Re: Curious - what are the distinctions between England, Great Britain
Curious - what are the distinctions between England, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom?
England and the United Kingdom I can distinguish, but it is the relationship between England and Great Britain, as well as the relationship between Great Britain and the United Kingdom which I am ambiguous about as an American.
Alright.
So here's the deal:
The group of islands located north of Western Europe is known as the British Isles or as Britain and Ireland.
The eastern island is called Great Britain. The western island is called Ireland.
On the island of Great Britain, centuries after the Romans left, there used to be three separate states: The
Kingdom of England, the
Kingdom of Scotland, and the
Principality of Wales. On the island of Ireland, the K
ingdom of Ireland was established.
During the Middle Ages, the Kingdom of England conquered the Principality of Wales and incorporated it into England. The Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland used to constantly fight. Meanwhile, the Kingdom of England eventually conquered the Kingdom of Ireland, though they didn't formally incorporate it into England as they had with Wales.
After the Queen of England, Elizabeth I, died in the early 1600s, she left no direct heirs. As a result, the King of Scotland, James VI, inherited the English throne. He therefore became simultaneously the King of Scotland and the King of England. However, England and Scotland remained separate, independent states with their own unique Parliaments. Think of it as being like what would happen if someone became President of the United States and President of Mexico at the same time. This continued for James's heirs.
To celebrate this
union of the crowns,
a flag was created that combined the
Flag of the Kingdom of England (known as St. George's Cross) with the
Flag of the Kingdom of Scotland (known as St. Andrew's Cross or the Saltire).
When the monarchy was overthrown in England and the Commonwealth of England was established under Oliver Cromwell during the Interregnum as a result of the English Civil War, the Commonwealth of England passed the Act of Union 1652, which annexed Scotland. But that was all undone when the monarchy was restored and the Kingdom of England re-established; they became separate kingdoms sharing a single line of monarchs again.
In 1707, the Kingdoms of England and Scotland passed the
Acts of Union 1707, which dissolved the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland and their respective monarchies and parliaments, and created in their place a new state known as the Kingdom of Great Britain. The Kingdom of Great Britain was legally a new state with a new monarchy and a new Parliament, though of course the persons involved in those roles under the previous governments continued in the new united Parliament and monarchy. The 1606 "King's Colors" flag that had originally been created to represent the unity of the English and Scottish crowns was now adopted as the Flag of the Kingdom of Great Britain -- the Union Flag, aka the
Union Jack.
For the record, it was the Kingdom of Great Britain that the Thirteen Colonies declared their independence from in 1776.
In 1800, the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland (which, recall, was essentially a puppet government for the English and then the British) passed the
Act of Union 1800, which dissolved the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland and replaced them with the new
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. As with 1707, it dissolved the existing state, monarchy, and parliament and replaced them with new counterparts. This is the modern British state. That year,
St. Patrick's Cross was added to the Union Flag, creating the modern Union Jack. Because Wales had been conquered by England long before the Acts of Union 1707, they are not represented in the Union Jack, as they were at that time considered to be a part of England (though they aren't anymore).
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland existed as a state uniting the peoples of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland until 1922, when all of the counties on the island of Ireland other than the northeasternmost six left the United Kingdom to form the
, a sovereign Dominion within the British Empire with a legal status akin to Canada's or Australia's. Meanwhile, those six counties stayed in the UK and became known as [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Ireland"]Northern Ireland.
The Irish Free State, like Canada, was considered a separate country within the Empire, but the UK King was considered to be the King of the Irish Free State and represented by a Governor-General. The IFS was dissolved in 1937 and replaced with the current Irish state, known formally in English as
Ireland and formally in Irish as Éire. It is also sometimes called the Republic of Ireland or the Irish Republic. The Irish Republic is completely independent of the United Kingdom and has no more legal relationship with them than the United States does.
Meanwhile, the United Kingdom changed its name to
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 1927 (and the monarch's title changed to "King/Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" rather than "King/Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland"). That's the UK that still exists today; the UK created in 1801 is considered to be the same legal entity as the one that exists today (unlike the Kingdom of Great Britain or the Kingdoms of England and Scotland).
Anyway, the term "British" is a term that either refers to the peoples or things related to the island of Great Britain, or it is a term that refers to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. "Great Britain" is sometimes used as a synonym for "the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" in the same way that "America" is sometimes used as a synonym for "the United States of America" (ie, the geographic area being used when the speaker is referring to the polity). "Briton" is the UK's demonym, akin to our use of the term "American." The Flags of England, Scotland, and Wales continue as symbols of the unique parts of the UK.
Also, when referring to the Commonwealth of Nations, is it referring to former territories of England or Great Britain?
The Commonwealth of Nations is an international organization that was created after the fall of the British Empire. It consists primarily of states that were once colonies of the United Kingdom. (Colonies of the Kingdom of England, such as Virginia, became colonies of the Kingdom of England in 1707, and colonies of the Kingdom of Great Britain became colonies of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801, and they remained colonies of the UK after its name change in 1927.)
A little history: As a result of something called the
Statute of Westminster 1931, the self-governing dominions of the British empire under the UK's jurisdiction became independent countries. It created independent monarchies for Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the Irish Free State, Newfoundland, and South Africa; as with the Union of the Crowns between England and Scotland, the monarch of the UK would become, separately, the monarch of each of those countries, represented in those countries by a Governor-General. Of those countries, Newfoundland later became part of Canada, and South Africa later became a republic that severed all legal ties to the monarch. The Statute of Westminster 1931 is stil in effect, and it's why Queen Elizabeth today is simultaneously Queen of the United Kingdom, Queen of Canada, Queen of the Commonwealth of Australia, Queen of New Zealand, and Queen of 12 other independent countries. There were other dominions later created where the monarch reigned independently of the UK, and some later became republics. Today, the states that share their monarch with the UK are known as Commonwealth realms.
Anyway, after the last of the British-conquered countries became independent in the early 1960s, the Commonwealth of Nations was created as a cultural successor to the empire -- it's an international organization that consists mostly of states that were once under UK control but which are today independent. It consists of both Commonwealth realms and republics that have severed all legal ties to anything British, and of a couple of states that were never part of the Empire but got to join anyway. In addition to being Queen of sixteen states, Elizabeth II is also Head of the Commonwealth.
Finally, why is the Union Jack (Great Britain) promoted more as the flag of England internationally than the official flag of England (a centered red cross over a white background)?
I don't think it is -- it's promoted as the UK Flag. Because England has the highest population in the UK, though, the UK is very English-dominated, so many English identify the UK with England, albeit inaccurately -- legally, there's no more equality of identification between England and the UK than there is between California and the US.
Sidebar: Also, I am curious to know when it comes to the Parliament, what are the distinctions between the House of Commons and the House of Lords?
The House of Commons is the directly elected lower house of the UK Parliament. Its members are known as "Members of Parliament," or MPs. The House of Lords is the upper house of the UK Parliament. It used to consist of the noblemen, and its members remain known as Peers. In the early 60s, though, inherited Peerages were abolished, and today Peers are created by the Queen upon recommendation from the Prime Minister (meaning that the PM actually picks Peers). The Peers used to consist mostly of noblemen (plus clergy from the Church of England), but nowadays it's mostly people who've done something nifty that the Prime Minister felt like rewarding (or his or her former cronies). A law passed in the early 1900s means that the Lords basically can't stop the Commons from passing any bill they want into law (though they can delay it a bit for debate). By convention, a Prime Minister cannot be from the Lords, only the Commons.
A small segment of the House of Lords, known as the Law Lords, consists of judges chosen to serve as the highest court of appeal in the UK, though that will change when the new
Supreme Court of the United Kingdom begins its work.
Side note:
Within the UK, the UK Parliament created devolved Scottish, Welsh, and Northern Irish parliaments that have limited jurisdiction over their areas in the same way that state legislatures do in the US. The difference, though, is that the UK Parliament created them and can abolish them at its pleasure, whereas the US Congress cannot abolish a state government.
ETA:
I see that this was all covered before. But hopefully hearing it another way will also help you understand it.
