Europe

Europe
Please scroll down the page.
europe map

The map shows all the British possessions, underlined in pink, during the last two hundred years with post First World War borders.

The 'Mother Country', Great Britain & Ireland

England first ventured into Ireland as long ago as 1172 but only much later was it formally bought under English rule. Wales was bought under English rule by Edward the First in 1282.
As early as 1559 the Scottish congregation had formally proposed the union of the crowns of Scotland and England but in England the innovation met at first with great opposition. It was not until 1604 that Scotland united with England when James the Sixth of Scotland also became James the First of England after the death of Elizabeth the First in 1603. Scotland and England becoming Great Britain. However Scotland still had it's own parliament and it wasn't until 1707 that the England and Wales parliament formally joined with the Scottish parliament. Ireland continued to make it's own laws until 1801 when the Irish parliament united with that of Great Britain (Scotland, England and Wales) to become

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The name 'Great Britain' has it's origins in Britannia Major, the name given to the island to distinguish it from Britannia Minor or Brittany.

The Union Flag

The first Union Flag 1606

England Scotland Ireland

+ + = Union Flag since 1801
St. George St. Andrew St. Patrick
The flag of Wales did not feature in the Union Flag, the country having been annexed in 1282. It was merged into the Kingdom of England, with the Act of Union in 1536. However the Welsh do have a traditional flag, officially recognized in 1959.

Dissent in Ireland

During the middle 19th and early 20th centuries dissent with Britain grew to such an extent that Ireland, excepting six counties in the north was given self rule. 1922 saw the emergence of the Irish Free State, a dominion within the British Empire. It was not until 1949 that the Irish Free State ended it's links with Great Britain and became The Republic of Ireland. The six counties comprising Northern Ireland chose to remain within the United Kingdom. The official title of the UK becoming; The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Irish Free State, Irish Republic Northern Ireland

Territories in Europe

Heligoland

Heligoland Was seized from Denmark in 1807 and became a formal British possession in 1814. It was ceded to Germany in 1890 in exchange for British autonomy of Zanzibar.

Minorca

The Wars of the Spanish Succession saw Minorca pass into British hands in 1708. It was captured by the French, restored to Britain, retaken by Spain, seized again by Britain and finally ceded to Spain by the peace of Amiens in 1803.

Ionian Islands The islands were taken from the French by the British from 1809. With the abdication of Napoleon, Corfu was surrendered and with the Treaty of Paris on 9th November 1815, the islands came under the protection of Great Britain. By a treaty signed on 29th March 1864 the islands were ceded to Greece.

Alternative 1966

Gibraltar Strategically important, the 'Rock', captured from the Spanish has been a British possession since 1704 and remains a British Dependant Territory.

From 1964 Malta Like Gibraltar, a very important possession for securing the sea routes to the Suez Canal and the Empire in the East. The Islands were seized from the French in 1800, who had taken them in 1798. However, formal recognition as a British possession came in 1814 with the Treaty of Paris. Malta became an independent state within the Commonwealth on 21st September 1964 and a republic in 1974.

From 1960 Cyprus Technically an island off Asia Minor in the Middle East. It was leased from the Ottoman Empire in 1878, taken as a full British possession in 1914 and declared a Crown Colony in 1925. Independence within the Commonwealth was granted to the island on 16th August 1960. Britain still has major military bases on the island, classed as Sovereign territory.

Home