Originally posted by Diarrhoea

Originally posted by Diarrhoea

Originally posted by Rihbeyga

Tbh the real trouble starts when we talk about Jersey & Guernsey like what are you? I spent the first half of my life in the UK and I still don't know what crown dependency even means. Like are you a country or not?

Originally posted by Diarrhoea

Originally posted by MillionLights

The United Kingdom used to be three separate kingdoms of England (including Wales), Scotland and Ireland. James I made the first serious attempt at a United Kingdom with his plans for a union between the kingdoms of England and Scotland between 1604 - 1607. A flag was designed, a new currency created etc. but Parliament was reluctant and ultimately, his plans came to very little. What was more significant than James's actual actions was his status: prior to 1603, he was King of Scotland. After Elizabeth's death in March 1603, he became King of England, while also being King of Scotland (as well as King of Ireland, given Henry VIII had created that title in the sixteenth century). Therefore, James reigned over three different kingdoms.

It wasn't until the Act of Union in 1707 during the reign of Queen Anne that the kingdoms of England (including Wales) and Scotland were united as a United Kingdom. However, Ireland wasn't included in this union. It wasn't until the Act of Union in 1800 that Ireland became part of the United Kingdom. By the nineteenth century, there was therefore one sole Parliament for the UK. This is in contrast to in the seventeenth century when there existed a Scottish Parliament, English Parliament and Irish Parliament.

However, in the nineteenth century - and particularly in the early twentieth century - demands for 'home rule' began to emerge in Ireland. This is where the Irish people wanted their own Parliament to take control of some matters (such as education and health) but to remain part of the United Kingdom. Following the Ulster Plantation (when English and Scottish settlers came to Ireland), most of those in the north-east of Ireland were Protestants, and they feared that home rule would mean 'Rome Rule', given that most of those in the rest of Ireland were Catholics who wanted the Roman Catholic church to have a degree of influence.

In 1912, Britain's Liberal government agreed to introduce home rule to Ireland before 1914. However, the outbreak of the First World War prevented the actual implementation of home rule. Private armies were established (the Irish Volunteers established by those pro-home rule and the Ulster Volunteer Force established by those against home rule). Civil war would almost certainly have broken out if the First World War had not been going on.

Some Irish Republicans took part in the Easter Rising in April 1916 as a rebellion against the British. However, it failed given the incompetent arrangement. But it did have some impact - the British government responded harshly to those who had rebelled and executed some. This had a detrimental effect on Irish politics in that Nationalists and Republicans now sought full independence from Britain, and were no longer content to remain part of the United Kingdom. The IRA started a terrorist campaign on the mainland in 1919 and an Anglo-Irish War occurred.

The Government of Ireland Act in 1920 effectively partitioned Ireland into Northern Ireland (mainly Protestant or Unionists, i.e. those who wanted to stay in the UK) and the Irish Free State (mainly Catholics or Nationalists/Republicans, i.e. those who wanted to exit the UK). The Irish Free State was not part of the UK, but was part of the British Empire until 1931. In 1937, all ties with the rest of the UK were cut when de Valera's constitution came into effect, with the country renamed Éire/the Republic of Ireland. The Republic has its own Parliament (called the Oireachtas, made up of the Dáil and the Seanad), its own Prime Minister (the Taoiseach), the deputy Prime Minister (the Tánaiste) and its own President, as well as its own judicial system. Meanwhile, from 1921 - 1972, Northern Ireland had its own Parliament (which was dominated by Unionists). In 1972, the Northern Ireland Parliament was suspended given the violence on the streets of NI as Nationalists in NI wanted to reunify with the Republic of Ireland and leave the UK. From 1972 - 1998, NI was governed from Westminster by Britain. It wasn't until powers were devolved in 1998 and a power-sharing government, made up of Unionists and Nationalists, was created (with a new Northern Ireland Assembly and Northern Ireland Executive) that local government resumed. To this day, Ireland is still partitioned.

So basically, the countries making up the UK (i.e. countries within a country) are England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The British Isles is a contentious term in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, but is still used to refer to the island of Ireland, along with Great Britain (which is the mainland of the UK - i.e. England, Scotland and Wales). The British Isles also includes a number of small islands which have close ties with the UK (as they are British Crown dependencies) but are not themselves in the UK, including Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man.

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Originally posted by kyogul

i think it's akin to how some US territories are. like puerto rico has its own government independent from the mainland federal government but it's still attached to the US in its constitution (hence its laws and infrastructure) since they're owned by the US. not exactly the same with crown dependencies but it's something similar. They're independent, but not sovereign.

Originally posted by Rihbeyga

I kind of understand that. But don't want to be their own country?

Then what even is Northern Ireland? Doesn't even have a flag. Does it?

Originally posted by Rihbeyga

I kind of understand that. But don't want to be their own country?

Then what even is Northern Ireland? Doesn't even have a flag. Does it?

Originally posted by Rihbeyga

I kind of understand that. But don't want to be their own country?

Then what even is Northern Ireland? Doesn't even have a flag. Does it?

Originally posted by LoKoPaNdA

I knew this, I love geography

It's the most neglected subject in most countries, though