Foreign Relations of The United Kingdom - History

History

British foreign relations since 1600 have focused on achieving a balance of power, with no country controlling the continent of Europe. The chief enemy, from the Hundred Years' War until the defeat of Napoleon (1337-1815) was France, a larger country with a more powerful army. The British were generally successful in their many wars, with the notable exception of colonial rebels in the American War of Independence (1775–1783). A favoured diplomatic strategy was subsidizing the armies of continental allies, such as Prussia. Britain relied heavily on its Royal Navy for security, seeking to keep it the most powerful fleet afloat with a full complement of bases across the globe. The British built up a very large worldwide British Empire, which peaked in size and wealth in the 1920-40 era, then began to shrink until by the 1970s almost nothing was left. After 1900 Britain ended its "splendid isolation" by developing friendly relations with the United States and signing a military alliance with Japan (1902). Even more important—by forming the Triple Entente with France (1904) and Russia (1907), thus forging the anti-German alliance that fought the First World War (1914-1918). After 1940 Britain forged close military ties with the United States, and with traditional foes such as France and Germany, in the NATO military alliance. After years of debate (and rebuffs), Britain joined the Common Market in 1973; it is now the European Union. However it did not merge financially, and kept the pound separate from the Euro, which kept it partly isolated from the EU financial crisis of 2011.