Recent history

The Act of Union of 1800 formally assimilated Ireland within the British political process, and created a new state "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland" with effect from 1 January 1801, uniting England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland.

Since then England has not existed as an independent political entity, but as a country it has remained highly dominant in the United Kingdom. The majority of the political and economic leadership the UK is English. London has remained the economic and centre of Britain and one of the world's great cities.

During the early 19th century, the working classes began to find a voice. Concentrations of industry led to the formation of guilds and unions, which, although at first suppressed, eventually became powerful enough to resist.

Chartism is thought to have originated from the passing of the 1832 Reform Bill, which gave the vote to the majority of the (male) middle classes, but not to the 'working class'. Many people made speeches on the 'betrayal' of the working class and the 'sacrificing' of their 'interests' by the 'misconduct' of the government. In 1838, six members of Parliament and six workingmen formed a committee, which then published the People's Charter.

The revolutions which spread like wildfire throughout mainland Europe during the 1840s did not occur in England and Queen Victoria's reign was largely one of consensus, despite huge disparities in living standards between the few rich and the multitudinous poor.

The Anglo-Irish treaty of 1921 established the Irish Free State (now the Republic of Ireland) as a separate nation, leaving Northern Ireland as part of the United Kingdom; its official name became "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland".

England bore the full brunt of German bombing during World War II, many of its cities were badly damaged and huge amounts of infrastructure destroyed. England rapidly recovered after the war, and while internationally the relative wealth and power of Britain have faded, England still remains paramount in the British Isles. 1999 saw the establishment of the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly. There is no English equivalent. In part this is a reflection of the hold England has on the British government.British Council

1688年，英國發生光榮革命，英王詹姆斯二世和其信奉天主教的后裔被逐離英國。詹姆斯信奉新教的女兒瑪麗和安妮陸續繼位，但不幸二人都駕崩后都無存活子嗣可繼承王位。

在安妮女王長子夭折后，英國國會為避免英國王位再次落入天主教徒手上，通過1701年嗣位法，當中規定: 若1689權利法案中所規定的繼承人全部無子死亡后，王位由英王詹姆士一世的外孫女，漢諾威選帝侯夫人蘇菲亞和她的新教后代繼承。

這部法律，令當時在英國王位繼承序列頭50名的王室成員都失去王位繼承權。雖然，法案導致數次因王位爭端而起的沖突，但位于王位繼承序列第52名的漢諾威選帝侯，喬治一世（George I），最終于1714年繼位為大不列顛國王及愛爾蘭國王，直至1727年駕崩。而大不列顛王國和愛爾蘭王國于1801年合并，組成大不列顛及愛爾蘭聯合王國。

溫莎王朝(The House of Windsor)，自1917年統治英國和其海外領地的家族，其前身為薩克森-科堡-哥達王朝，而其家族實際姓氏為韋廷(Wettin)。該分支的數位王子通過婚姻或獲選多國國王，如葡萄牙、比利時和保加利亞國王等。1840年2月10日，英女王維多利亞和她的大表哥薩克森-科堡-哥達親王阿爾伯特結婚，薩克森-科堡-哥達這個德國姓氏就此帶入英國王室。

1901年1月22日，維多利亞女王駕崩，其長子繼位為愛德華七世，愛德華成為第一位薩克森-科堡-哥達王朝的君主。

1914年8月4日，英國加入第一次世界大戰。但由于經歷多年復雜的聯姻，此時歐洲各國的君主，多是表兄弟的關系。而英國王室帶有德國姓氏，更令英國人覺得不順。為安撫民心，當時在位的英王喬治五世，在1917年7月17日頒布一道樞密院御令，宣布將英國王室名和王室父系子裔私人姓氏，改為溫莎。溫莎一名來自溫莎堡，是英國最古老的王宮之一，遽聞由英王征服者威廉一世選址奠基的。

溫莎王朝經歷兩次世界大戰，兩次皆成功令英國成為戰勝國。而另一方面，大英帝國在二戰后迅速瓦解，殖民地陸續宣布獨立，令英國在世界的影響力大不如前，陸續失去愛爾蘭國王和印度皇帝等稱號。但通過各種妥協方式，令英國在前殖民地區的影響力依然舉足輕重。這些妥協包括成立英聯邦，和允許一些國家獨立自主。直至今天，仍有15個國家奉英王為國家元首，其中包括加拿大、澳大利亞、新西蘭等等，令英王至今依然為名義上統治最大面積領土的君主。1999年，蘇格蘭議會和威爾士政府建立，而英格蘭沒有類似的機構。這體現了英格蘭在英國政府中的地位。

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