Centuries after defeat, Scotland might just get its independence back. Following a democratic process and battle of ideas and principles, it is a model for all to follow.
First War of Scottish Independence, was only the initial chapter of many engagements in a series of warring periods between English and Scottish forces, lasting from the invasion by England in 1296 till a restoration of some Scottish independence with the Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton in 1328.
Mel Gibson started and directed the movie Braveheart (won 5 Oscars including best picture and best director) which centers around the Scottish revolt against the English led by William Wallace, a commoner, who managed to unite the Scotland, including the aristocracy, and defeat the English in the Battle of Stirling Bridge in September 1297, and was then appointed Guardian of Scotland , serving until his defeat in the Battle of Falkirk, July 1298. Due to changing loyalties and deals with the English, Wallace was eventually captured in 1305, put on the show trial by King Edward I and executed (hanged and quartered) for high treason in 1305.
William Wallace
On Thursday September 18, 2014, following an agreement between the Scottish Government and the United Kingdom Government, a referendum will take place to establish whether Scotland should be an independent country.
Although many international observers have written off Scottish Independence as something that will never happen, recent polls show a yes vote trailing no by six points, with 10 percent of the voters still undecided.
The Radical Independence Campaign, a social movement of Greens, socialists, trade unionists and veterans of Iraq war, started canvassing working-class areas, ignored by mainstream parties, to awaken the âmissing millionsâ-the fable non-voters who could prove the key to September 18, referendum.
The battle has become one between the haves and have nots. Shafi, 28, from Galsgow, explains
“We don’t have to be run in the interest of the richest 1% who saw their wealth grow 15% last year while the number of people using food banks reached one million. It doesn’t have to be like this.
We want to make it clear that the political and economic system that emanates from Westminster does not work in the interests of the people, and that a Yes offers progress.”
He says the idea of Yes as permanent sanctuary from Conservative rule is “hugely appealing”. He went on to say that on taxes âwe want the rich to pay more. There will be some people , particularly the wealthy, who will be horrifies. The establishment has ignored the working class; they have ignored the democratic will of people on the Iraq war. The establishment deserves everything they get. Everything.â (Heraldscotland)
This present battle for independence is not without itâs fair share of violence and political intrigue (Ex. 80 year old man attacked, woman assaulted , SNP Minister received death threats among other shenanigans. The YES campaign is made up of SNP activating center left, Greens activating intellectual left, RIC activating the poor and nonprofit sector activating the poor, all working well together. The NO campaign has the Tories (Tory party is the Conservative British party led by David Cameron) and the Liberal Democrats standing besides the Labour party.
And yet it seems like the YES campaign is picking up steam and Scotland is becoming a model for both the Basques and the Quebecois, who sent delegations to Scotland to observe the process.
It appears that Scotland might just get its independence back 718 years after William Wallace led the revolt against the English. It just goes to show that sometimes freedom of a people and its spirit, sense of fair play and what is right cannot be extinguished or destroyed. There are deep feelings and interests (economic, political and national) at stake. Whatever the result tomorrow, this is one battle fought the right way with ideas and using the power of people and the political system.
What do you think?
Photo: Survival Bros /Flicker Photo2: alphazeta /Flicker
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this evening i was repeatedly blocked from posting on gmp Sucuri WebSite Firewall – CloudProxy – Access Denied You are not allowed to access the requested page. If you are the site owner, please open a ticket in our support page if you think it was caused by an error: https://support.sucuri.net. If you are not the owner of the web site, you can contact us at [email protected]. Also make sure to include the block details (displayed below), so we can better troubleshoot the error. URL: goodmenproject.com/wp-comments-post.php Block ID: CMB055 Block reason: Comments and xmlrpc are being blocked on this site.… Read more »
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Hi Lisa,
thanks for the reply and the heads up
here in the uk , it is really starting to hit alot of people profoundly in the last few days, just how big this referendum and its consequences are the queen of scotland and of england effectively saying, ‘please vote no’ https://uk.news.yahoo.com/queen-breaks-silence-scotlands-future-142937953.html#E4o3TuW id be really sad if the scots voted to leave the union. the scots were the backbone of the british empire, its soldiers, governors, explorers, engineers, inventors. in my 39yo ive been used to so many top tiers scottish politician running the uk eg blair, brown, robin cook. and top tier football managers esp from glasgow. the prudent… Read more »
Finally 700 years of English occupation and the enslavement of Scots is coming to and end, as one wise man once sad “I can live with a pig but never with a Brit”.
I think you should get your history right, like Jameseq says. Also you write like Scotland is the only part of the UK struggling with poverty. It is not, believe me. And in these difficult economic times why vote to make Scotland and the rest of the UK even poorer, because the costs of separation will be huge for poor tax-paying families. This is a campaign fuelled by racism and chippiness against the English, and as a Scot I am ashamed of that. We will be making ourselves a small insignificant country on the edge of Europe, with a weak… Read more »
yesterday i remembered i had read in the spring, other euro secessionist groups like those in south tyrol were watching the vote result with interest. i thought of the consequences of more countries in the eu splitting, and the reappearance of the smaller historic nations. the fracturing of the current european-nation states would certainly aid the creation of a european superstate. as unlike the major countries eg. uk, germany, france, italy, the new smaller countries wouldnt have the financial, political, military clout to impede the eu’s decisionmaking process, and momentum towards statehood. so if scotland votes yes, and especially a… Read more »
yesterday i remembered i had read in the spring, other euro secessionist groups like those in south tyrol were watching the vote result with interest. this is getting interesting. from a telegraph article today: ‘ Bavarian nationalists claim that a Scottish vote to leave the United Kingdom would provide a major boost for their partyâs 60-year campaign to win independence for the southern German state. The separatist Bavaria Party has not held a parliamentary seat in the state since 1966 and in elections last year, it won a mere 2.1 per cent of the vote. But the possibility of Scottish… Read more »
And yet it seems like the YES campaign is picking up steam and Scotland is becoming a model for both the Basques and the Quebecois, who sent delegations to Scotland to observe the process in the late spring, i believe it is also inspired the historical state of venice’s online referendum http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venetian_independence_referendum,_2014 are the usa states free to leave your union? if the scots want to dissolve the union that their nobles in the 18th century asked for (admittedly against the wishes of the scottish general public) then it would be regrettable because of the success of the shared history,… Read more »
offtopic:
but as a male transvestite, i do love that thigh length little number that wallace is wearing in that statue photo
This struggle is 7 centuries old and except for the short period when Wallace managed to unite Scotland against the English ruling class dealing and making deals with ruling class, who both benefited the most from these agreements. Obviously Scotland did since Wallace and does not have full independence, otherwise there would be no need for a referendum. I am not taking sides here but am simply observing the process which is exactly what it should be in a free and democratic society and enjoy the rich history involved. Whatever the result on the 18th I thunk Scotland will be… Read more »
I’m Scottish and I know my country’s history. Scotland gained independence in 1357 and was a fully independent state with its own Parliament until the current Union was formed in 1707. From that time until 1997 we only had the parliament in Westminster. Then in 1997 devolution brought us the new Scottish Parliament.
I am just saying, to politically equate the Union that was formed in 1707 with the conquering of Scotland that happened 7 centuries ago (and lasted for less than a century) is completely wrong – and it IS actually taking sides to misrepresent Scottish history like that.
Uh, you missed out a whole chunk of Scottish history there matey! In 1332-1357, there was a SECOND War of Independence, at the conclusion of which, Scotland was independent. We got our independence back at that point! In 1707, the Treaty of Union joined the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland to create the Kingdom of Great Britain. The Union is three centuries old, not seven centuries old as your article implies. The Union was also formed peacefully (though not democratically) by mutual agreement between Scotland and England’s ruling classes at the time. The Wars of Independence of… Read more »