The Kingdom of Great Britain, officially Great Britain /ret br.

tn/,[1][2][3] was
a sovereign state in western Europefrom 1 May 1707 to 31 December 1800. The state
came into being following the Treaty of Union in 1706, ratified by theActs of Union 1707,
which united the kingdoms of England and Scotland to form a single kingdom
encompassing the whole island of Great Britain and its outlying islands. It did not
include Ireland, which remained a separate realm within the British Empire. The unitary
state was governed by a single parliament and government, based at Westminster. The
former kingdoms had been in personal union since James VI, King of Scots, became King of
England and King of Ireland in 1603 following the death of Queen Elizabeth I, bringing
about a "Union of the Crowns". Also, after theaccession of George I to the throne of Great
Britain in 1714, the kingdom was in personal union with the Electorate of Hanover.
The early years of the unified kingdom were marked by Jacobite risings which ended with
defeat for the Stuart cause atCulloden in 1746. Later, in 1763, victory in the Seven Years'
War led to the dominance of the British Empire, which was to be the foremost global power
for over a century and later grew to become the largest empire in history.
On 1 January 1801, the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland merged to form the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.[4] In 1922, five-sixths of Ireland seceded from
the United Kingdom, and the state was renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland the formal name of the current state.