Timeline[]
The Beginnings 15th-16th[]
- 'Official' discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus, 1492
- Henry VII founds the Royal Navy, 1495
- John Cabot discovers North America for Henry VII, 1497
- The Reformation, 1517
- Henry VIII breaks with the Catholic church, 1529-1536
- Dissolution of the Monasteries, 1536.
Early period 16th-17th[]
- Henry VIII's daughter, Elizabeth I, founds British Intelligence.
- Elizabeth founds Church of England, c.1559. All public officials must swear an oath of loyalty to the monarch.
- Elizabeth, working with her court of advisors, officially founds British Intelligence, 1569.
- Francis Walsingham appointed Spymaster, under the supervision of mentor and chief court advisor, Sir William Cecil.
- Occultist, court magician, astrologer and scientist, Dr John Dee, advocates national expansion (1570) building a strong navy (1576) and coins the term 'British Empire' (1576).
- Under the guidance of Walter Raleigh, Richard Hakluyt prepares a document advocating colonisation of North America (1584) and Elizabeth sends Sir Walter Raleigh to colonise Virginia (1584)
- Royal Navy defeats the Spanish Armada (1588)
- Francis Bacon coins the term 'scientia potentia est' - 'knowledge is power' (1597)
- James I sets out the Divine right of Kings (1597)
- Elizabeth grants a royal charter to some London merchants to establish a corporation to trade with the East Indies (East India Company) (1600)
- English found trading post in Japan (1600)
- English establish trading post in Indonesia (1603)
- James appoints himself 'King of Great Britain' by proclamation rather than statute after parliament refuses (1604)
- Gunpowder plot conspiracy uncovered (1605)
- Jamestown, Virginia, founded (1607)
- King James Bible (1611)
- Plymouth, massachusets founded (1620)
- Bacon publishes 'The New Atlantis' (1623)
- Treaty of Westphalia in Europe establishes the principle of Sovereign nation states (1648)
- King Charles I executed (1649)
- Oliver Cromwell establishes 'The Commonwealth of England' a republican government which leads to a dictatorship (1649)
- The Restoration of the monarchy (1660)
- Glorious Revolution, William of Orange becomes British monarch in non violent invasion (1688)
- Bank of England Established (1694)
Later period 17th-19th[]
- Act of Union (1707)
- War of Jenkins' Ear (1739-1748)
- Britain conclusively wins the Seven Years War (1763)
- Revolt of the American colonies (1776)
- French Revolution (1789)
- Napoleonic wars, Napoleonic code
- Congress of Vienna, Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, League of Eight (early EU)
- Concert of Europe, end of classical imperialism, end of resource competition (mercantilism)
- Canadian Rebellions (1837) British Government's 'Durham report' recommends extending self government to Canada to prevent what happened in America. Thus the idea that imperial federation may be necessary is born.
The Imperial Revolution 19th-20th[]
- Imperialists create Communism for the purpose for establishing a New World Order (1848)
- Communism will overthrow religion and nationalism and replace them with a universal worldwide identity, called class consciousness, to aid with the establishment of one single world authority
- Great Industrial Exhibition of All Nations opens in London, International Workers Day, (1851)
- Colonial Society founded in London by bankers from The City (Barclays and Barings) (1864)
- 'First International' founded, St Martin's Hall Meeting, London (1864)
- First International Monetary Conference, Paris, Latin Monetary Union proposed (1867)
- Rothschild funded Cecil Rhodes, conceives the idea of an Imperial Federation and plans to leave money for the establishment of a secret society for this purpose in his will (1877)
- Employee of the Colonial Society, Alfred Milner, forms a society inside the Colonial Society called the Imperial Federation League (1884)
- Employee of the Colonial Office, Sidney Webb creates the Fabian Society (1884)
- Rhodes meets Alfred Milner and learns of the existence of the Imperial Federation League, so merges his round table idea with it and places Milner in charge.
- Rhodes removes the secret society references from his will and instead concentrates on founding the Rhodes Scholarships
- The Milner roundtable group works to rebrand the Empire an 'International Commonwealth', and extend self government to the colonies and dominions.
- First Colonial Conference meets in London (1887)
- The Second International (1889)
- Fourth International Monetary Conference, Brussels, Alfred Rothschild represents UK (1892)
- International Socialist Bureau (ISB), based in Brussels formed (1900)
- Coefficients club meets on the site of the historic HQ of the Knights Templar, (1902)
- World War 1, (1914-1918)
- Paris Peace Conference establishes League of Nations Organisation (1919)
- Balfour Declaration (1926)
- Statute of Westmister (1931)
- HG Wells predicts 10 year long, second world war, in 'Things to Come' (1933)
- World War 2,'The war the never ended' (1939-1989)
- Cold War, WW3, (1945-1989)
- The United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference, designs world economy (July 1944)
- The United Nations Organisation, officially created in San Francisco (1945)
- London Declaration (1949)
- Socialist International formed (1951)
- Colonial Society becomes Royal Commonwealth Society (May 1958)
- Wind of Change speech (1960)
- Commonwealth Secretariat established (1965)
- War on Terror, 2001-2041
Rhodes-Milner Roundtable and a new world order[]
London was a key site of political negotiation over decolonisation and provided the backdrop for meetings in which new independent political relationships were performed. Commonwealth Staff Correspondent for the Times Bill Kirkman, remembers London as ‘a frenzy of activity’ in the early 1960s, with Constitutional Conferences about independence going on every few weeks at Lancaster House. In 1965, the Commonwealth Secretariat was set up with its Headquarters at Marlborough House on Pall Mall.
In 1958 Prime Minister Harold Macmillan spoke to the Royal Empire Society about his vision for the Commonwealth and highlighted themes of optimism, independence, and friendship. Over the space of twelve years, he said, ‘we have seen it change from the old Commonwealth of peoples of the same racial origin and traditions, into a different diverse, partnership’ (Macmillan, 1958, p54-5). He looked to counter negative attitudes that saw the end of empire in declinist terms. The Commonwealth, he declared, was a new concept, ‘a partnership of people varying among each other in almost every respect that it is possible to imagine.
London was a key site of political negotiation over decolonisation and provided the backdrop for meetings in which new independent political relationships were performed. Commonwealth Staff Correspondent for the Times Bill Kirkman, remembers London as ‘a frenzy of activity’ in the early 1960s, with Constitutional Conferences about independence going on every few weeks at Lancaster House. In 1965, the Commonwealth Secretariat was set up with its Headquarters at Marlborough House on Pall Mall.
In 1958 Prime Minister Harold Macmillan spoke to the Royal Empire Society about his vision for the Commonwealth and highlighted themes of optimism, independence, and friendship. Over the space of twelve years, he said, ‘we have seen it change from the old Commonwealth of peoples of the same racial origin and traditions, into a different diverse, partnership’ (Macmillan, 1958, p54-5). He looked to counter negative attitudes that saw the end of empire in declinist terms. The Commonwealth, he declared, was a new concept, ‘a partnership of people varying among each other in almost every respect that it is possible to imagine.
In July 1957, the Society hosted Kwame Nkrumah, Prime Minister of Ghana. This visit took place a mere three months after Ghana’s independence, and marked the first of many receptions held at the Society for dignitaries from newly independent countries. Once Nkrumah was co-opted into the political establishment and accepted as a Commonwealth leader, he was welcomed at the Society; indeed it was important for the Society to be seen to be providing hospitality to him. The image of the guests conversing together worked to present a vision of the Commonwealth as polite, welcoming and friendly, especially important as a few years before Nkrumah had been imprisoned by the British authorities in the Gold Coast. For the Commonwealth to succeed it had to be based on mutual regard amongst nations and on a smooth transition from Empire; disruptions to this performance threatened the association’s future viability.
Kerr Clan[]
Phillip Kerr, son of Ralph Kerr, served in South Africa Government, editor of The Round Table, private secretary to Lloyd George, member of "Milner's Kindergarten" at the Round Table society, close friendship to Nancy Astor, Director of United Newspapers, Under-Secretary of State for India.
- William Kerr, (1605-1675) 1st Earl of Lothian, born within St James's Palace in London, Secretary of State in 1649
- Robert Kerr, (1636-1703) 1st Marquess of Lothian, supported the Glorious Revolution, Lord Justice General of Scotland
- Lord Walter Talbot Kerr, (1839-1927), Fleet Admiral.
- Lord Ralph Kerr, Major-General in the Army
- Philip Henry Kerr, (1882–1940), 11th Marquess of Lothian, Milner's Kindergarten.
- Peter Francis Walter Kerr, (1922-2004) 12th Marquess of Lothian.
- Michael Andrew Foster Jude Kerr, (1945-) 13th Marquess of Lothian, Global Strategy Forum.
India[]
The Madras Corporation is the oldest municipal body of the Commonwealth of Nations outside the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1688 to control the powers of the then Governor of Madras, Elihu Yale. The Corporation was created by a Royal Charter issued on December 30, 1687 by King James II on the advice of the chairman of the East India Company, Josiah Child. Prior to the establishment of the corporation, the Governor of Madras or the Company's agent managed the affairs of the Fort St George and its residents with the assistance of a headman, an accountant, and the head of watch and ward. The Governor sat as Madras's Justice of the Peace.