FOR INTRODUCTION AND PART ONE
CLICK HERE: PART
ONE
Introduction
Outline of Text
Synopsis: We first discuss Marx and Engels on nation formation in
general;
We then analyse claims that Marx and Engels supported
Welsh & Scottish nationalism;
Finally we trace the history of Scotland; to
the present day asking whether they still can claim to be nations.
We argue that Marx and Engels recognised only
two unequivocal nations in the sceptr’ed Isle – Britain [Sometimes they
called it England] and Ireland.
Part One: THE NATIONAL QUESTION
ACCORDING TO MARX AND ENGELS
Overall Synopsis: General
key concepts on nation formation: Marx and Engels assessed each national
claim and movement from the vantage point of the working class. This required
an analysis of each national movement’s contribution to the overall political
movement of the working class – both nationally and internationally.
i) The Marxist final goal: Formation
of a class with one goal – socialism;
Synopsis: Marx
and Engels argued that nationalist interests could not distract the working
class from their final goal - socialism. But the working class needed to
capture national state power as an interim step. They saw the culmination
of bourgeois society as "civil society" – a highly centralized state that
began to exert an international erosive power on the world’s nationalities.
ii) The Dialectical View of
Nations: Some have a future and some have a past; The Case Of German States
Taking Over Polish and Bohemian Slavonic lands
Synopsis: Marx
and Engels recognised that nations came into being and died. Those that
died were absorbed by more vigorous nations. However even when absorbed,
remnants would often try to gain national status. In the case of Poland
– this was progressive as it eroded both German and Russian imperial absolutism.
For other nations – those in the "South Slavonic" grouping, their resort
to reactionary alliances such as the Pan-Slavic League dominated by Russia
rendered them insupportable. Support to a national struggle was not immediate,
but contingent on the overall goals of the international working class.
iii) Workers of one nation,
must assess whether a given national struggle furthers the ultimate goals
of the international working class
Synopsis:
The workers of an oppressing nation must break ranks with their own bourgeoisie
and support the struggle of the workers of the oppressed nations. Unless
the workers of the oppressing nation do this, they will not be able to
free themselves.
Conclusion to Part One: The
Legacy to Lenin and Stalin:
BIBLIOGRAPHY TO PART TWO
i) Early Foundation and Early
invasions
ii) The Scottish Monarchy –
the House of Malcolm II of Canmore
iii) Planting Norman Feudalism
Into Scotland
iv) Civic Society Developments
- Ecclesiastic Church Reform and the Burghh
v) The Wars of Independence
1286-1371 – William Wallace and Robert Bruce vi) The Calvinist Reformation
In Scotland
Synopsis: The Reformation was
an essential part of the transition in European societies from feudalism
to capitalism. The Roman Catholic Church was a major landholder and supporter
of feudalism. It obstructed capitalist changes such as money lending (usury)
and scientific investigations. The bourgeoisie therefore opposed it. In
some countries the Reformation became an incomplete attack on absolutism,
such as the Lutheran Reformation in Germany. In Scotland it adopted a more
thorough going change under a Calvinist guise.
vii) The Covenant
viii) The English Revolution,
and Its Effects Upon Scotland
ix) The Restoration Monarchy
of the Stuarts and "The Glorious Revolution" of William of Orange
x) The "Act of Union 1657" to
"The Anglo-Scottish Union" of 1707
xi) The Unity of the Scottish
and English Capitalist Classes Accompanied by Working class Unity
xii) The Highland Clearances
– Sweeping the Scottish People into Emigration and Industrialisation
CONCLUSIONS TO PART TWO
BIBLIOGRAPHY TO PART TWO