In January 2020, the UK Parliament voted to approve the Withdrawal Agreement, and the European Parliament will hold a final review and vote on the Withdrawal Agreement on January 29. On January 30, the European Union officially approved Brexit. On January 31, the United Kingdom left the European Union.
Just as the British Conservative Party was cheering the success of Brexit, Scotland's First Secretary Sturgeon said: "In order to protect Scotland's interests, we will not wait endlessly, if Scotland follows Brexit, then the independence referendum should be open to us." ”
In fact, as early as September 2014, Scotland had already held a referendum on whether to seek independence from the United Kingdom, but the results of the vote showed that 55.8%, a total of 1877252 voters, said "no" to independence, and independence was ultimately over.
Scottish Parliament Building
Just when we wonder why Scotland is so undeterred, a stone has already given us the answer, which is famous in Great Britain - the Skunkstone
Also known as the Stone of Destiny, the "Stone of Destiny" is pale yellow, rectangular in shape, 26 inches long, 16 inches wide, 11 inches high, and weighs 336 pounds. It is the "throne" of the ancient Kings of Scotland when they were crowned. However, this tradition originated in Ireland, and with the conquest of Scotland by the Irish Darreda dynasty, this also became a Scottish tradition, and the skunkstone became one of the national symbols of Scotland. For more than four hundred years, the stone never left the Skun Monastery.
Skunshi
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > old neighbor</h1>
England and Scotland are a pair of discordant neighbours who have been playing small for more than a hundred years. England in the south looked down on the savage Scots, and Scotland in the north did not look down on the pretentious Englishmen, and it was common to "greet" each other. Because the contradictions between the two sides could not escape the strange circle of geopolitics, they eventually gradually turned into conflicts and even wars.
The island of Great Britain and its affiliated islands
Scotland in the north has always played a role of bullying, far inferior to England in terms of size and comprehensive strength. Therefore, successive kings of England have sought to conquer Scotland, and regarded the title of "King of Scotland" as a lofty pursuit. King Edward I of England was no exception. In 1290, Scotland lost its legitimate royal heir, and the country fell into an heir crisis, with large and small nobles arguing over the throne. In the face of disputes, the Archbishop invited Edward I to be the arbiter. This provided an opportunity for the desperate Edward, who intended to take advantage of this rare opportunity to interfere in the internal affairs of the court and thus control the whole of Scotland.
He first selectively screened several candidates, for example, a highly respected candidate, Robert Bruce, had been appointed by Alexander II (the first king of Scotland) to have the right to inherit the throne, and he was the most suitable candidate for the king in terms of blood and seniority. But Edward did not do this, and the ideal king of Scotland in his mind was a puppet at his own mercy. The next day, Edward ascended to the throne of The Scottish King at the age of sixteen. According to a prior commitment, Barrios swore allegiance to Edward the day after he ascended the throne and honored him as the supreme suzerainty of Scotland, and Edward's wish was initially fulfilled.
Edward I
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > plundered into England</h1>
In 1295, when war broke out between England and France, Edward I ordered Barriole to lead the Scottish army with him on a campaign against France, as he did with his subjects. Not only that, he further put forward the harsh requirement that Scottish merchant ships were not allowed to leave the port during the Anglo-French War. Edward's rudeness eventually angered the Scots, and as a result, Barrio not only ignored his call, but also allied himself with England's old rivals France and Norway, known in history as the "Old Alliance", which could make Edward half dead, and the candidate he had worked so hard to support was stabbed in the back at the critical moment.
In 1296, Edward I angrily sent an army to launch an all-out attack on the Kingdom of Scotland, and the First War of Scottish Independence broke out.
During the war, Edward I marched straight in, led LinkedIn Gran's army to win the Battle of Falkirk, plundered the Skunkstone, a symbol of Scottish kingship, and brought it back to London. The Stone was placed under the Coronation of The King of Westminster "St. Edward's Throne", symbolizing the unification of England and Scotland under the sovereignty of the King. In addition, Edward was particularly cruel to the Scots, and everywhere he went, he was disgruntled, burning and looting, and extremely cruel means to force the Scots to surrender one by one, and later generations also called him the "Hammer of Scotland".
The picture shows the throne of St. Edward, and the vacant space below it is used to store the Skun stone
Edward, who seemed unstoppable, collapsed in the middle of the road and handed over power to his grandson Edward III. At the same time, the original highly respected candidate, Robert Bruce, was proclaimed King of Scotland, and he quickly united the tribes of Scotland against the Invasion of the English. In 1314, Robert Bruce won the Battle of Bannockburn, defeating the English army in one fell swoop. Under pressure, Edward III signed the Treaty of Edinburgh-Northamption with the Scots, which confirmed the independence of the Kingdom of Scotland in the form of a treaty, and promised in the treaty that the Scottish Skunshi would be returned, and the skunkstones that had been lost elsewhere seemed to have landed again.
Battle of Bannockburn
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > suffered another setback</h1>
Wave after wave, wave after wave.
In 1332, the Hundred Years' War between England and France broke out, and Scotland, as a hardcore ally of France, was also involved in the war. Thus, the return of Skunshi under the Edinburgh-Northampton Treaty was indefinitely delayed by Edward III.
The time has come to modern times, with the opening of new shipping routes, European countries have embarked on the road of colonial expansion. In 1640, a bourgeois revolution broke out in England, gradually establishing a capitalist system. As its old neighbours flourished, Scotland also began to expand overseas. In 1695, the Scots tried to establish a long-standing colony in Panama, but were besieged by Spanish colonial forces. The Scots suffered heavy losses and many merchants lost their money. The Englishmen on the sidelines not only did not lend their hands to help, but also enacted the Aliens Act to restrict the import and export of goods to blackmail Scotland into negotiating with them.
Scottish colonial team
A series of changes have made the Scottish rulers realize that Scotland's development is increasingly inseparable from the powerful political entity of England, which can provide good shelter both economically and politically, and there are more and more calls for merger. On 1 May 1707, the Scottish Parliament and the English Parliament jointly formed the Parliament of Great Britain, and a new state, the United Kingdom of Great Britain, was born.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > returned to Zhao</h1>
After the end of the Second World War, anti-colonialism and national liberation movements surged up, Britain lost a large number of colonies, and the British Empire, which was once in the sky, no longer had the glory of the British Empire and was exiled to second-class countries. At the same time, Scotland can no longer enjoy the dividends of the development of the British Empire, not only that, the aging of the domestic industrial structure has added a layer of mist to the economy. This slump gradually turned into dissatisfaction with the British government, and Scottish nationalism began to rise. The focus returned to the long-simmering Skunshi.
On Christmas Day 1950, four Scottish students (Ian Hamilton, Gavin Vernon, Kay Matheson and Alan Stuart) decided to steal the Stone from Westminster and return it to Scotland. In action, they stumbled and broke the Stone in half. After several weeks of hiding, they managed to hide the Skunshi in the back seat of a borrowed car and cross the cordon that the police had placed between Scotland and England. The students handed the stone over to a senior politician in Glasgow. The politician arranged for experts to repair the stones and keep them in their collection. The British government launched a massive search and eventually brought it back.
In order to quell Scotland's independence tendencies, in 1996, the British government finally decided to return the Skunkstone to Scotland. On the border between the two places, representatives of the British Home Office and the Scottish Ministry held a handover ceremony, after which Skunshi was brought back to Edinburgh Castle to be laid to this day. Although Skunkstone has now returned to Scotland, the British government still issued a decree stipulating that when the King of England is crowned in the future, Skunkstone still needs to be transported back to Westminster Abbey and placed under st. Edward's throne. At this point, this stone, which has been exiled for more than 700 years and witnessed most of the history of Britain, has finally returned to Zhao, drawing a perfect end to this bump.
Return the Skunshi
Resources:
"The History of Europe That Can Afford to Put Down" by Tang Island Fisherman
Tencent News "After the United States, the United Kingdom is also facing a crisis of division, Scotland: will hold an independence referendum to join the European Union"
History of Scotland by De Bernhard
Baidu Encyclopedia Scottish War of Independence
Creation is not easy Thanks for the attention