The May Day 1707 the Act of Union signed by the Parliaments of England and Scotland takes effect. It gives birth to the Kingdom of Great Britain and puts a definitive end to the age-old rivalry between London and Edinburgh. This treaty is the result of the process of rapprochement between the two kingdoms initiated after the accession to the throne of England by King James VI of Scotland in 1603...
The 1707 Act of Union between England and Scotland
For most of the 17th century, the Stuarts ruled both London and Edinburgh. Although the two kingdoms may have taken different paths (notably during the Cromwellian period) during this period, there was a gradual convergence of their interests as a result.
The Revolution of 1688 and its consequences will not change the situation and when Queen Anne ascends the thrones of Scotland and England in 1702, unification becomes a necessity compelling for London. Indeed the country finds itself immersed in the War of Spanish Succession against the Franco-Spanish alliance. London badly needed to ensure order in the British Isles and it was well known that Versailles had allies among the Scottish nobility (a Catholic pretender to the crown of the Stuarts being exiled in France).
Queen Anne and her government will therefore push the Scottish parliament to ratify an Act of Union with England, while sparing the Scottish Lords who will retain their privileges and a relative autonomy. After tight negotiations where London alternates threats and promises, the Act is ratified by the Scottish parliament. England and Scotland will then form a single kingdom which will soon become one of the very first European powers.