Unionist-Nationalism

Book excerpt: Mid-19th century Scottish nationalism has been perceived as weak, failing to produce a parliamentary challenge. The European revolutions were set alight in 1848 yet missed Great Britain; for Scotland a British/imperial agenda was said to dominate. This failure of Scottish nationalism is an orthodoxy long overdue for challenge. From an analysis of the major expressions of national identity in mid-century, it is stressed that Scottish nationalism demanded equality with England within the Union of 1707. Strange as it may be to 20th-century eyes, Scotland wanted more Union, not less. Nor was it weak for its lack of rhetoric of parliamentary independence. Unionist-nationalism flowed from its axis of a British state and a Scottish civil society in the 1830-1860 period.