Kingdom of Great Britain
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
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| Royal motto: Dieu et mon droit (French: God and my right)1 | |||||
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| Capital | London | ||||
| Head of State | King of Great Britain | ||||
| Head of Government | Prime Minister | ||||
| Parliament | House of Commons, House of Lords | ||||
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- This article is about the historical state called the Kingdom of Great Britain (1707-1800). For information about its modern successor state, see the main article: United Kingdom.
The Kingdom of Great Britain, also known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain, was a state located in Western Europe, from 1707 to 1800. It was created by the merging of the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England under the Acts of Union 1707 to create a single kingdom encompassing the whole of the island of Great Britain. A new, single parliament and government, based in Westminster in London, controlled the new kingdom. The two former kingdoms had shared the same monarch since King James VI of Scotland became King James I of England in 1603.
From 1707 onward, a joint "British" throne replaced the English and Scottish thrones and a joint Parliament of Great Britain replaced the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England. Scotland and England were given seats in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords of the new parliament. Although Scotland's representation in both houses was smaller than its population indicated it should have been, representation in parliament was at that time based not on population but on taxation, and Scotland was given a greater number of MPs than its share of taxation warranted. Under the terms of the union, Scotland elected forty-five members to the Commons and sent sixteen representative peers to the Lords. The Kingdom of Great Britain was superseded by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801 when the Kingdom of Ireland was absorbed with the enactment of the Act of Union following the suppression of the Irish Rebellion of 1798.
Monarchs of Great Britain
- Anne (1707–1714), previously Queen of England, Queen of Scotland, and Queen of Ireland since 1702.
- George I (1714–1727)
- George II (1727–1760)
- George III (1760–1801), continued as King of the United Kingdom until 1820.
See also
| Preceded by: Kingdom of England c927–30 April 1707 Kingdom of Scotland c843–30 April 1707 | Kingdom of Great Britain 1 May 1707 – 31 December 1800 | Succeeded by: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 1 January 1801–5 December 1922 |
