Military history of the United Kingdom
Defence spending in the UK The Death of General Wolfe 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,[ 1]
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. Its 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
War of the Spanish Succession (1702–13) - England and Scotland , later Great Britain, Holy Roman Empire , Portugal and the Dutch Republic , were allied against France and Spain.[ 2] Jacobite Rebellions (1715–16; 1719; 1745–46) - Civil War
War of the Quadruple Alliance (1718–20) - Great Britain, France, Austria and the Dutch Republic v. Italy and SpainAnglo-Spanish War (1727–1729) War of Jenkins' Ear (1739–42) - Great Britain v. Spain.[ 4] War of the Austrian Succession (1742–48) - Great Britain, Austria and the Dutch Republic v. France and GermanySeven Years' War (1756–63) - the first "world war"
Pontiac's Rebellion (1763–66) - Britain v. American Indian coalitionFirst Anglo-Mysore War (1766–69) - Britain v. Kingdom of Mysore American Revolutionary War (1775–83) - Britain v. United States, France, Netherlands & SpainFirst Anglo-Maratha War (1775–82) - Britain v. Maratha Empire Fourth Anglo-Dutch War (1780–84) - Britain v. the Dutch RepublicSecond Anglo-Mysore War (1780–84) - India Third Anglo-Mysore War (1789–92) - IndiaAustralian frontier wars (1788–1930s) - Britain v. Australian Aborigines French Revolutionary Wars (1793–1802) - Great Britain, Austria, Spain, Russia and Germany v. France
Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1798–99) - IndiaIrish Rebellion (1798) - Britain v. United Irishmen and France.[ 5]
19th century
Australian frontier wars (1788–1930s)[ 6] French Revolutionary Wars (1793–1802) - Great Britain, Austria, Spain, Russia, Prussia, French Royalists v. French Revolutionaries[ 7] Napoleonic Wars (1803–15) - United Kingdom, Prussia, Austria, Sweden, Spain, Portugal and Russia v. France[ 8] First Kandyan War (1803–04) - Sri LankaSecond Anglo-Maratha War (1803–05) - IndiaVellore Mutiny (1806) - IndiaWar of 1812 (1812–15) - Britain v. United States.[ 9] Anglo-Nepalese War (1814–16)Second Kandyan War (1815) - Sri LankaThird Anglo-Maratha War (1817–18) - IndiaAnglo-Ashanti wars (1823–1900) - GhanaFirst Anglo-Burmese War (1824–26)Upper Canada Rebellion (1837)Lower Canada Rebellion (1837)Syrian War (1839–40)First Anglo-Afghan War (1839–42)
First Opium War (1839–42) - United Kingdom v. ChinaGwalior campaign (1843)First Anglo-Sikh War (1845–46) - IndiaNew Zealand Wars (1843–1872)Second Anglo-Sikh War (1848–49) - IndiaSecond Anglo-Burmese War (1852–53)Crimean War (1854–56) - United Kingdom, France, Ottoman Empire, and Piedmont-Sardinia v. RussiaSecond Opium War (1856–60) - United Kingdom and France v. ChinaAnglo-Persian War (1856–57) - United Kingdom and PersiaIndian Rebellion (1857)Pig War (1859) - United Kingdom v. USAnglo-Bhutanese War (1865)Expedition to Abyssinia (1868)Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878–80)Anglo-Zulu War (1879)First Boer War (1880–81)Gun War (1880–81)Mahdist War (1881–99)Third Anglo-Burmese War (1885)Sikkim Expedition (1888)Anglo-Zanzibar War (1896)Tirah Campaign (1897–98)Second Boer War (1899–1902)Boxer Rebellion (1900) - United Kingdom, Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, US, and China
20th century
21st century
List of civil wars
Jacobite Rebellions (1715–16; 1719; 1745–46) - the last civil war in Great Britain
See also
References
^ Acts of Union 1707 parliament.uk, accessed 31 December 2010; Uniting the kingdom? nationalarchives.gov.uk, accessed 31 December 2010; Making the Act of Union 1707 Archived 2011-05-11 at the Wayback Machine scottish.parliament.uk, accessed 31 December 2010^ James Falkner, The War of the Spanish Succession 1701 – 1714 (Pen & Sword, 2015).
^ John Sadler, Culloden: The last charge of the highland clans 1746 (Tempus, 2006).
^ Albert Harkness, "Americanism and Jenkins' Ear." Mississippi Valley Historical Review 37.1 (1950): 61-90 online .
^ Tom Dunne, "1798 and the United Irishmen." The Irish Review (1998): 54-66 online .
^ Peter Stanley, The Remote Garrison: The British Army in Australia 1788–1870 (1986).
^ Arthur Bryant, Years of Endurance 1793–1802 (1942)
^ Arthur Bryant, Years of victory, 1802-1812 (1942).
^ Jeremy Black, "A British View of the Naval War of 1812". Naval History Magazine (August 2008). 22#5 online .
^ Timothy J. Stapleton, ed. Encyclopedia of African Colonial Conflicts (ABC-CLIO, 2016). vol 1.
^ Ian F.W. Beckett, The Great war (2007).
^ "First British troops arrive in Somalia as part of UN mission" . The Guardian . May 2, 2016. Retrieved 2 May 2016 .^ "Cargo bomb plot: SAS hunting al-Qaeda in Yemen" . the telegraph. 2 November 2010.^ "UK and US spend millions to counter Yemeni threat" the independent . 30 October 2010. Archived from the original on 2022-05-14.^ Thomas Colley, "What's in it for Us: Responses to the UK's Strategic Narrative on Intervention in Libya." RUSI Journal 160.4 (2015): 60-69.
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).
