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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, to the present day.

From the 18th century onwards, with the expansion of the British Empire and the country's industrial strength, the British military became one of the most powerful and technologically advanced militaries in Europe and the world. Scottish regiments and in particular Highland regiments, made a significant contribution to the military expansion, history and maintenance of the British Empire in the 19th and 20th centuries. The Royal navy in particular, with major bases in four Imperial fortresses and coaling stations surrounding the globe, was the world's greatest naval force from the 18th to the mid-20th century. British military declined in the mid-20th century as did those of the traditional European continental powers following the two world wars, decolonisation, and the rise of the United States and the Soviet Union as the new superpowers. However, Britain remains a major military power with frequent military interventions around the world 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.

Britain has been involved in a great many armed conflicts since the union in 1707, on all continents except for Antarctica.

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. * Clifton Moor Skirmish, near Penrith (1745) - the last land battle on English soil
  3. * Battle of Culloden (1746) - the last land battle in Great Britain

See also

References

Further reading

  • Black, Jeremy. Britain as a military power, 1688-1815 (Routledge, 2002).
  • Black, Jeremy. A military history of Britain: from 1775 to the present (2008)
  • Chandler, David, and Ian Beckett, eds. The Oxford Illustrated History of the British Army (1994)
  • Colley, Thomas. Always at War: British Public Narratives of War (U of Michigan Press, 2019) online review
  • Fortescue, J. W. A history of the British army (19v 1899–1930) online
  • Higham, John, ed. A Guide to the Sources of British Military History (2015) 654 pages excerpt
  • Holmes, Richard. Redcoat: the British soldier in the age of horse and musket (WW Norton & Company, 2002).
  • Usher, George. Dictionary of British military history (A&C Black, 2009).