Military history of the United Kingdom

The military history of the United Kingdom covers the period from the creation of the united Kingdom of Great Britain, with the political union of England and Scotland in 1707,[1] to the present day.

From the 18th century, with the expansion of the British Empire and the country's industrial strength, Britain's military force became one of the largest and most powerful in the world, particularly that of its navy, with advanced technology and bases across the world. It declined during the 20th century in the wake of two world wars, decolonisation, and the rise of the United States and the USSR as the new superpowers. Britain has been involved in a great many armed conflicts since the union in 1707, on all continents except for Antarctica. Today it still remains a major power with frequent military interventions across the globe since the end of the Cold War in 1991.

The present-day British Armed Forces encompass the Royal Navy, the British Army, and the Royal Air Force.

18th century

19th century

20th century

21st century

List of civil wars

  1. Jacobite Rebellions (1715–16; 1719; 1745–46) - the last civil war in Great Britain
  2. The Troubles - in Northern Ireland, with some (terrorist) activity in Great Britain

Further reading

  • Black, Jeremy. A military history of Britain: from 1775 to the present (2008)

See also

References

  1. ↑ Acts of Union 1707 parliament.uk, accessed 31 December 2010; Uniting the kingdom? nationalarchives.gov.uk, accessed 31 December 2010; Making the Act of Union 1707 Archived 2011-05-11 at the Wayback Machine. scottish.parliament.uk, accessed 31 December 2010
  2. ↑ "First British troops arrive in Somalia as part of UN mission". The Guardian. May 2, 2016. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  3. ↑ "Cargo bomb plot: SAS hunting al-Qaeda in Yemen". the telegraph. 2 November 2010.
  4. ↑ "UK and US spend millions to counter Yemeni threat". the independent. 30 October 2010.

Further reading

  • Higham, John, ed. A Guide to the Sources of British Military History (2015) 654 pages excerpt
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