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The 20th Century |
| 1911 |
The Parliament Act reduced the power of the House of Lords. |
| 1914 |
An Irish Home Rule Bill was passed but not put into effect. |
| 1914-1918 |
The United Kingdom and its allies defeated Germany and the other Central Powers in World War I. |
| 1916 |
British forces crushed the Easter Rising in Ireland. |
| 1921 |
The Irish Free State was set up, but civil war erupted in southern Ireland. |
| 1924 |
James Ramsay MacDonald led the first Labour government. |
| 1928 |
The right to vote was given to all women over 21, giving them equal rights with men. |
| 1939-1945 |
The United Kingdom and the Allies defeated Germany, Italy, and Japan in World War II. |
| 1947 |
India and Pakistan became separate, independent nations. |
| 1956 |
Britain and France attacked Egypt over the Suez Canal. |
| 1957-1960's |
Most British territories in Africa became independent. |
| 1972 |
Northern Ireland came under direct British rule from London. |
| 1973 |
The United Kingdom joined the European Community (now the European Union). |
| 1979 |
Margaret Thatcher became the United Kingdom's first woman prime minister. |
| 1982 |
British troops defeated Argentine forces in a war for control of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. |
| 1999 |
The Northern Ireland Assembly, the Scottish Parliament, and the National Assembly for Wales came into being. |
