England’s character tends to get a lot of criticism, for, well,
how critical he is of America. Don’t get me wrong either. England can be
exceptionally mean. At the same time, however, as I’ve mentioned in previous
posts, he can also be just as sweet, considerate, and thoughtful.

To understand why England tends to take out his frustration onto
America, it’s important to situate this behaviour within the context of the Revolutionary
war, both before and after (duh).

The isolation and constant mocking that came with being the “Black
Sheep of Europe” took a huge hit on England’s self-esteem. Of course, being as
sensitive as he is, he responds with anger and keeps the accompanying feelings
of stress and anxiety to himself.

Things were different with America, who functioned as England’s
stress relief. England’s even noted to feel at peace when he’s with America.

This can be attributed to the fact that America’s youth and naivety
led to his unconditional acceptance and love for England. America was the one
person England could feel at home with. While the rest of the world hated
England, America didn’t.

That said, England became dependent on America emotionally. He
didn’t have to worry about being rejected by America…that is until America
began fighting for his independence.

To put it simply, America going against him broke England’s
heart. He felt like he could trust and rely on America to have his back, only to
be betrayed (in his POV) and isolated once more when other European nations sided
against him in America’s favor.

History repeats itself, and England found himself all alone
again.

While subtle, there are significant hints about just how deeply
the Revolution hurt him.

For one thing, it’s said that he’s suffered from 100 years
of heartbreak. Likewise, an even more telling emotional omen of the past is that
in one his character notes, three important pieces of information are given.

1) “His
temper was quite stormy during the decades after America’s independence.”

– Anger is a maladjustive way of
either expressing one’s need for something or acquiring it. In this case, it
could be a reaction to the loneliness he experiences after losing America.

2) “He’s quite bad at expressing
himself. He himself knows that people often misunderstand him, he uses this fact
for self-depreciating jokes.”

– This ties in with how easy it is to see him as an angry
person when he’s  actually extremely sensitive.

Taking the latter two bits of information, you can see why Hima then
says this about England:

3) “He could
easily be the most pitiful one in this webcomic.”

In other words, England thinks lowly of himself, cares about
others’ opinions of him, poorly expresses his sadness by acting out in anger,
and yet doesn’t bother to fix these external misconceptions.

Like I said before, America was his best friend, and because
he can’t articulate his feelings well, England went from using America as a stress
ball to a punching bag (this term is used loosely).

For example, England is notorious for being a “scathing”
critic of America’s movies.

Nonetheless, what you’ll also notice is the subtle hints of America knowing that England cares about him.

Here, America –with a noticeably teasing look, as if he understands
more than what he voices– allows England to poke holes in his proposed world
defense plan.

Also pay attention to how England “commends” parts of
America’s plan.

Aside from these faults, the strengths in England’s
character prevail when they’re most needed. Even though any mention of America’s
dependence causes England to get sick, he visits America and celebrates the
occasion with him. 

It causes him a lot of pain to do so, but he still commits
to it. Not only that, but he gives America the liberty bell on the 100^th
anniversary of his independence, worries over and offers to repair the bell in
1958 despite the offer being turned down by American officials, and gives America
a new one another one hundred years later.

While America is amused by England’s evident embarrassment,
the next panel can easily be interpreted as him crying and laughing from
happiness.

Please note that the anime handles this scene quite differently, as it’s depicted more as in America laughs so hard that he cries.

I think it’s also important to end this by mentioning that
England was also America’s best friend. America is arguably just as lonely as
England.

When he was younger, America was scared to sleep alone. Regardless
if England always fell asleep before he did, America still needed him.

In “We’re Shipwrecked Too”, we get this awkward moment where
both of them consider sleeping closer to each other for warmth, but in the end
choose not to.

The tension here reveals that England isn’t the only one
having trouble working past the difficulties in their relationship.

Nevertheless, we also get moments where America reaches out
to England.

Ex: During a blizzard, he asks England to come and play
video games with him, but is turned down.

As seen in more modern strips, the two of them are slowly working
towards reconciliation and visit each other often. The perfect ideal would be
if they’re able to become best friends
again, not just in their hearts, but openly and expressively without any qualms
of what others might think.