Why did Wales and Scotland never gain home rule in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries? Student: Oliver Kindred, History
At the beginning of the nineteenth-century, the first iteration of what may be considered the
United Kingdom emerged from the Acts of Union 1800, uniting the Kingdom of Great Britain
and the Kingdom of Ireland together. This united Ireland with England, Scotland, and Wales
under one legislature based in Westminster. Yet by the middle of the twentieth-century
Ireland would be given Home Rule in the north and south, that is their own separate
government besides the one in London, with the latter shortly becoming an independent
republic. This is in contrast to Scotland and Wales, which are still a part of the Union to this
day. With contemporary political movements in Scotland and Wales, which call for greater
autonomy and/or independence, it is worth investigating why the Home Rule movements in
Scotland and Wales were not as successful as the one in Ireland. The different circumstances
that could have affected this included cultural, political and economic factors. While some of
these would have different influences depending on the country, it should also be
recognised that each factor would influence one another, and that it was unlikely that one
would have truly been a sole cause.
When discussing the nature of home rule for the Celtic Nations of the United
Kingdom, it may first be worth discussing how the tendency to identify as British determined
the support people gave for Home Rule for individual nations. The less likely a nation’s
populace was to identify with Britishness, or believe that Britishness benefitted them, then
the more likely it was to agitate for separation from the Union. What could be argued as one
of the crucial factors which determined the drive for home rule is religion. This at least can
be said for Ireland where the divide in religion, both on the Emerald Isle and in contrast to
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