ALLIANCE MARXIST-LENINIST (NORTH AMERICA) NUMBER 39: ISSUE MAY 2001
MARX AND ENGELS ON NATIONALISM, AND CLASS STRUGGLE : Are Scotland And Wales True Nations?


TABLE CONTENTS & SYNOPSES (with Web-Links In red-orange)

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





FOR PART 2, CLICK HERE: PART TWO.
PART TWO: MARX & ENGELS ON NATIONALISM, & CLASS STRUGGLE
2) MARX AND ENGELS VIEW OF BRITAIN, ENGLAND WALES AND SCOTLAND
Synopsis: Marx and Engels differentiated between Ireland, which they saw as a nation demanding national rights, from Wales and Scotland. The latter they recognised as countries-nations, that had been subsumed into England. They used the term England almost synonymously with Great Britain. They advocated no national rights for Wales or Scotland.
3) SCOTLAND AND ENGLAND
Synopsis:From tribal times, four indigenous peoples of Scotland – Picts, Britons, Scots and Volatidini warred, but inter-mixed. Later on, yet other peoples invaded and became inter-mixed -Norsemen, Saxons, and finally Normans. In fighting off the Viking invasions, Scotland or Alba, began to fuse into a monarchy under King Malcolm Canmore II. But the proximity of rival kingdoms inevitably led to clashes. These clashes signified a constantly shifting of alliances between the English ruling classes and the Scottish ruling classes. The Royal House of Canmore was dependent upon the English, and became a funnel through which Norman penetration into Scotland occurred. Norman penetration was a modernising influence, with the import of feudalism. This revolutionized Scotland. Moreover it confirmed a division between Highland and Lowland. The Wars of Independence led by Wallace and Robert Bruce could not achieve long lasting success, as the fabric of trade was so closely tied to the market for wool in Europe. The market-burghs that arose, provided the reality behind a willing Union with England. This tendency to union was epitomised by the accession of the joint king of Scotland and England in 1603 - King James VI of Scotland - the grand-son of Henry VIII of England and the legitimate successor of Elizabeth I. Later still, a more formal constitutional Union took place in 1707. But interim steps ensured increasing cross-fertilization of the two pre-nations of England and Scotland. A pattern was woven of a steady integration of two histories, economies and broad culture.

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



FOR PART 3, CLICK HERE: PART THREE
SCOTLAND FROM ERA OF FINANCE IMPERIALISM TO 'GLOBALISATION'
i) Scottish Industry Inside the British State
Synopsis: After the 1707 Union with England, there was a rapid growth of Scottish commerce and industry. Scotland became the 'world's workshop' leading Britain in heavy industry, especially ship-building. All British industry became dominant in the world, up to the First World War, due to Britain's colonies.
ii) The Split In The Scottish Capitalist Class   - The Scottish National Party
iii) The Marxist-Leninist Strategy to Be Advocated For Scotland now
CONCLUSION
BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR PART THREE


APPENDIX Correspondence on ISML List: Click here: Appendix

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