The history of nationalism in Britain was fundamentally different from the rest of Europe in several key aspects.

Unlike other European nations where nationalism emerged through sudden upheavals or revolutions, the formation of the nation-state in Britain was the result of a long-drawn-out process. There was no dramatic revolutionary moment that created British national identity.

Prior to the eighteenth century, there was no British nation at all. The primary identities of the people inhabiting the British Isles were ethnic ones – such as English, Welsh, Scot or Irish. Each ethnic group had their own distinct cultural and political traditions.

The process was driven by the English nation which steadily grew in wealth, importance and power, enabling it to extend its influence over other nations of the islands. The English parliament, having seized power from the monarchy in 1688, became the instrument through which a nation-state with England at its centre was forged.

The Act of Union (1707) between England and Scotland resulted in the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', but this essentially meant England was able to impose its influence on Scotland. The British parliament was henceforth dominated by its English members, making British nationalism fundamentally different from the liberal-democratic nationalist movements seen elsewhere in Europe.