Victorious Century: The United Kingdom, 1800–1906

Nearly a century after England, Wales, and Scotland had formed a British nation, Ireland joined them to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The Act of Union, passed in 1800, marked the beginning of what Cannadine (history, Princeton Univ.; Margaret Thatcher) describes as a long century in which Great Britain would be victorious to form the largest, most dispersed empire in history, enabling it to dominate the new global economy. The 19th century did not begin well for Britain. After the disintegration of its first empire in 1783, the UK was nearly bankrupt after it had heavily financed several European coalitions to fight Napoleon between 1803 and 1815. Even in the midst of great political, social, and economic challenges, Britain maintained a stable polity at home and added exponentially to its imperial holdings, in contrast to its European neighbors. It was the era of great politicians: Benjamin Disreali, William Ewart Gladstone, Queen Victoria. It was also a golden age of culture, including novelist Charles Dickens and composer Edward Elgar. In the middle of Edward VII's reign, Britain's century of world hegemony started its decline.