1700 is more than a convenient cutoff date - it's around that time when England ceased to exist as an independent state, and Great Britain as we know it started to take shape.
Nitpick: I reckon most of the time people on HN say "England" they actually mean "Great Britain" or "United Kingdom"
From a political and governance perspective, Great Britain started to take shape in 1660 and took an even greater leap forward in 1689.
So 1700 - and even 1707 - is pretty arbitrary.
England had a bloody and violent 17th C., which it exported to Scotland and especially to Ireland. The political and governance result of that violence was to strengthen parliament and weaken the monarchy, laying the ground for the pretty stable time that came later.
England - and later GB and the UK - didn't escape the violence that shook much of Europe in the 18th C, it went first, did it earlier.
It's disingenuous for someone to claim an extra century of calm and peace whilst ignoring the chaos and violence of the century before.
Comments
1700 is more than a convenient cutoff date - it's around that time when England ceased to exist as an independent state, and Great Britain as we know it started to take shape.
Nitpick: I reckon most of the time people on HN say "England" they actually mean "Great Britain" or "United Kingdom"
Act of Union, 1707.
England is what I meant.
From a political and governance perspective, Great Britain started to take shape in 1660 and took an even greater leap forward in 1689.
So 1700 - and even 1707 - is pretty arbitrary.
England had a bloody and violent 17th C., which it exported to Scotland and especially to Ireland. The political and governance result of that violence was to strengthen parliament and weaken the monarchy, laying the ground for the pretty stable time that came later.
England - and later GB and the UK - didn't escape the violence that shook much of Europe in the 18th C, it went first, did it earlier.
It's disingenuous for someone to claim an extra century of calm and peace whilst ignoring the chaos and violence of the century before.