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Great Britain, also known as Old Britain, was a country on Earth in the 19th, 20th, and 21st century. It played a significant role in Earth history beginning in the late 17th century. Residents of Great Britain were known as British, Britons or Brits. The flag of Great Britain, known as the "Union Flag", was two red crosses superimposing on a white cross on a blue background. (DS9: "Our Man Bashir"; TOS: "The Trouble with Tribbles"; ENT: "First Flight", ENT: "Storm Front")

History

Great Britain was formed of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland joined as one political structure. Only Northern Ireland was included in the structure, until its reunification with Ireland in 2024. (TNG: "The High Ground")

Great Britain is actually the name of the island that consists of England, Scotland, and Wales. Wales has never been directly mentioned in a Star Trek production, with the only reference being the proper noun Welsh rarebit.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, Great Britain rose to become Earth's prominent superpower partially due to the strength of the Royal Navy, through which Great Britain exercised its power throughout the world. (citation needededit) One of these ships, the HMS Enterprize, was one of the earliest vessels to carry the name. (Star Trek: Enterprise opening credits)

Great Britain was an instrumental participant of World War II against Nazi Germany, particularly the Battle of Britain. (DS9: "Homefront") In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt of the United States of America pressured the United States Congress to send aid to the British. (TNG: "The Big Goodbye")

During the 1960s, Great Britain was involved in the Earth Cold War. (DS9: "Our Man Bashir")

In the late 20th century, Great Britain was a founding member of the European Space Agency. (ENT: "First Flight")

According to the Star Trek Fact Files, Great Britain was a member of the International Space Agency in the early 21st century.

In 2024, Ireland was reunited as a result of violence used as a political instrument, rather than through peaceful negotiation. As a result Northern Ireland left the United Kingdom. This event became known as the Irish Unification of 2024. (TNG: "The High Ground")

The Royal Academy in Old Britain mapped areas of space well into the 2060s, including Sherman's Planet in 2067. (TOS: "The Trouble with Tribbles"; ENT: "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II")

Alternate, Parallel, and Imaginary Britons

In an alternate version of 1944, caused by activities within the Temporal Cold War, after England was taken over by Nazi Germany, Prime Minister Winston Churchill urged all Britons to continue to fight for either anarchy or order in World War II. These events were witnessed by the Enterprise NX-01. (ENT: "Storm Front")

In a World War II holoprogram used on the USS Voyager, British intelligence was in contact with the French Resistance in Sainte Claire. (VOY: "The Killing Game")

In the holoprogram Julian Bashir, Secret Agent, set in the Cold War, the government of Great Britain paid for every item and luxury that secret agent Julian Bashir would need for his espionage and intelligence gathering duties. Garak was incredulous that a government would even pay a spy for trivial items such as an apartment and weapons. (DS9: "Our Man Bashir")

Geographical details

Great Britain governed over Scotland and England. (VOY: "Year of Hell") It was separated from Europe by the English Channel. (DS9: "Homefront")

England
Scotland

Other locations

Culture

Appendices

See also

Background information

In the real world, the Kingdom of Great Britain merged with Ireland in 1801 to become the United Kingdom Of Great Britain And Ireland (or UK), later the United Kingdom Of Great Britain And Northern Ireland. The term "Great Britain" was only used once, in "Our Man Bashir". It was referred to as "Old Britain" by Spock in "The Trouble with Tribbles". It was still known as the UK in the 1960s when Bashir 62 was set.

Dialogue from "Our Man Bashir" and "The Trouble with Tribbles" implies that Britain no longer exists as a sovereign country in the 23rd and 24th century. It may have lost its sovereignty by joining the European Alliance or United Earth.

The script of the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "To the Death" described the position of the USS Defiant's security officers facing the Jem'Hadar on the transporter platform as being "like British infantry". Later in the script, the rogue Jem'Hadar's weapons are described as being "like a cross between the halberds used by British beefeaters and Japanese naginatas."

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