Week 8 [28.11-04.12] - Scotland and England: the love-hate relationship

Scotland and England: the love-hate relationship

The relationship between Scotland and England has been shaped over centuries. Hadrian’s Wall, built in 122 AD, became one of the first symbol of division between the two nations.

For centuries thereafter, Scotland’s most known historical figures as William Wallace and Robert the Bruce, earned their name by attacking the English. Even though the relations between England and Scotland in 13^th and 14^th centuries were free from disturbance, it was Edward I who interrupted the peaceful period. Known as the ‘Hammer of Scots’, he conquered Scotland and named himself a king by military and political manipulation.

Later, after the death of Queen Elizabeth in 1603, the Union of the Crowns was set up; having no heir, James IV, King of Scotland and son of Mary Queen of Scots, was announced King of England. From that time, England and Scotland shared a monarch, however, they maintained separate parliaments, courts etc. The Treaty of Union in 1707 unified the two countries economically and politically.

Then the Jacobite Risings between 1688 and 1746 led to the return of British monarchs (Stuart dynasty) to the throne of Great Britain.

After over 300 years of union, the I and II World War brought the re-birth of the Scottish nationalism. Fighting alongside English in both wars, the Scots did not get a chance to create an independent country, in contrary to India, or Pakistan. Undoubtedly, at that time the culture became the embodiment of the mood of the whole society: highly nationalistic texts, full of hate towards the England. It is enough to take a look at the extremely popular Irn Bru commercials to see the rivalry between two nations. Nevertheless, two referendums later, Scotland still remains a part of the United Kingdom. Then… do they really want to become independent? Do they really “bloody English” so much? Moreover, do you think that Scotland will become independent after Brexit referendum?

Bibliography

Articles:

Engelhart, Katie. Disunited Kingdom. Maclean's. 9/1/2014, Vol. 127 Issue 33/34, p28-35. 8p. 13 Color Photographs.

http://www.newhistorian.com/conflict-collaboration-history-england-scotland/1251/

Images sources:

https://www.google.pl/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwjEy-2-pszQAhUF_ywKHXUeBzEQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmentalfloss.com%2Farticle%2F58733%2F15-things-you-probably-didnt-know-about-braveheart&bvm=bv.139782543,d.bGg&psig=AFQjCNFbxqJTl2vwl3Wi-AvMY7combnskg&ust=1480451664266289&cad=rjt

https://www.google.pl/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwj8xJC3sszQAhUI3SwKHbhgBAIQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.historytoday.com%2Ftim-stanley%2Fscotland-and-england-priceless-relationship&psig=AFQjCNHWYnyvyPAadH-8-ohF_pR6ESx-4g&ust=1480454901698218

https://www.google.pl/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwjgy8zRsszQAhVkb5oKHWh7CpwQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmoneybulldog.co.uk%2Fscotland-vs-england-who-has-the-better-insolvency-system%2F&bvm=bv.139782543,d.bGg&psig=AFQjCNHFCv6ik6gWMYnHu2f-EWUrGsaViA&ust=1480454957889984

Comments

Sylwia Pechcin said…

In my opinion if they would like to be independant - they would be already for a long time. Actually it't not as big deal. I think that it's just making fake problems and conflicts.

29 November 2016 at 17:48

Unknown said…

Very nice topic. I am very interested in this area. First of all most Scots identify themselves as Scottish first and British second or not at all! As you remember a referendum on Scottish independence took place on 18 September 2014. The referendum question, which voters answered with "Yes" or "No", was "Should Scotland be an independent country?" The "No" side won, with 2,001,926 (55.3%) voting against independence and 1,617,989 (44.7%) voting in favour. As you can see it was close to be independent. In my opinion there will be another referendum soon. Now, because of Brexit voting, it can cause serious consequences - Scots vote for independence. I hope it will happen very soon.

30 November 2016 at 18:10

Piotr Basiński said…

In my opinion Scottish are stronger while they are in United Kingdom and gets many benefits of it even if they say otherwise. Will they ever become independent from Britan? We will see. But if they vote for independence and win? What currency they will use?
Another thing is what about business, what would international companies do if Scottish separates from UK? Would they stay or move to Britan?

30 November 2016 at 19:49

Unknown said…

They would probably still have the same currency and international companies would't move headquarters anyway. What about politics and economy? They already have separate parliaments, courts so this independency won't make such a big difference.

2 December 2016 at 19:59

Unknown said…

For me its very funny about England attitude :) They want to exit from EU and create referendum to know want people want. They argument this to exit because EU break them when they are in group but when Scotland want to exit from UK they said "We should stay together we are stronger in group". Its really hypocrisy.

3 December 2016 at 23:09

Unknown said…

Hahaha I agree :) Maybe the next referendum will lead to these countries spliting. I'm not sure however how did majority in Scotland vote in Brexit.

4 December 2016 at 10:56

Kacper Zaremba said…

As far as I know majority people in Scotland are for standing in UE. This is very pro-european nation. Taking that to account, Brexit may be great opportunity for Scotland to get independent from England.

4 December 2016 at 15:50

Unknown said…

I read and watched some materials with scottish telling about brexit and what they expect. Most of them said that if Britain can leafe EU, so they can leave United Kingdom and they are looking forward for it because they want to be independent. I'm curious if it were only words or they really want to do something with this, but we will see.

4 December 2016 at 16:07

Unknown said…

I think Scotland doesn't want the independence because they don't know what to do with it. After so many years living "under the same roof" with England maybe they just don't feel the need to be independence.

4 December 2016 at 17:16

Krzysztof Maciaszek said…

In my opinion Scottish push for independence not because they really want to be independent, but to gain some political leverage. If they really wanted it, they would be independent already. However now the situation has changed because of Brexit, I wouldn’t be surprised if Scotland left England because of it.

4 December 2016 at 19:32

Moode said…

I think that Scottish people are really proud of who they are and that it is very important for them not to be seen as dependent on United Kingdom. They have always been like this. I guess that it would not be much of a surprise if they have decided to go separated from UK. This is not only because they feel that Brexit is a bad thing, but also the history talking.

4 December 2016 at 21:19

Jakub Mańkowski said…

Hadrian’s Wall in my opinion is a bad example of their relationship, because it was built by Romans to separate them from the barbarians. Also, did you know that the nickname "Brave-heart" was not belong to William Wallace but Robert I Bruce? This is the serious problem of the movie. But those are only digressions. In fact, there is certainly some problems between English and Scottish people. Those nations still have different cultures, traditions, language, government and religion (!). Scotland tries to be and independent country and I think they still should try to do so.

4 December 2016 at 21:59

Unknown said…

I don't think that Scotland will become independent. Most of all, because apparently Scottish people don't want that. There were referendums and what? Nothing happened.

4 December 2016 at 22:53

Dominik Ciborowski said…

I didn't know really about Scotland-England hate so I can't elaborate on it that much. Every countries has their bad and good side in history and should not be judged by it. The country acts are the acts of their rulers so it is very hard to say if a country did bad/good.
Maybe the Scotland will go independent after Brexit but it will last some time before they will do some move.

4 December 2016 at 23:24

Łukasz Domeradzki said…

Hard topic, I'd say that they can get some courage after Brexit, but it's not very easy to say "yes, definitely!" or "no, absolutely!" - the conflict is quite complex right now and there has to be a strong reason to do a change, as just a little over 50% is not enough to justify such important thing as independence. We will see what happens.

4 December 2016 at 23:28

Unknown said…

That's probably right. After all, they had a chance to at least express their willingness to split and they blew it. And as much as I love scottish culture, with bagpipes and caber tossing, I don't think as a separate country it would be strong enough to stand out. Starting a national conflict with England by splitting with it over the EU is probably not in their best interest as well.

4 December 2016 at 23:43

Wojtek Kania said…

I think every nation should be independent, but if really they want to. For example Poles must have independence. Kurds also should have independence. But I don't think so that Scottish people real want to be independece. They are British.

4 December 2016 at 23:51

Unknown said…

In general, I was not surprised, Scotland presence in the European Union pays for them, they have the Euro currency and do not want to go out with this system. Threats related to the referendum that Scotland will leave the UK may come true. United Kingdom itself has caused big problems with Brexit and it is all very weaken if not completely break. In June, Britain voted for weakening their country and not for the strong and independent kingdom, and now they will pay for their own foolishness.

4 December 2016 at 23:53

Maciej Spychała said…

Well the Scots have many reasons to want independence. Most of them based on history. But then again they held their referendum not so long ago and the democratic voice of the people of Scotland was to remain. Brexit surely might change it, but I guess we'll see what happens.

4 December 2016 at 23:57

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