*Includes pictures
*Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading
By the start of the 18th century, England had recovered from one of the most tumultuous periods in its history and was heading into the future with a new sense of unity. The civil wars were over, and despite some royals' unpopular tendency toward Catholicism and absolutism, the House of Stuart had survived the beheading of Charles I and the overthrow of James VII and II. William and Mary brought a period of reconciliation and stability in which William's interests on the continent led him to make concessions to Parliament, concessions that helped hold the nation together. Following the deaths of Mary in 1694 and William in 1702, the throne was inherited by Mary's sister, Anne. Under Anne, the Kingdoms of England and Scotland, previously united under the Stuarts' rule, were formally united as a nation. The Acts of Union of 1707 created a single kingdom, that of Great Britain.
At the same time, the "political union" also meant a union of the armed forces, and though both developments had been happening informally in the preceding years, they were now made official. Moving forward, there would be a British nation, and just as the nation was uniting, its armies came under the leadership of John Churchill, the 1st Duke of Marlborough, one of the most outstanding generals in British history.
John Churchill was born in 1650 into a noble family from Devon in the south of England. His father, Sir Winston Churchill, had sided with the Royalists in the civil wars, and the fines he had to pay for this left the family relatively poor by English aristocratic standards. The restoration of the monarchy in 1660 went some ways to boosting the family's fortunes. Over the following years, Churchill married and began raising a family. He alternated military and political service, meeting and impressing William of Orange during his diplomatic work on the continent. His rising military rank, social standing, and wealth made him a figure of prominence in Britain.
In 1685, Churchill's longstanding patron became King James II and VII. In turn, King James II and VII made Churchill the Baron Churchill of Sandridge, with a seat in the House of Lords. Churchill's military successes would also earn him the title of Duke of Marlborough, and after the victorious Battle of Blenheim, one of England's greatest residences was to be built for him to commemorate the success.
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