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A Timeline of Modern English
History
1485 Beginning of Tudor
Dynasty, Henry VII assumes the throne
Central Royal authority was strengthened and private
feudal armies suppressed
1487 Rebellion of Lambert Simnel
1509 End of Henry VII's reign – Begin reign of
Henry VIII
1513 Battle of Foldden English victory over Scotland
1514 Beginning wars with France
and Scotland
1517 End wars with France
and Scotland
1520 (June 7) establishment of a short-lived alliance
between Henry VIII and Francis I of France
1522 England
invades France
- invasion unsuccessful
1523 England
abandons attempted French invasion
1527 Divorce crisis of Henry VIII begins
1530 Henry VII begins the process of breaking with the
papacy
time of internal instability associated with
founding the new church
1534 Church of England established, unrest within England
largely subsided
1542 Renewed warfare with France and Scotland
French landings on the English coast
between1545 and 1546
convince Henry VIII to
begin a massive naval construction program.
Beginning of the modern Royal Navy.
Beginning of the construction of system of
coastal fortifications.
1547 Death of Henry VIII – Begin reign of
Edward IV
Since Edward IV was not of age to rule, Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset,
ruled as regent.
1549 Religious/Social Unrest
Duke of Somerset
puts down a Catholic revolt in Devonshire.
Royal forces under John Dudley, Earl of
Warwick, put down a peasant revolt in Norfolk.
Setbacks in wars with France and Scotland
French successful in battle outside Houlogne.
Scottish recapture Haddington.
September – Somerset forced out as regent due to
war setbacks, social unrest,
and noble
dissatisfaction with his liberal ideas.
Warwick,
Duke of Northumberland, becomes regent.
1550 Peace with France
France
returns Boulogne to England
for a cash payment.
1553 Death of Edward IV
(June 6-19) Insurrection of Northumberland Upon the death of Edward VI,
Northumberland attempted to place his daughter in law, Lady Jane Grey, on the throne
instead of the rightful successor, Edward's sister, Mary.
Northumberland was captured, and Jane was deposed and executed after a reign of nine days.
1553 Beginning of the Reign of Mary I
Re-establishment of Catholicism in England.
Her marriage to Philip of Spain added to
religious unrest,
many English Catholics joined the Protestants
in distrust of Spain
and Spanish Catholicism.
1554 Insurrection in Kent Led by Sir Thomas Wyatt, Sir
Thomas Carew, and the Duke of Suffolk, this was an attempt to prevent
Mary's marriage to Philip. Wyatt was defeated and overpowered while
trying to take London. The
rebellion collapsed and the leaders were executed.
1555 Persecution of Protestants begins
1557 War begins with France Mary's marriage led to
English involvement in Spain's
endemic wars with France
1558 End of Mary I's reign / Start of Reign of Elizabeth I
(sister of Edward VI and Mary I) Elizabeth returns England
to Protestantism, She followed a general policy of avoiding involvement
in major continental wars.
1559 England
ends war with France
Intervention in Scotland English forces assist Scots against
Frenchforces in Scotland.
French surrender at Leith in February, 1560.
1562 England
sends troops to France
to aid the Huguenots.
1568 Beginning of a period of mounting hostilities
between Spain
and England
1570 Papal Bull declares Elizabeth
excommunicated and deposed
1573 Temporary Rapprochement with Spain.
Ascendancy of the Guise family in France
leads to a temporary reduction of tensions.
1577 Alliance
with the Netherlands Republic
in their war against Spain,
although Elizabeth did not
declare war against Spain.
1580 Sir Francis Drake completes his circumnavigation
of the World Drake raids Spanish and Portuguese colonies and shipping
along the way.
1585 English military assistance to the Netherlands
Henry Sidney, Earl of Lester, brings an army of 6,000 men to Holland.
Drake's expeditions to the Caribbean An English expedition under Sir
Francis Drake sacked Santo Domingo,
Cartagena, St.
Augustine and carried out numerous other raids
in the West Indies. Expedition ends in 1586.
1587 English army in Netherlands
returns to England
The army performed poorly, and the Earl of Lester died in the field in
the previous year.
(April-June) Drake's Expedition to Cadiz Aware of Spanish plans for the
coming armada, Drake sails into the port
of Cadiz with a fleet of
23ships and destroys 33 Spanish vessels of all sizes.
1588 Santa Cruz
dies Admiral Marquis de Santa Cruz,
who was in charge of preparing the Armada, dies on January 30, and was
replaced by Alone Perez de Guzman, Duke of Medina Sidonia, who had no
naval experience.
May 20 - The armada leaves Lisbon
(comprised of 20 great galleons,44 armed merchant ships, 23 transports,
35 smaller vessels, 4 galleasses,and 4 galleys.)
July 19 - Armada sited off the coast of Lizard
Head by Englishscout vessels.
July 20 - Lord Howard of Effingham, commander of the
Englishforces, sets sail with from Plymouth
(34 ships under his command, joinedby 34 under Drake's command, a London
squadron of 30 ships, and an additional30 ships under Lord Henry
Seymour.)
July 21 - Spanish lose one ship in engagements off Plymouth.
July 23 - No losses on either side as a result of this all
daybattle
July 25 - Battle of Dorset. The
English are able to replenishtheir ammunition while the Spanish are
not. Spanish head for Calis to replenishstocks and pick up troops.
July 26-27 - Armada anchored off Calis, but unable to
obtainsupplies due to the blockade of Bruges
by the Dutch fleet under the commandof Justinian of Nassau.
July 28 - English send fire ships into the Spanish fleet,
whichresponds by cutting anchor and traveling up the coast while
suffering heavylosses from English long range fire.
July 29-30 - Unfavorable winds keep Spanish fleet from
landinganywhere in the Low Countries. Sedina
Sidonia decides to return to Spainby sailing up through the North
Sea.
August 2 - English fleet breaks off its pursuit of the
Armadaand returns to its home ports.
August-September - The armada suffers heavy losses as it
makesits way back to Spain,
due to storms, starvation, and thirst. 63 of theoriginal 130 ships
returned to Spain.
1589 4,000 English troops land in Normandy
to aid Henry of Navarre
1591 Small English force lands at St. Malo and Rouen.
1594 Tyrone Rebellion in Ireland Endemic rebellion in
Irelanderupted into full scale war under the leadership of Hugh O'Neil,
Earl ofTyrone.
1596 English troops landed during a raid on Cadiz.
1598 English defeated by Irish at the Battle of Yellow
Ford onthe Blackwater river.
1601 Spanish Intervention Spain
sends 4,000 troops to Irelandand capture Kinsale.
1603 Death of
Elizabeth I,End of Tudor
dynasty,
beginningof
Stuart dynasty with reign of James I.
English victory Irish-Spanish troops defeated at the Battle of
Kinsale.O'Neil surrenders and is pardoned by James I.
1604 October 24 - Unification of Britain The union of
the crownsof England
and Scotland
eliminated internal frontiers and reduced the needfor a standing army,
which increased parliamentary authority at the expenseof royal
authority.
1605 The Gunpowder Plot the last major Catholic
conspiracy
1624 Involvement in 30 Years War James sends a small
force of1,200 men to the continent to assist Frederick of Prussia and
ChristianIV of Denmark. This army collapses in 1625 due to a lack of
training andsupplies.
1625 End of reign of
JamesI, beginning of Charles I's reign
1626 Beginning of the Anglo-French war.
1627 The Duke of Buckingham's expedition to the Isle of
Re, nearLa Rochelle, to support Huguenot forces ended in defeat.
1628 Buckingham assassinated while preparing another
expeditionagainst the French.
May - The Petition of Right listing of
parliamentarygrievances against the king.
1630 November 5 - Peace with France
and Spain
1639 First Bishops' War Scotland
revolts over the impositionof Anglican liturgy into Scottish
Presbyterian services.
June 18 Pacification of Dunse temporary
compromisesettlement
1640 Second Bishops' War hostilities renewed in Scotland
April-May the "Short Parliament" the
Commonsrefuses to grant Charles financial support for the war.
August 28 Scots defeat Charles' forces
atNewburn, Northumberland, and Durham
November - Treaty of Ripon temporary end
tohostilities.
November 3 - the "Long Parliament"
TriennialAct agreed to by Charles I.
1641 October - Outbreak of the Irish War Irish
rebellion breaksout
due to the
distastefor the policies of the Earl of Stratford,
the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.
December 1 - Grand Remonstrance Act passedby
Parliament listing the grievances against Charles I.
Abolition of the councilor courts, abolitionof
prerogative taxation, Triennial Bill.
1642 January 3 Charles attempts to arrest 5 leaders in
the Commons,attempt fails.
March - Charles rejects Parliament's attemptto
gain control of army.
June - Parliament raises a 24,000 man army
August - Charles begins to raise his armyat Nottingham
1643 Kings armies have the advantage
Scots invade on the side of Parliament
1644 Parliaments armies take the advantage
June - Battle of Marston Moor
Parliament wins,decisive battle in war.
1645 "Clubmen" rising of armed neutrals threaten both
sides
Royalist armies disintegrate
Parliament forces reorganize into the NewModel
Army
1646 King surrenders to Scots
Bishops and Book of Common Prayer abolished
Presbyterian Church established
1647 Army revolt Radical movements criticize
parliamentary tyranny
1648 Second Civil War Scots now side with the king and
are defeated
1649 Trial and executionof
Charles I England becomes a
republic
Government by single chamber Rump Parliament
Oliver Cromwell begins the conquest of
Irelandcomplete in 1650
1650 Cromwell begins the conquest of Scotland
complete in 1652
1651 Thomas Hobbes publishes Leviathan
1652 First Dutch war begins
1653 Cromwell dissolves Rump Parliament Cromwell
becomes LordProtector of Britain, written constitution.
1654 End of the first Dutch war
1655 Beginning of War with Spain
Royalist insurrection Penruddock's rising,a
complete failure
1658 Cromwell dies and is succeeded by his son Richard
1659 Richard overthrown by army Rump is restored, but
displeasesthe army
1660 Restoration of the Stuarts - Charles II takes the
throne
1662 Church of England restored
1663 Failure of first Royal attempt to grant religious
toleration
1665 Second Anglo-Dutch War begins
Great Plague final major outbreak
1666 The Great Fire of London
1667 Second Anglo-Dutch War ends
Milton's
Paradise Lost published allegoryfor the failed revolution
1672 Third Anglo-Dutch War begins
Failure of second royal attempt to grant
religioustoleration
1674 Third Anglo-Dutch War Ends
1679 The Exclusion Crisis beginning of the Whig and
Tory parties
1685 February 6 - James II takes the throne
1687 Newton's
Principia Mathematica published
1688 William of Orange
invadesJames II flees the
country
1689 February 13 - William of Orange andMary Stuart
named joint sovereigns of England
by Parliament.
Irish War begins
1690 Battle of the Boyne William III defeats Irish and
Frencharmies
1691 Irish War ends English victory
1694 Bank of England founded
Death
of Queen Mary
1697 Civil List Act Parliament votes funds for the
maintenanceof the royal household.
1699 February Disbanding Act Parliament reduces the
size of theBritish standing army to 7,000 to limit William III's
involvement in continentalwarfare.
1700 Importation of Indian muslin and printed calicoes
is forbidden
1701 June 12 Act of Settlement Parliament
states thatthe English crown
will go to the Electors of Hanover,
throughSophia, granddaughter of James I,
after
Anne,daughter of James II had reigned.
September 16 James II dies in France
Beginning of the War of the Spanish Succession
1702 Death of William
III,Anne Stuart takes the throne
1704 British capture Gibraltar
from Spain
1705 Newcomen's fire-engine
1707 May 1 Union of England and Scotland Establishes
theUnited Kingdom of Great
Britain.
1708 James Edward, the Pretender, lands in Scotland
his welcomeis lukewarm
and he returnsto
France
in the same year.
Abraham Darby takes lease of Coalbrookdale
1710 Fall of
the Whig Ministry Tories cometo power - Harley ministry
1713 End of the War of the Spanish Succession Treaty of
Utrecht
1714 August 1 - Death of Anne Stuart, beginning of the
HanoverDynasty with George I, Elector of Hanover.
1715 September - Beginning of the Jacobite Rebellion in
Scotlandinitial successes, James Edward arrives from France
in December.
1716 Septennial Act no parliament can sit for longer
than sevenyears without an election
February - Jacobite rising defeated
JamesEdward returns to France.
1719 Spanish Expedition to Scotland Spanish fleet
sailing toScotland to put Stuarts back on the throne is scattered by a
storm anddoes not meet its objective.
1720 South Sea Bubble Many investors are ruined after
speculationin the stock of the South Sea Company
Wearing of pure cotton cloth prohibited
1721 Walpole
ministry
1727 George I dies, George II becomes king
beginning of war with Spain
1729 End of war with Spain
1730 Lord Townshend retires from the ministry to devote
himselfto agricultural improvement
1733 Excise crisis Walpole
must abandon plans to reform customsand excise duties.
Kay's fly shuttle invented
Jethro Tull's Horse-hoeing
Husbandrypublished
1737 Death of Queen Caroline
1738 Lewis Paul's roller-spinning machine invented
1739 Beginning of "War of Jenkin's Ear" Anglo-Spanish
naval war
1740 Beginning of the War of the Austrian Succession
1742 Fall of Wallpole
1744 Pelham ministry
1745 Beginning of "The Forty-five" James Edward once
again comesto England
to reclaim his throne.
1746 End of "The Forty-five" Scottish uprising
suppressed, JamesEdward returns to France.
Scotsmen now forbidden to wear their nationaldress.
1748 End of "War of Jenkin's Ear" with Spain
End of the War of the Austrian SuccessionPeace
of Aix-la-Chapelle
1749 Iron manufactures suppressed in the American
colonies
1751 War between British and French in India
1752 Adoption of Gregorian Calendar
1754 War between English and French colonists in America
begins
Newcastle
ministry
1756 Beginning of the Seven Years War Britain
allied with Frederickthe Great of Prussia
against France,
Austria,
and Russia.
1758 Threshing machine invented
Bridgewater
Canal constructed
1760 Death of George II, accession of GeorgeIII
Carron Iron Works opened
1761 Wilkinson sets up furnaces in Bersham
1762 Bute ministry
1763 End of the Seven Years War Peace of Paris
1764 Hargreaves' spinning jenny invented
1765 American Stamp Act meant to pay for the defense of
the Americancolonies
Rockingham ministry
1766 Chatham
ministry begins
1768 Grafton ministry begins
Cook's first voyage in the Pacific begun
1769 James Watt's steam engine patented
Arkwright's "water frame" patented
1770 Lord
North's ministry begins
1773 Boston Tea Party a protest against the East India
Company'smonopoly on tea exports to American colonies
1774 Coercive Acts Passed in retaliation for the Boston
Tea Party
Arkwright's carding machine patented
Wearing pure cotton cloth permitted by law
Priestley discovers oxygen
1775 Thomas Spence's The Real Rights of Man
published
War of American Independence begun
1776 Declaration of American Independence
Edward Gibbon's Decline and Fall of
theRoman Empire published
Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations
published
1777 First Bath
and West of England Agricultural Show held
1779 Crompton's mule invented
1781 British surrender at Yorktown
end of American RevolutionaryWar
1782 Second
Rockingham ministry
1784 Henry Cort's puddling process patented
Bell's cylindrical process of calico printing
Andrew Meikle's threshing machine
Watt's double-acting steam-engine
1783 Shelburne ministry
Pitt ministry
1784 East India Act
1785 Steam-engines first applied to spinning machinery
Arkwright's patents declared invalid
New Lanark Mills founded by David Dale
Cartwright's first patent for a power loom
1786 Eden's
commercial treaty with France
1789 French Revolution
1791 Thomas Paine's The Rights of Man published
Spinning jenny applied to wool
1792 Coal and gas used for lighting
1793 Outbreak of war with France
Eli Whitney's cotton gin
Commercial depression begins
1794 Habeas Corups suspended
1795 "Speenhamland" system of relief made wages equal
to thecosts of subsistence
Beginning of the United Irishmen Revolt
1796 Vaccination against smallpox introduced
1797 United Irishmen Revolt ends brutally repressed by
Britishforces
Cash payments by the Bank of England suspended
The British Naval Mutinies
1798 Malthus's Essay on Population first published
Income tax (10% on incomes over £200)
1799 Napoleon appointed First Consul in France
Beginning of commercial boom
Trade Unions suppressed under the
CombinationLaw
Serfdom of Scottish coal miners abolished
Limited free trade established between
Britainand Ireland
1801 Union with Ireland
End of commercial boom
First British Census estimated
population8,892,536
Surrey Iron Railway
1802 Peace with France
Peel introduces first factory legislation
West India Dock completed
1803 War with France
begins again
Horrock's improved power loom patented
General Enclosure Act simplifies the processof
enclosure of common land
1805 Battle of Trafalgar Nelson defeats the French and
Spanishfleets
1806 Death of
Pitt, Lord Grenville becomesPM
1807 Abolition of the slave trade
1808 Peninsular War begins
East India Docks opened
1809 Economic boom begins
1811 Depression sets in
Luddite riots in Nottinghamshire
1812 Beginning of war with United
States of America
Napoleon's Russian campaign
1813 Monopoly of East India Company abolished
Henry Bell's steamboat Comet plies on theClyde
1814 Stephenson's railway engine used to haul coal
Repeal of Statute of Apprentices
1815 Battle of Waterloo
Congress of Vienna
Corn Law passed
Beginning of a commercial boom
1817 Recession sets in
1819 Peterloo Massacre
The Savannah crossed the Atlantic
partly understeam power
1820 Death of George
III,accession of George IV
1821 Famine in Ireland
begins
Cash payments resumed by the Bank of England
1822 Greek war of independence begins
1823 End of Irish famine
1824 Trade boom begins
Repeal of laws against the export of
machineryand artisans
1825 Trade Unions legalized
Stockton
and Darlington railway opens
Commercial depression begins
1827 Liverpool retires, Canning becomesPM
1829 Catholic Emancipation
Greece
wins independence
Metropolitan Police established
1830 Death of George IV, accessionof
William IV
Liverpool and Manchester
railway opens
1831 Swing riots rural workers protesting against
mechanizationof agriculture
1832 Great Reform Bill introduces the
"10pound" voter franchise
1833 Factory Act limiting child labor
1834 Slavery abolished it the British Empire
Grand National Consolidated Trade Union Founded
1835 Commercial boom - Major increase in railway
building begins
1837 Death of William IV, accessionof
Victoria I
1838 People's Charter drafted
The Great Western Railway opened London
toBath and Bristol
1839 Chartist riots
Capture of Hong Kong
Beginning of Afgan war
1840 Railway regulation act
1841 Tories
assume power, Peel becomesPM
1842 Income tax revived
End of Afgan war
1843 End of Opium War with China
1844 Boom in railway building begins Result of the
Cheep TrainsAct
Irish potato famine begins
First telegraph in England
1846 Corn Laws abolished
Peel resigns, Lord JohnRussell becomes PM
1848 European revolutions
Last great Chartist demonstration
1949 Repeal of Navigation Laws
1851 Great Exhibition
Crystal Palace
showcases the industrialmight of Britain
Submarine cable laid across the English
Channel
1852 Russell Resigns, Earl of Derbybecomes PM
1854 Crimean War begins
1855 Newspapers duties repealed
Aberdeen
resigns, Palmerston becomes PM
1856 Crimean War ends
1857 Start of second Opium War opens China
to European trade
Production of aniline dyes started
1858 End of Second Opium War
Indian Mutiny and India Act
Palmerston resigns, Lord Derby becomes PM
1859 Publication of Darwin's
Origin of the Species
Great London builders strike
1860 Anglo-French "Cobden" treaty
1861 Death of Albert, Prince Consort
US Civil war causes cotton famine in Lancashire
1862 Limited Liability Act provides stimulus to
business interests
1863 War with Japan
to open Japanese ports to trade
1865 October - Death of Palmerston, Russell becomes PM
1866 Derby
forms a minority Conservative government
Submarine cable laid across the Atlantic
1867 Dominion of Canada Act
Second Reform Act household franchise in
boroughs
1868 February - Disraeli becomes PM (Conservative)
Gladstone
forms Liberal Government
1869 Suez Canal opened
Irish Church disestablished
Debt imprisonment ended
1870 Irish Land
Act
Elementary Education Act
1871 Purchase of commissions in the army abolished
1874 Disraeli forms Conservative government
1875 British government buys controlling shares in Suez
Canal
Agricultural depression deepens due to new
grain supplies from Russia
and
the United
States entering the European market
for the first time.
1876 Victoria
proclaimed Empress of India
Compulsory Education enacted
1877 Confederation of British and Boer states in South
Africa
1878 Congress of Berlin
Edison's bipolar
dynamo invented
1879 Economic depression deepens
Zulu war
Incandescent lamp invented
1880 First Anglo-Boer war
Synthetic indigo manufactured
Employers Liability Act passed
1882 Britain
occupies Egypt
Triple Alliance between Germany,
Austria,and
Italy
1885 Burma
annexed
Third Reform Act household franchise in
counties
Salisbury's
first Conservative government
1886 Gladstone
becomes PM (Liberal Party)
First Home Rule Bill for Ireland
splits theLiberal Party
Gold found in Transvaal
Royal Niger Company chartered
1886 Conservatives return to
powerunder Salisbury
1887 British East Africa Company chartered
1889 London
dock strike
Board of Agriculture instituted
British South Africa Company chartered
1892 Liberals return to power under Gladstone
1893 Second Home Rule Bill rejected by the House of
Lords
Independent Labor Party founded
1894 Gladstone
resigns, Lord Rosebery becomes PM
1896 Sudan
conquest begins
1897 Workmen's Compensation Act
1898 Sudan
under British control Fashoda incident
German naval expansion begins
1899 May-June First Hague Peace Conference
Second Anglo-Boer war begins
1900 "Khaki"
election won by Salisbury
Commonwealth of Australia Act
1901 Death of Victoria
I- Edward VII becomes king
1902 Anglo-Japanese alliance
End of Boer War Peace of Vereeniging
1903 Tariff Reform Campaign started
Wright brothers make first airplane flight
1904 Anglo-French Entente
Committee on Imperial Defense (Esher Committee)
major
reorganizationof British armed forces in light of the Boer War
experiences
1905 Campbell-Bannerman's
Liberal Government
Morocco
Crisis
Beginning of the Haldane Military Reforms
1906 Launching of the H.M.S Dreadnought First all
big-gun battleship,with 10 12" guns.
Labor
Party formed
1907 Anglo-Russian Entente
1908 Beginning
of Asquith's Liberal Government
Old Age Pension plan introduced
Eight hour day in coal mines introduced
1910 Death of
Edward VII - accession ofGeorge V
Churchill's Employment Exchanges introduced
1911 Moroccan Crisis
Serious railroad, mining, and coal
strikeslasting until 1912
1912 Failure of Anglo-German naval talks
First minimum wage laws for miners
Beginning of the Balkan war
1913 End of the Balkan war Peace of London
1914 Third Home Rule Act for Ireland
passed and suspended
March 20 - Curragh "Mutiny" Brigadier
GeneralHubert Gough resigns
rather thancarry
out orders that would have forced them to compell the population
of Ulster
toaccept Home Rule under the separatists of southern Ireland.
June 28 - Assassination of Archduke
Ferdinandat Sarajevo
August 4 - British
Empire enters firstWorld War
1915 Dardanelles expedition
ending in British withdrawal fromGallipoli in 1916
Unofficial strike on Clyde
South Wales miners strike
1916 Battle of the Somme
Battle of Jutland
Lloyd
George succeeds Asquith as Prime Minister
1917 Battle of Passchendaele
Food Ministry reorganized
1918 November 11 - End of first World War
1919 Treaty of Versailles
London police strike
National railway strike
Cotton Operatives strike
1920 Civil war in Ireland
Deflation and price slump sets in
First meeting of League of Nations
1921 "Triple Alliance"
Miners, dockers, and railwaymen strikeon "Black Friday," but strike is
broken when dockers and railwaymen backdown.
1922 Fall of LLoyd George, Bonar Law leads Conservative
government
1923 Bonar Law resigns, Stanley Baldwin becomes PM
1924 January - First
Laborgovernment headed by MacDonald
1925 Britain
goes back on the gold standard
1926 May 3-12 - General strike
1931 Financial Crisis Britain
goes off the gold standard.
Hoover
moratorium on inter-governmental debt
Gold standard collapses
1932 Ottoawa Conference institutes imperial preference
on tradewithin the British Empire
1935 Conservatives win election, Baldwin
becomes PM
June 18 Anglo-German Naval Agreement
Germantonnage would not exceed 35% of English tonnage.
(This
agreementestranged France
from Britain).
September - Ethiopian Crisis
1936 Death of George V
- Edward VIII abdicates - George VI becomes king
1937 Neville
Chamberlain becomes new Conservative PM
January 2 - Anglo-Italian Mediterranean
Agreement
1938 September 29 - Munich
Agreement
1939 March 31 - British Guarantee to Poland
September 3 - Britain
declares war on Germany
1940 Churchill replaces Chamberlain as PM
British withdrawal from Dunkirk
Battle for Britain
1941 Luftwaffe blitz on many British cities
Soviet Union and the United
States enter the war
1942 Loss of Singapore
Battle of Stalingrad
Beveridge Report on Social Security
1943 Successful North African Campaigns
Anglo-American armies invade Italy
1944 D-Day invasion of France
Butler's Education Act
1945 May 8 - End of second World War in Europe
August 15 - End of war in far East
Landslide Labor victory Clement Attlee becomes Prime Minister
Beginning of involvement in Greece
Beginning of troubles in Arabia Intermittent
frontier conflicts in Aden
and Arabian Protectorates.
1947 India,
Pakistan,
and Burma
become independent
Pound convertibility crisis pound only able to
remain freely convertible with the US dollar for one month.
Coal and other industries nationalized
Treaty of Dunkirk: A 50 year Anglo-French
alliance, also including the Benelux countries.
1948 Beginning of the Berlin Blockade RAF units
participate.
1949 NATO founded
April 18 - Independence of Eire: Ireland
breaks off all ties with Great Britain
and becomes an
independent state.
devaluation of the pound
1950 March 29 - Churchill urges the rearmament of
Germany
Korean War begins
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