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[h3]Name:[/h3]
	The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

[h3]Leader: [/h3]
	William IV 

[h3]History: [/h3]
	After the abdication of Napoleon in April 1814, British public opinion demanded major gains in the war against the United States. The senior American representative in London, Reuben Beasley, told US Secretary of State James Monroe:

    [i]There are so many who delight in War that I have less hope than ever of our being able to make peace. You will perceive by the newspapers that a very great force is to be sent from Bordeaux to the United States, and the order of the day is division of the States and conquest. The more moderate think that when our Seaboard is laid waste and we are made to agree to a line which shall exclude us from the lake; to give up a part of our claim on Louisiana and the privilege of fishing on the banks, etc. peace may be made with us.[/i] 
	
	Led by General Isaac Brock, the British, along with their Canadian and First Nation allies, hammered the Americans at Queenston Heights and Detroit. Landings in New Orleans, a bombardment of Boston, and General Brocks unerring support of the Shawnee Chief Tecumseh, led to the Americans eventually suing for peace as the Frontier burned. The Iroquois and Huron Confederacies were recognized as British protectorates, and the region known as the Louisiana Territory was turned over to the British. 

	Protected by her Navy, at least in theory, the British rolled up the territories and colonies of its land bound enemies. The French fleet, a shadow of its former self, was penned into a half dozen harbours and left to rot. On land, however, the British did not fare so well. The French proved, with a few exceptions, to be better led, and friction among the Allies to several reveres, including a brutal defeat at the Battle of Waterloo. The British were forced from mainland Europe and only a few ports remained open to their goods.

	To suggest that the British people were badly shaken by the landing of French troops at Dover in 1822 would be to make a massive understatement. What followed was a soul searching that the British had not had to undergo since the Spanish Armada. A special committee was launched by the King to investigate where things had gone so badly wrong and he nominated the Duke of Wellington to lead the review. Wellington had avenged his defeat at Waterloo by soaking British beaches with French blood, but now he was being asked to make sure such an event never occurred again.

	First came reforms to the Navy and Army. The practice of buying commissions was scrapped and he adopted the French style of promoting skilled men from the ranks. A proper military college was established in York for the training of officers who could not read or write. The use of the rifle became widespread and the iconic red jacket of the British army began to give way to the dark green and black associated with the rifle regiments. Britain had learned some hard lessons.

	The Navy, long Britains favourite son, found its reputation badly tarnished after their failure to prevent the French landing; they had been pissing about in the wrong place when the invasion began. The Captains list, previously based solely on seniority, was abolished and, like the army, new commanders were promoted based on competency and leadership.

	With Napoleon gone, and the world more or less at peace, the king began new political reforms. The poor law was updated, child labour restricted, slavery abolished in nearly all of the British Empire, and the British electoral system refashioned by the Reform Act of 1832. His control over the Kingdom of Hannover had long be surrendered as Prussia sought to make its own way. 

	Now the King lies on his death bed, the Empire is strong, and money flows into British coffers. Whispers of war on the mainland have begun again, the Americas are aflame, and the cavalry of Saint George will ride again.