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United Kingdom formed by union of the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland.
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Role in defeating Napoleon's French Empire leads to Britain becoming pre-eminent imperial power.
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Electoral reform acts begin steady move towards primacy of House of Commons and universal suffrage.
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Devolved government for Ireland becomes a major political issue, splitting Liberal Party and reviving a violent Irish separatist movement.
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Liberal government lays foundations for later welfare state with pensions, work and sickness insurance and the expansion of secondary education.
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Outbreak of First World War. UK enters hostilities against Germany. Gruelling trench warfare in Belgium and France.
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War ends in November with armistice. The number of UK war dead runs to several hundred thousand.
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UK agrees to the foundation of the Irish Free State after three-years Irish war of independence. Northern Ireland remains part of the UK.
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Economic crisis. Millions are unemployed. National Government coalition formed.
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Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain meets the leader of Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler, in Munich. Chamberlain says he has averted war with Germany.
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World War II
1939 - Germany invades Poland. UK declares war on Germany. -
Winston Churchill becomes prime minister. Fighter pilots repel German air attacks in the Battle of Britain. London and other cities badly damaged in German bombing raids.
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Allied troops invade France from Britain on D-Day (6th June) and begin to fight their way towards Germany.
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Germany surrenders on 8 May.
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Decolonisation and new responsibilities
The UK becomes a permanent member of the UN Security Council. -
The UK joins the European Economic Community.
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Conservatives in power
The Conservative politician Margaret Thatcher becomes prime minister. She begins to introduce free-market policies. -
Government begins programme of privatisation of state-run industries, followed by deregulation of financial markets.
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Mrs Thatcher resigns as prime minister after she fails to defeat a challenge to her leadership of the Conservative party. John Major becomes prime minister.
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Downing Street declaration on Northern Ireland - a peace proposal issued jointly with the Irish government.
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Labour landslide
1997 May - Labour Party under Tony Blair wins landslide election victory. -
August - Diana, Princess of Wales, is killed in a car crash in Paris.
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UK forces take part in the air war against Yugoslavia and the consequent multinational force in Kosovo.
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May - UK forces intervene in Sierra Leone to protect and evacuate foreign citizens caught up in the civil war. They subsequently stay on to help train the government army.
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September/November - Following September 11 attacks on targets in the US, PM Tony Blair offers strong support for US-led campaign against international terrorism. British forces take part in air strikes on targets in Afghanistan.
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January - Lord Hutton delivers findings of inquiry into suicide of government scientist David Kelly, who had expressed concern about UK intelligence on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programme to the BBC. .
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London bombings
7 July - 52 people are killed and around 700 are injured in four Islamist suicide bomb attacks on London's transport network. Two weeks later, more would-be bombers fail to detonate four devices on same network. -
May - Leaders of Northern Ireland Assembly sworn in, ending five years of direct rule from London.
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May - Leaders of Northern Ireland Assembly sworn in, ending five years of direct rule from London.
Pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP) becomes the largest party in the Scottish Parliament following elections. -
Financial crisis
October - The government part-nationalises three leading UK banks with a 37 billion pound rescue package. It also pumps billions into the UK financial system after record stock market falls precipitated by the global "credit crunch". -
November - Britain withdraws bulk of its remaining troops in southern Iraq, leaving only a small force tasked with training the Iraqi military.
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Coalition government
May - General election: Conservative Party wins most seats but fails to gain an absolute majority. Conservative leader David Cameron heads first post-war coalition with the third-placed Liberal Democrats.