ABSTRACT
Britain had been involved in a number of essentially commercial wars in the eighteenth century. Economically, however, Britain recovered well from the loss of its colony, with international trade, especially with the East, receiving a significant stimulus. The political fallout from a conflict that had left Britain virtually isolated in Europe was more difficult to redress, but the Triple Alliance formed in 1788 with Prussia and the United Provinces was a step towards regaining diplomatic leverage on the Continent. However, it was on Britain's relation to its troublesome colony, Ireland, that the Revolution had its greatest impact. Under the direct inspiration of the French Revolution, the United Irish Society was formed in 1791 as a moderate, cross-denominational reform movement, its early development hindered by tensions between Protestants and Catholics. The central reference point for natural rights theory in Britain in the eighteenth century was the second of John Locke's Two Treatises of Government.
