After Cromwell’s death in 1658 Charles II (1660-85), the legitimate heir of the Stuart dynasty, was restored to the the trone(The Restoration) . He reasserted the predominance of the Church of England and dissolved Parliament and there was the outbreak of the Great Plague.
James II (1685-88), Charles II's brother, was a Catholic and put Catholics in positions of power. Protestants called for help to William of Orange, the champion of the Protestant cause in Europe and the husband of James’s Protestant daughter Mary. He landed in England on November 5, 1688 and William and Mary were crowned king and queen in 1689. It was a Glorious or Bloodless Revolution, glorious because it was bloodless.
In this period we have the introduction of very important laws for the development of modern Parliamentary England.
« the Bill of Rights (1689) the Crown can’t rule the country without Parliament;
* the Toleration Act (1689) granted freedom of religion;
« the Act of Settlement (1701) ensured that only Protestants could be heirs to the throne.
the Act of Union in 1707, Union of English and Scottish Parliaments.
To protect its interests abroad, Great Britain had entered the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-14) with Holland and Prussia against France, Spain and Portugal. Peace was made with France and Spain, and the Treaty of Utrecht was signed in 1713. With it Britain had the control of Canada, together with the monopoly of the African slave trade in North-America
In 1694 the Bank of England had been founded and guaranteed by the State
After the death of the last Protestant queen of the Stuart dynasty, Anne, the Elector of Hanover became George I (1714-27) king of England. He spoke German, not English, and had no knowledge of British customs.
For this reason the figure of a Prime Minister, responsible to the king for the government’s policy , was created together to a Parliamentary monarchy .
George II (1727-60) was the son of George I . During his reign we have the The Jacobite Rebellion that failed in restoring the legitimate catholic heir of James II,( ‘Jacobus’in Latin).
A new European war broke out in 1756 Prussia and England against practically all the rest of Europe It was called the Seven years’ War(1756-63).
William Pitt the Elder, became Prime Minister and was able to win the war and with the Treaty of Paris(1763) Britain gained other territories and a bigger influence in India with the foundation of British Empire.
George IlI(1760- |1820) was the first native English-speaking Hanoverian king.Great Britain controlled the seas and had period of internal peace. Britain lost control of American colonies in the War of American Indipendence but it gained Australia and New Zealand.