| Confederation of Great Britain and Ireland Cydffederasiwn Prydain Fawr ac Iwerddon Cónaidhm na Breataine Móire agus na Éireann Confédération de Grande-Bretagne et d'Irlande | |
|---|---|
 Flag | |
|
Motto: United We Stand | |
 Location of the Confederation of Great Britain and Ireland | |
| Capital and Largest city |
London (de facto) |
| Official languages | English |
| Recognised regional languages | Scots, Welsh, Irish, Ulster Scots, Manx, Jerrais, Gerrais |
| Ethnic groups | English, Scottish, Welsh, Irish, and others |
| Demonym | British, or relevant to country of origin. |
| Government | Democratic confederation |
• Monarch |
Elizabeth II |
• Established |
April 16th, 1972 |
| Area | |
• Total |
332,053 km2 (128,206 sq mi) |
| Population | |
• 2013 estimate |
68,030,027 |
• 2010 census |
68,029,872 |
| GDP (PPP) | 2013 estimate |
• Total |
$2.498 trillion (£1.560 trillion) |
• Per capita |
$36,728 (£22,949) |
| GDP (nominal) | 2013 estimate |
• Total |
$2.625 trillion (£1.640 trillion) |
• Per capita |
$38,591 (£24,113) |
| Gini |
.29 low |
| HDI (2013) |
0.943 very high |
| Currency | Pound sterling (£) (GBP) |
| Time zone | GMT (UTC+0) |
| Calling code | 44 |
| Internet TLD | .gb |
The Confederation of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (commonly Britain or Great Britain) is a sovereign island state located in the Atlantic Ocean across the English Channel from France and Belgium. Great Britain has numerous overseas territories located in the Americas, the Pacific Ocean, and the Indian Ocean. Despite its various land holdings and claims around the world, the confederation's main societal, economic, and political institutions are located in the British Isles. The Confederation shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland, and the smaller United Kingdom of Wessex and Cornwall to the southwest of England.
Great Britain is a confederation of seven governments under a common crown, rights system, military, and foreign and home affairs system. The Confederation is collectively a democracy operating under seven regional governments bound by a common code of law. The Great British Confederation was established by an Act of Parliament two months after the Irish-British War. The nation has since then established national peace from civil unrest with the new confederation system, though the population's ability to see itself as one nation rather than a collection of eight has been hindered. The Confederation is ranked highly in democracy, freedom, and rights.
Great Britain's economy is a developed one, being the starting point of the industrial revolution it was the first to be classified as an "industrialized nation." The nation's long and intricate history of colonization and imperialism has given way to massive foreign connections, especially with Canada, India, South Africa, and Australia. Great Britain's national economy is somewhat stable, and a common currency, the Pound Sterling, is the third most traded currency in the world. Due to its high level of euroscepticism, the Confederation is not expected to join the European Union or the Eurozone in its current economic situation. The nation is highly indexed in human development and wealth distribution, though most regional governments are socialist in most of their economic affairs.
Great Britain is a member of the United Nations and permanent member of the Security Council, the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organization, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and co-Development, the Commonwealth of Nations, the G7, the G8, and the G20, and it is also an observer of the European Council. The nation also maintains diplomatic relations with over 190 countries around the globe.
History[]
British-Irish War and Confederation[]
On February 1st, 1972, Irish general David O'Hughs launched a coup d'etat that overtook the nation within two weeks. General President O'Hughs was highly critical of the United Kingdom, and a strong Irish-unionist supporter of Northern Ireland. The General President called for proper retaliation by the international community on the United Kingdom. However, the United Nations declared the takeover of O'Hughs to be illegal, and rejected the membership of Ireland so long as O'Hughs remained in power. Enraged at the United Nations, O'Hughs launched the Invasion of Northern Ireland on February 17th, 1972, in an attempt to take the region by military power. The Irish Republican Army and the Irish Army quickly took control of the region, and had imprisoned members of the pro-British government by February 28th. The United Kingdom declared war on the Republic of Ireland, and created a naval blockade that successfully cut off Ireland entirely by sea. With the entire island of Ireland cut off, the United Kingdom then launched the Invasion of Ireland. The invasion lasted from March 2nd to March 7th. O'Hughs committed suicide soon after the fighting in Dublin ended, but many high ranking officials in the Irish Army and the Irish Republican Army were captured. The Treaty of Swansea was signed between Ireland and the United Kingdom on March 9th, 1972, ending fighting and allowing for a British occupation of Ireland. Sporadic fighting continued from the 9th to the 27th, when the last cell of resistance was destroyed near Tobercurry.
United Kingdom Forces in Northern Ireland.
British occupation was centered around the integration of Ireland as a whole into the United Kingdom. Many groups in Ireland, and several even on the island of Great Britain, opposed the integration of Ireland into the Union. As the occupation was prolonged by civilian protests against British integration, similar anti-Union protests took place in Scotland and Wales calling for the disbandment of the United Kingdom. On April 14th, 1972, Queen Elizabeth II called for a meeting of representatives from all British countries, including Ireland, at Westminster Palace. At the meeting, publicly chosen representatives of Scotland, England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland met over the state of the United Kingdom as a single entity. The Irish and Scottish representatives called for the disbandment of the United Kingdom, while the Welsh and English representatives called for a resolution between the countries to solve the problem without causing economic and political hardships on their separate countries. The debates lasted two days before all representatives met a resolution to become a confederation of semi-independent nations under a single military, common law system, and foreign affairs system. The Parliament approved the resolution as the last Act of Parliament, and Queen Elizabeth II gave Royal Assent the same day. The Republic of Ireland was reformed with a watchful eye from the newly created Confederation.
Unrest and Restructuring[]
On May 4th, 1979, Margaret Thatcher was elected the Prime Minister of England as a member of the Conservative Party. Thatcher had strongly opposed the confederation, and had adopted a Unionist stance which was supported by most Englishmen. While the English supported a strong Union under a single, powerful government, the other countries of the Confederation had achieved political and economic stability through diplomatic cooperation. Wales, Scotland, and Ireland all strongly opposed a unitary government that would be similar to the pre-1972 government; England, on the other hand, strongly supported a large, unitary government under a single monarch and single parliament. With Thatcher's election, she called for England to rise again as it had done in the past, and incited England-based Unionist organizations to carry out attacks against the otehr governments of the Confederations, however many rioted against Thatcher. The most significant of these attacks was the Holyrood Palace bombing, which resulted in the death of sixty-seven Palace workers. The Holyrood bombing, combined with multiple other attacks on Welsh and Irish civilians and their governments, sparked massive civil unrest and counter attacks on England by the parties originally attacked. Without the cooperation of the four governments of the Confederation, the military was split regionally and unable to function normally. Eventually, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was ousted by both her own people with help from the other countries of the confederation.
This led to the White Tower Resolutions, which created a central military command, and measures to ensure that Thatchers actions could not happen again.
Recent Era[]
With the fall of the United States government in 2005, Great Britain stated that it would abstain from recognizing any newly created American country until total stability had been reached in the region. In the following global economic recession, the Great British economy took major damages in its housing and tourism sectors, with the Confederation having its first trade deficit since the Second Civil War. As of 2013, the Confederation has balanced its national budget and resumed small, stable growth within the economy and population. The economy is expected to entirely recover from the recession in early 2014.
Politics[]
The Tower of London National Borough, the nation's de facto capitol.
The Confederation of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a confederation of seven semi-independent governments called Countries that are united under a common head of state, common law system, a common military, and a common affairs system. The countries are bound together by the final Act of Parliament of the now-regional Parliament of the United Kingdom. The head of state of the Confederation is the Monarch of the Confederation which is currently Elizabeth II. The newly created House of Lords consists of an elected delegate from country of the Confederation to give each nation a voice in the national politics. The nation's true binding instruments are the Defense Office, the Home Office, the Foreign Office, and the Law Office. The small national government operates out of the twice renovated Tower of London National Borough.
Countries[]
The Confederation is composed of seven countries, each of which serve as their own semi-independent regions with their own political systems and governments. The seven governments must allow the basic rights of the people, which is insured on a national level and enforced on a national level as well. The governments of each country are also not permitted to raise their own militaries for foreign purposes, but they are allowed to have regional defense organizations. The seven countries cooperate with each other through the Home Affairs Office, which acts as a national organ in a manner similar to that of the European Union.
The British Overseas Territories are united under the British Crown, but are not considered part of the Confederation, and enjoy a high degree of Self Governance.
| Country | Population | Capital | Head of Government | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
England | 53,013,000 | London | First Minister Julia Rose |
| Guernsey | 65,345 | St Peter Port | First Minister Jack Helien | |
|
Jersey | Saint Helier | First Minister Julienne De'Garde | |
|
Mann | 84,655 | Douglas | First Minister Allan Wood |
|
Northern Ireland | 1,810,863 | Belfast | First Minister Theresa Villiers |
|
Scotland | 5,295,000 | Edinbourgh | First Minister John Hammar |
|
Wales | 3,064,000 | Cardiff | First Minister Carwyn Jones |
Law and justice[]
Each country may or may not have their own law system. For example, Scotland's law system follows Scots Law, and England's follows English Law. However, some countries do not have a specific legal system, such as Wales, the Isle of Mann, and Jersey and Guernsey. These countries follow the English Law system, mostly due to historical context and ease of transition.
However, all of the countries of the Confederation have agreed upon a common rights system. This system is ensured by the Rights Documents, and the Royal Court of Rights, which is the only common legal establishment between all seven countries of the confederation.
The West Barracks of the Tower of London now serve as the Royal Court of Rights
Right courts are specific to the violation of rights of citizens insured by the Right Documents. The Rights court is made up of a committee of nine judges who specialize in the rights of the nation, a plaintiff who's rights have been denied or infringed upon, and a defendant who supposedly has denied or infringed the rights of the plaintiff. The plaintiff files charges against the defendant, stating that they have broken one of the guaranteed to all citizens under the Right Documents. The two sides of the case then provide evidence of their respective sides of the argument, and the committee of judges then makes a ruling upon the basis of the evidence. To make a ruling, each judge votes in favour of the side supported and the side with the highest support of the judges is the winning side of the case. The defendant is then punished at certain levels based on the extremity of their offense.
Home and foreign affairs[]
The White Tower of the Tower of London serves as the home of both the Home and Foreign Offices.
To manage domestic intergovernmental affairs between countries, a binding instrument of the national government known as the Home Office was created. The Home Office acts in a manner similar to that of the European Union between the seven countries, in that it insures economic and political cooperation within the Confederation. The Home Office also manages the nation's civil protection organs, such as border patrol and national intelligence. The Home Office manages intergovernmental relations between countries, border patrol, the national intelligence agency, and multi-governmental organizations. The Home Office represents the national government at the meetings of two or more country governments, but the Home Office's main responsibility is to act as a median between the seven countries and insure the stability of the Confederation.
The Foreign Office manages foreign affairs and international relations between the Confederation and other governments. The Foreign Office is responsible for maintaining relations with foreign countries, managing the Confederation's intergovernmental organizations, insuring the nation's territorial claims, and protecting Great British citizens overseas. Great Britain is a member of the United Nations and permanent member of the Security Council, the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organization, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and co-Development, the Commonwealth of Nations, the G7, the G8, and the G20, and it is also an observer of the European Council. The nation also maintains diplomatic relations with over 190 countries around the globe.
Military[]
The Defense Office of Great Britain is the nation's main body for the defense of the nation from foreign military invasion and from other threats of a violent nature. Great Britian is one of 4 states with nuclear capability, however it has stated that they will only use this as a deterrent, and does not agree with the effects of the weapons. The Defense Office is made up of four separate professional services; the Royal Navy of Great Britain, the Royal Ground Forces, the Royal Air Force of Great Britain, and the Great British Special Air Service. The Defense Office operates for the national government, and thus, the protection of the entire Confederation as a whole. As of 2013, the Defense Office has a total of 190,350 active service members and 170,620 reserve personnel. For its global defense purposes, the Defense Office created the Integrated Defense Network as the national defensive coordination system. The Integrated Defense Network operates from various fronts with various technologies to insure the safety of the nation. The Network is highly classified by the national government, mainly for the purpose of total defense from foreign invasion.
Economy[]
The Confederation is a developed economy with high standards of living and rankings in human development, wealth distribution, and gross domestic product. Historically, the United Kingdom was the first nation in the world to industrialize, as England was the birth place of the Industrial Revolution. Great Britain's economy is urbanized and industrialized, with the highest proportions of people living in urban and suburban areas. Collectively, most people are of the middle class and enjoy high standards of living and economic freedom. There is no central economic ministry within the Confederation's national government, and instead financial administration is left to the regional governments with the assistance of the Foreign Office when dealing with foreign trade. As a nation, socialism is generally practiced throughout the Confederation, but the levels of socialism vary by country government. Universal healthcare and extensive welfare are practiced by the seven governments, and because of this taxes are generally seen as high. All of the governments regulate their basic industries, and some have even nationalized corporations which do business in commodities. As an entire entity, the Confederation's economy can be considered mixed market. Inflation in the country is generally low, and has nearly recovered after a four year long financial crisis which began in may. Throughout the country, unemployment, inflation, and prices have lowered since January of 2013, though the economy is still in a somewhat fragile state.
The nation has a single currency which is issued by every regional governments; the Pound sterling. The pound is administered by the national Bank of England, which has close connections to every regional government and the Home Office. The pound is the fourth most traded currency in the world, and it is also the third most used in foreign reserves.
Sectors[]
London Stock Exchange, London, England.
The Confederation historically has been a centre of world industry and global trade. Since the transition into a confederation, the economy has reinvigorated itself with industry, morphing from a service based economy into a more diverse one. As of 2013, the economy is made up of 52% tertiary industries, 44% secondary industries, and 6% primary industries. The largest industries by revenue in the Confederation are banking, financial services, telecommunications, energy, mining, and pharmaceuticals.
Agriculture in the Great Britain is highly intensive, producing nearly 80% of its food needs. About two thirds of land if used in livestock raising, and one third for arable crops. More recently, since the destabilization of the United States and its massive amounts of food, the local governments have increased their food production by nearly 20% and more land is being devoted to the growth of crops. The fishing industry in the Confederation is significant, though reduced from past levels to insure the stability of the industry. The Confederation is home to a large amount of natural resources, including coal, petroleum, natural gas, tin, limestone, iron ore, salt, clay, chalk, gypsum, lead, and silica. Mining and petroleum extraction are managed mostly by regional governments, and fishermen and farmers are subsidized by regional governments as well.
The Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain, making the country the first industrialised in the world. With the destabilization of global markets, the level of secondary industry in the Confederation has since then rose again from 16% to 34% at the urging and mediation of regional governments. The steel industry remains the only nationalised industry by regional governments, and market control has been given to all the rest. The lumber, automotive, pharmaceutical, aerospace, and other manufacturing industries have become highly prevalent in the Confederation's economy, and supply a large amount of jobs.
Service industries remain highly important in the Confederation's economy, though its size has been significantly reduced with the onset of economic troubles after the destabilisation of the United States. None the less, the largest companies in the Confederation by revenue remain mostly tertiary sector industries. The largest tertiary industries in the Confederation include banking, financial services, telecommunications and retail. The only nationalised company in the Confederation on a national, and not regional, level is the Bank of England.
Transportation[]
Edinburgh Waverly station, Edinburgh, Scotland.
In the Confederation, most people use private transport to move between countries, while rail travel is close behind. When visiting other countries around the globe, the Confederation, like most other developed nations, depends on air transportation. Most goods in the Confederation are shipped by either rail or sea methods.
The nation as a whole posses a multitude of inter-regional transportation methods. The Pan-Britain Motorway Network and the Pan-Britain Railway Network cover three countries within the Confederation; England, Wales, and Scotland. The Pan-Britain Network is managed by the Great British Transportation Company, a tri-regional association that manages rail, road, sea, and air transportation throughout the three countries. The GBTC only manages the intercity networks between the three, and it is only made up of the transportation ministries of the three constituencies. Most other countries in the Confederation manage their transportation independently, as the GBTC is the only organization such as itself in the Great British transportation industry.
Out of the entirety of transportation in the country, around 92% favour rail transportation in cities and across the country as opposed to road transportation. Sea and air are primarily used by international travelers and cargo shipments. Only 32% of people own a car, though nearly 86% have the ability to afford and utilize a car.
Energy[]
Wyfla nuclear power station, Wales.
The Confederation has a diverse system of energy production. The largest energy production methods in the country as a whole are nuclear energy at 56%, natural gas at 22%, and zero-emission coal at 19%. The remaining 3% is made up of a mix of renewable resource sources such as wind, solar, and sea power. The Confederation's large nuclear power grid connects across Scotland, Wales, and England. Natural gas is popular in Scotland and Ireland. The remaining other countries utilise English cola resources for their zero-emission facilities. Petroleum in the Confederation is considered a commodity, and a great deal of it is produced in Scotland. The country only imports 14% of the petroleum it needs due to efforts by multiple governments to lessen the reliance on the resource.