|
The following article is a part of the Alternate Imperialism timeline. Please do not edit or alter this article in any way while this template is active. All unauthorized edits may be reverted on the admin's discretion. Propose any changes to the talk page. |
Dieu et mon droit (French) God and my right | |||||
| Anthem | "God Save the King" | ||||
| Capital (and largest city) |
Londinium | ||||
| Language official |
Latin, English | ||||
| others | Irish, Gaelic, Scottish, Welsh | ||||
| Religion | Protestant | ||||
| Demonym | British | ||||
| Government | Parlimentary democracy and constitutional monarchy | ||||
| Monarch | List of British Monarchs | ||||
| Area | 121,658 sq mi | ||||
| Population | 16,345,646 | ||||
| Established | 1499 | ||||
| Currency | Pound Sterling | ||||
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland is a sovereign state located within the British Isles, known also as the United Kingdom. The nation first came into being on 1 January 1499 with the finalizing of the Treaty of Londinium, uniting the three kingdoms of Britannia, Scotland, and Man. The nations roots trace back to the founding of the Kingdom of Britannia and her first king, the Roman general Constantine I, who declared the British Isles independent in 411 AD.
History[]
Early History[]
In 406 AD several barbaric invasions accured in which the Vandals, Burgundians, Alans, and the Sueves enter Gaul, cutting off contact between the British Isles and Rome. At the time of this invasion, the provinces of Britain were in revolt, after the unsuccessful rules of several upsurpers, which ended with the control under Constantine early in 407. The people rallied under their new ruler, who led several campaigns through Gaul, gathering support from the locals within the European mainland. By May 408 much of Gaul and the Rhine frontier had been secured by Constantine's forces, occupying the cities such as Arles, where the locals paid tribute to the government in Britannia in exchange for aid.
Recognized for his leadership the Emperor Honorius sent aid to support to the effort in the north. An imperial army under Constantine's son, Constans was sent after the Visigoths under Alaric. After a long campaign Alaric was routed back east and Constans was killed.
With the island of Britannia now fearing for its safety and threatening to overturn all Roman magistrates, the army loyal to Constantine abandoned Gaul for the isles. By 411 AD the entirety of Roman garrison in Britannia had been called back to Londinium. The remaining territory in northern Gaul was abandoned and all contact from the Emperor Honorius was largely ignored.
After the end of Roman rule in Britain during the fifth century, southern Britain was fractured into many kingdoms. All remaining loyal Roman soldiers fell back to the trade center of Londinium, rallying behind the declared emperor Constantine III, who remained in Britain. In 411 AD with all communication lost between Rome and Britain Constantine became first king of Britania, a small fledgeling union around Londinium that upheld the Roman values.
Constantine largely spend the first several years of his rule quelling rebellions and attacking raiding parties within his fledgling nation. With barbarian migration increasing, Britannia was largely unable to halt the invaders, but rather cling to small pockets of Roman society, most notably the city of Londinium. Constantine would lead several campaigns through the enemy-occupied wilderness between strongholds, fighting off several aggressive tribes. During his reign small, mostly privately owned trade was able to continue, but at high risk. This small, underground loose band of merchants and guilds are what spread the news of Britannia's independence. Towards the end of his reign Constantine, now in less desirable health, initiated trade among the cities of Gaul, now largely considered city states under loose confederation. The Empire, which still continued to operate in the region of Gaul largely discouraged trade in many places.
The Roman garrison successfully held back the Angles and Saxons who settled in East Anglia and central Britain, and by 426 AD Londinium had solidified its control on Essex, Sussex, Kent, and the city of Winchester.
Civil War[]
After the death of Constantine I, rule of Britannia was passed to his adopted son Maxentius in 422 AD. Ambrosius Aurelianus, who had swore allegiance to his father's kingdom, served as a high-ranking officer alongside the Briton king. Ambrosius Aurelianus was responsible for the complete reformation of the British army at the time, leading its men into many battles against raiders. In most cases he was the voice of authority in Maxentius' reign.
In 436 AD a Briton leader known as Vortigern began rallying local tribes and towns in the east against Britannia, beginning the British Civil War. For months rebel bands of Britons and Anglo-Saxons began increasing raids. Ambrosius Aurelianus was sent into East Anglia to capture Vortigern and other rebel leaders. The following year large portions of the British military under Valentinian, began marching against Maxentius. Valentinian, now an adult, believed that he was the true heir to the throne. With the majority of the loyalist army under Ambrosius Aurelianus engaging Angles in the east, Valentinian marched on Londinium. On 30 July 437 AD Ambrosius Aurelianus began marching back toward Londinium, to cut off the forces under Valentinian. On 10 October the veteran army loyal to the Kingdom engaged the army of Valentinian. Despite their superior soldiers, the loyalists were caught between heavy long range archers which tore at their main columns. The elite soldiers of each army, the Roman legionaries, met to the southeast, where despite taking heavy casualties the forces of Valentinian send the Loyalists into full retreat.
Maxentius was assassinated on 15 October 437 AD, leaving Valentinian as king two days later. Ambrosius Aurelianus was captured and executed to prevent the possibility of him leading another attack on Valentinian's regime. Many Britons were angered by this who saw Ambrosius Aurelianus as a national hero.
House of Constantine[]
After the civil war much of Britannia still lay divided. Valentinian I began his reign by organizing his military in Londinium and training peasant armies in the south. His main force under the general Gaius Coccenius Scaeva led massive pacification missions throughout Britannia. Professional soldiers were trained in camps near major cities in engineering, being tasked with building basic roads and bridges throughout Britannia. As the army moved through the British secured countryside roads were updated and spread toward developing towns. Small forts were created along the channel and the mouth of the highway.
On 17 March 465 AD Constantine II becomes king. During his reign he would continue the efforts of Valentinian to secure his territory and improve the British military. In 470 AD Constantine II created the first British legislative branch, known as Parliament, modeled after the Roman senate. The group, comprising of mostly social elite and wealthy land owners serves as a council of advisers for future kings and manages daily procedure. Constantine II would greatly improve Londinium, increasing basic sanitation and living conditions. The forum is increased and other government facilities added. In 479 AD Constantine II would also commission the University of Londinium, a place of higher education that first began teaching military arts, engineering, and some forms of Roman Rhetoric and Philosophy. The building would be opened nine years later.
Unification[]
In 698 the Anglo-Saxon War concluded, as the kingdom of Mercia and her allies defeated the Celtic kingdoms of Gwynedd, Powys, and Dyfed. Dyfed was officially annexed by Mercia that same year.
In the year 700 the seventh king of Britannia, Constantine IV, invaded Dumnonia, beginning the First War of English Unification. Three years later the kingdoms of East Anglia and Middle Anglia were annexed by Britannia in union. Constantine adapted the Anglo-Saxon language of English, reforming schools across his new domain and increasing roads and infrastructure. Access to the ancient silver mines in Dummonia greatly increased British wealth.
In 705 AD the Kingdom of Man, an island nation of many ethnic groups, annexed Gwynedd and central Wales, becoming the Kingdom of Man and Wales. The Kingdom of Mercia and her ally Britannia invaded the following year. In 708 AD all of Wales was annexed into Britannia's domain. The Kingdom of Man withdrew to Man and their northern settlements on Ireland.
In 711 AD the First War of English Unification ended with the treaty of Canterbury. Mercia and the outlying Anglo-Saxon kingdoms agreed to unite under Britannia, also forming a council of high elders and landlords from across the kingdom to consul the king.
By 800 AD it is estimated that the population of the kingdom was now more than sixty percent Anglo-Saxon, as the acceptance of their culture gave way to increased migration into cities. Infrastructure rapidly increased as cheap labor gave way to large scale projects. Several of the first imperial dockyards were created in southeast Britannia during the 10th century AD, forming the foundations for a great naval force.In the year 896 AD the kingdom of Alba was conquered by Britannia in the Gaelic Wars.
In 1306 the Scotland War began as Britannia invaded the kingdom of Scotland. Despite several British victories the Scottish were able to successfully hold back the invasion, receiving aid from the British enemy; Man. In 1310 the war officially ended. Britannia received small territorial gains.
British soldiers during the Second English War of Unification
In 1497 the Second English War of Unification began as Britain declared war on Scotland and Man. The British navy bombarded the coast of Ireland repeatedly as the superior land forces were able to defeat both the Scottish and Manx on the battlefields of the highlands. In 1499 the Treaty of Londinium was signed, ending the war and uniting the kingdoms of the British Isles.
Empire[]
United under one banner, Great Britain turned its focus toward exploration of the New World and expanding British territory. The British government launches a large-scale advertising campaign for voyages to the New World, gathering many volunteers. On 26 April 1499 a British expedition landed in the New World, founding the settlement of St. John's. Several more waves of settlers arrive, settling such colonies and Halifax and Myrtle Beach. On 1 January 1520 all of the North American coast south of the Chesapeake Bay is declared the Colony of Constantia by the British government, named after the infamous founder of Britannia. The new colony encompasses much of the southern British colonies in North America.
A massive British emigration into Constantia begins, lured by the promises of wealth built on tobacco and cotton. In the north the colony of Boston is established, becoming a large producer of lumber and other products.
|
|---|