A long and illustrious history

Early Britain and the Romans

Britain was first inhabited by hunter-gatherers during the Stone Age. Farming began around 6,000 years ago, and monuments such as Stonehenge date from this era. The Bronze Age and Iron Age followed, with Celtic languages spoken widely. Julius Caesar attempted invasion in 55 BC, but lasting Roman occupation began under Emperor Claudius in AD 43. The Romans built roads, established law, and introduced Christianity. They departed in AD 410. Germanic tribes — the Angles, Saxons and Jutes — then settled, forming Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and laying the foundations of the English language. Christianity spread through missionaries including St Augustine and St Columba. Viking raids began in AD 789; Alfred the Great defeated them and they settled in the Danelaw. The Norman Conquest of 1066, when William the Conqueror defeated King Harold at the Battle of Hastings, was the last successful foreign invasion of England.

The Middle Ages to the Tudors

The Magna Carta (1215) established that the king was subject to the law and restricted royal power. Parliament gradually developed from the king's council. The Black Death of 1348 killed roughly one third of Britain's population. The Wars of the Roses ended at Bosworth Field in 1485, bringing Henry Tudor to the throne. Henry VIII broke with Rome to create the Church of England, and the Reformation spread Protestant ideas across Britain. Elizabeth I defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588. The civil war of the 1640s ended with Charles I's execution; Oliver Cromwell ruled as Lord Protector until 1658. The monarchy was restored under Charles II in 1660. The Glorious Revolution of 1688 brought William and Mary to the throne and permanently established parliamentary supremacy, confirmed by the Bill of Rights 1689.

Empire, Industry and World Wars

The Act of Union 1707 united England and Scotland as Great Britain. The Industrial Revolution made Britain the world's first industrialised nation, powered by steam and coal. Slavery was abolished throughout the British Empire in 1833. The British Empire grew to cover India, Australia and much of Africa. The First World War ended on 11 November 1918; Ireland was partitioned in 1922. The Second World War saw Churchill lead Britain through the Blitz and D-Day (6 June 1944), ending in Allied victory in May 1945.

Post-War Britain

The 1945 Labour government under Clement Attlee created the NHS in 1948 and established the welfare state based on the Beveridge Report. Former colonies gained independence. Margaret Thatcher served as Britain's first female Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990, privatising nationalised industries and reforming trade union law. The 1997 Labour government under Tony Blair introduced devolution, creating a Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly, and signed the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. In 2010 a Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition formed. The 2016 Brexit referendum and the COVID-19 pandemic shaped the subsequent Conservative governments. Labour, led by Keir Starmer, won the 2024 general election.