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(guó)發(fā)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(guó)。詹姆斯信奉新教的女兒瑪麗和安妮陸續(xù)繼位，但不幸二人都駕崩后都無(wú)存活子嗣可繼承王位。
在安妮女王長(zhǎng)子夭折后，英國(guó)國(guó)會(huì)為避免英國(guó)王位再次落入天主教徒手上，通過(guò)1701年嗣位法，當(dāng)中規(guī)定: 若1689權(quán)利法案中所規(guī)定的繼承人全部無(wú)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(dāng)時(shí)在英國(guó)王位繼承序列頭50名的王室成員都失去王位繼承權(quán)。雖然，法案導(dǎo)致數(shù)次因王位爭(zhēng)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(guó)王及愛(ài)爾蘭國(guó)王，直至1727年駕崩。而大不列顛王國(guó)和愛(ài)爾蘭王國(guó)于1801年合并，組成大不列顛及愛(ài)爾蘭聯(lián)合王國(guó)。
溫莎王朝(The House of Windsor)，自1917年統(tǒng)治英國(guó)和其海外領(lǐng)地的家族，其前身為薩克森-科堡-哥達(dá)王朝，而其家族實(shí)際姓氏為韋廷(Wettin)。該分支的數(shù)位王子通過(guò)婚姻或獲選多國(guó)國(guó)王，如葡萄牙、比利時(shí)和保加利亞國(guó)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(dá)親王阿爾伯特結(jié)婚，薩克森-科堡-哥達(dá)這個(gè)德國(guó)姓氏就此帶入英國(guó)王室。
1901年1月22日，維多利亞女王駕崩，其長(zhǎng)子繼位為愛(ài)德華七世，愛(ài)德華成為第一位薩克森-科堡-哥達(dá)王朝的君主。
1914年8月4日，英國(guó)加入第一次世界大戰(zhàn)。但由于經(jīng)歷多年復(fù)雜的聯(lián)姻，此時(shí)歐洲各國(guó)的君主，多是表兄弟的關(guān)系。而英國(guó)王室?guī)в械聡?guó)姓氏，更令英國(guó)人覺(jué)得不順。為安撫民心，當(dāng)時(shí)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(guó)王室名和王室父系子裔私人姓氏，改為溫莎。溫莎一名來(lái)自溫莎堡，是英國(guó)最古老的王宮之一，遽聞?dòng)捎⑼跽鞣咄皇肋x址奠基的。
溫莎王朝經(jīng)歷兩次世界大戰(zhàn)，兩次皆成功令英國(guó)成為戰(zhàn)勝?lài)?guó)。而另一方面，大英帝國(guó)在二戰(zhàn)后迅速瓦解，殖民地陸續(xù)宣布獨(dú)立，令英國(guó)在世界的影響力大不如前，陸續(xù)失去愛(ài)爾蘭國(guó)王和印度皇帝等稱(chēng)號(hào)。但通過(guò)各種妥協(xié)方式，令英國(guó)在前殖民地區(qū)的影響力依然舉足輕重。這些妥協(xié)包括成立英聯(lián)邦，和允許一些國(guó)家獨(dú)立自主。直至今天，仍有15個(gè)國(guó)家奉英王為國(guó)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(tǒng)治最大面積領(lǐng)土的君主。1999年，蘇格蘭議會(huì)和威爾士政府建立，而英格蘭沒(méi)有類(lèi)似的機(jī)構(gòu)。這體現(xiàn)了英格蘭在英國(guó)政府中的地位。
British Council
