George V death of his grandmother in 1901, George's father ascended the throne as Edward VII, and George was created Prince of Wales. He became king-emperor on his father's death in 1910. George V's reign saw the rise of socialism, communism, fascism, Irish republicanism, and the Indian independence movement, all of which radically changed the political landscape. The Parliament Act 1911 established the supremacy of the elected British House of Commons over the unelected House of Lords. As a result of the First World War (1914–1918), the empires of his first cousins Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and Kaiser Wilhelm II of
HMS King George V (41) "Rodney" opened fire. "King George V" followed suit in less than a minute. "Bismarck" answered almost immediately, straddling "Rodney" on her second salvo. By 08:59 "King George V" had closed to and all her 14-inch guns were firing; "Rodney" was firing full 16-inch salvoes. "Bismarck" concentrated all her remaining guns on "King George V", but only an occasional shell came close. At 09:14 "King George V", at , had opened fire with her 5.25-inch guns, and "Rodney" had moved to . At 09:27 a shell hitting "Bismarck" penetrated the hydraulic machinery in turret 'Anton' and disabled it, causing the guns