British Republic

The **British Republic** was a sovereign state in Europe established in western Europe from 2047 to 2073. During this time, England and Wales were governed by a Parliamentary Republic due to changes caused by The Flood and the Revolutions of 2027. The Republic's existence was declared through "*An Act declaring England and Wales a Republic",* adopted by the Provisional Parliament in Winchester. Power in the Republic was vested primarily in the Parliament and the Prime Minister as Head of Government, with a President as Head of State and the British Senate.

## History

### **Background**

The United Kingdom was a member state in the European Union from its founding in 1991 to its exit from the European Union in 2020 following a disputed referendum. During the UK's disengagement from the EU, the country's financial system was still heavily invested in the European Central Bank and numerous private banks on the continent, a situation that threatened the UK with economic ruin during the Recession of 2019. This era saw a turning point in Britain's Americanization, as the British government quickly negotiated a free trade relationship with the United States and the remaining Commonwealth Realm, which included an agreement to organize the British Navy under the US Carrier command system, effectively making the British Navy subservient to American admirals.

### **Dissolution of the United Kingdom**

The loss of Antarctica's coast-lying ice sheets through 2039 to 2041 to just under 30 meters above Pre-Anthropocene levels. Great Storm of 2043 drowned Britain's greatest cities, forcing a great British migration to the Americas by the winter of 2043 that would last much of the decade. While many displaced Britons found their way to Canada and the Arctic nations, the majority settled in the United States. 70% of the British population would live outside of the former United Kingdom by 2050, and the power vacuum made it all the more easier for Scotland to gain its independence in 2044. The declaration was held without the knowledge of the Winchester government, who were too busy organizing the pull out of Northern Ireland. With the country divided and every inch of land rationed King William V announced his intent to abdicate the throne and pass all the monarchy's lands to the British people. By 2045 the British parliament honored the king's proclamation and the monarchy that had stood for 12 centuries was dissolved. The Republic of Britain was formally created in 2047, but was little more than an American protectorate.

World War III did little to unite the British people but merely reminded them of how far they'd fallen as America troops poured into their island only to leave for the European Theater. When the war was done, Britain was made to establish a new Atlantic-European defense bloc to prevent Polish expansion westward, but the degree of integration of Britain into the American system was already so entrenched that the British found themselves in a Free Association with the United States, along with Newfoundland and even Australia by the end of the 2056. With the Earth Working Group's efforts coming to fruition in the mid 2060's, there was hope that Britain and Ireland would be repopulated after the water receded. Unfortunately London was functionally a drained reef, and more than a generation of Britons had no memory of their ancestral homeland.

### **American annexation**

It all came to an end during the First Nations War. The Refreeze that had returned sea levels and global temperatures to pre-anthropic levels, a blessing to most of the planet, left the Arctic nations uninhabitable wastes once again. The First Nations moved south the second their crops and livestock could no longer be supported within their own territory, and the United States moved north the second it looked as if a hostile power was threatening their security. Fighting in Alberta calmed, but as Tlicho began to take control of northern Canada's prairies and by extension the majority of Canadian farmlands, the government fell to internal fighting in the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario. To secure American interests on a larger scale, the US sent peacekeeping forces to restore order and installed a military government in Ottawa. By 2067 the US had deployed Space and Naval forces into the Arctic nations, and forced a ceasefire. For the next five years the US tried to directly administer the reconstruction effort in Canada, while also attempting to resettle the citizens of the Arctic nations, many of whom weren't even natives. With the military's constant complaints about being spread thin administering civilians the United States began looking into an idea that had floated in geopolitics for the better part of a generation: Annexing the Anglosphere. The US had been administering resettlement in Australia, New Zealand and Britain since the end of the Flood, and was paying for most of the efforts to restore these nations farmland and greatest cities. For all practical purposes the US already had administrative control over these countries. After a lengthy debate in Congress the President signed the Union Act of 2073 that formally annexed the Anglosphere nations under free association with the United States. Six years later, after a series of plebiscite votes, England became the last territory in the Anglosphere to join the Union.

Today England's population has reached some semblance of normalcy with 22 million residents, making it one of the larger states in the Union. London's major historical sites have been restored, but the rest of the city has both shrunken inward and grown taller as it was simpler to tear down the suburban sprawl than to restore it. Some of the old ways remain; England is governed by a parliament who chooses the Governor from within their own ranks rather than a popular election (though there are some who want to change that); but the resettlement saw many federal laws implemented and the customs of the decedents of the Anglo-Expats have eroded or melded with those of those who remained behind. Gridiron and Field Football are both popular sports, the head of the Progress Party has been from England four times since its admission to the Union; and Vice President Cora Fabian was a born and raised Londoner.