Two really important moments in the story of the Union: not just the Battle of Trafalgar but also Nelson’s funeral. Union with David Olusoga II: Creating Britishness
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, a state that made Nelson into a national hero in 1805 was then just four years old. Its immediate origins lay in two Unions: one of 1801 that had united Britain and Ireland, and an earlier Act of Union in 1707 that had brought England and Wales together with Scotland. ibid.
This long history of Union and Disunion continues to define how people see themselves and the country today. ibid.
Are we slowly approaching the end of the Union … or will the Union survive? ibid.
The Jacobites were supported by Britain’s Catholic enemies, France and Spain. ibid.
The 1707 Act of Union had been designed to prevent the French from using Scotland as a bridgehead for invasion; the 1801 Act had been intended to stop Ireland being used in the same way. ibid.
In the middle of the 19th century the new Palace of Westminster, home to parliament, was approaching completion. The new buildings had been decorated with the ancient symbols of the four nations that made up a state that was then only half a century old. Union with David Olusoga III: The Two Nations
The United Kingdom was the world’s first and pre-eminent industrial nation. It was at the same time the world’s greatest trading nation … The largest empire the world had ever seen. ibid.
The Old Corruption, the alliance of landowners and the big merchants, used their political power not just to further their economic interests. In the years after Waterloo, they also used the law to repress opposition from working people campaigning for their rights. ibid.
In 1838, 6 years after what many saw as the betrayal of the Reform Act, working-class reformers launched a new movement to fight for the vote and political rights. That movement, Chartism, was the first to spread across the nations, and the first in which people defined themselves not by their nationality or their religion but by their social class. ibid.
The belief that the United Kingdom was a nation that was now reconciled with its history ... was to prove over-optimistic. David Olusoga IV: Union and Disunion
Britain has never been an easy country to define or understand. ibid.
By the power of faith, by the wealth of empire, by the threat of invasion.
1912: The Home Rule Bill: The story of what happened in Ireland in the years after 1912 is a story that has the city of Belfast at its centre. ibid.
Irish independence meant that at a stroke the land mass of the United Kingdom shrank by 20%. ibid.
In the 1960s another conflict erupted. The Troubles left over 3,500 people dead and led to the deployment of the British army on to the streets of British cities. That conflict officially ended in 1998. ibid.
What emerged from the Second World War was a new national mythology. ibid.
In times of wars, it’s useful to remember: The UK is a rogue state; Our leaders are thugs with nice accents; The media amplifies the state’s priorities; The political class is part of UK oligarchy; Wars are part of Whitehall’s business model; International law is for others. Mark Curtis tweet 11 October 2023