Britons relished military glory without suffering the loss of civilian casualties and internal damage. All these wars challenged the religious and political foundations upon which Britain was based and aided in the formation of a British national identity.
Although Britain was composed of three separate nations, under God it was unified as one Protestant nation. Out of these three nations, a united Protestant "Volk" arose in reaction to conflicts with Catholic France. Protestantism meant a great deal to British society and it gave the majority of men and women a sense of belonging and a sense of worth that stabilized their position in history. This stabilization arose from the fact that Britain was the one nation that was able to practice Protestantism in a successful manner, whereas, many other European nations failed in their attempts to practice Protestantism. The people of England, Scotland and Wales had to reconstruct their religious beliefs to become more cohesive. This reconstruction was complicated and involved scrutiny of the Catholic community, Highland Scots before 1745, and supporters of the Stuart dynasty. Such supporters of Catholicism and the Stuart dynasty where envisioned as outsiders, because they did not follow the Protestant faith. England, Wales, and Scotland bonded together highly disparate people by persuading one another to unite against these so-called outsiders. Although these nations held different religious views, they were connected by their perception of France as religious enemy. Even Scottish people and supporters of the Stuart dynasty regarded the French as religious enemies even though they held the French as political allies. Through these persisting wars with France, the Union prospered, not merely because of profits, but also by relief as well. According to Colley, "Protestantism was the foundation that made the invention of Great Britain possible".
