Context of Scotland

Scotland (Scots: Scotland, Scottish Gaelic: Alba [ˈal̪ˠapə] (listen)) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a 96-mile (154-kilometre) border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, the North Sea to the northeast and east, and the Irish Sea to the south. It also contains more than 790 islands, principally in the archipelagos of the Hebrides and the Northern Isles. Most of the population, including the capital Edinburgh, is concentrated in the Central Belt—the plain between the Scottish Highlands and the Southern Uplands—in the Scottish Lowlands.

Scotland is divided into 32 administrat...Read more

Scotland (Scots: Scotland, Scottish Gaelic: Alba [ˈal̪ˠapə] (listen)) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a 96-mile (154-kilometre) border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, the North Sea to the northeast and east, and the Irish Sea to the south. It also contains more than 790 islands, principally in the archipelagos of the Hebrides and the Northern Isles. Most of the population, including the capital Edinburgh, is concentrated in the Central Belt—the plain between the Scottish Highlands and the Southern Uplands—in the Scottish Lowlands.

Scotland is divided into 32 administrative subdivisions or local authorities, known as council areas. Glasgow City is the largest council area in terms of population, with Highland being the largest in terms of area. Limited self-governing power, covering matters such as education, social services and roads and transportation, is devolved from the Scottish Government to each subdivision. Scotland is the second-largest country in the United Kingdom, and accounted for 8.3% of the population in 2012.

The Kingdom of Scotland emerged in the 9th century, from the merging of the Gaelic Kingdom of Dál Riata and the Kingdom of the Picts, and continued to exist as an independent sovereign state until 1707. By inheritance in 1603, James VI of Scotland became king of England and Ireland, thus forming a personal union of the three kingdoms. Scotland subsequently entered into a political union with the Kingdom of England on 1 May 1707 to create the new Kingdom of Great Britain. The union also created the Parliament of Great Britain, which succeeded both the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England. In 1801, the Kingdom of Great Britain entered into a political union with the Kingdom of Ireland to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (in 1922, the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being officially renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 1927).

Within Scotland, the monarchy of the United Kingdom has continued to use a variety of styles, titles and other royal symbols of statehood specific to the pre-union Kingdom of Scotland. The legal system within Scotland has also remained separate from those of England and Wales and Northern Ireland; Scotland constitutes a distinct jurisdiction in both public and private law. The continued existence of legal, educational, religious and other institutions distinct from those in the remainder of the UK have all contributed to the continuation of Scottish culture and national identity since the 1707 incorporating union with England.

In 1999, a Scottish Parliament was re-established, in the form of a devolved unicameral legislature comprising 129 members, having authority over many areas of domestic policy. The head of the Scottish Government is the first minister, who is supported by the deputy first minister. Scotland is represented in the United Kingdom Parliament by 59 members of parliament (MPs). It is also a member of the British–Irish Council, sending five members of the Scottish Parliament to the British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly, as well as being part of the Heads of Government Council, represented by the first minister, and the Inter-ministerial Standing Committee Council, represented by relevant cabinet secretaries and ministers in areas relating to education, finance and economy, environment and trade and investment.

More about Scotland

Basic information
Population, Area & Driving side
  • Population 5313600
  • Area 78782
History
  • Early history
     
    The exposed interior of a house at Skara Brae

    The first written reference to Scotland was in 320 BC by Greek sailor Pytheas, who called the...Read more

    Early history
     
    The exposed interior of a house at Skara Brae

    The first written reference to Scotland was in 320 BC by Greek sailor Pytheas, who called the northern tip of Britain "Orcas", the source of the name of the Orkney islands.[1]: 10  During the first millennium BC, the society changed dramatically to a chiefdom model, as consolidation of settlement led to the concentration of wealth and underground stores of surplus food.[1]: 11 

    The Roman conquest of Britain was never completed, and most of modern Scotland was not brought under Roman political control.[2] The first Roman incursion into Scotland occurred in 79 AD, when Agricola invaded Scotland; he defeated a Caledonian army at the Battle of Mons Graupius in 83 AD.[1]: 12  After the Roman victory, Roman forts were briefly set along the Gask Ridge close to the Highland line, but by three years after the battle, the Roman armies had withdrawn to the Southern Uplands.[3] Remains of Roman forts established in the 1st century have been found as far north as the Moray Firth.[2] By the reign of the Roman emperor Trajan (r. 98–117), Roman control had lapsed to Britain south of a line between the River Tyne and the Solway Firth.[4] Along this line, Trajan's successor Hadrian (r. 117–138) erected Hadrian's Wall in northern England[1]: 12  and the Limes Britannicus became the northern border of the Roman Empire.[5][6] The Roman influence on the southern part of the country was considerable, and they introduced Christianity to Scotland.[1]: 13–14 [7]: 38 

    The Antonine Wall was built from 142 at the order of Hadrian's successor Antoninus Pius (r. 138–161), defending the Roman part of Scotland from the unadministered part of the island, north of a line between the Firth of Clyde and the Firth of Forth. The Roman invasion of Caledonia 208–210 was undertaken by emperors of the imperial Severan dynasty in response to the breaking of treaty by the Caledonians in 197,[2] but permanent conquest of the whole of Great Britain was forestalled by Roman forces becoming bogged down in punishing guerrilla warfare and the death of the senior emperor Septimius Severus (r. 193–211) at Eboracum (York) after taking ill while on campaign. Although forts erected by the Roman army of the Severan campaign were placed near those established by Agricola and were clustered at the mouths of the glens in the Highlands, the Caledonians were again in revolt in 210–211 and these were overrun.[2]

    To the Roman historians Tacitus and Cassius Dio, the Scottish Highlands and the area north of the River Forth was called Caledonia.[2] According to Cassius Dio, the inhabitants of Caledonia were the Caledonians and the Maeatae.[2] Other ancient authors used the adjective "Caledonian" to pertain to anywhere in northern or inland Britain, often mentioning the region's people and animals, its cold climate, its pearls, and a noteworthy region of wooden hills (Latin: saltus) which the 2nd-century AD Roman philosopher Ptolemy, in his Geography, described as being south-west of the Beauly Firth.[2] The name Caledonia is echoed in the place names of Dunkeld, Rohallion, and Schiehallion.[2]

    The Great Conspiracy constituted a seemingly coordinated invasion against Roman rule in Britain in the later 4th century, which included the participation of the Gaelic Scoti and the Caledonians, who were then known as Picts by the Romans. This was defeated by the comes Theodosius, however, Roman military government was withdrawn from the island altogether by the early 5th century, resulting in the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain and the immigration of the Saxons to southeastern Scotland and the rest of eastern Great Britain.[4]

    Kingdom of Scotland
     
    Political divisions in early medieval Scotland
     
    Norse kingdoms at the end of the eleventh century

    Beginning in the sixth century, the area that is now Scotland was divided into three areas: Pictland, a patchwork of small lordships in central Scotland;[1]: 25–26  the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria, which had conquered southeastern Scotland;[1]: 18–20  and Dál Riata, which included territory in western Scotland and northern Ireland, and spread Gaelic language and culture into Scotland.[8] These societies were based on the family unit and had sharp divisions in wealth, although the vast majority were poor and worked full-time in subsistence agriculture. The Picts kept slaves (mostly captured in war) through the ninth century.[1]: 26–27 

    Gaelic influence over Pictland and Northumbria was facilitated by the large number of Gaelic-speaking clerics working as missionaries.[1]: 23–24  Operating in the sixth century on the island of Iona, Saint Columba was one of the earliest and best-known missionaries.[7]: 39  The Vikings began to raid Scotland in the eighth century. Although the raiders sought slaves and luxury items, their main motivation was to acquire land. The oldest Norse settlements were in northwest Scotland, but they eventually conquered many areas along the coast. Old Norse entirely displaced Gaelic in the Northern Isles.[1]: 29–30 

    In the ninth century, the Norse threat allowed a Gael named Cináed mac Ailpín (Kenneth I) to seize power over Pictland, establishing a royal dynasty to which the modern monarchs trace their lineage, and marking the beginning of the end of Pictish culture.[1]: 31–32 [9] The kingdom of Cináed and his descendants, called Alba, was Gaelic in character but existed on the same area as Pictland. By the end of the tenth century, the Pictish language went extinct as its speakers shifted to Gaelic.[1]: 32–33  From a base in eastern Scotland north of the River Forth and south of the River Spey, the kingdom expanded first southwards, into the former Northumbrian lands, and northwards into Moray.[1]: 34–35  Around the turn of the millennium, there was a centralization in agricultural lands and the first towns began to be established.[1]: 36–37 

    In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, much of Scotland was under the control of a single ruler. Initially, Gaelic culture predominated, but immigrants from France, England and Flanders steadily created a more diverse society, with the Gaelic language starting to be replaced by Scots. Altogether, a modern nation-state emerged from this. At the end of this period, war against England started the growth of a Scottish national consciousness.[10]: 37-39 [11]: ch 1  David I (1124–1153) and his successors centralized royal power[10]: 41–42  and united mainland Scotland, capturing regions such as Moray, Galloway, and Caithness, although he did not succeed at extending his power over the Hebrides, which had been ruled by various Scottish clans following the death of Somerled in 1164.[10]: 48–49  The system of feudalism was consolidated, with both Anglo-Norman incomers and native Gaelic chieftains being granted land in exchange for serving the king.[10]: 53–54  The complex relationship with Scotland's southern neighbour over this period is characterised by Scottish kings making successful and unsuccessful attempts to exploit English political turmoil, followed by the longest period of peace between Scotland and England in the mediaeval period: from 1217–1296.[10]: 45-46 

    Wars of Scottish Independence
     
    King of Scots Robert I addresses his troops before the Battle of Bannockburn. Drawing from c. 1900.

    The death of Alexander III in March 1286 broke the succession line of Scotland's kings. Edward I of England arbitrated between various claimants for the Scottish crown. In return for surrendering Scotland's nominal independence, John Balliol was pronounced king in 1292.[10]: 47 [12] In 1294, Balliol and other Scottish lords refused Edward's demands to serve in his army against the French. Scotland and France sealed a treaty on 23 October 1295, known as the Auld Alliance. War ensued, and John was deposed by Edward who took personal control of Scotland. Andrew Moray and William Wallace initially emerged as the principal leaders of the resistance to English rule in the Wars of Scottish Independence,[13] until Robert the Bruce was crowned king of Scotland in 1306.[14] Victory at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 proved the Scots had regained control of their kingdom. In 1320 the world's first documented declaration of independence, the Declaration of Arbroath, won the support of Pope John XXII, leading to the legal recognition of Scottish sovereignty by the English Crown. [15]: 70, 72 

    A civil war between the Bruce dynasty and their long-term rivals of the House of Comyn and House of Balliol lasted until the middle of the 14th century. Although the Bruce faction was successful, David II's lack of an heir allowed his half-nephew Robert II, the Lord High Steward of Scotland, to come to the throne and establish the House of Stewart.[15]: 77  The Stewarts ruled Scotland for the remainder of the Middle Ages. The country they ruled experienced greater prosperity from the end of the 14th century through the Scottish Renaissance to the Reformation,[16]: 93  despite the effects of the Black Death in 1349[15]: 76  and increasing division between Highlands and Lowlands.[15]: 78  Multiple truces reduced warfare on the southern border.[15]: 76, 83 

    Union of the Crowns
     
    James VI succeeded to the English and Irish thrones in 1603.

    The Treaty of Perpetual Peace was signed in 1502 by James IV of Scotland and Henry VII of England. James married Henry's daughter, Margaret Tudor.[17] James invaded England in support of France under the terms of the Auld Alliance and became the last British monarch to die in battle, at Flodden in 1513.[18] The war with England during the minority years of Mary, Queen of Scots between 1543 to 1551 is known as the Rough Wooing.[19]

    In 1560, the Treaty of Edinburgh brought an end to the Siege of Leith and recognized the Protestant Elizabeth I as Queen of England.[16]: 112  The Parliament of Scotland met and immediately adopted the Scots Confession, which signalled the Scottish Reformation's sharp break from papal authority and Roman Catholic teaching.[7]: 44  The Catholic Mary, Queen of Scots, was forced to abdicate in 1567.[20]

    In 1603, James VI, King of Scots inherited the thrones of the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Ireland in the Union of the Crowns, and moved to London.[21] The first Union Jack was designed at James's behest, to be flown in addition to the St Andrew's Cross on Scots vessels at sea. James VI and I intended to create a single kingdom of Great Britain, but was thwarted in his attempt to do so by the Parliament of England, which supported the wrecking proposal that a full legal union be sought instead, a proposal to which the Scots Parliament would not assent, causing the king to withdraw the plan.[22]

    With the exception of a short period under the Protectorate, Scotland remained a separate state in the 17th century, but there was considerable conflict between the crown and the Covenanters over the form of church government.[23]: 124  The military was strengthened, allowing the imposition of royal authority on the western Highland clans. The 1609 Statutes of Iona compelled the cultural integration of Hebridean clan leaders.[24]: 37–40  In 1641 and again in 1643, the Parliament of Scotland unsuccessfully sought a union with England which was "federative" and not "incorporating", in which Scotland would retain a separate parliament.[25] The issue of union split the parliament in 1648.[25]

    After the execution of the Scottish king at Whitehall in 1649, amid the Wars of the Three Kingdoms and its events in Scotland, Oliver Cromwell, the victorious Lord Protector, imposed the British Isles' first written constitution – the Instrument of Government – on Scotland in 1652 as part of the republican Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland.[25] The Protectorate Parliament was the first Westminster parliament to include representatives nominally from Scotland. The monarchy of the House of Stuart was resumed with the Restoration in Scotland in 1660.

    The Parliament of Scotland sought a commercial union with England in 1664; the proposal was rejected in 1668.[25] In 1670 the Parliament of England rejected a proposed political union with Scotland.[25] English proposals along the same lines were abandoned in 1674 and in 1685.[25] The Battle of Altimarlach in 1680 was the last significant clan battle fought between highland clans.[26] After the fall and flight into exile of the Catholic Stuart king, James VII and II the Glorious Revolution in Scotland and the Convention of Estates replaced the House of Stuart in favour of William III and Mary II who was Mary Stuart.[23]: 142  The Scots Parliament rejected proposals for a political union in 1689.[25] Jacobitism, the political support for the exiled Catholic Stuart dynasty, remained a threat to the security of the British state under the Protestant House of Orange and the succeeding House of Hanover until the defeat of the Jacobite rising of 1745.[25]

    In common with countries such as France, Norway, Sweden and Finland, Scotland experienced famines during the 1690s. Mortality, reduced childbirths and increased emigration reduced the population of parts of the country about 10–15%.[27] In 1698, the Company of Scotland attempted a project to secure a trading colony on the Isthmus of Panama. Almost every Scottish landowner who had money to spare is said to have invested in the Darien scheme.[28][29]

    Treaty of Union with England
     
    Scottish Exemplification (official copy) of the Treaty of Union of 1707

    After another proposal from the English House of Lords was rejected in 1695, and a further Lords motion was voted down in the House of Commons in 1700, the Parliament of Scotland again rejected union in 1702.[25] The failure of the Darien Scheme bankrupted the landowners who had invested, though not the burghs. Nevertheless, the nobles' bankruptcy, along with the threat of an English invasion, played a leading role in convincing the Scots elite to back a union with England.[28][29] On 22 July 1706, the Treaty of Union was agreed between representatives of the Scots Parliament and the Parliament of England. The following year, twin Acts of Union were passed by both parliaments to create the united Kingdom of Great Britain with effect from 1 May 1707[30] with popular opposition and anti-union riots in Edinburgh, Glasgow, and elsewhere.[31][32] The newly formed Parliament of Great Britain rejected proposals from the Parliament of Ireland that the third kingdom be incorporated in the union.[25]

    With trade tariffs with England abolished, trade blossomed, especially with Colonial America. The clippers belonging to the Glasgow Tobacco Lords were the fastest ships on the route to Virginia. Until the American War of Independence in 1776, Glasgow was the world's premier tobacco port, dominating world trade.[33] The disparity between the wealth of the merchant classes of the Scottish Lowlands and the ancient clans of the Scottish Highlands grew, amplifying centuries of division.

    The deposed Jacobite Stuart claimants had remained popular in the Highlands and north-east, particularly amongst non-Presbyterians, including Roman Catholics and Episcopalian Protestants. Two major Jacobite risings launched in 1715 and 1745 failed to remove the House of Hanover from the British throne. The threat of the Jacobite movement to the United Kingdom and its monarchs effectively ended at the Battle of Culloden, Great Britain's last pitched battle.

    In the Highlands, clan chiefs gradually started to think of themselves more as commercial landlords than leaders of their people. These social and economic changes included the first phase of the Highland Clearances and, ultimately, the demise of clanship.[34]: 32–53, passim 

    Industrial age and the Scottish Enlightenment
     
    The National Monument of Scotland on Calton Hill in Edinburgh is the national memorial to Scottish soldiers lost in the Napoleonic Wars.

    The Scottish Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution turned Scotland into an intellectual, commercial and industrial powerhouse[35] — so much so Voltaire said "We look to Scotland for all our ideas of civilisation."[36] With the demise of Jacobitism and the advent of the Union, thousands of Scots, mainly Lowlanders, took up numerous positions of power in politics, civil service, the army and navy, trade, economics, colonial enterprises and other areas across the nascent British Empire. Historian Neil Davidson notes "after 1746 there was an entirely new level of participation by Scots in political life, particularly outside Scotland." Davidson also states "far from being 'peripheral' to the British economy, Scotland – or more precisely, the Lowlands – lay at its core."[37]

    The Scottish Reform Act 1832 increased the number of Scottish MPs and widened the franchise to include more of the middle classes.[38] From the mid-century, there were increasing calls for Home Rule for Scotland and the post of Secretary of State for Scotland was revived.[39] Towards the end of the century Prime Ministers of Scottish descent included William Gladstone,[40] and the Earl of Rosebery.[41] In the late 19th century the growing importance of the working classes was marked by Keir Hardie's success in the Mid Lanarkshire by-election, 1888, leading to the foundation of the Scottish Labour Party, which was absorbed into the Independent Labour Party in 1895, with Hardie as its first leader.[42]

    Glasgow became one of the largest cities in the world and known as "the Second City of the Empire" after London.[43] After 1860, the Clydeside shipyards specialised in steamships made of iron (after 1870, made of steel), which rapidly replaced the wooden sailing vessels of both the merchant fleets and the battle fleets of the world. It became the world's pre-eminent shipbuilding centre.[44] The industrial developments, while they brought work and wealth, were so rapid that housing, town-planning, and provision for public health did not keep pace with them, and for a time living conditions in some of the towns and cities were notoriously bad, with overcrowding, high infant mortality, and growing rates of tuberculosis.[45]

     
    Walter Scott, whose Waverley Novels helped define Scottish identity in the 19th century

    While the Scottish Enlightenment is traditionally considered to have concluded toward the end of the 18th century,[46] disproportionately large Scottish contributions to British science and letters continued for another 50 years or more, thanks to such figures as the physicists James Clerk Maxwell and Lord Kelvin, and the engineers and inventors James Watt and William Murdoch, whose work was critical to the technological developments of the Industrial Revolution throughout Britain.[47] In literature, the most successful figure of the mid-19th century was Walter Scott. His first prose work, Waverley in 1814, is often called the first historical novel.[48] It launched a highly successful career that probably more than any other helped define and popularise Scottish cultural identity.[49] In the late 19th century, a number of Scottish-born authors achieved international reputations, such as Robert Louis Stevenson, Arthur Conan Doyle, J. M. Barrie and George MacDonald.[50] Scotland also played a major part in the development of art and architecture. The Glasgow School, which developed in the late 19th century, and flourished in the early 20th century, produced a distinctive blend of influences including the Celtic Revival the Arts and Crafts movement, and Japonism, which found favour throughout the modern art world of continental Europe and helped define the Art Nouveau style. Proponents included architect and artist Charles Rennie Mackintosh.[51]

    This period saw a process of rehabilitation for Highland culture. In the 1820s, as part of the Romantic revival, tartan and the kilt were adopted by members of the social elite, not just in Scotland, but across Europe,[52][53] prompted by the popularity of Macpherson's Ossian cycle[54][55] and then Walter Scott's Waverley novels.[56] The Highlands remained poor and the only part of mainland Britain with a recurrent famine. A small range of products were exported from the region, which had negligible industrial production and a continued population growth that tested the subsistence agriculture. These problems, and the desire to improve agriculture and profits were the driving forces of the ongoing Highland Clearances, in which many of the population of the Highlands suffered eviction as lands were enclosed, principally so that they could be used for sheep farming. The first phase of the clearances followed patterns of agricultural change throughout Britain. The second phase was driven by overpopulation, the Highland Potato Famine and the collapse of industries that had relied on the wartime economy of the Napoleonic Wars.[57] The population of Scotland grew steadily in the 19th century, from 1,608,000 in the census of 1801 to 2,889,000 in 1851 and 4,472,000 in 1901.[58] Even with the development of industry, there were not enough good jobs. As a result, during the period 1841–1931, about 2 million Scots migrated to North America and Australia, and another 750,000 Scots relocated to England.[59]

     
    The Disruption Assembly; painted by David Octavius Hill

    After prolonged years of struggle in the Kirk, the Evangelicals gained control of the General Assembly in 1834 and passed the Veto Act, which allowed congregations to reject unwanted "intrusive" presentations to livings by patrons. The following "Ten Years' Conflict" of legal and political wrangling ended in defeat for the non-intrusionists in the civil courts. The result was a schism from the church by some of the non-intrusionists led by Dr Thomas Chalmers, known as the Great Disruption of 1843. Roughly a third of the clergy, mainly from the North and Highlands, formed the separate Free Church of Scotland.[60] In the late 19th century growing divisions between fundamentalist Calvinists and theological liberals resulted in a further split in the Free Church as the rigid Calvinists broke away to form the Free Presbyterian Church in 1893.[61] Catholic emancipation in 1829 and the influx of large numbers of Irish immigrants, particularly after the famine years of the late 1840s, mainly to the growing lowland centres like Glasgow, led to a transformation in the fortunes of Catholicism. In 1878, despite opposition, a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical hierarchy was restored to the country, and Catholicism became a significant denomination within Scotland.[61]

    Industrialisation, urbanisation and the Disruption of 1843 all undermined the tradition of parish schools. From 1830 the state began to fund buildings with grants; then from 1846 it was funding schools by direct sponsorship; and in 1872 Scotland moved to a system like that in England of state-sponsored largely free schools, run by local school boards.[62] The historic University of Glasgow became a leader in British higher education by providing the educational needs of youth from the urban and commercial classes, as opposed to the upper class.[63] The University of St Andrews pioneered the admission of women to Scottish universities. From 1892 Scottish universities could admit and graduate women and the numbers of women at Scottish universities steadily increased until the early 20th century.[64]

     
    Deer stalkers on Glenfeshie Estate spying with monoculars, ca. 1858

    Caused by the advent of refrigeration and imports of lamb, mutton and wool from overseas, the 1870s brought with them a collapse of sheep prices and an abrupt halt in the previous sheep farming boom.[65] Land prices subsequently plummeted, too, and accelerated the process of the so-called "Balmoralisation" of Scotland, an era in the second half of the 19th century that saw an increase in tourism and the establishment of large estates dedicated to field sports like deer stalking and grouse shooting, especially in the Scottish Highlands.[65][66] The process was named after Balmoral estate, purchased by Queen Victoria in 1848, that fuelled the romanticisation of upland Scotland and initiated an influx of the newly wealthy acquiring similar estates in the following decades.[65][66] In the late 19th century just 118 people owned half of Scotland, with nearly 60 per cent of the whole country being part of shooting estates.[65] While their relative importance has somewhat declined due to changing recreational interests throughout the 20th century, deer stalking and grouse shooting remain of prime importance on many private estates in Scotland.[65][67]

    World War I, II and Industrial growth
     
    Douglas Haig and Ferdinand Foch inspecting the Gordon Highlanders, 1918

    Scotland played a major role in the British effort in the First World War. It especially provided manpower, ships, machinery, fish and money.[68] With a population of 4.8 million in 1911, Scotland sent over half a million men to the war, of whom over a quarter died in combat or from disease, and 150,000 were seriously wounded.[69] Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig was Britain's commander on the Western Front.

    The war saw the emergence of a radical movement called "Red Clydeside" led by militant trades unionists. Formerly a Liberal stronghold, the industrial districts switched to Labour by 1922, with a base among the Irish Catholic working-class districts. Women were especially active in building neighbourhood solidarity on housing issues. The "Reds" operated within the Labour Party with little influence in Parliament and the mood changed to passive despair by the late 1920s.[70]

    The shipbuilding industry expanded by a third and expected renewed prosperity, but instead, a serious depression hit the economy by 1922 and it did not fully recover until 1939. The interwar years were marked by economic stagnation in rural and urban areas, and high unemployment.[71] Indeed, the war brought with it deep social, cultural, economic, and political dislocations. Thoughtful Scots pondered their declension, as the main social indicators such as poor health, bad housing, and long-term mass unemployment, pointed to terminal social and economic stagnation at best, or even a downward spiral. Service abroad on behalf of the Empire lost its allure to ambitious young people, who left Scotland permanently. The heavy dependence on obsolescent heavy industry and mining was a central problem, and no one offered workable solutions. The despair reflected what Finlay (1994) describes as a widespread sense of hopelessness that prepared local business and political leaders to accept a new orthodoxy of centralised government economic planning when it arrived during the Second World War.[72]

    During the Second World War, Scotland was targeted by Nazi Germany largely due to its factories, shipyards, and coal mines.[73] Cities such as Glasgow and Edinburgh were targeted by German bombers, as were smaller towns mostly located in the central belt of the country.[73] Perhaps the most significant air-raid in Scotland was the Clydebank Blitz of March 1941, which intended to destroy naval shipbuilding in the area.[74] 528 people were killed and 4,000 homes totally destroyed.[74]

     
    Rudolf Hess, Deputy Führer of Nazi Germany, crashed his plane at Bonnyton Moor in the Scottish central belt in an attempt to make peace.

    Perhaps Scotland's most unusual wartime episode occurred in 1941 when Rudolf Hess flew to Renfrewshire, possibly intending to broker a peace deal through the Duke of Hamilton.[75] Before his departure from Germany, Hess had given his adjutant, Karlheinz Pintsch, a letter addressed to Hitler that detailed his intentions to open peace negotiations with the British. Pintsch delivered the letter to Hitler at the Berghof around noon on 11 May.[76] Albert Speer later said Hitler described Hess's departure as one of the worst personal blows of his life, as he considered it a personal betrayal.[77] Hitler worried that his allies, Italy and Japan, would perceive Hess's act as an attempt by Hitler to secretly open peace negotiations with the British.

     
    Royal Scots with a captured Japanese Hinomaru Yosegaki flag, Burma, 1945

    As in World War I, Scapa Flow in Orkney served as an important Royal Navy base. Attacks on Scapa Flow and Rosyth gave RAF fighters their first successes downing bombers in the Firth of Forth and East Lothian.[78] The shipyards and heavy engineering factories in Glasgow and Clydeside played a key part in the war effort, and suffered attacks from the Luftwaffe, enduring great destruction and loss of life.[79] As transatlantic voyages involved negotiating north-west Britain, Scotland played a key part in the battle of the North Atlantic.[80] Shetland's relative proximity to occupied Norway resulted in the Shetland bus by which fishing boats helped Norwegians flee the Nazis, and expeditions across the North Sea to assist resistance.[81]

    Scottish industry came out of the depression slump by a dramatic expansion of its industrial activity, absorbing unemployed men and many women as well. The shipyards were the centre of more activity, but many smaller industries produced the machinery needed by the British bombers, tanks and warships.[79] Agriculture prospered, as did all sectors except for coal mining, which was operating mines near exhaustion. Real wages, adjusted for inflation, rose 25% and unemployment temporarily vanished. Increased income, and the more equal distribution of food, obtained through a tight rationing system, dramatically improved the health and nutrition.

     
    The official reconvening of the Scottish Parliament in July 1999 with Donald Dewar, then first minister of Scotland (left) with Queen Elizabeth II (centre) and Presiding Officer Sir David Steel (right)

    After 1945, Scotland's economic situation worsened due to overseas competition, inefficient industry, and industrial disputes.[82] Only in recent decades has the country enjoyed something of a cultural and economic renaissance. Economic factors contributing to this recovery included a resurgent financial services industry, electronics manufacturing, (see Silicon Glen),[83] and the North Sea oil and gas industry.[84] The introduction in 1989 by Margaret Thatcher's government of the Community Charge (widely known as the Poll Tax) one year before the rest of Great Britain,[85] contributed to a growing movement for Scottish control over domestic affairs.[86] Following a referendum on devolution proposals in 1997, the Scotland Act 1998[87] was passed by the British Parliament, which established a devolved Scottish Parliament and Scottish Government with responsibility for most laws specific to Scotland.[88] The Scottish Parliament was reconvened in Edinburgh on 4 July 1999.[89] The first to hold the office of first minister of Scotland was Donald Dewar, who served until his sudden death in 2000.[90]

    21st century

    The Scottish Parliament Building at Holyrood opened in October 2004 after lengthy construction delays and running over budget.[91] The Scottish Parliament's form of proportional representation (the additional member system) resulted in no one party having an overall majority for the first three Scottish parliament elections. The pro-independence Scottish National Party led by Alex Salmond achieved an overall majority in the 2011 election, winning 69 of the 129 seats available.[92] The success of the SNP in achieving a majority in the Scottish Parliament paved the way for the September 2014 referendum on Scottish independence. The majority voted against the proposition, with 55% voting no to independence.[93] More powers, particularly in relation to taxation, were devolved to the Scottish Parliament after the referendum, following cross-party talks in the Smith Commission.

    ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Cite error: The named reference Forsyth was invoked but never defined (see the help page). ^ a b c d e f g h Richmond, Ian Archibald; Millett, Martin (2012), Hornblower, Simon; Spawforth, Antony; Eidinow, Esther (eds.), "Caledonia", Oxford Classical Dictionary (4th online ed.), doi:10.1093/acref/9780199545568.001.0001, ISBN 9780199545568, retrieved 16 November 2020 ^ Hanson, William S. The Roman Presence: Brief Interludes, in Edwards, Kevin J. & Ralston, Ian B.M. (Eds) (2003). Scotland After the Ice Age: Environment, Archeology and History, 8000 BC—AD 1000. Edinburgh. Edinburgh University Press. ^ a b Millett, Martin J. (2012), Hornblower, Simon; Spawforth, Antony; Eidinow, Esther (eds.), "Britain, Roman", The Oxford Classical Dictionary (4th online ed.), Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/acref/9780199545568.001.0001, ISBN 978-0-19-954556-8, retrieved 16 November 2020 ^ Robertson, Anne S. (1960). The Antonine Wall. Glasgow Archaeological Society. ^ Keys, David (27 June 2018). "Ancient Roman 'hand of god' discovered near Hadrian's Wall sheds light on biggest combat operation ever in UK". Independent. Retrieved 6 July 2018. ^ a b c Houston, Rab (2008). Scotland: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780191578861. ^ Wolfe, A. (2012) "Ancient Kindred? Dál Riata and the Cruthin" [Internet] In: www.academia.edu. Available from https://www.academia.edu/1502702/Ancient_Kindred_Dal_Riata_and_the_Cruthin ^ Brown, Dauvit (2001). "Kenneth mac Alpin". In M. Lynch (ed.). The Oxford Companion to Scottish History. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 359. ISBN 978-0-19-211696-3. ^ a b c d e f Cite error: The named reference Stringer was invoked but never defined (see the help page). ^ Barrell, A. D. M. (2000). Medieval Scotland. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-58602-3. ^ "Scotland Conquered, 1174–1296". National Archives. ^ "Scotland Regained, 1297–1328". National Archives of the United Kingdom. ^ Murison, A. F. (1899). King Robert the Bruce (reprint 2005 ed.). Kessinger Publishing. p. 30. ISBN 978-1-4179-1494-4. ^ a b c d e Cite error: The named reference Brown was invoked but never defined (see the help page). ^ a b Mason, Roger (2005). "Renaissance and Reformation: The Sixteenth Century". In Wormald, Jenny (ed.). Scotland: A History. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199601646. ^ "James IV, King of Scots 1488–1513". BBC. ^ "Battle of Flodden, (Sept. 9, 1513)". Encyclopædia Britannica. ^ Marcus Merriman, The Rough Wooings (East Linton: Tuckwell, 2000), p. 6. ^ "Religion, Marriage and Power in Scotland, 1503–1603". The National Archives of the United Kingdom. ^ Ross, David (2002). Chronology of Scottish History. Geddes & Grosset. p. 56. ISBN 978-1-85534-380-1. 1603: James VI becomes James I of England in the Union of the Crowns, and leaves Edinburgh for London ^ "On this Day: 21 November 1606: The proposed union between England and Scotland | History of Parliament Online". www.historyofparliamentonline.org. Retrieved 16 November 2020. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Wormald was invoked but never defined (see the help page). ^ Devine, T M (2018). The Scottish Clearances: A History of the Dispossessed, 1600–1900. London: Allen Lane. ISBN 978-0241304105. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "BBC – History – British History in depth: Acts of Union: The creation of the United Kingdom". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 16 November 2020. ^ "Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: A-E". Dennis E. Showalter (2007). Springer. p.41 ^ Cullen, Karen J. (15 February 2010). Famine in Scotland: The 'ill Years' of The 1690s. Edinburgh University Press. pp. 152–153. ISBN 978-0748638871. ^ a b "Why did the Scottish parliament accept the Treaty of Union?" (PDF). Scottish Affairs. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 October 2011. Retrieved 1 May 2013. ^ a b "Popular Opposition to the Ratification of the Treaty of Anglo-Scottish Union in 1706–7". scottishhistorysociety.com. Scottish Historical Society. Retrieved 23 March 2017. ^ Cite error: The named reference Mackie was invoked but never defined (see the help page). ^ Devine, T. M. (1999). The Scottish Nation 1700–2000. Penguin Books. p. 9. ISBN 978-0-14-023004-8. From that point on anti-union demonstrations were common in the capital. In November rioting spread to the south west, that stronghold of strict Calvinism and covenanting tradition. The Glasgow mob rose against union sympathisers in disturbances that lasted intermittently for over a month ^ "Act of Union 1707 Mob unrest and disorder". London: The House of Lords. 2007. Archived from the original on 1 January 2008. Retrieved 23 December 2007. ^ Robert, Joseph C (1976). "The Tobacco Lords: A study of the Tobacco Merchants of Glasgow and their Activities". The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. 84 (1): 100–102. JSTOR 4248011. ^ Devine, T M (1994). Clanship to Crofters' War: The social transformation of the Scottish Highlands (2013 ed.). Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0-7190-9076-9. ^ "Some Dates in Scottish History from 1745 to 1914 Archived 31 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine", The University of Iowa. ^ "Enlightenment Scotland". Learning and Teaching Scotland. ^ Neil Davidson(2000). The Origins of Scottish Nationhood. London: Pluto Press. pp. 94–95. ^ T. M. Devine and R. J. Finlay, Scotland in the Twentieth Century (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1996), pp. 64–65. ^ F. Requejo and K-J Nagel, Federalism Beyond Federations: Asymmetry and Processes of Re-symmetrization in Europe (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2011), p. 39. ^ R. Quinault, "Scots on Top? Tartan Power at Westminster 1707–2007", History Today, 2007 57(7): 30–36. ISSN 0018-2753 Fulltext: Ebsco. ^ K. Kumar, The Making of English National Identity (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), p. 183. ^ D. Howell, British Workers and the Independent Labour Party, 1888–1906 (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1984), p. 144. ^ J. F. MacKenzie, "The second city of the Empire: Glasgow – imperial municipality", in F. Driver and D. Gilbert, eds, Imperial Cities: Landscape, Display and Identity (2003), pp. 215–223. ^ J. Shields, Clyde Built: a History of Ship-Building on the River Clyde (1949). ^ C. H. Lee, Scotland and the United Kingdom: the Economy and the Union in the Twentieth Century (1995), p. 43. ^ M. Magnusson (10 November 2003), "Review of James Buchan, Capital of the Mind: how Edinburgh Changed the World", New Statesman, archived from the original on 6 June 2011 ^ E. Wills, Scottish Firsts: a Celebration of Innovation and Achievement (Edinburgh: Mainstream, 2002). ^ K. S. Whetter (2008), Understanding Genre and Medieval Romance, Ashgate, p. 28 ^ N. Davidson (2000), The Origins of Scottish Nationhood, Pluto Press, p. 136 ^ "Cultural Profile: 19th and early 20th century developments", Visiting Arts: Scotland: Cultural Profile, archived from the original on 30 September 2011 ^ Stephan Tschudi-Madsen, The Art Nouveau Style: a Comprehensive Guide (Courier Dover, 2002), pp. 283–284. ^ J. L. Roberts, The Jacobite Wars, pp. 193–195. ^ M. Sievers, The Highland Myth as an Invented Tradition of 18th and 19th century and Its Significance for the Image of Scotland (GRIN Verlag, 2007), pp. 22–25. ^ P. Morère, Scotland and France in the Enlightenment (Bucknell University Press, 2004), pp. 75–76. ^ William Ferguson, The identity of the Scottish Nation: an Historic Quest (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1998), p. 227. ^ Divine, Scottish Nation pp. 292–295. ^ E. Richards, The Highland Clearances: People, Landlords and Rural Turmoil (2008). ^ A. K. Cairncross, The Scottish Economy: A Statistical Account of Scottish Life by Members of the Staff of Glasgow University (Glasgow: Glasgow University Press, 1953), p. 10. ^ R. A. Houston and W. W. Knox, eds, The New Penguin History of Scotland (Penguin, 2001), p. xxxii. ^ G. Robb, "Popular Religion and the Christianization of the Scottish Highlands in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries", Journal of Religious History, 1990, 16(1): 18–34. ^ a b J. T. Koch, Celtic Culture: a Historical Encyclopedia, Volumes 1–5 (ABC-CLIO, 2006), pp. 416–417. ^ T. M. Devine, The Scottish Nation, pp. 91–100. ^ Paul L. Robertson, "The Development of an Urban University: Glasgow, 1860–1914", History of Education Quarterly, Winter 1990, vol. 30 (1), pp. 47–78. ^ M. F. Rayner-Canham and G. Rayner-Canham, Chemistry was Their Life: Pioneering British Women Chemists, 1880–1949, (Imperial College Press, 2008), p. 264. ^ a b c d e Warren, Charles R. (2009). Managing Scotland's environment (2nd ed., completely rev. and updated ed.). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. pp. 45 ff., 179 ff. ISBN 9780748630639. OCLC 647881331. ^ a b Glass, Jayne (2013). Lairds, Land and Sustainability: Scottish Perspectives on Upland Management. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. pp. 45 ff., 77 f. ISBN 9780748685882. OCLC 859160940. ^ Wightman, A.; Higgins, P.; Jarvie, G.; Nicol, R. (2002). "The Cultural Politics of Hunting: Sporting Estates and Recreational Land Use in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland". Culture, Sport, Society. 5 (1): 53–70. doi:10.1080/713999852. ISSN 1461-0981. S2CID 144048546. ^ Richard J. Finlay, Modern Scotland 1914–2000 (2006), pp 1–33 ^ R. A. Houston and W. W. J. Knox, eds. The New Penguin History of Scotland (2001) p 426.[1] Niall Ferguson points out in "The Pity of War" that the proportion of enlisted Scots who died was third highest in the war behind Serbia and Turkey and a much higher proportion than in other parts of the UK.[2] [3] ^ Iain McLean, The Legend of Red Clydeside (1983) ^ Finlay, Modern Scotland 1914–2000 (2006), pp 34–72 ^ Richard J. Finlay, "National identity in Crisis: Politicians, Intellectuals and the 'End of Scotland', 1920–1939", History, June 1994, Vol. 79 Issue 256, pp 242–259 ^ a b "Primary History – World War 2 – Scotland's Blitz". BBC. Retrieved 1 August 2018. ^ a b "Scotland's Landscape : Clydebank Blitz". BBC. Retrieved 1 August 2018. ^ J. Leasor Rudolf Hess: The Uninvited Envoy (Kelly Bray: House of Stratus, 2001), ISBN 0-7551-0041-7, p. 15. ^ Evans 2008, p. 168. ^ Sereny 1996, p. 240. ^ P. Wykeham, Fighter Command (Manchester: Ayer, rpt., 1979), ISBN 0-405-12209-8, p. 87. ^ a b J. Buchanan, Scotland (Langenscheidt, 3rd edn., 2003), ISBN 981-234-950-2, p. 51. ^ J. Creswell, Sea Warfare 1939–1945 (Berkeley, University of California Press, 2nd edn., 1967), p. 52. ^ D. Howarth, The Shetland Bus: A WWII Epic of Escape, Survival, and Adventure (Guilford, Delaware: Lyons Press, 2008), ISBN 1-59921-321-4. ^ Harvie, Christopher No Gods and Precious Few Heroes (Edward Arnold, 1989) pp 54–63. ^ Stewart, Heather (6 May 2007). "Celtic Tiger Burns Brighter at Holyrood". The Guardian. ^ "National Planning Framework for Scotland". Gov.scot. Retrieved 17 September 2014. ^ Torrance, David (30 March 2009). "Modern myth of a poll tax test-bed lives on". The Scotsman. Archived from the original on 20 September 2017. Retrieved 19 September 2017. ^ "The poll tax in Scotland 20 years on". BBC News. BBC. 1 April 2009. Retrieved 17 September 2014. ^ "The Scotland Act 1998" Office of Public Sector Information. Retrieved 22 April 2008. ^ "Devolution > Scottish responsibilities" Scottish Government publication, (web-page last updated November 2010) ^ "Special Report | 1999 | 06/99 | Scottish Parliament opening | Scotland's day of history". BBC News. 4 July 1999. Retrieved 1 August 2018. ^ "Donald Dewar dies after fall". The Independent. 11 October 2000. Retrieved 1 August 2018. ^ "UK | Scotland | Guide to opening of Scottish Parliament". BBC News. 6 October 2004. Retrieved 1 August 2018. ^ Carrell, Severin (6 May 2011). "Salmond hails 'historic' victory as SNP secures Holyrood's first ever majority | Politics". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 August 2018. ^ "Scottish independence referendum – Results". BBC News. 19 September 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
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Stay safe
  •  
    Stay safe Natural hazards

    Scotland's weather is highly changeable, but rarely extreme. In the mountainous regions of the north and west of the country, the weather can change swiftly and frequently even during the summer. What started as a bright morning can end as a very wet, very windy and very cold afternoon. Packing extra warm and waterproof clothing is advisable, whatever the time of year.

    Driving

    Like the rest of the UK, cars drive on the left-hand side of the road. In urban areas, many road junctions are controlled by roundabouts as opposed to traffic lights. In rural areas, roads can be narrow, very twisty and road markings are rare. Some single-track roads have "Passing Places" which allow vehicles to pass each other. Passing places are generally marked with a diamond-shaped white sign with the words "passing place" written on it. Signs remind drivers of vehicles to pull over into a passing place (or opposite it, if it is on the opposite side of the road) to let approaching vehicles pass, and most drivers oblige. Use your common sense on these roads and it is a courtesy to politely acknowledge the other driver if they have stopped or pulled over to let you pass. Also use Passing Places to allow following vehicles to overtake - locals who are familiar with these roads greatly appreciate this. In addition, many motorists will have to sometimes share the road with stray sheep and occasionally cattle, so extra vigilance is required. These roads pass through some of Scotland's most spectacular areas and while the scenery may be awe-inspiring, extra attention and concentration is required when using them.

    Drink-driving is not tolerated by the authorities in Scotland and if you find yourself involved in any form of road incident that requires police attention, you will be breathalysed. If caught and convicted, a driving ban and/or imprisonment will normally follow.

    Crime and safety

    In any emergency, call 999 or 112 (from a landline if you can) and ask for ambulance, fire, police, coast guard or mountain rescue when connected.

    ...Read more
     
    Stay safe Natural hazards

    Scotland's weather is highly changeable, but rarely extreme. In the mountainous regions of the north and west of the country, the weather can change swiftly and frequently even during the summer. What started as a bright morning can end as a very wet, very windy and very cold afternoon. Packing extra warm and waterproof clothing is advisable, whatever the time of year.

    Driving

    Like the rest of the UK, cars drive on the left-hand side of the road. In urban areas, many road junctions are controlled by roundabouts as opposed to traffic lights. In rural areas, roads can be narrow, very twisty and road markings are rare. Some single-track roads have "Passing Places" which allow vehicles to pass each other. Passing places are generally marked with a diamond-shaped white sign with the words "passing place" written on it. Signs remind drivers of vehicles to pull over into a passing place (or opposite it, if it is on the opposite side of the road) to let approaching vehicles pass, and most drivers oblige. Use your common sense on these roads and it is a courtesy to politely acknowledge the other driver if they have stopped or pulled over to let you pass. Also use Passing Places to allow following vehicles to overtake - locals who are familiar with these roads greatly appreciate this. In addition, many motorists will have to sometimes share the road with stray sheep and occasionally cattle, so extra vigilance is required. These roads pass through some of Scotland's most spectacular areas and while the scenery may be awe-inspiring, extra attention and concentration is required when using them.

    Drink-driving is not tolerated by the authorities in Scotland and if you find yourself involved in any form of road incident that requires police attention, you will be breathalysed. If caught and convicted, a driving ban and/or imprisonment will normally follow.

    Crime and safety

    In any emergency, call 999 or 112 (from a landline if you can) and ask for ambulance, fire, police, coast guard or mountain rescue when connected.

    Scotland is generally a very safe country to visit. Like England and Wales, violent crime is a problem in some inner city areas, however, much of it occurs amongst hooligan-type, unarmed gangs, and violent crime against tourists is rare. Petty crimes such as thefts and pickpocketing are lower than many other European countries, but vigilance at all times is required, especially in crowded areas. Crime rates vary greatly from urban to rural areas.

    Public intoxication is a common occurrence, especially in some urban areas. You should approach pubs and nightclubs at night with caution, especially around closing time when drink-fuelled violence occurs, the best thing to do is use common sense and avoid any fighting. The same advice extends to using public transport - especially buses - in the evening.

    After around 21:00 it is unusual to see conductors or ticket examiners going about trains which are travelling to or from Edinburgh or Glasgow - if they cannot be found in the passenger areas of the train, they are likely to be found at the very rear of the train in the rear driving cab. If you feel insecure, or have a problem on the train - sit close to the back of the train or knock on the door, if you have a problem. Some trains however, are operated wholly by the driver. While the majority of these trains have ticket examiners, they can and do run without them. Again, late at night, they are more likely to be found in their "safe area" at the rear cab of the train. A simple knock should gain their attention if there is a problem. If there is no staff onboard and you are unhappy, try to sit where most passengers are. The British Transport Police's number is 0800 40 50 40, in an emergency call 999. If there is an incident which requires urgent attention operate the emergency alarm - this will stop the train - so it is usually best to operate the alarm at a station stop if your safety is not threatened by the movement of the train.

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Where can you sleep near Scotland ?

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