British Republic
United Republic of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | |
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Coat of arms
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Anthem: Land of Hope and Glory | |
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Location of the British Republic (green) and the European Union (light green) Location of the British Republic (green) and the European Union (light green) | |
| Capital and largest city | London |
| Official languages | English |
| Ethnic groups |
87% White 7% Asian 3% Black 2% Mixed 1% Other |
| Religion | Church of England |
| Demonym(s) | British · Briton |
| Government | Unitary parliamentary constitutional republic |
• President | Daniel Corbyn |
• Prime Minister | Anna Hudson |
• President of the Parliament | Jonathan Cromwell |
| Legislature | Parliament |
| National Assembly | |
| Regional Assembly | |
| Formation | |
• Laws in Wales Acts | 1535 and 1542 |
• Commonwealth established | 1649 |
• Republic established | September 23, 1792 |
• ECC Ascension | January 1, 1973 |
• Current constitution | March 13, 1973 |
| Area | |
• Total | 242,495 km2 (93,628 sq mi) |
• Water (%) | 1.34 |
| Population | |
• 2016 estimate | 65,648,000 |
• 2011 census | 63,181,775 |
• Density | 255.6/km2 (662.0/sq mi) |
| GDP (PPP) | 2016 estimate |
• Total | $2.79 trillion |
• Per capita | $42,518 |
| GDP (nominal) | 2016 estimate |
• Total | $2.68 trillion |
• Per capita | $42,848 |
| Gini (2014) |
31.9 medium |
| HDI (2015) |
0.908 very high |
| Currency |
Euro (EUR) Pound sterling (£) |
| Time zone | UTC+0 (Greenwich Mean Time) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (British Summer Time) |
| Driving side | left |
| Calling code | +44 |
| Internet TLD | .gb |
The United Republic of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the British Republic (BR), or Britain, is a sovereign country located in western Europe. Lying off the northern-west coast of mainland Europe, the British Republic includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands. Northern Ireland remains part of the British Republic and is the only part of the island of Ireland that remains under British control and shares borders with the neighboring state of the Republic of Ireland. Beyond the land border, the British Republic is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to its east, the English Channel to its south and the Celtic Sea to its south-south-west, giving it the 12th-longest coastline in the world and he Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland. With an area of 242,500 square kilometres (93,600 sq mi), the British Republic is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants according to 2016 estimates. Together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union.
The British Republic was originally a series of kingdoms on the British Isles with the most well known being the Kingdom of England. During the English Civil War, the monarchy was overthrown by the Parliamentarians lead by Oliver Cromwell and established a republican commonwealth government over the former kingdom. While the monarchy was eventually restored, the republican ideals remained ingrained in the British DNA and would resurface a century later. The United Kingdom was then established and formed an empire sometime around the 18th century and began colonizing large parts of the world. Following the disastrous British defeat during the American Revolutionary War, the kingdom was bankrupt from the war which caused many lower-class peasant citizens to revolt and overthrow the monarchy in the British Revolution by 1792. The monarchy was replaced with a republic making it one of the first republics in modern history next to the French Republic across the sea. The First Republic lasted from 1792 until 1806 when the First French Empire invaded and conquered the nation, but later broke away in 1813 during the War of the Sixth Coalition and won its independence in the Battle of Bristol.
Afterwards, the British Republic established a colonial union like the one in France after the Berlin Conference and colonized large portions of Africa and Asia, making it one of the largest colonial empires in human history. After tensions broke out in Europe over Germany and its allies, World War I had began and the British fought alongside the allies and eventually won. The British Republic supported the Weimar Republic during the German Revolutions in 1918-19. After Hitler rose to power, the British mainland came under threat and the republic fought alongside the Allied Powers to bring an end to the fascist state and succeeded by 1945. Since the end of World War II, the British Republic has been a major regional power and a major influential player in world affairs. It currently has the fifth largest economy in the world and ranks 16th in the Human Development Index and is home to some of the most iconic landmarks in human history and is a major ally to the United States of North America and a contributing member in the European Union.
Etymology
The word "Britain" comes from the Latin word Britannia~Brittania, via Old French Bretaigne and Middle English Breteyne, and possibly influenced by Old English Bryten(long), and probably also from Latin. An early written reference of the British Isles originates from the Greek explorer Pytheas of Massalia and later Diodorus of Sicily and Strabo who quote Pytheas' use of variants such as Prettanikē, "The Britannic [land, island]", and nesoi Brettaniai, "Britannic islands", with "Pretani" being a Celtic word that probably means "the painted ones" or "the tattooed folk", referring to body decoration. The modern Welsh name for the island is (Ynys) Prydain and This demonstrates that the original Common Brittonic form had initial P- not B- (which would give **Brydain) and -t- not -tt- (else **Prythain).
History
Before 1649
The settlement of anatomically modern humans of what would become Britain occurred in waves beginning around 30,000 years ago. By the end of the region's prehistoric period, the population is thought to have belonged to a culture termed Insular Celtic which comprised Brythonic Britain and Gaelic Ireland. Following the Roman conquest of Britain in 43 AD and the 400 year rule of southern Britain, was later followed by the invasion of Germanic Anglo-Saxon settlers which reduced the Brythonic area mainly to what was to become Wales and the historic Kingdom of Strathclyde. Most of the region settled by the Anglo-Saxons became unified as the Kingdom of England in the 10th century, meanwhile the Gaelic-speakers of north-western Britain united with the Pics to create the Kingdom of Scotland in the 9th century.
The Normans and their Breton allies invaded England in 1066 from northern France after successfully conquering the region. The invaders sieged control over large parts of Wales, conquered much of Ireland, and were even invited into Scotland to settle in the region itself and brought feudalism to all of the countries that they conquered and brought the Norman-French culture along with them, though they did eventually assimilate with the culture of the other regions that were successfully conquered. The subsequent medieval-era English kings had completed the conquest of Wales and made an unsuccessful attempt to annex Scotland. Following the Declaration of Arbroath, Scotland had maintained its independence, albeit in near-constant conflict with England and the English monarchs, through inheritance of substantial territories in France and claims to the French crown, were also heavily involved in conflicts in France, most notably the Hundred Years War, while the Kings of Scots were in an alliance with the French during this period.
The early modern period saw religious conflict erupt resulting from the Protestant Reformation and the introduction of Protestant state churches in each country. Wales was fully incorporated into the Kingdom of England, and Ireland was constituted as a kingdom in personal union with the English crown. In what was to become Northern Ireland, the lands of the independent Catholic Gaelic nobility were confiscated and given to Protestant settlers from England and Scotland down south.
Commonwealths of England
In the mid-17the century, England had fallen into a series of conflicts and the eventual outbreak of the English Civil War on August 22nd, 1642. The war saw the Parliamentarians, lead by Oliver Cromwell, fight against the royalists from 1642 until 1651 when the monarchies were overthrown and replaced with a unitary republic known as the Commonwealth of England. The first commonwealth had encompassed England and Ireland while Scotland remained an independent state from its establishment in 1649 until 1653 with the signing of the Instrument of Government that same year. The Commonwealth later expanded to include Scotland in 1653 during a period known as the Protectorate from 1653 until 1659 and later the establishment of the Second Commonwealth known as the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 1659 until 1660 with the official disestablishment of the commonwealth in the Declaration of Breda and the three states broke up into three independent kingdoms, though Neo-Cromwell though persisted throughout the period.
United Kingdom
Kingdom of Great Britain
From 1660 until 1701, the three kingdoms remained independent until a series of wars and conflicts lead England, Scotland, and Wales to join together in a single union known as the Acts of Union of 1701 and officially merged to create the Kingdom of Great Britain. Anne, the English monarch, took over as the monarch of Great Britain and ruled it from 1707 until her death in 1714. Under her reign, she established the Empire of Great Britain, often known as the British Empire, and claimed all oversees holdings of the previous Kingdom of England as colonies of the new empire and claimed full jurisdiction over them. Scotland would be integrated and annexed into Great Britain and Ireland was put under intensive British influence, but it wouldn't be fully annexed until the start of the 19th Century. The new British Empire soon began expanding across the seas and soon found themselves landing in the new world and began establishing settlements and colonies on the east coast of the North American continent.
The new colonies would be known as British America and expanded from the East and Central parts of the North American mainland all the way up to modern day Quebec and its surrounding regions. Britain remained free from conflicts up until the Seven Years' War where it the empire with its colonies and allies went to war against the rival states of the Kingdom of France, the Holy Roman Empire, the Russian Empire and other rival states. The war was fought in Europe, but expanded to the Americas, Asia, and Africa. The war ended with pre-war conditions being returned, but the British managed to acquire new lands from both France and Spain after the war and grew their influence over the Americas. The native indigenous tribes and population would prove to be an issue in the years following the end of the war as well as the immigration of former French and Spanish colonists out of the colonies the British gained in the war, but both issues were eventually solved and British America was stabilized and grew in the years following the war's end.
American Revolution
During the 1760s and 1770s, many of the colonial citizens of the British Colonies had began to find themselves alienated and detached from the royal government in London across the pond. The British Parliament had been taxing the colonists at an alarming rate and the slow economic development of the colonies made the high tax rates unsustainable for the colonists and relations deteriorated from careless neglect to outright revolt when many of the intellectuals and public figures of the colonies formed a new constitution and declared themselves independent from the British Empire. This lead to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War in 1775 which ended in 1783 with a decisive victory for the American revolutionaries and the Continental Army. By the end of the war, the United States of America was established and was internationally recognized by Britain and other major European powers.
Revolution and Collapse
Main Article: British Revolution
Following the end of the American Revolutionary War, the British Empire had seen a loss of its North American territories and all of the natural advantages and assets that they held. The natural resources and financial revenue from the colonies was instrumental in supporting the empire as the other colonies were unable to properly supply the empire and it found itself financially strained surpassing revolts in many of the other colonies. The successful revolt in North America lead to the British government becoming heavily strained financially and the general public felt the most of it as the public was highly taxed to support the war against the revolutionaries. The failure of the monarchy to lead the British to victory in North America and its abuse of the general public lead to a resurgence of Neo-Cromwellian Thought and eventually, the idea of republicanism began to surge among the lower classes of Britain. By 1787, Neo-Cromwellian politicians and officials, such as Winfield Oakden of Plymouth, began mobilizing the oppressed classes of Britain and began advocating for the restoration of the Commonwealth and for a new republican system of government. The British government however, cracked down on Oakden and his associates and followers sparking the British Revolution by the end of the year. The revolution was fought across southern England and the climatic battle was fought outside of London in the Battle of the Hills by 1790.
The battle saw British republican militants fight against the British Royal Army in the outskirts of London and the victor would have a clear path to the city and the king himself. The battle went on for three months and ended when the Royal Army was defeated and was overrun by the republicans and were forced to retreat to London which as embroiled in riot and revolt from republican sympathizers. As London defended into chaos, the city was laid siege to by the Republican Army and emerged victorious in the Siege of London in 1791. By the end of the siege, London had fallen to the republicans and King George III and the royal family were forced into exile and fled to Sweden which granted them full asylum. With the royal family gone, the last pockets of the Royal Army fell and surrendered by April of 1792 and the First British Republic was established that same month.
First Republic
Main Articles: First British Republic, Yorkshire Rebellion, French invasion of Britain
Following the republicans' success in taking the city of London and the subsequent exile of the royal family, the remnants of the Royal Army had eventually surrendered and the last remnants swore allegiance to the newly established Republic of Britain by September 23rd, 1792 and the First British Republic was now the sole legal and legitimate state that governed the entirety of the British Isles. The various crown dependencies and overseas colonies and territorial holdings of the former United Kingdom would be a subject to debate as members of Oakden's Inner Circle and the newly established Assembly of the Commonwealth had debated on whether or not the overseas holdings should be granted independence or remain British territory as part of a union of overseas holdings by the republic. Other issues had soon emerged such as what to do with the captured royals and their supporters and how to manage the new republic.
On September 23rd, Winfield Oakden addressed the members of the parliament, now known as the Assembly of the Commonwealth, where he proclaimed the establishment of the First Republic of Britain and he was to lead it as its Lord Protector. He then had many of his close associates, key figures in the revolution, take over in his cabinet as State Counsels and his future successors. As Lord Protector, Oaken's first action was to deal with the captured members of the former royal government and military and had them put on trial in what would become the Oakden Trials where he had many former members of the Royal Army and Government either imprisoned or executed for crimes against the British people and acts of cruelty during the revolution against republican dissidents and sympathizers as well as crimes against the working class. Oakden spent most of his time as Lord Protector forging a republic where the common man and the workers would be in charge and would elect representatives that come from their respective backgrounds. Such ideals and theories would later be used to forge the idea of Oakdenian Socialism in the future a century after the First Republic's establishment.
Oakden governed the Republic of Britain from 1792 until his death in 1802 due to failing health, which was a common issue he had since childhood and only worsened during the revolution and other major battles. Oakden was eventually buried and was succeeded by Deric Duran who took over as the second Lord Protector of the British Republic a week after his death on November 18th, 1802. His reign was one of turbulence and instability as Duran's extremist stance on republicanism and paranoia lead him to crack down on anyone who he saw as royalists and branded them as traitors. Duran was also a hardline Neo-Cromwellian and he had strengthened the Church of England and gave it more privileges while in office, which alienated the country's Roman Catholic population. In 1804, counter-revolutionary forces from the British Restorationists to the Royal and Catholic Army of England rose up in Yorkshire and waged an insurgency against the revolutionary republican government. The ensuing War in Yorkshire, also known as the Yorkshire Rebellion, would go on for eight months and ended in December of that year with the rebels crushed.
Duran's rule was very unpopular as many within the revolutionary government saw him as a tyrant and some journalists, such as Patrick Thomson, compared him to King George II and other tyrannical monarchs due to his authoritarian system of governance. Thomson was eventually arrested by the revolutionary government and was imprisoned on charges of treason and sedition against the republic. His arrest sparked outrage and Britain further descended into chaos as civil unrest and revolts spread throughout the country. The unrest was eventually exploited by Napoleon Bonaparte when he lead the armies of the First French Empire in an invasion of the British Isles in spring of 1806 and had successfully conquered the nation by November of that same year and established a confederation of client states in the former republic known as the Confederation of the British Isles with Napoleon to rule as its Lord Protector.
Napoleonic Era
Main Article: Confederation of the British Isles, Battle of Bristol
After the surrender of the First British Republic on November 1st, 1806 to the French, Duran and his cabinet signed the Treaty of the Confederation of the British Isles two days later in London. The former republic found its territories divided into 23 separate states each lead by a prince or noble from the British Royal Family, which managed to travel to France after Napoleon toon over as Emperor and permitted them to stay. He anointed himself Lord Protector of the British Isles and appointed Sir Watson Farrington of Sussex as the Prince-Primate of the Confederation and as the head of the Diet of the Commonwealth, the legislative body of the confederation. Duran and his cabinet were given an ultimatum by the French; either Duran and his associates swear allegiance to the Confederation and the French Empire by extension, or be imprisoned and tried for crimes against the French Empire and people. Most of the cabinet stood down and took part in the client state and its government, but Duran remained defiant and he was eventually tried and hanged in 1807 for his role in the Yorkshire Rebellion and his persecution of the Catholic Church in Britain.
For most of the Napoleonic Wars, the Confederation of the British Isles was used as a major trading hub as France had access to trade routes and used them to financially support the empire and its war efforts via trade deals and routes with the North American Republic. Many French colonists from Haiti fled to North America and later up to France after the Haitian Revolution which saw the former colony become an independent state and the white French colonial population was forcibly expelled by the native Haitians in response to years of slavery. In the lead up to the French invasion of Russia, up 80,000-120,000 British citizens were conscripted into the French army and were eventually sent to the Russian Empire to take part in the invasion. The invasion failed however and only a third of the British conscripts ever made it back to Britain. Following the start of the War of the Sixth Coalition, the Coalition armies made it to Britain and were supported by Republican armies who won against the French in 1813 at the Battle of Bristol which resulted in the dissolution of the Confederation and the establishment of a new provisional government.
Provisional Period
Main Articles: Provisional Government of Britain, Second British Republic
In the aftermath of the War of the Sixth Coalition, the Confederation was dissolved and the entire British Isles was placed under a military occupation by the armies of the coalition, mainly the Swedish, Spanish, and Portuguese armies, and were supported by various militias comprised of republican sympathizers and supporters organized into the National Republican Army of Britain. A provisional government was established and it was made up of members of the British Royal Family that surrendered to the coalition in the aftermath of the Battle of Bristol and the coalition invasion of the British Isles as a whole leading to the creation of a constitutional monarchy that governed the provisional state known as the Kingdom of the British Isles. The kingdom was overseen by the coalition member states, but they allowed local Britons to act as leaders of the government and had the exiled royal family return to govern the nation.
This period saw peace for only a year and a half and it wasn't long before the National Republican Army began to mobilize and eventually stage a violent uprising in London. The ensuing London Uprising was suppressed, but rebellions broke out across Britain and many provinces were captured by republican forces and sympathizers leading to the establishment of the Second British Republic in 1814. The Second Republic fought a long war against the coalition and their government, but the coalition had become exhausted from the war and during the negotiations for the Concert of Europe, the Treaty of the Isles was passed and the Second British Republic was given full administration over the British Isles and was recognized as a sovereign and independent nation. Worth Fillmore was elected as Lord Protector of the British Republic.
19th century progress
Era of Revolution, British Colonial Empire, Scramble for Africa
The 19th century was marked by the Industrial Revolution which saw British society transform fundamentally as cities and urban centers expanded and rose all across the nation. Britain had managed to industrialize in the 1770s, but was delayed due to internal unrest and the ensuing wars from the British Revolution to revolutionary wars and war against the French. By the 1830s, industrialization was in full swing and was accelerating by 1842 as many British industrialists and those from the rest of Europe helped Britain industrialize and London began expanding along with other major cities.
Modern era
World War I
British Republic during World War I
By the early 20th century, the British Republic had aligned itself with the French Republic and the Russian Empire in 1907 as a means of countering the Triple Alliance of the German Empire, Austria-Hungary and the Kingdom of Italy. By 1914, Britain had declared war on Germany once the July Crisis resulted in a series of declarations of war that pinned the Triple Entente against the Central Powers. By the time the war stared at the end of July in 1914, the British Republican Army stood at only 80,000 strong and so a massive recruitment campaign was launched. The campaign was a success and over 720,000 Britons volunteered for the army and the British Expeditionary Force was formed and sent to the Western Front to support the French Army. The British forces first engaged the Germans in the Battle of the Frontiers, but the Germans won and the British and French forces were pushed back to Paris, but managed to repel the Germans before the city could be attacked.
The British Army itself would soon be bogged down in trench warfare as the Imperial German Army built a series of trenches across the Western Front and the Allies were soon stuck in a brutal stalemate. Belgium, which Britain sought to protect its neutrality, was occupied during this time and remnants of the Belgian Army would be integrated into the French and British Armies and fight alongside them to free their country. The British would carry out various offensives during the First World War with the most infamous being the Battle of the Somme. The campaign was intent on ending the war, but it failed to do and the British had limited gains by the end of the battle. Britain would contribute heavily to the Allied war effort and by 1916, conscription was introduced due to low volunteer rates and high casualty rates on the various fronts of the war.
Interwar conflicts
World War II
British Republic during World War II
Cold War-present
Geography
Politics
Main Article: Politics of the British Republic
The British Republic is a unitary state with a parliamentary republican system of government according to the current draft of the constitution in 1973. Government powers are divided into three separate branches; legislative, executive, and judiciary powers. The President of the Republic is the head of state of Britain and is permitted to serve a maximum of two terms in office with the post being renewable only once. The president is the commander in chief of the nation's armed forces, is tasked with appointing a new prime minister with the consent of the parliament, is the head of the nation's cabinet, and exercises executive authority, but holds some influence on foreign policy. The Prime Minister is the head of government, who has four deputy prime ministers and 16 ministers in charge of particular sectors of activity in the cabinet. As the executive branch, the office is responsible for proposing legislation and a budget, executing the laws, and guiding the foreign and internal policies of the republic.
The legislative body of Britain is the nation's parliament which is overseen by the President of the Parliament. The parliament is the bicameral legislative body of the British Republic and is charge of managing and imposing existing and new laws onto the country if they are approved of. The Prime Minister often goes to the parliament for domestic policies and uses the president as a means of seeking to change, impose, alter, or remove already existing or new laws. The British Republic is a multi-party democracy and has six political parties within the parliament with the largest and most influential being the Conservative and Labour Parties.
Government
Main Article: Government of the British Republic
The government of the British Republi operates under a parliamentary republican system where dos executive powers and given o er to the central government. The British Government is lead by the Prime Minister, who is selected by the President and is approved by the parliament, and appoints the remaining members of the Cabinet of Ministers. The Government of the United Republic of Great Britain and Northern Ireland exercises its executive powers within the framework of the Constitution of the Republic and relies on the parliament to enact and enforce new laws and legislation. Members of the Cabinet are all appointed by the Prime Minister and serve as members of and are held accountable by the parliament as a whole. The President holds some influence on executive powers, but primarily serves as a ceremonial figurehead in the realm of the British Politics and focuses purely on maintaining and strengthening the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the British Republic at all costs and serves as commander in chief as a result.
Devolved Administrations
Main Articles: Northern Irish Administration, Government of Scotland, Government of Wales
The British Republic has a devolved legislative system and grants much of its power and authority towards the governments of the four constituted countries that make up the republic. Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland all have their own executive or government administrations that permit each constituted country to govern themselves and maintain their own internal affairs and are all lead by a First Minister (or in the case of Northern Ireland, the State Secretary) and each have their own devolved unicameral legislature. England, the largest country in the republic, has no devolved legislature or executive and is instead governed by the central government and parliament.
The Scottish Government and parliament have wide-ranging powers over all matters that are not reserved to the British parliament such as education, healthcare, Scots law, and the local government. In 2011, the Scottish National Party had won the yearly elections and have since then been the dominate political party and force in Scottish politics as First Minister Xavier Hunt and his representatives in parliament have made it the need to advance the needs of Scotland, its people, and its sovereignty the top of their agenda. The current First Minister of Scotland is Chelsea Cole and as advocated Scottish sovereignty since 2014. The Welsh Government and the National Assembly have more limited powers in comparison to Scotland. The Assembly is able to legislate on devolved matters through Acts of the Assembly, which require no prior consent from Westminster. The recent 2011 legislative elections resulted in a Labour victory and is currently lead by Emlen Reese as First Minister.
The Northern Irish Administration is more unique in that is shares similar devolve powers to Scotland and is lead by a joint-coalition government of unionist and nationalist officials. The Northern Irish government is lead by a First Minister and Deputy First Minister who both serve as the leaders and representatives of Northern Ireland to the central government. Devolution in Northern Ireland is contingent on participation by the Northern Irish Administration in the North-South Ministerial Council, where representatives of the Cabinet of Northern Ireland cooperate with representatives of the Government of Ireland on issues affecting the region of Ireland as a whole. The British and Irish governments co-operate on non-devolved matters affecting both Northern and the Republic of Ireland through the British–Irish Intergovernmental Conference, which assumes the responsibilities of the Northern Ireland administration in the event of its non-operation. The administration is often criticized by Irish nationalists for supporting British rule and control over Northern Ireland, which some had cited as sources of stagnant progress in Northern Irish politics, and accused favoritism towards protestants in the region.
Political parties
Main Article: Political Parities in the British Republic
Major parties
- Conservative Party - One of the oldest political parties in the world and the oldest in Britain, the Conservative Party was formed in 1834 and has been one of the dominate and iconic forces in British politics. The party's platform advocates for the preservation of "traditional republican values" and its platform is based around conservative and unionist ideologies and beliefs. Due to its size and influence in politics, the Conservative Party has held a historic majority in parliament since the early 20th century. The current leader of the Conservative Party is Logan Newman, who's set to the a candidate for president in 2020.
- Labour Party - A democratic socialist and social democratic political party, the Labour Party is the second largest and most powerful political party in British politics and is the historic rival to the Conservative Party. The Labour Party is the dominate left-wing faction in British politics and has traditionally advocated for a more liberal British society. In recent years, the party has adopted a left-wing populist platform and has advocated for hardline liberal and progressive policies. The Labour Party is currently lead by Marcus Hendrix, who's responsible for the left-wing populist shift in the party and its politics.
- Liberal Democrats - The Liberal Democrats are a splinter faction of the Labour Party and was formed in 1928 in response to the proceed "radical shift" in the Labour Party's direction during the reform era. The party believes in establishing a liberal democratic state and primarily leans center-left on the political spectrum. The Liberal Democrats have historically worked with the Labour Party in coalition governments and continue to do so, but have criticized the direction taken by the party in recent years. The Liberal Democratic Party is currently lead by Colten Williamson.
- Scottish National Party - A unique political party in parliament, the Scottish National Party is the most vocal party in opposition and is the leading regionalist political party in the British Republic. The party advocates for greater autonomy for Scotland and has pushed for federalization of the British Republic to grant more sovereignty towards Scotland. The party is the dominate faction in Scottish politics and is a notable party in British regionalist movements. The party is currently lead by Chelsea Cole, who's also the First Minister of Scotland and has recently token the party in a controversial direction due to her threats of seeking full Scottish session from Britain, which has reportedly alienated many members within the party.
- Green Party - The Green Party is a political party and is the leading group representing ands pushing for Green politics in the British Republic. The party seeks to transfer Britain away from fossil fuels and adopt a new green energy plan as a means of fighting against climate change. The party works with Labour in coalition governments, but is also the leading party in the Neutral Opposition bloc in parliament as a means of helping increase representation for "unknown political sects" of British society. The party is currently lead by Ayanna Hunt and Zak Riley as President and Vice President.
Minor parties
- Communist Party of Britain - The Communist Party of Britain is a communist political party in the British Republic that was formed in the 1980s in response to decreasing tensions in the Cold War. The party's mission is for the establishment of a communist state in Britain and seeks to abolish what they call "imperialistic capitalist and exploitative elements" in British society. Many party members have sought to join the Labour Party in a coalition government, but Labour's leaders have often sited that their populist message conflicts with the "extremist and unnecessary" communist ideology of the party. The party is currently lead by Franklin Brock as its General Secretary.
- Christian Party - An independent conservative party, the Christian Party is a political party that is a splinter of the Conservative Party that was formed in 2001 in response to the founders called "ignorance and harm" done to "traditional Christian values" in Britain. The party is a Christian democratic party and often advocates for Christian communities in the country. The party is currently lead by Jacob Donovan and has helped the party gain a small but devoted following from evangelicals in Britain.
- Socialist Revolutionary Party - An independent far-left political party, the Socialist Revolutionary Party is a political party formed in the aftermath of the 2008 recession and advocates for the complete abolition of all capitalist elements of the British economy. The party works with the Communist Party, but follows the guise of what they call "Revolutionary populism" as their primary ideology instead of traditional communism, but such elements do exist within the party. The party is currently lead by Sean Hackman as its First Secretary.
- Republican Sovereignty Party - The Republican Sovereignty Party is a right-wing populist party that advocates for the secession of the British Republic from the European Union. While the party had previously grew in popularity and was one of the most popular minor parties in politics, it's seen a decrease in general popularity and a drop in party membership since 2016 and polls have shown increased public opposition to the party at the same time Labour's popularity has been growing since they adopted a left-wing populist message. The party is currently lead by Christopher Butler since 2016 as its president.
- Federalist Party - The Federalist Party is a political party in Britain that advocates for the decentralization of the British Republic and for the replacement of the unitary system into a more open federation similar to that of the United States. The party seeks to federalize Britain as a means of preserving the union and downplaying regionalist sentiment across the country. The party is gaining popularity in places like Scotland and Wales and is currently lead by Joseph Wilson.
Economy
Demographics
Ethnic diaspora
Languages
English is the official language of the British Republic and has been declared official in state documents ever since the days of the First Republic. The majority of the British population speaks English, standing at 92% nationwide, and English is the language used on all signs, government and civilian documents, media and other aspects of British life, however one,y 80% of the population speaks English at home in contrast to the public census.
Religion
Main Article: Religion in the British Republic
Christianity has long since been the dominate religion of the British Republic ever since the Christianization of the British Isles was conducted back in the 7th Century. Roman Catholicism was originally the dominate form of Christianity in Britain and the entire isles was under the direct influence of the Roman Catholic Church prior to the Protestant Reformation in 1517. After Henry VIII of England took over as King of England and had a falling out with Rome, he instituted the English Reformation and formed the Church of England and broke away from Rome. The ensuing events saw Catholic monasteries and sites dissolved and Protestantism took over as the new dominate faith in England. In the 19th Century, the republic saw a revival in Protestant Christianity and adherence during the National Revival and saw religiosity and church attendance rise and for Anglican Church membership to grow as well. In the 1910s and 1940s, the Anglian Church was used by the government in propaganda to boost morale and support the war efforts against Germany and their allies (Central Powers in World War I and the Axis in World War II) during both conflicts. Religiosity remained steadfast until the 1960s when it began a slow decline and later a short revival in the 1970s due to fuel shortages and other economic crisis. In modern times religiosity has hit record lows with church attendance being average according to EU statistics and general religiously and importance of religion in daily lives has declined in favor of more secular lifestyles and values.
Christianity remains the dominate religion in Britain according to the recent 2011 census where 61% of the population identified as Christian while 24% identified as religiously unaffiliated, 5% were listed as Muslim, 3% were listed as Jewish and remaining 7% was put in the "Other" category. The Church of England makes up around 48% of the general religious population, but its membership has declined in recent years while the Catholic Church in Britain has seen growth in its congregations, attendance rates, and overall influence in recent years. The growth of Catholicism is mainly due to immigration from Eastern European countries such as Poland and other cultural trends. Islam is the second largest religion in the country and has grown in recent years due to higher birth rates among the Muslim community as a whole in comparison to other religious groups and the general population as a whole. The high birth rates in Muslim communities have been cited as a means of making up for low conversion rates.
Jews have a long history within the British Isles and make up 3% of the total British population. Most British Jews are secular or reformed Jews with only 1% of the general population adhering to Orthodox Judaism, or a third in the British Jewish community. The majority of British Jews have assimilated into modern British society with most living in culturally and religiously diverse communities in the inner cities like London and Manchester. Orthodox Jews live in their own respective communities isolated from the rest of society. Orthodox Jews mainly live in certain city blocks and are general recognizable due to the attire that they wear to distinguish themselves from the rest of British society as a whole. The isolated and conservative nature of these communities has been the source of criticism and controversy in recent years as reports of child abuse, forced isolation, fundamentalism and homophobia have sprung up within Orthodox communities, half of which are from former community members and the rest from activists.