Independence

Ironic for a country that vied with the French, Spanish & Dutch to take possession of the planet, independence was never an English concept before 19th century Napoleon and 20th century Hitler; I could mention the Armada, but as the King of England before Elizabeth l was also the King of Spain it was hardly a defence of the realm; later after Scottish succession the country was handed over to the Dutch followed by a German with no English vocabulary. One can think of the phrase 'an Island race', excuse me! England has never been an island; then there is 'the world as we know it', strange expression for a country that was founded by Germans, ruled by Scandinavians, Norman French and the French Angevin Plantagenet family 'till 1485 when the two warring branches were removed from the throne by a Welshman at the head of an invading Breton & Welsh army, uniting England under Brythonic/Brittonic/British rule; so much for the last invasion of England being 1066. Henry Vll with his Tudor Rose brought new blood to an England finally united by an indigenous British born dynasty even though the country of origin was Cymru/Wales not England.