The Era of Queen Anne and the Union of Crown of England and Crown of Scotland

Magistrska naloga predstavlja dobo kraljice Ane Stuart in združitev angleške ter škotske krone. V nalogi so s pomočjo virov in izbrane literature predstavljeni in opisani dogodki, ki so zaznamovali njeno vladavino. Ana Stuart (1665 ̶ 1714) je prestol zasedla leta 1702 in tako postala kraljica Anglije, Irske in Škotske. Del naloge je namenjen podrobnejšemu opisu Aninega zasebnega življenja. Bila je šibkega zdravja in ni zapustila potomcev, ki bi lahko nasledili prestol. V času vladanja so ji večkrat očitali neodločnost in nepremišljenost, a je s pomočjo sposobnih svetovalcev dosegla veliko zadanih ciljev. Njeno vladavino je zaznamovalo več pomembnejših in odmevnih dogodkov tako na zunanjepolitičnem kot tudi na notranjepolitičnem prizorišču, zato naloga v nadaljevanju predstavlja kraljico Ano Stuart in njeno politično delovanje. Jakob II. je po slavni revoluciji leta 1688 odstopil s prestola, njegovo mesto pa je zasedel Anin svak, Viljem III. Oranjski. Pred nastopom Ane na prestol se je zapletel v vprašanje nasledstva v Španiji, kar je preraslo v špansko nasledstveno vojno. Ta je imela leta 1714 za Britance ugoden razplet, saj je kraljica uspešno zaključila mirovna pogajanja in s tem britanski imperij povečala za strateško pomembni Gibraltar. Najpomembnejši dosežek na notranjepolitičnem področju pa je bila združitev angleške in škotske krone leta 1707. Posledično je prišlo do združitve angleškega in škotskega parlamenta in nastanka Kraljestva Velike Britanije. Zadnji del naloge podrobneje opisuje združitvena pogajanja in postopke, s pomočjo združitvenih aktov pa so predstavljena in prevedena pomembnejša določila, ki so pravno-formalno urejala bodoče življenje v skupnem Kraljestvu. Ana Stuart je umrla leta 1714 in zaključila vladavino rodbine Stuart na Otoku.The Master’s thesis presents the era of Queen Anne and the union of the English and Scottish crowns. Major events that shaped the era are presented and described based on the selected secondary sources, academic articles and other literature. Queen Anne Stuart (1665 ̶ 1714) descended the throne in 1702 and thus, became the Queen of England, Ireland and Scotland. One part of the thesis focuses on a detailed description of Anne’s personal life and affairs. She was of week health and had no surviving children that would inherit the throne and continue the line of Stuarts. Throughout the reign she was often reproached for being indecisive and recklesshowever, with the help of skilled advisors she managed to achieve her goals. In terms of internal politics and foreign policy, her reign achieved some groundbreaking moments, therefore, the second part of the thesis focuses on the description of Queen Anne’s rule and her politics. James II. abdicated the throne after the Glorious revolution in 1688. He was succeeded by Anne’s brother-in-law William III. (William of Orange). Towards the end of his reign he decided to interfere with the succession of the Spanish throne, which later led to a War of the Spanish Succession. Queen Anne managed to successfully finish the peace negotiations which ended the war, and expanded the British Empire with Gibraltar, a strategically important part of Europe. The milestone of her reign was reached with the union of English and Scottish crowns in 1707. The English and the Scottish parliaments were united into one parliament, and the country was named The Kingdom of Great Britain. The last part of the thesis, therefore, describes and analyzes the process of the union and presents the Acts of Union which served as a legal basis for the formation of the Kingdom. Anne Stuart was the last monarch from the line of Stuartsshe died in 1714