The United Kingdom is one of the oldest countries in Europe. It is comprised of the three countries of Great Britain: England, Scotland, and Wales, and a section of the island of Ireland: Northern Ireland. Its closest neighbors on the mainland of Europe are France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. While technically a monarchy, much of the political power of the country lies in its Parliament, one of the earliest legislative bodies to be chosen democratically. The United Kingdom was one of the first leaders in industrialization, which led to it becoming a major economic power. Militarily, the British navy was a major maritime power during the industrial and modern eras.
During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the United Kingdom was one of the major political and economic powers of the world. During this period, the British held control over large sections of the world, through its colonies in India, East Africa, Central America, and colonial wealth flowed to Britain. British control over many parts of the world and a system of top academic centers at Oxford University and Cambridge University also led Britain to be a leader in the field of archaeology, with many artifacts and relics ending up in British hands and studied at such places as the British Museum.
During World War I, the United Kingdom and its colonial forces were allied with France, Belgium, and Russia (and later the United States of America) against the Germans and their allies.
At the start of World War II, the United Kingdom and France entered the war to help its ally, Poland, who had been invaded by Nazi Germany. While Nazi forces conquered much of Europe, the UK was attacked from the air, but never successfully invaded.
Adventures in the United Kingdom
Indiana Jones visited the United Kingdom many times in his life. As a young boy, he met his tutor-to-be, Helen Seymour in Oxford before she joined his family on his father's lecture tour. During World War I, Jones visited London and Oxford again, when he enlisted in the Belgian army. After the war, he briefly rested in London with Remy Baudouin before setting off to find the Peacock's Eye. Later, his teaching job at a British college served as a home base while taking several adventures around Europe.
In 1945, Jones traveled to Glastonbury to help his father thwart a plot by the Nazi officer Dieterhoffmann to assemble the Spear of Destiny. Jones and his companions fled from Glastonbury to Wales before being caught. They later continued their adventure in Ireland.
Notable Britons
- Marcus Brody
- Harold Oxley
- Henry Walton Jones, Sr.
- Winston Churchill
- George McHale
- Helen Seymour
- T.E. Lawrence
Locations in the United Kingdom
- England
- London (capital city)
- Glastonbury
- Stonehenge
- Scotland
- Wales
