The Rise of Nationalism in Europe — Question 4

The history of nationalism in Britain is unlike the rest of Europe in the following ways:

1. In Britain, the formation of the nation-state was not the result of a sudden upheaval or revolution. It was the result of a long-drawn-out process.
2. There was no British nation prior to the eighteenth century. The primary identities of the people who inhabited the British Isles were ethnic ones – such as English, Welsh, Scot or Irish.
3. However, with the growth of the power of the English nation, it was able to dominate the other nations of the islands.
4. The English parliament seized power from the monarchy in 1688 at the end of a protracted conflict and became a nation-state with England at its centre.
5. In 1707, the United Kingdom was formed with the Act of Union between England and Scotland.
6. England started dominating Scotland and Ireland in all socio-political and cultural spheres. This was evinced by the fact that the British parliament was dominated by English members.
7. Ireland was taken by the British after a failed revolution led by Wolfe Tone and his United Irishmen in 1798. With this, a new ‘British Nation’ was finally formed.
8. The symbols of the new Britain - the British flag, the national anthem, the English language were actively promoted and the older nations survived only as subordinate partners in this union.