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Post by discoberry on Jun 22, 2011 21:37:06 GMT -5
How acurate is this video?
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Post by MaybeNever on Jun 22, 2011 21:56:20 GMT -5
The failure of New Caledonia was indeed quite important in bringing Scotland around to unifying with England to form the UK, but it was hardly single-handedly responsible. Among other things, the two countries had actually existed in a personal union for a considerable period under the Stuart kings by this point, although the Act of Union was a non-trivial event considering that the Stuarts would die off in 1714. When the Hannoverian line (specifically, the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, I believe) took the throne, they got the whole UK instead of just England, as might otherwise have happened.
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Post by scotsgit on Jun 23, 2011 9:52:33 GMT -5
The failure of New Caledonia was indeed quite important in bringing Scotland around to unifying with England to form the UK, but it was hardly single-handedly responsible. Among other things, the two countries had actually existed in a personal union for a considerable period under the Stuart kings by this point, although the Act of Union was a non-trivial event considering that the Stuarts would die off in 1714. When the Hannoverian line (specifically, the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, I believe) took the throne, they got the whole UK instead of just England, as might otherwise have happened. The Stuart line dies off in the 1780's, despite what 'Michael of Albany' claims. |
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Post by scotsgit on Jun 23, 2011 9:58:28 GMT -5
As to the accuracy - it's hit and miss: The Scottish government did put a fifth of the nation's wealth into the failed Darrien project, that is true, but it's missing how the (larger) English fleet effectively blockaded the colony so that no supplies could get through to it. It's also worth noting that England desperately wanted Scottish troops to beef up their armies in the continental wars that England was getting continually drawn into/starting.
Another thing is that Scotland and France had been allies from 1297 until the late 16th century, however, there was a long tradition of Scottish troops going to fight for France, the alliance may have been officially over, but the unofficially it was as strong as ever and it's worth noting that when the Stuart Kings were living in exile, one of the countries they lived in was France.
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