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn, becomes queen. She returns England to Protestantism, but does not enforce strict religious conformity, declaring that she does not want to ‘make windows into men’s souls.’ Protestants dissatisfied with the compromise and rejecting the remnants of Catholicism in the Church of England’s structure, doctrine, liturgy and architecture become known as Puritans.

1558-1603: The Elizabethan Era: Elizabeth I’s reign is a golden age for England, marked by relative peace, colonial expansion, economic development and a cultural renaissance, notably in the realms of music, poetry and theatre. Elizabeth herself becomes an iconic figure, embodying the country’s emerging sense of patriotism, which owes her to be associated to Britannia, the female personification of Britain. She decides never to marry as she wants England free from the influence of foreign princes and the infighting a marriage to a fellow countryman might bring; this too adds to the aura of the Virgin Queen. She nevertheless faces numerous plots against her during her reign, notably those supposedly hatched by her Catholic cousin, Mary Stuart, whom she has executed in 1587.

1585: Virginia: To compete with Spain and Portugal, whose American colonies generate great wealth, Sir Walter Raleigh is tasked to set up a colony on the east coast of North America, which he names Virginia after Elizabeth I. Raleigh’s settlement fails after a year, but England pursues its effort to colonise North America. The first permanent settlement is established in Jamestown in 1607, followed by more colonies in New England in 1620 and after.

1588: The Spanish Armada: Philip II of Spain launches a great fleet of ships to overthrow Elizabeth and restore Catholicism to England. However, the Armada is engaged by the Royal Navy and driven to the North Sea by strong winds. Only around half of the ships make it back to Spain. The victory marks the dominance of the British navy on international seas for the decades to come.

1592: The Golden Act: Calvinist Protestantism has gained widespread support in Scotland for decades, and in 1560, the Scottish Parliament makes the Scottish Reformation official: the country is now Protestant. In 1592, the Golden Act goes further by making the Church of Scotland (or Kirk) Presbyterian, i.e., with no head of faith but structured by assemblies of elected elders. 

1601: The Poor Law: The dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII has left many of the poorest without a safety net. To improve things, the Poor Law of 1601 requires each parish to provide for the ‘lame, impotent, old and blind’. The system is reformed in 1837, and ultimately replaced by Britain’s modern welfare state in the 20^th century.

1603: The Stuart Era begins: When Elizabeth I dies childless, the Tudor dynasty ends. She is succeeded by her cousin, James VI of Scotland, who assumes the title of James I of England.

1605: The Gunpowder Plot: A group of English Catholics, angered by James I’s failure to relax the laws against their coreligionists, plan to blow up the king and parliament, but the plot is discovered before it is carried out. The conspirators, including Guy Fawkes, are captured and executed.

1609: The Plantation of Ulster: James I orchestrates a systematic settlement programme in Ulster. Protestants from England and Scotland are incited to move there, cultivate land confiscated from the Gaelic Catholic population and establish towns. 

1611: King James Bible: By the early 17^th century, there are several different English bibles in circulation and the church authorities feel a definitive version is needed. The Authorised Version of the Bible, also known as King James Bible, becomes the most famous translation of the scriptures and has a profound impact on modern English.

1620: New England: Led by William Bradford, a group of Puritan exiles later known as the Pilgrim Fathers escape persecution in Europe and arrive in New England on the Mayflower. They establish Plymouth Plantation, a colony regulated by strict Christian doctrine. Thousands of other Puritans follow, notably after the creation of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1629, and then the outbreak of the English Civil War (1642-51). By 1650, the population in New England reaches 50,000.

1629-40: Charles I’s Personal Rule: Since Charles succeeded his father, James I, in 1625, his autocratic temperament and hostility to Puritanism have divided the country. When members of parliament pass resolutions condemning his financial and religious policies in 1629, he dissolves the assembly and embarks on a period of government without parliaments, known as the ‘Personal Rule’.

1638: Scotland’s National Covenant: Determined not to accept the new prayer book Charles I wishes to impose on them, the Scots draw up a National Covenant to resist all ‘religious innovations’ and the Kirk abolishes the episcopacy. Charles prepares to send troops into Scotland to restore order. 

1640-42: The Short / Long Parliaments: Desperate for money to fight the Scots, Charles I must put an end to eleven years of personal rule and summon a new parliament. Yet the new MPs refuse to grant him money for war and Charles dissolves the parliament within a month (the ‘Short Parliament’). Soon after, the Scots defeats his forces at Newburn, forcing him to agree to a humiliating truce. With the Scottish army firmly established in northern England and refusing to leave until its expenses have been paid, Charles must again summon a parliament (the ‘Long Parliament’), but instead of giving him financial assistance, the MPs – many of whom are Puritans – voice angry complaints against him.

1642-51: The English Civil War: Determined to assert his authority, Charles I marches into the House of Commons in January 1642 and attempts to arrest five leading MPs, but they slip away and he leaves empty-handed. On 22 August, however, he summons his loyal subjects to join him against his enemies in parliament. This marks the start of the English Civil War between supporters of the king (the Cavaliers) and of Parliament (the Roundheads). The first main battle takes place at Edgehill, Warwickshire: the clash is bloody and indecisive, putting paid to hopes that the war will be settled by a single battle. In September 1643, Charles orders a ceasefire with the Catholic insurgents in Ireland, so that his soldiers fighting there can be shipped home to fight the Parliamentarians. Meanwhile, the latter conclude an alliance with the Scots: in return for church reform in England “according to the word of God”, i.e., true Protestantism, the Scots agree to send an army against Charles. In 1644, the Royalist army is destroyed at the battle of Marston Moor. Hereafter, the north of England is lost to the king. In February 1645, Parliament restructures its fighting force under the name New Model Army: Sir Thomas Fairfax becomes its lord general and Oliver Cromwell his second-in-command. In June, they crush Charles’s main field army at Naseby in Northamptonshire. At this stage, the king has lost all chance of winning the war. In May 1646, he surrenders to the Scots, and is handed over to the Parliamentarians, who keep him under close watch. In mid-1648, England experiences a further eruption of violence known as the Second Civil War. Rebellions in favour of the king break out in parts of England and Wales. In August, however, the Royalist troops are destroyed at Preston by an army under Cromwell. This marks the end of the Royalist resurgence. In December 1648, enraged by parliament’s opposition to their political ideals, officers of the New Model Army led by Colonel Thomas Pride purge it from the MPs they deem untrustworthy. The resulting parliament of less than 160 members is derisively known as the Rump. By now, Cromwell and other senior commanders of the New Model Army are convinced that England can never return to peace while Charles remains alive. The king is tried, found guilty and beheaded on 30 January 1649 outside the Banqueting House in Whitehall. His last word on the scaffold is: ‘Remember’. In May, the Rump Parliament puts an end to the monarchy and declares England a republic, known as the Commonwealth. Meanwhile, Charles’s eldest son, also called Charles, strikes a bargain with the Scots whereby he agrees to join the National Covenant in return for the promise of military assistance. In 1651, he is crowned Charles II of Scotland, raises a Scottish army and invades England. Many English Royalists come in to support him, but Cromwell, who is now the Parliamentarian commander, defeats the young king’s army at the battle of Worcester and forces him to flee into exile abroad. The Civil War is over: as a whole, it is estimated to have cost the lives of 10% of the English population.

1649-53: Cromwellian war in Ireland: Determined to subdue ‘the rebellious Irish,’ Parliament orders Cromwell to lead an expeditionary force across the Irish Sea. His troops conquer the whole island and slaughter some 20,000 rebels. 50,000 more are deported as indentured labourers, and the ensuing period of poverty and famine, worsened by an outbreak of bubonic plague is estimated to cause some 400,000 more casualties. Furthermore, Cromwell imposes a fierce settlement on the Irish population, including the confiscation of land and the prohibition of Catholicism. The bitterness caused by the war and the settlement becomes a powerful source of Irish nationalism hereafter.

1653: Cromwell becomes Lord Protector: After the execution of Charles I, the various factions in parliament begin to squabble amongst themselves. In frustration, Cromwell appoints himself as éLord Protector in December 1653. His continuing popularity with the army props up his regime, which soon becomes autocratic and enforces strict Puritan doctrine.

1655: Britain takes Jamaica from Spain: The Spanish have ruled Jamaica since 1509, introducing African slaves to work in the sugar plantations. The British seize the island in 1655 and continue to develop the sugar trade. During this period, many slaves, known as Maroons, escape into the mountains, often launching attacks on the sugar plantations.

1660: The Restoration: Oliver Cromwell dies in 1658 and is succeeded as Lord Protector by his son, Richard. The Commonwealth collapses into financial chaos, and arguments between the military and administration increase. Parliament is once again dissolved and Richard Cromwell is overthrown. Influential politicians and high-ranking officers of the army realise that only the restoration of the king can bring back order, and Charles II is invited to return from exile. He is officially restored to the English throne on 29 May 1660, an event commemorated on Royal Oak Day ever since.

1665: The Great Plague of London: In the winter of 1664-65, bubonic plague breaks out in the poverty-stricken parish of St Giles-in-the-Fields. The contagion spreads fast, and when the epidemic ends in December 1665, a quarter of the capital’s inhabitants have perished.

1666: The Great Fire of London: On 2 September, a fire breaks out in a baker’s shop in Pudding Lane and spreads rapidly. Within four days, two-thirds of the city have been destroyed and 65,000 people are homeless. The fire does have positive outcomes as the city is rebuilt according to modernized principles, thanks to the work of architect Christopher Wren, who is responsible for the reconstruction of more than 50 churches, including St Paul’s Cathedral.

1678: The Popish Plot: Disgraced clergyman Titus Oates claims he has learnt of a Catholic and French conspiracy to kill Charles II, replace him with his Catholic brother James, and make England a Catholic-absolutist state. Oates’s revelations spark panic. Many innocent people are arrested and tried. A new Test Act requires members of both houses of parliament to make an anti-Catholic declaration. The plot, however, is little more than an invention.

1685: James II: Charles II dies, having converted to Catholicism on his deathbed. He is succeeded by his brother, James, whose Catholic faith has made his Protestant subjects deeply suspicious. In 1688, James II has a son with his second wife, Mary of Modena, a Catholic. James’s opponents are furious that their unpopular Catholic king now has a male heir and denounce the infant as an imposter. They turn to Mary Stuart, the daughter of James II and his first wife, Anne Hyde, and her husband, the Dutch Prince William of Orange, to deliver England from the Catholic tyrant.

1688-90: The Glorious Revolution: In November, William of Orange lands in Devon with his army. Nobles and officers immediately defect to him, and James II must flee abroad. William III and Mary II are declared king and queen, in exchange for their acceptance of a statement of the rights of the subjects as represented by Parliament: the Bill of Rights becomes the cornerstone of English constitutional law and the template for constitutions around the world. In 1689, however, encouraged by Louis XIV of France, James II rallies his supporters – known as Jacobites – in Ireland and makes plans to invade England and retrieve his crown. A Jacobite uprising also begins in Scotland, but it is crushed by William’s troops at the Battle of Dunkeld in August. In December, William sails to Ireland and his army destroys James II’s joint Irish-French troops at the Battle of the Boyne. James retreats to France and in two years, William’s forces complete the re-conquest of Ireland.

1692: The Glencoe Massacre: In Scotland, Catholics are told to swear their support of the new Protestant king, William III, by January 1. When the chief of the MacDonald clan fails to do so, 34 men, 2 women and 2 children are killed on the orders of the king.

1694: The Bank of England: England has accrued a considerable national debt on the back of William III’s expensive wars. In 1694, the Scottish merchant William Paterson is granted a royal charter to create the Bank of England: its task is to assist the Crown in managing its debt and to issue bank notes. The BoE evolves into the first modern national reserve.

1698: England’s Slave Trade: The Royal African Company’s monopoly on the rapidly expanding slave trade is cancelled, and the lucrative trade is open to all. Britain becomes one of the leading transatlantic slave trading nations. Ships take guns and manufactured goods from Britain to West Africa, where they are exchanged for people. Captives are then taken across the Atlantic and sold into slavery on the plantations of the Caribbean and North America. Cargoes of rum, tobacco, cotton and sugar are then carried back to England. This is known as the triangle trade. Slave ship owners and the owners of Caribbean plantations, most of whom live in Britain, become exceedingly wealthy and influential in government and society, especially in cities like Bristol and then Liverpool.

1701:  The Act of Settlement: After Mary dies in 1694, William III is childless, as is James II’s last surviving child, Anne. Parliament wants to prevent the return of James II, who is still alive, or of his Catholic son, also called James, and decrees that after the deaths of William, Anne and any children they may yet have, the throne will revert to the heirs of James I’s eldest daughter, Elizabeth, the wife of Frederick V, Elector of the Rhine Palatine. This officialises the monarchy’s future transition to the House of Hanover. The next year, William III dies and is succeeded by Queen Anne.

1707: Great Britain: Although the Act of Settlement of 1701 ensures that there will eventually be a Protestant succession in England, there is no guarantee that this will be the case in Scotland too. The threat persuades the Scots to agree to a union of the two kingdoms, known as Great Britain.

1714: George I: Queen Anne dies without an heir. Under the terms of the Act of Succession of 1701, she is succeeded by George, Elector of Hanover, who becomes George I. The Hanoverian dynasty that begins with him coincides with a period of great wealth and colonial expansion. 

1718: Penal Colonies Overseas: Under the Transportation Act, people convicted of crimes start to be transported overseas, notably in the American colonies. Between 1718 and 1776, over 50,000 convicts are sent to Virginia and Maryland.

1721: The Walpole Years: In the wake of the South Sea Bubble of 1720, the first modern financial crash, Sir Robert Walpole, leader of the Whig Party, the precursor of the Liberal party, becomes first lord of the treasury and chancellor of the exchequer. He never holds the actual title of prime minister but has the powers that have come to be associated with the office. George I also gives him 10 Downing Street, the official residence of British prime ministers since.

1727: George II becomes King: George II is unpopular at first, partially because of his preference for Hanover over England, but as the country prospers, the people’s feelings evolve into general respect. The threat of a Jacobite rebellion continues into his reign. In 1745, James II’s grandson, Charles Edward Stuart, a.k.a. Bonnie Prince Charlie, gathers an army in Scotland and is proclaimed Charles III. He defeats the government army in Scotland at the battle of Prestonpans and marches south, but in April 1746, his troops are routed at the battle of Culloden.

1756-63: The Seven Years’ War: A war begins between Britain and France that is the first global war in modern history, Britain and her Prussian allies fighting France’s own alliance with Austria, Russia and Spain in America, India and Europe. Britain comes out victorious, and acquires Quebec, Florida, Minorca, parts of India and the West Indies under the terms of the Treaty of Paris.

1757: Bengal passes into British Control: Siraj Ud Daulah, the last independent ruler of Bengal, is defeated by the forces of the British East India Company at the battle of Plassey. The entire province passes into Company control, an important stage in Britain’s control over all of India.

1760: Tacky’s War: Throughout the 18^th century, many slave uprisings occur in the West Indies, caused by the dreadful conditions enslaved people endure on the sugar plantations. Led by Tacky, a local warlord, hundreds of slaves attack Jamaican plantations in April 1760, killing some 60 whites and setting crops alight. Tacky is soon captured and executed, as are 400 other rebels, but skirmishes continue for many months. 

1760: George III becomes King: George III is the first of the Hanoverian kings to be born and brought up in Britain. He is nicknamed Farmer George because of his passion for agriculture. During his reign, Britain loses its American colonies but emerges as the leading European power thanks to the Industrial Revolution and the expansion of its empire. From 1788, George, however, suffers recurrent mental illness and in 1811 his son is appointed regent.

1768 -71: James Cook’s Voyages: James Cook leads an expedition on HMS Endeavour to observe the astrological phenomenon of the transit of Venus from Tahiti. The voyage continues into the South Pacific Ocean, where Cook circumnavigates New Zealand and charts the east coast of Australia. His team of botanists and scientists brings back to England many important specimens and much scientific information. Cook makes two further Pacific voyages and is killed on the second of these in 1779 by warriors in Hawaii.

1771: The first Cotton Mill: The weaving of cotton cloth has become a major industry by the 1760s, but most of the labour is done by people in their homes. In 1771, however, inventor Richard Arkwright opens the first cotton mill at Cromford, Derbyshire. This is a significant step towards the automation of labour-intensive industries and heralds the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Numerous other inventions follow, such as James Watts’s first steam engine and Samuel Compton’s spinning mule in 1775, which accelerate the transition to a high-yield manufacturing system. 

1775-83: The War of American Independence: In the 1760s, Parliament passes measures that stir unrest in the colonies. In 1765, the Stamp Act imposes a tax on printed documents to cover the costs of keeping British troops there and the Quartering Act requires colonists to house and feed them. These measures stir so much opposition that by 1768, English warships are sent into Boston Harbor and leave two regiments to keep order. The local unrest intensifies, however, and in January 1774, Parliament passes the Intolerable Acts to punish the colonists for their defiance. Meanwhile, American opposition structures into a Continental Congress and the colonies’ military militia prepares for an armed conflict with the British forces. The war begins on April 19, 1775, when shots are exchanged between American militiamen and British soldiers at the battle of Lexington and Concord. British troops initially have the upper hand. They win the Battle of Bunker Hill in Boston but endure far more casualties than expected. In August, George III officially declares a state of open rebellion in the American colonies. On July 4, 1776, the American Continental Congress responds with a list of grievances against him and declares the colonies’ independence. To crush the colonies’ army, George hires tens of thousands of German mercenaries and, again, the British Redcoats have the upper hand. In February 1778, however, France signs a treaty of alliance with the colonies and sends 10,000 troops to their support. In October 1781, the American and French forces win the Battle of Yorktown, a devastating blow to the British. In September 1783, after eight years of frustrating warfare that cost it at least £250 million, Britain is forced to sign the Treaty of Paris which recognizes the United States as a sovereign nation and cedes it territories in the west and south. Around 75,000 loyalists decide to leave, most of them for what is now Canada, others for the West Indies and some back to Britain.

1780: The Gordon Riots: In 1778, parliament passes the Catholic Relief Act, which removes many of the traditional restrictions on Catholics in Britain. In June 1780, George Gordon, leader of the Protestant Association, leads a huge crowd to parliament with a petition calling for repeal of the act. An eruption of anti-Catholic violence ensues. Hundreds die amongst the worst riots in English history.

1783: William Pitt the Younger: William Pitt the Younger – son of William Pitt the Elder, who held the office twice in the 1750-1760s – becomes Britain’s prime minister at the age of 23. He successfully curbs the national debt, fights revolutionary France, restructures the government of India and passes the Act of Union with Ireland in 1801. Exhausted and in poor health, he dies in 1806.

1787: First Fleet of Convicts sails to Australia: the American War of Independence has made it impossible to transport convicts to the North American colonies, and Australia now becomes the main destination. Between 1787 and 1868, when transportation is abolished, over 150,000 felons are sent to New South Wales, Van Diemen’s Land and Western Australia.

1793-1815: War with Revolutionary France: News of the Revolution in France initially receives a mixed response in Britain. In radical circles, philosophers like Thomas Paine and the Romantic poets applaud the liberation of the French people; moderates hope the French will adopt a constitutional monarchy like Britain’s; but conservatives like Edmund Burke warn that the revolution will ineluctably lead to bloodshed, chaos and terror. France is at war in Europe since 1792, but it is not until the execution of Louis XVI in January 1793 that Britain joins the anti-French coalition. At home, William Pitt’s government enforces repressive measures to prevent an uprising like France’s, but by 1803, with the advent of the Napoleonic wars and threats of invasion, support for the French Revolution has virtually disappeared in Britain anyway. In October 1805, Lord Nelson leads the Royal Navy to victory against Napoleon’s fleet at the battle of Trafalgar, the last great battle of the age of sail; hereafter, Britain attains complete mastery of the seas. War continues for ten more years, until British troops led by Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, and their allies defeat Napoleon at the battle of Waterloo. The emperor abdicates and is sent into exile on the island of St Helena, where he dies.

1798: Irish Rebellion: Wolfe Tone, a Protestant lawyer, leads a rebellion against British rule in Ireland, but it is ruthlessly crushed by British forces. Some 30,000 people are killed; Wolfe Tone is captured and sentenced to hang but takes his own life first, becoming a martyr of Irish nationalism.

1801: The United Kingdom: Great Britain and Ireland are joined under the Act of Union of 1801. The Irish parliament in Dublin is dissolved and Catholics are prohibited from voting at general elections or holding most public offices. Irish nationalists, led by Daniel O’Connell, vehemently oppose the Union; its repeal and, later, Home Rule become the great cause of the century in Ireland.

1807: Abolition of the Slave Trade: Helped by abolitionist campaigners like Granville Sharp and Thomas Clarkson, William Wilberforce, an evangelical MP, introduces a bill to abolish the slave trade, which is adopted by the House of Commons but defeated by the Lords in 1791. Between 1792 and 1806, other unsuccessful attempts are made to either control or abolish the slave trade. Eventually, Parliament abolishes the supply of slaves on British ships to foreign and conquered colonies in 1806 and abolishes the British slave trade itself in 1807. In 1833, the Abolition of Slavery Act frees all the 700,000 slaves in the British empire and provides for compensation for their owners.

1811-12: Luddite Protests: During two years of high unemployment, textile workers known as Luddites (named after their leader Ned Ludd) sabotage machinery in the woollen, cotton and hosiery industries in Nottinghamshire, Lancashire and Yorkshire. The government sends 12,000 troops to Yorkshire in 1812 to stop further industrial violence.

1815-46: The Corn Laws: The end of the Napoleonic wars causes corn prices to halve, creating a panic among farmers. To protect British agriculture, the Tory government introduces heavy tariffs on imports of foreign grain. This marks a period of mercantilism in British economic policy, criticized by classical liberals and advocates of free trade like David Ricardo. The Corn Laws are repealed in 1846.

1819: The Peterloo Massacre: A huge crowd of people gather at St Peter’s Fields, Manchester, to hear radical orators speak on parliamentary reform and high food prices. The local yeomanry are ordered to arrest the speakers but they panic and charge the crowd. Eleven people die and hundreds of others are injured. The massacre becomes known as Peterloo, an ironic inversion of the victory of Waterloo.

1820: George IV: George III, the longest-serving Hanoverian monarch, dies after a 60-year reign. His eldest son, who served as prince regent from 1811 to 1820 when his father was declared insane, becomes George IV. The new king becomes unpopular for his scandalous lifestyle, but he is an enthusiastic supporter of the arts and his residences, particularly Carlton House and Brighton Pavilion, set new standards of taste.

1825: The Railway Age: The world’s first public steam railway starts running between the north-eastern towns of Stockton and Darlington. This ushers in the Railway Age: the country’s expanding train network provides an increasingly fast and economical means of transport and communication. In 1838, the London-Birmingham line opens, connecting the capital and the booming Midlands for the first time.

1829: Catholic Emancipation: In 1828, Parliament lifts the ban on Catholics from holding public offices or attending universities. The Catholic Relief Act of 1829 goes further and grants full emancipation to British and Irish Catholics. 

1829: The Met: the Metropolitan Police Act creates the first paid, uniformed constabulary in London, which replaces the informal system of watchmen, magistrates and volunteer constables that existed before. Initially unpopular, the Met is a success and similar police forces are set up in other British cities. The officers are dubbed bobbies, after Home Secretary Robert Peel, who drafted the program.

1832: The Great Reform Act: This first major reform of the country’s voting system rationalizes the constituencies in favour of the country’s booming cities and broadens the franchise to middle class voters. Women, on the other hand, are prohibited from voting.

1833: The Factory Act: Promoted by the Tory peer Anthony Ashley Cooper, the law restricts the hours of work by women and children in textile and requires mill owners to show that children up to age 13 receive at least two hours of schooling, six days per week.

1834: The New Poor Law: inspired by utilitarian principles, the law reforms the Poor Law of 1601 to make England’s relief system more economical and effective: relief is now provided only in workhouses, where conditions in terms of work, confinement, and discipline are so harsh as to deter any but the truly destitute from applying for relief.

1837-1901: The Victorian Era: Victoria becomes queen at the age of 18 after the death of her uncle, William IV, who reigned since 1830. She reigns for 64 years, longer than any other British monarch before her. Her reign coincides with the rapid expansion of Britain’s industrial power and empire: when she dies at the age of 81, she rules over almost a quarter of the world’s population, i.e., 400m people, and Britain is by far the greatest power in the world. The Victorian era also coincides with a cultural and intellectual renaissance, exemplified by the rise of the English novel and the development of evolutionary theory after the publication of Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species (1859). Ideologically, the era is characterized by contradictory trends, between, on the one hand, the strict moral standards and conservative values upheld by the Establishment, and, on the other, radical social and political reform championed by Chartists, Liberals and socialists. 

1845-48: The Irish Potato Famine: In 1845 and 1846, a blight causes the potato crop, which provides approximately 60% of Ireland’s food needs, to rot all over the island. What begins as a natural catastrophe is exacerbated by the actions and inactions of the British government. About a million people die during the four-year famine, and another million emigrate between 1845 and 1855, most of them to Britain and North America.

1851: The Great Exhibition: The brainchild of Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert, the Great Exhibition hosts the world’s most advanced inventions, manufactures and works of art, and showcases Britain’s industrial and technological supremacy. Housed in the massive 19-acre Crystal Palace, in Hyde Park, London, the event attracts almost six million visitors. 

1854-56: The Crimean War: The war is fought in the Balkans between an alliance of the British, French and Turks against the Russians. Notable battles include those at Sebastopol, Balaclava (which sees the infamous Charge of the Light Brigade) and Inkerman. Florence Nightingale becomes an icon of Victorian culture while serving as a trainer of nurses and organising care for wounded soldiers. Russia is eventually forced to sue for peace, and the war is ended by the Treaty of Paris.

1858: The Raj: In India, resentment against the rule of the British East India Company culminates when members of the Bengal army mutiny in 1857 and take Delhi. British authority is restored in July 1858 at the cost of great brutality. These events lead to the end of East India Company rule in India and its replacement by direct British rule, known as the Raj. In 1876, Benjamin Disraeli incites Queen Victoria to proclaim herself Empress of India: the title is officially endorsed in 1877 and India becomes the proverbial Jewel in the Crown.

1880: Compulsory Education: William Gladstone’s Liberal government makes school attendance compulsory from ages 5 to 10. State expenditure on education rises from £1.25m a year in 1870 to £12m by the end of Victoria’s reign.

1886-1914: Home Rule: In the early 1880s, Ireland is divided into a large Catholic majority and a small Protestant minority that own the land and are the ruling class. Demands for equal rights and Home Rule (i.e., autonomy) are championed by Charles Parnell, a wealthy Protestant landowner who has nevertheless succeeded in coalescing Irish nationalists, notably the Fenians. The 1885 general election brings about a hung Parliament, which forces the Liberals to strike an alliance with the Parnellite MPs. In 1886, Prime Minister William Gladstone introduces the first Home Rule Bill, which would give Ireland its own legislature, but the bill is defeated by a coalition of Tories, who embrace the Unionist cause hereafter, and Liberal anti-home rulers. Parliament is dissolved and elections called, with Irish Home Rule the central issue. Conservatives and Liberal Unionists return with a majority. Parnell’s career is broken in 1890 by revelations about his affair with Katharine (Kitty) O’Shea, the wife of a leader of his own party; his former associates desert him and he dies of cancer soon after. Home Rule is shelved for more than twenty years, until history repeats itself. In 1912, lacking a majority in Parliament, a Liberal government must again ally with Irish Nationalists, and proposes a new Home Rule Bill for Ireland. In response, Ulster Protestants and unionists form the Ulster Volunteer Force, a paramilitary force which threatens the government with civil war if the measure is carried. Still, the bill is passed by Parliament in 1914 but never comes into force, due to the outbreak of World War I.

1899-1902: The Second Boer War: After the First Boer War in 1880-81, the Boers, farmers of mostly Dutch descent living in the Transvaal, force the British government to recognise their independence. But in the years that follow, the Boers refuse to recognise the rights of the British colonists living there, leading to the Second Boer War. It is a costly and unpopular war and British troops resort to ruthless tactics, including scorched-earth operation and the first recorded use of concentration camps. The war ends in May 1902 with a Boer surrender.

1900: The Labour Party: An alliance between various socialist parties, the trade union movement and intellectual groups like the Fabian Society, the Labour party is created to represent the interests and needs of the increasingly numerous urban working class; it embraces gradualist socialism rather than Marxism. In 1900, its first two MPs are elected in Parliament, and in 1903, a secret Lib-Lab pact against the Tories allows Labour candidates to run in tens of constituencies, unimpeded by Liberal candidates. In the long run, however, the pact will do more harm than good to the Liberal party: by 1945, Labour has taken its place as the second major party of government. 

1901-10: The Edwardian Era: Victoria is succeeded by her son, Edward VII. His reign is something of an epilogue to the Victorian Era; after World War I, it is perceived with nostalgia as the last days of splendour of the British Empire and of a social order structured by large country houses.

1908: Lloyd George becomes Chancellor of the Exchequer: David Lloyd George becomes Chancellor of the Exchequer in Herbert Asquith’s Liberal government. Under his influence, the government introduces radical reforms that lay the foundations of Britain’s Welfare State. The same year, a means-tested old age pension scheme is created for those aged over 70. In 1911, this is followed by a health insurance scheme for industrial workers, along with an unemployment benefit plan drawn up by Home Secretary Winston Churchill, who, at the time, is a member of the Liberal party.

1911: Reform of the House of Lords: In 1909, Lloyd George introduces the People’s Budget, which significantly increases taxes on the wealthy to fund social reform and the naval arms race with Germany, but the Tory-dominated House of Lords breaks the old parliamentary convention that the upper house must not overturn a financial bill. This incites the Liberals to reform the House of Lords and bar it from vetoing legislation that has passed the Commons in three successive sessions. The superior power of the lower house in Britain’s constitution is consolidated once and for all.

1912: The Titanic: The White Star liner Titanic is the largest vessel in the world at the time of her launch; her builders and owners claim that she is ‘practically unsinkable.’ But on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City, she collides with an iceberg and sinks within hours, with the loss of 1,500 lives out of 3,500 passengers and crew.

1914-18: World War I: In 1914, Europe is divided between the Triple Entente of Britain, France and Russia and the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy. On 28 June, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, is assassinated by a Bosnian Serb terrorist in Sarajevo. For most Britons, this is a remote and insignificant event, but the conflict escalates sharply. The Austro-Hungarian government blames Serbia and uses the killing as a pretext for war. Russia stands by Serbia and mobilises its army. Next, Germany declares war on Russia and launches a surprise attack against France through Belgium. On 4 August, Britain finally declares war on Germany. The war is initially popular in Britain and unites the country, postponing domestic problems, industrial conflicts and unrest in Ireland. Most Britons also believe the war will be over by Christmas. In late August, a British Expeditionary Force of 100,000 men is sent to France and takes part in a successful operation with Belgian and French troops on the river Marne. A trench-based war of attrition begins on the western front. In November, Britain and its French and Russian allies declare war on the Ottoman Empire, which has formed an alliance with Germany and started shelling Russian ports on the Black Sea. The Turks retaliate by declaring a military jihad against the British: with a vulnerable empire including a large Muslim population, the implications for Britain are considerable. By then, any hope that the war will be short has dissolved. Lord Kitchener, the Secretary of State for War, has had to initiate a campaign across the Empire to hire 500,000 volunteers. In January 1916, conscription is introduced in Britain for the first time to allow the government to meet the demands of total war; the whole of the economy is now mobilized, and rationing is introduced. In April, the British troops in Mesopotamia are overwelmed by the Turks and surrender at Kut-el-Amara. British prestige in the Middle East plummets; not until late 1917 will the British forces under General Edmund Allenby be able to recover control in the area. In May 1916, the British and German fleets clash in the North Sea: the German fleet is crippled irreparably, thereby ensuring British naval supremacy. In July, the French and British attack simultaneously on the western front, across the River Somme, but with little success. The battle of the Somme continues until November, and the number of casualties soars. By this time, faith in the commander-in-chief of the B.E.F., Sir John French, has dwindled and he is replaced by General Douglas Haig. In December, Lloyd George replaces Herbert Asquith as prime minister and sets up a war cabinet. The second major phase in the war begins. In February 1917, Germany launches unrestricted submarine warfare and starts sinking all merchant ships, regardless of nationality, hoping to starve the British into submission; the campaign fails but prompts the U.S. to declare war on Germany in April. In July, General Haig launches the third battle of Ypres. Between then and November, unusually heavy rains and the destruction of the landscape by heavy shelling have turned the ground to an impassable morass of mud. The German army also starts to massively use mustard gas, to devastating effect on British soldiers. In March 1918, Vladimir Lenin’s new communist Russian government signs the peace treaty of Brest-Litovsk with the Central Powers, which frees Germany to transfer fresh troops to the western one. The Germans attack across the old Somme battlefields, but despite the initial success of the offensive, the German army significantly overstretches itself, a factor that will contribute to its eventual defeat. In August, French General Ferdinand Foch, the Allied supreme commander, coordinates massive counterattacks, using an unprecedented concentration of tanks. The British break through the German front line and the advance continues unabated into October. At this stage, Germany is exhausted and sees no prospect of victory. It eventually capitulates and signs an armistice on 11 November 1918. In January 1919, delegates representing the allies meet in the Paris Peace Conference and eventually sign the Treaty of Versailles on 28 June: the treaty creates the League of Nations, imposes harsh reparations on Germany and requires it to disarm and make territorial concessions. Economist John Maynard Keynes, who is one of the British delegates in Paris, warns that the Treaty is too exacting on Germany and prepares for nothing better than a “Carthaginian peace”. In the end, some 900,000 British military personnel have died in four years, and a whole generation has been traumatized by the horrors of the war. The country is in serious debt, and though the size of the Empire has grown, it has been severely weakened. 

1916: Easter Rising: On Easter Day, Irish nationalists rebel and seize key buildings in Dublin, including the General Post Office, where their final stand is made. The rebellion is crushed within a week and the British execute the leaders, including Patrick Pearse and James Connolly. The crackdown radicalizes Irish voters and in the first post-war general election in December 1918, Sinn Féin triumphs over more moderate Home Rulers. Their elected MPs however refuse to take their seats in the House of Commons and instead constitute an independent parliament called the Dáil Eireann. A provisional Irish government is elected with Éamon De Valera as president.

1918: Women’s Rights: Since the late 19^th century, the women’s suffrage campaign has gained momentum. Organisations like the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) are non-political and oppose violence. Conversely, the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), co-founded in 1903 by Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst, advocates confrontational action and organises more violent demonstrations, boycotts and hunger strikes; these feminist activists come to be known as suffragettes. However, little progress is made in terms of women’s rights until the end of World War I, when Lloyd George’s coalition government introduces a series of ground-breaking reforms which reflect long-term changes in British society, but also women’s critical contribution to the war effort, which saw female employment rise from 6 million to 7.5 million in just 4 years. In 1918, the Representation of the People Act enfranchises all men over the age of 21 and propertied women over 30. The electorate increases to 21 million, of whom 8 million are women, but still excludes working class women; the discrimination will end in 1928, when the fifth Reform Act gives women the vote on the same terms as men. In December 1918, Countess Constance Markievicz is the first woman to be elected to Parliament, though like her fellow Sinn Féin MPs, she refuses to take her seat. One year later, however, in December 1919, Lady Astor becomes the first woman MP to really sit in Parliament. The same month, the Sex Disqualification Removal Act makes it illegal for women to be excluded from most jobs and allows them to become magistrates, solicitors and barristers. In 1920, women at Oxford university are allowed to receive degrees, and not just attend courses.

1918-19: Civil Disobedience in India: Despite their significant contribution to Britain’s war effort, Indians have been offered few social reforms and no path to self-rule. In 1919, wartime emergency measures are even extended to kill nationalist unrest in the bud. On 19 April 1919, a large crowd attending a Sikh religious festival at Armistar in defiance of martial law is fired on without warning by British troops under the command of Brigadier General Reginald Dyer. More than 300 people are killed. The Amritsar Massacre crystallises Indian discontent with British rule. Led by Mohandas Gandhi, the Indian Congress Party becomes a nationwide movement committed to independence. Indian nationalists are offered a compromise, with proposals to create a bicameral local parliament, with power shared between British and Indian politicians. But the Congress Party responds with strikes and boycotts of British goods, while Gandhi is imprisoned for the first time.

1920-47: Britain’s mandates for Mesopotamia and Palestine: After the war, the League of Nations asks Britain to govern Mesopotamia (Iraq) and Palestine, two areas previously part of the now defunct Ottoman Empire, until these territories are ready to be autonomous. But soon after the start of Britain’s mandate, Iraq finds itself in a state of revolt. To quell the unrest, Emir Faisal, a member of the Hashemite family, who were important British allies against the Turks, is made king of the country, and Iraq becomes independent in 1932. Britain’s mandate in Palestine is longer and more chaotic. In 1917, British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour officialised the government’s support for the creation of a Jewish national home in Palestine; this has incited a soaring number of European Jews to migrate there, leading to local Arab unrest. In May 1923, Palestine has to be divided along the River Jordan. Emir Abdullah becomes ruler of the territory on the eastern side, now called Transjordan, and which becomes independent in 1946. In what remains of Palestine, the persecution of Jews in Europe, notably after 1933, increases Jewish immigration there. Violent conflicts between Jews and Arabs plague Britain’s mandate until 1947, when the Labour government announces its decision to evacuate the area. The United Nations adopts a plan of partition between Jews and Arabs, but in May 1948, David Ben-Gurion, the head of the Jewish Agency, unilaterally declares the establishment of the State of Israel, which sparks off the first Arab-Israel War.

1921: Post-war Crisis: When the war ends, Lloyd George pledges to make Britain “a land fit for heroes,” but after a short post-war boom, the British economy collapses. Deprivation is widespread, industrial relations deteriorate and, by 1921, unemployment reaches a historic 2.5 million. The burden of debt is so heavy that the government cannot pay for the social reforms it planned and must resort instead to spending cuts in education, public health and workers’ benefits.

1921-49: Ireland’s Partition and Independence: In September 1919, the British government outlaws the government and parliament created by Ireland’s nationalists. This sparks off a two-year guerrilla war between the Irish Republican Army and British troops, supported by Black and Tans auxiliaries. A truce is called in July 1921, and in December, the Anglo-Irish Peace Treaty partitions the island between the south and six mainly Protestant counties in the northern province of Ulster. The south becomes the Irish Free State and is granted its own government and parliament but retains the British sovereign as head of state. The treaty leads to the outbreak of an Irish Civil War in June 1922. One faction led by Michael Collins accepts the treaty as a temporary compromise. The other faction, led by Éamon de Valera, rejects partition and demands a republic immediately. The war ends in victory for the pro-treaty Free State government but causes lasting bitterness. Collins himself is assassinated. In 1926, De Valera creates the nationalist Fianna Fáil party whose aim is to reunite Ireland and make it an independent republic. In 1932, it wins the Irish general election, and De Valera becomes Ireland’s Taoiseach, i.e., prime minister. His government starts dismantling the Irish Free State’s relationship with Britain and, in 1937, it draws up a new constitution that lays claim to the whole of the island and omits any references to its place within the British Empire. In April 1949, Easter Monday, the Republic of Ireland (Eire) eventually becomes wholly independent from Britain.

1923-31: The Commonwealth of Nations: In 1923, the four former colonies of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa are recognized as dominions, like the Irish Free State. Three years later, the Imperial Conference in London recognises them as autonomous and equal in status. In 1931, the Statute of Westminster confirms the legislative independence of the dominions and creates the Commonwealth of Nations: this international organisation, officially headed by the British monarch, will gradually gather most of the British Empire’s 54 former colonial territories.

1925: Plaid Cymru: In Wales, Plaid Cymru (Welsh for “Party of Wales”) is formed to promote Welsh language and culture. By the 1930s, the group grows into a political organization aiming to make Wales an independent dominion.

1926: The first General Strike: In 1926, the Samuel Report is published, aiming to make the British coal industry more productive through pay cuts and increased hours. The Trades Union Congress (TUC) orders a general strike, but government emergency measures and the lack of public support for the strikers mean it is called off after just nine days.

1927: The BBC: In 1922, a group of radio manufacturers, including radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi, set up the British Broadcasting Company. In 1927, the company is granted a royal charter, becoming the British Broadcasting Corporation. Its director-general John Reith famously instructs it to “inform, educate and entertain.”

1929: The Wall Street Crash and the Great Depression: The crash of the American financial markets in 1929 cripples the economies of the U.S. and Europe, resulting in the Great Depression. Britain’s world trade falls by half between 1929 and 1933, and the government is forced to abandon the gold standard in 1931. Unemployment reaches 3.5m by 1932. Particularly hardest hit are the industrial and mining areas in the north of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. It is only with mass rearmament before World War II that the worst of the Depression can be said to be over. 

1930-47: Independence of India: In protest of the British government’s monopoly on salt-making, Gandhi leads a 400km march to the sea to make his own salt. Five million Indians copy him in defiance of the government. Gandhi is imprisoned, as are approximately 60,000 others. In June, the Indian National Congress organises new demonstrations to demand dominion status for India, which ultimately force Lord Irwin, the British viceroy, to agree the Delhi Pact, under which political prisoners will be released in return for suspension of the civil disobedience movement. In 1935, the Government of India Act grants Indians an elected assembly and extends the powers of the provincial assemblies. During World War II, the British government works hard to win the co-operation of Indian political groups against Japan. In March 1942, it sends Sir Richard Stafford Cripps as an envoy to offer the Indian National Congress post-war independence, but Gandhi dismisses the offer as a “post-dated cheque on a crashing bank,” before launching a last civil disobedience campaign, for which he is again imprisoned. By the end of the war, the independence of India is ineluctable: the British government realises that it cannot maintain a global empire and agrees to Indian self-government. However, local tensions between Hindus and Muslims have reached irreconcilable extremes. In 1947, the country is partitioned into India and Pakistan, which is followed by a war between the two newly independent countries over the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Three more wars will follow in 1956, 1971 and 1999.

1932: The British Union of Fascists: Oswald Mosley, a former Tory and Labour MP, and an admirer of Mussolini’s, founds the British Union of Fascists. By 1933, the party gathers 40,000 so-called “blackshirts” (after the uniform they wear) but never achieves any success in the voting booths. The party’s paramilitary arm, the Fascist Defense Force, does, however, stir violent disruptions across the country. In the build-up to the war, Mosley campaigns for an alliance with Germany; suspected of treason, he and other BUF leaders are interned in 1940 until the end of the war.

1934: The SNP: Liberals and Labour have supported Home Rule for Scotland for decades but with no success. In 1934, the Scottish Nationalist Party is founded, an amalgam of the left-leaning National Party of Scotland and the right-wing Scottish Party. Its aim is to secede from the United Kingdom.

1936: Edward VIII’s Abdication: In January, George V dies and is succeeded by his elder son, Edward VIII. The young king is initially popular with the public, but his choice of bride, a thrice-divorced Catholic American woman, Wallis Simpson, sparks a crisis. The constitution bans monarchs from marrying Catholics and divorcees, and Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin warns Edward that the British people will not accept his choice. The king and his fiancée’s fascist sympathies also pose a grave problem as tensions grow with Hitler’s Germany. In December, Edward is forced to abdicate without having been crowned and is hereafter known as the Duke of Windsor. His younger brother, George VI, succeeds him, and will become an inspirational figure during World War II.

1936-39: Appeasement: While fascism and militarism are on the rise across Europe, Britain pursues a policy of appeasement to avoid war, notably when Neville Chamberlain becomes prime minister in May 1937. Britain does not intervene in the brutal Spanish Civil War between 1936 and 1939. It fails to react when Italy invades Ethiopia, or when Germany remilitarizes the Rhineland in 1936 and annexes Austria in March 1938 (the Anschluss). During the Munich Conference of September 1938, Chamberlain and Edouard Daladier of France allow Hitler to annex the Czechoslovakian territory of the Sudetenland. Chamberlain returns to Britain, claiming he has achieved “peace in our time.” In fact, appeasement has persuaded Hitler of the weakness of his rivals, and in March 1939, Germany seizes the rest of Czechoslovakia. The British government must reluctantly prepare for war: conscription is introduced for the first time in peacetime in April 1939.

1939-45: World War II: On 1 September, German forces invade Poland. Chamberlain still hopes to avoid declaring war on Germany, but a revolt in the cabinet forces him to honour the Anglo-Polish Treaty signed in March. Britain declares war on Germany on 3 September. The war is initially static but in April 1940, Germany mounts surprise invasions in Denmark and Norway. The Danes surrender quickly, but the small Norwegian army mounts fierce resistance, with the help of British and French troops. However, the German invasion of France and the Low Countries soon changes the focus of the war. German troops rapidly overwhelm France with a Blitzkrieg strategy. At this stage, Chamberlain has lost the confidence of Parliament and resigns. Churchill becomes prime minister on 10 May and, in his first speech at the Commons, famously tells the country that he has “nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.” In late May, the Royal Navy’s Operation Dynamo succeeds in evacuating 338,000 British and French troops from Dunkirk in destroyers and hundreds of little ships while under constant attack from the Luftwaffe. On 25 June, France capitulates. In July, Hitler orders preparations for Operation Sealion – i.e., the invasion of Britain. The Luftwaffe first attempts to destroy the Royal Air Force, but though vastly outnumbered, it inflicts heavy losses on the German squadrons. In September, Hitler postpones the invasion but intensifies air-raids on British cities. On 7 September, 950 aircraft start attacking London, the first of 57 consecutive nights of heavy bombing. By the end of the Blitz, around 30,000 Londoners have been killed. Meanwhile, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt signs an agreement to give Britain 50 American destroyers in exchange for the use of military bases in eight British possessions, but the U.S. shows no sign yet of entering the war on the Allied side. In June, Germany launches Operation Barbarossa and invades the Soviet Union, betraying the Molotov-Ribbentrop non-aggression pact between the two countries in August 1939. In December, the U.S. enters the war, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour. Millions of American men and thousands of planes and tanks are deployed to Britain. Meanwhile, the Japanese forces have seized the British colony of Singapore in February 1942 – a catastrophic defeat that signals the fall of the empire in the Far East. 70,000 men are taken prisoner, many of whom do not survive due to the brutal conditions of their incarceration. In July, General Claude Auchinleck stops the Axis forces in Egypt during the First Battle of El Alamein but the Allied position is still precarious. General Bernard Montgomery takes command of 8^th Army in October 1942 and builds up its level of superiority before smashing the Axis forces all the way back to Tunisia. By May 1943, the Axis has been completely cleared out of North Africa. The same month, Germany is forced to call off the Battle of the Atlantic after Allied leaders started allocating massive resources against German U-boats. In July, the first Allied troops land in Sicily and start invading Europe. In May 1944, they win the Battle of Monte Cassino after five months of fighting, casualties numbering more than 54,000 Allied and 20,000 Germans troops. On 6 June 1944, or D-Day, the allied forces land in Normandy and start the liberation of France. On 22 June, they defeat the Japanese at the battles of Imphal and Kohima and regain control of Britain’s colonial territories in Asia. In February 1945, Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin meet at Yalta to shape the post-war world: Germany will have to surrender unconditionally and will be divided into four zones between Britain, the Soviet Union, France and the U.S. German forces are utterly defeated by the end of April. On 30 April, Hitler commits suicide as Soviet forces close in on his Berlin bunker. On 7 May, the German Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz surrenders to Allied General Dwight Eisenhower. The following day is officially celebrated in Britain as Victory in Europe Day. In October, the United Nations is created, and Britain becomes one of the five security council members, with a power of veto. In the end, an estimated 350,000 British soldiers have been killed during the war, plus some 100,000 troops from Commonwealth countries and colonies, and an additional 100,000 civilians. Britain has also amassed an immense debt of £21 billion. Its economy is crippled, and its Empire is crumbling.

1945: The Welfare State: In July 1945, the Labour Party wins the general election by a landslide and Clement Attlee becomes prime minister. There have already been Labour governments, led by Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929, but the party had no majority in Parliament and could not enforce its program. This time, Labour has a strong majority and Britain is ready for its platform of gradualist socialism: the war effort has fed a powerful sense of national solidarity among Britons, and there is widespread demand for social reform as the country must undertake the daunting task of rebuilding itself. As early as 1942, the Beveridge Report gave a summary of principles aimed at banishing poverty from Britain, including a national system of social security. This lays the foundation for the National Health Service, created in 1948, and the other main programs of Britain’s Welfare State. The Labour government also launches a series of nationalisations, notably of the coal and steel industries, and strengthens the country’s education system.

1947: The Cold War: Britain and the U.S. worked with the Soviet Union to defeat the Axis and rebuild Europe, but their relationship crumbles when their spheres of influence collide after the war. In March 1946, Churchill, who is now in opposition, warns the world about the “Iron Curtain” dividing Europe. In June, the Soviet Union begins a blockade of Berlin; in response, Britain and the U.S. airlift supplies to West Berliners. This signals the beginning of the Cold War. Though socialist-leaning, the Labour government sides with the U.S., and under the next governments, Britain becomes one of the most determined members of the Atlantic alliance. As part of it and to defend its sovereignty, it detonates its first atomic device in 1952 and restructures its intelligence services. These services, however, are compromised in the 1950s, when a network of five KGB spies operating within the Establishment – the so-called Cambridge Spy Ring – are discovered to have been passing the Soviets military information and the identities of British agents.

1948: The Empire Windrush: On 22 June, the liner SS Empire Windrush docks at Tilbury, carrying 500 Caribbean immigrants to Britain, many attracted by offers of work. This marks the beginning of significant immigration to Britain from the Commonwealth, particularly the West Indies and later the Indian subcontinent (India, Pakistan and Bangladesh).

1952: Elizabeth II becomes Queen:  On 6 February 1952, George VI dies and is succeeded by his elder daughter, Elizabeth. Her coronation on 2 June 1953 at Westminster Abbey is the first global television live event, watched by 250m people worldwide. Elizabeth II proves an experienced and skilful adviser of successive prime ministers, though she is careful to preserve constitutional conventions and not take political stands publicly. Her reign, however, coincides with a period of decline for the country, marked by the loss of its Empire and decades of economic slump.  It is also marred by the increasing pressure of gossip media and scandal surrounding the Royal Family, notably Prince Charles and his wife, Princess Diana, who are divorced in 1992. In 2015, she becomes the longest-reigning monarch in the history of Britain, overtaking her great-great-grandmother, Victoria.

1956: The Suez Crisis: In August 1936, Britain signs the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty, which puts an end to its occupation of the protectorate of Egypt. The Suez Canal, however, provides a vital sea route to India, and the treaty states that Britain will retain control of it for the next twenty years and may reoccupy the country in the event of any threat to its interests. Yet, in July 1956, Egypt’s president, Gamal Abdel Nasser announces that he is nationalizing the canal. In late October, Britain, France and Israel invade Egypt to occupy the canal zone and topple Nasser. But under American pressure, the canal is handed back to Egypt and the invasion force is withdrawn. The crisis reveals Britain’s declining world status. Anthony Eden, the Conservative PM, who orchestrated the operation, resigns and puts an end to his political career. He is replaced by Harold Macmillan.

1960: The Wind of Change: After World War II, the Labour government initiated a process of decolonization, but it was interrupted in 1951 by the Conservative governments of Churchill and Eden. The Macmillan government resumes it in 1957, when Ghana becomes the first British colony in Africa to gain independence. In a speech to the Parliament of South Africa in February 1960, Macmillan speaks of a “wind of change… blowing through this continent. Whether we like it or not, this growth of national consciousness is a political fact.” In the years that follow, most of Britain’s colonies become independent and join the Commonwealth.

1963: The U.S.’s Trojan Horse: On 14 January, President Charles de Gaulle announces the French veto on Britain’s application to join the European Economic Community. De Gaulle says that the British government lacks “commitment” to European integration and suspects that it will act as an Atlanticist Trojan horse within the E.E.C. After De Gaulle leaves power in 1969, the U.K. applies again and joins the organisation in 1973. In 1975, it holds a referendum on E.E.C. membership, after Prime Minister Wilson renegotiated its terms of entry; 67% of voters favour staying in the E.E.C.

1964: The Wilson Years: In October, Labour wins the general election and Harold Wilson becomes Prime Minister. His government initiates a series of progressive social reforms, including the creation of the comprehensive school system (1965), the abolition of the death penalty (1965), the legalisation of abortion and homosexuality (1967) and a series of anti-discrimination laws. These measures coincide with the rise of a youth-driven culture epitomized by Swinging London.

1969-2007: The Troubles: In Northern Ireland, the Catholic minority suffers from poverty and discrimination, notably from the local police force, the Royal Ulster Constabulary. Belfast and other local cities have become segregated. The tension evolves into political violence between Unionists (also known as Loyalists) and Nationalists (also known as Republicans), the most radical of whom form the Provisional I.R.A., a paramilitary group. British troops are sent to Northern Ireland to restore order, but what is meant to be a limited operation will last four decades. In February 1971, a British soldier is killed by the I.R.A. while patrolling in North Belfast. In the year that follows, 2,000 Catholics are interned without trial to prevent further attacks. On 30 January 1972, known hereafter as Bloody Sunday, British troops open fire on a crowd of peaceful civil rights protestors in Londonderry, killing 14. Thousands of people immediately sign up to the I.R.A., the local Stormont parliament is suspended and the province is ruled directly from London. The cycle of violence worsens as the I.RA.’s terrorist actions now target Britain. In November 1974, bombs explode in two pubs in Birmingham, killing 21 people. In response, the government introduces a Prevention of Terrorism Act which allows suspects to be held without charge for up to 7 days. In August 1979, the I.R.A. kills the Queen’s cousin, Lord Louis Mountbatten, and three others by bombing his boat in Ireland; on the same day, it also kills 18 British soldiers stationed there. In March 1981, Republican prisoners at Belfast’s Maze prison begin a hunger strike over the right to be treated as political prisoners rather than criminals, but Margaret Thatcher’s government refuses to concede; 10 men, including Bobby Sands, their leader, starve themselves to death; 100,000 people attend Sands’s funeral and local support to the I.R.A. soars again. In October 1984, I.R.A. bombers strike at the Conservative conference in Brighton, killing 5 people; Prime Minister Thatcher herself narrowly escapes the blast. In 1996, the I.R.A. bombs Canary Wharf, London, killing 2 and causing millions of pounds worth of damage.This, however, is the last of the I.R.A.’s major terrorist operations. Since 1993, Gerry Adams, leader of Sinn Féin, the I.R.A.’s political wing, has been negotiating with moderate nationalists, British officials and American diplomats. In April 1998, the talks lead to the Good Friday Agreement: Sinn Féin accepts that Northern Ireland will remain part of the U.K. as long as a majority of the population are in favour; and power will be devolved from Westminster to a local government structured to ensure cross-community participation. The deal is approved by huge margins in referenda held in Northern Ireland and the Irish republic. In August, I.R.A. renegades attempt to derail the agreement by setting off a bomb in Omagh, killing 28. The peace process stalls, but in July 2005, the I.R.A. announces that it abandons its armed campaign. The peace process is back on. In March 2007, the first Northern Ireland Assembly elections are held. In May, a local government is formed, headed by a Unionist First Minister, Rev. Ian Paisley, and a Nationalist Deputy First Minister (and former I.R.A. commander), Martin McGuinness. In August, British troops leave Northern Ireland after 38 years. As a whole, over 3,000 people have been killed during the Troubles, an estimated 60% by nationalists, 30% by loyalists, and 10% by British troops.

1978-79: The Winter of Discontent: Britain has been in a quasi-permanent state of economic trouble since the early 1970s. In 1976, a crisis in sterling forces the Labour government led by James Callaghan to borrow money from the International Monetary Fund (I.M.F.), making Britain the first major Western state to be forced into this humiliating course of action. In return for the loan, the I.M.F. demands cuts in government spending. In the winter of 1978-79, industrial action by petrol tanker and lorry drivers is followed by hospital staff, ambulance men and dustmen. Soon, more than 4 million people are on strike. Hospitals are picketed, the dead left unburied, and troops called in to control rats swarming around heaps of uncollected rubbish. The large number of simultaneous strikes, the vehemence and perceived mean-mindedness of the picketing create a sense of alarm in the electorate about the decline of British society and precipitate the downfall of the government.

1979-90: The Thatcher Years: In May, the Tories win the general election and Margaret Thatcher begins the first of her three terms as Britain’s first female prime minister. A devout Methodist and an admirer of Milton Friedman’s monetarist ideas, she comes to power on a radical neoliberal platform, pledging to modernize the country’s economy by keeping inflation under control, deregulating the markets, cutting taxes, reducing public expenditure, notably on welfare, privatizing national industries, encouraging home ownership and curbing the power of trade unions. These measures initially deliver few results. The country experiences a deep recession and unemployment surpasses three million in early 1982. The economy does improve in the late 1980s, thanks in part to the revenues of the North Sea oil. Under Miss Thatcher’s influence, the country’s foreign policy also evolves towards Atlanticism and Euroscepticism. Her premiership ends in 1990 when she persistently pushes forward the poll tax, an unpopular fiscal reform; opponents within her own party, who resent her autocratic ways and her intransigence toward Europe, put her in a minority and she is replaced as by John Major, who remains prime minister until 1997.

1981: Race Riots in Brixton: In April, rioting in Brixton following the arrest of a local black man marks the start of violent unrest across cities like London, Liverpool and Manchester. Crowds riot and fight the police. Police racism and endemic poverty in the inner cities become central political issues.

1982: The Falklands War: In April, Argentina’s military junta authorizes the invasion of the Falkland Islands, a British dependent territory in the South Atlantic. Three days later, PM Thatcher sends a naval task force to liberate them. The subsequent conflict costs the lives of 655 Argentine and 255 British servicemen. The conflict ends in June when the commander of the Argentine garrison at Port Stanley surrenders to British troops. It hastens the downfall of Argentina’s military government and the democratisation of the country. In the UK, the government is bolstered by the successful outcome and the Tories win the general election with an increased majority in 1983.

1984-85: The Miners’ Strike: In March, a local strike over a threatened pit closure in Yorkshire broadens into a national miners’ strike. Margaret Thatcher pits her personal authority against that of the militant socialist president of the National Union of Mineworkers, Arthur Scargill. Violent clashes erupt between striking miners and policemen. The strike fails and is called off after a year, allowing the pit closures to go ahead. It leaves a legacy of bitterness and weakens British unions on the long term.

1992: The Channel Tunnel: On 6 May, the Channel Tunnel opens, linking London and Paris by rail. It is the longest undersea tunnel in the world, with 39km of it under the sea.

1997-2010: The Age of New Labour: In May 1997, Labour wins the general election for the first time in 18 years, and Tony Blair begins the first of his three terms as prime minister. Since he became leader of Labour in 1994, Blair has shifted the party towards a more centrist “third way,” combining free-market and left-leaning policies. The government restores the Bank of England’s autonomous control over interest rates and embarks on an ambitious program of social and constitutional reforms. The decade that follows, often dubbed Cool Britannia, is marked by robust economic growth and cultural dynamism. In May 2007, scandals involving the Labour party and his handling of the Iraq War lead to Blair’s resignation; he is replaced by his Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown.

1997: The Princess of Hearts: On 31 August, Diana Spencer, the ex-wife of the heir to the British throne, Charles, Prince of Wales, dies in a car crash in Paris. Initially underestimated by the Royal Family, including the Queen herself, the news of her death provokes widespread public mourning and on 6 September, one million people line the streets of London for her funeral.  

1997: Devolution: In two referenda held in September, a large majority in Scotland (74.9% of those who voted), and a smaller one in Wales (50.3%) support the creation of national assemblies with legislative powers there. The assemblies first meet in 1999. 

1999: Britain does not join the European Single Currency: Widespread British unease about the European single currency obliges Prime Minister Blair, who was keen on the project, to stay out. The euro is launched without Britain, first as an electronic currency used by banks, foreign exchange dealers, big firms and stock markets in 1999, then as everyday money in 2002. 

2001-21: Britain enters the War in Afghanistan: In October 2001, British forces contribute to the U.S. military strikes against the Islamic fundamentalist Taliban regime in Afghanistan – the first retaliation to the terrorist attacks of 9/11. The Taliban, who allowed the terrorist organisation al-Qaeda to use Afghanistan as a base, are overthrown and replaced with a U.S.-backed administration. Osama Bin Laden, the al-Qaeda leader responsible for the 9/11 attacks, is not found, but coalition forces, including British troops, remain in Afghanistan until 2021. In 20 years, 150,000 British personnel will serve there, with 450 dead; the total cost of the operation (called Operation Herrick) to the British taxpayers is an estimated £22.2 billion.

2003-11: Britain joins the US in the Invasion of Iraq: Despite significant opposition at home and within the Labour party itself, the Blair government gives military support to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is overthrown and killed in December 2006. British troops remain involved in Iraq until May 2011. In 8 years, some 140,000 British personnel serve in Iraq, with 179 dead; the total cost of the operation (called Operation Telic) to the British taxpayers is an estimated £9.5 billion.

2005: 7/7: On July 7, three men blow themselves up on London Underground trains, while a fourth explodes his bomb on a double-decker bus. 52 people are killed and more than 700 are injured. Islamic terrorist organisation Al-Qaeda claims responsibility, but it is thought that the bombers, all British Muslims, acted alone. The terrorist attacks spark off tense debates about Islam, integration and Englishness. 

2007-13: The Financial meltdown: The British economy’s rapid growth and its financierisation over the past decade have created a housing bubble. The Brown government becomes aware of the looming crisis in 2007, but too late. In September, Northern Rock, one of the country’s biggest banks, is on the brink of bankruptcy, forcing the government to nationalise it. This does not prevent a credit crunch and a recession, which worsen when the U.S.’s own financial crisis begins. In September 2008, Wall Street investment bank Lehman Brothers files for bankruptcy and other big U.S. financial players threaten to do so too. The world’s markets collapse: on 6 October alone, more than £90bn are wiped off the value of Britain’s companies in the City’s worst day of trading in 21 years. The Brown government embarks on a policy of nationalizations and bailouts to recapitalize British banks, while the Bank of England takes down its interest rate to a historic low of 0.5% and launches a policy of quantitative easing to add to the money supply. Still, the country endures its deepest recession since World War II. Businesses at large suffer greatly; unemployment rises to 8.5% in late 2009; by 2011, the UK has become the world’s most indebted country. With the global economy recovering, the British economy starts growing robustly again in the years 2013-2014, but levels of poverty remain high. Meanwhile, Labour has been defeated in the 2010 general election; David Cameron, leader of the Conservative Party, becomes Prime Minister but must form a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats as the Tories alone do not have a majority in Parliament.

2016: Brexit: Anti-immigration sentiment rises in the U.K., notably against refugees from the Middle East and workers from Eastern European members of the E.U. like Poland and Rumania. Under the pressure of the Eurosceptical wing in his own party and of the rival xenophobic right-wing party U.K.I.P., David Cameron pledges to hold a referendum on whether the U.K. should remain in the E.U. if British voters keep him in Downing Street in the 2015 general election. The Conservatives win the election, and the in/out referendum is held on 23 June 2016. Against all odds, 52% of Britons vote “Leave”. The legal ramifications of Brexit, however, have not been thought out either by the government or the Brexiteers, and only after three and a half years of tortuous talks and false departures does the U.K. withdraw from the European Union, on January 1, 2020.