By Asad Yaseen
England, in the Early Middle Ages, was fragmented into a myriad of Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms known as the Heptarchy. The Seven independent Kingdoms included Wessex, Sussex, Essex, Mercia, Kent, East Anglia and Northumbria.
The Viking raids subdued all of these Kingdoms except Wessex and, partially, Mercia. Alfred the Great strongly resisted the raids and defeated the Vikings in the Battle of Edington (878). The intermarriages between Wessex and Mercia strengthened the position of the Anglo-Saxons.
Athelstan (924-939), however, was the first king to rule the complete land of what today we know as England.
Anglo-Scottish Wars to Great Britain
Anglo-Scottish relations date back to ancient times, however, Athelstan was the first King of England who tried to extend his influence in Scotland. In response, Scotland along with Strathclyde and the Irish invaded England.
Although Athelstan defeated the combined forces in the Battle of Brunanburh (937) and consolidated his rule over England, he could not subdue Scotland. William the Conqueror also invaded Scotland, but could only elicit political gains in the Treaty of Abernathy (1072) as both Kingdoms remained disparate.
During the times of Edward I, the Anglo-Scottish bonhomie started. He was called by the Scottish nobility to arbitrate a Succession dispute. The Scottish nobility paid homage to him and he ruled in favour of John Balliol.
Edward’s penchant for interfering in the internal affairs of Scotland brought him at loggerheads with John Balliol. As a result, John renounced his homage to Edward I and; therefore, Edward invaded Scotland which started the First Scottish War of Independence (1296-1328).
The Scots defeated England in the Battle of Bannockburn (1314) and, later on, signed the Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton (1328) to end the war. The Scots maintained their independence and England, again, failed to subdue the Scots by force.
Four years after the First Scottish War of Independence, England again invaded Scotland starting the Second Scottish War of Independence (1332-1357). The war became a theater of the Hundred Years’ War between France and England (1337-1453).
France and Scotland allied themselves against England an alliance known as the Auld Alliance. After the French defeat in the Battle of Crecy (1346), the Scots invaded England under the Auld Alliance.
Notwithstanding the capture of the Scottish King, David, by the English in the Battle of Neville’s Cross, the Scots refused to capitulate and fought till peace was made in the Treaty of Berwick (1357). England failed to appoint its candidate, Edward Balliol, to the Scottish throne and thus the Scots maintained their independence.
After centuries of fiascos, it became evident that it would be impossible to conquer or extend the English influence in the Scottish clod by force.
However, Henry VII (1485-1509) — the first Tudor King —, through his marriage diplomacy, sowed the seeds of the Anglo Scottish Union. He married his daughter, Margaret Tudor, to the King of Scotland — James IV. After two centuries, the marriage showed prolific results and played a significant role in the Anglo-Scottish Union.
In 1603, a hundred years after the marriage arrangement, England and Scotland had the same King — James I. Elizabeth I, the last Tudor Monarch, died without an heir. She nominated her relative from Scotland as the King of England. Although England and Scotland had the same King, the Parliaments and the legal systems remained disparate.
A hundred more years after the nuptial affair, England and Scotland united into Great Britain through the Act of Union, 1707. As a result, the Parliaments, too, were united.
England and Scotland enjoyed a smooth sailing for more than two centuries. In 1970s, however, the Scottish nationalism led to three intermittent referendums — two on devolution and one on the independence of Scotland.
In 1979, the First referendum was held during the Premiership of the Labour Prime Minister — James Callaghan — which ended in a fiasco. In 1997, Tony Blair — another Labour Prime Minister — held a second referendum on the Question of Scottish devolution which granted a separate Parliament to Scotland.
In 2014, the Scottish Independence Referendum was held by David Cameron — a Conservative Prime Minister — which the nationalists lost.
From Lordship of Ireland to the Good Friday Agreement
Ireland, in the early Middle Ages, comprised multiple power centers including the Norsemen — also known as the Vikings who ensconced themselves in Ireland. During the reign of Henry II — the Anglo-Norman King — England invaded Ireland and established its Lordship over it.
It was a watershed epoch in the history of Ireland as it started the long English domination over Ireland. Henry II established Lordship of Ireland (1177-1542) and made his son, John Lackland, the first Lord of Ireland.
The Pale, area under the English control, slowly started to diminish. As soon as Henry VIII (1509- 1547) helmed the stewardship, he started to consolidate his rule in Ireland by conquering the Gaelic lands. He styled himself as the King of Ireland which morphed the Lordship into the Kingdom of Ireland (1542-1800).
During Elizabeth I (1558-1603), Anglo-Spanish relations remained strained. England and Spain fought each other on the high sea engaging in naval battles and privateering. In addition to it, Spain supported the Irish against England in the Nine Years’ War (1593-1603) and England supported the Dutch in the Eighty Years’ War (1568-1648).
Elizabeth defeated the Gaels backed by Spain and cemented the English rule in Ireland. Her successor, James I, started the Plantation of Ulster — the settlement of English Protestants in the Northern Ireland. As a result of this policy, the crevice between the Catholic South and the Protestant North is still palpable on the Island.
In 1800, Pitt the Younger — one of the most influential Prime Ministers in the history of the United Kingdom — jockeyed for the Union of Ireland with Great Britan. The Napoleonic Wars and the Nationalist European milieu added impetus to the process.
The Act of Union 1800, coalesced the Parliament of Ireland with that of Great Britain and morphed the Great Britain into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
Pitt the Younger fell out with King George III on the matter of Catholic Emancipation — the right of the Catholics to sit in the Parliament. Pitt wanted to extend the rights to the Catholics, however, the Crown was adamant in accepting the same.
The emancipation only betided after the election of Daniel O’Connell. Amidst the pressure, the King had to capitulate on the matter of emancipation. Therefore, in 1829, during the Premiership of Lord Wellington the Catholic Relief Act was passed.
In the latter half of the 19th Century, the demand for Home Rule started in Ireland. The Liberals were supportive of the cause. William Gladstone presented the Home Rule Bill twice. The First Bill (1886) was defeated in the Commons and the Second Bill (1893) was passed by the Commons, but defeated in the House of Lords.
The Third Home Rule Bill (1914) was presented and passed during the Premiership of H. H. Asquith. It became possible after the powers of the House of Lords were circumscribed under the Parliament Act, 1911. The Bill was suspended because of the start of the World War 1.
David Lloyd George, the last Prime Minister of the Liberal Party, tried to conscript the Irish hoi polloi in the World War 1 which backfired and had deleterious effects on the already precarious Anglo-Irish relations. Nationalist parties like Sinn Fein gained popularity in Ireland and Swept the subsequent elections of 1918.
Thereafter, the Irish War of Independence led to the Fourth Home Rule Bill (1920) and the subsequent Anglo-Irish treaty (1921) which clefted the Irish clod into Northern Ireland and the Free Irish State. This morphed the Kingdom into the Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
The Irish Referendum 1937 and the Republic of Ireland Act, 1948 morphed the status of Ireland from a dominion to a Republic.
The National-Union tensions started in Northern Ireland in the 1970s known as the Troubles, however, it ended with the Good Friday Agreement (1998) signed during the Premiership of Tony Blair.
According to the agreement, Northern Ireland got a separate assembly for itself and a framework was established for the North-South cooperation between the two Irelands and East-West cooperation between the Kingdom and the Republic.
Anglo-Welsh Union
Edward I conquered Wales and made it a Principality (1284-1536) through the Statue of Rhuddlan (1284). Thereafter, during the Tudor period, Henry VIII annexed Wales through the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542.
Two referendums for devolution in Wales were conducted — the First during the Premiership of James Callaghan and the Second during the Premiership of Tony Blair. The former was unsuccessful; however, the latter became successful which created the separate Welsh Assembly known as the Senedd Cymru.
