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Großbritannien |
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Kingdom in northwest Europe comprising
England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. After the accession of
the Tudor dynasty (1485), Britain became unified and began to develop
into a world power. British overseas expansion began in the late 16th
century, and in the following 200 years, Britain emerged as the dominant
European naval and colonial power, supplanting the Spanish and Dutch.
After its victory in the Napoleonic wars, Britain was the dominant world
power, building an empire that, by 1900, included large areas throughout
the world. Although victorious in World War I, Britain suffered severe
losses in manpower and resources. The postwar period saw the loss of
Ireland (1921) and the development of nationalism in India. During World
War II, Britain again suffered terribly. For a year following the fall
of France (June 1940), Britain was the only major power to stand against
Germany. After Germany's invasion of Russia (June 1941) and Japan's
attack on Pearl Harbor (December 1941), it gained powerful allies but
continued to bear the brunt of German air attacks. Britain emerged from
World War II again victorious, but battered and exhausted. Industrial
growth has continued, although it has lost its former predominant
economic position. The two decades following World War II saw the
dissolution of the empire, and Britain's overseas dominion today mostly
consists of small scattered island possessions in the West Indies and in
the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans. Britain issued the world's
first regular adhesive postage stamp in 1840. |
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