Chapter 2085 There Are More Pandas than Councilors

In addition to oil resources, the North Sea has a high status in the global strategy.

It is a marginal sea in the northern Atlantic Ocean, a relatively closed open sea area, bounded by the British Isles and the Orkney Islands to the west, the Shetland Islands to the north, and Norway and Denmark to the east.

To reach the Atlantic, the polar bear's Baltic Fleet must pass through the North Sea, or only through the British-controlled English Channel.

Germany is also facing the same problem. During the two world wars, the German navy was unable to break through the blockade of the Royal Navy in the North Sea, unable to obtain war resources from overseas, so it could only fight land battles honestly, and eventually lost the war.

It can be said that the way out for the two continental countries, Germany and Polar Bear, is blocked by the North Sea. Whoever controls the North Sea will have the right to speak in the fringes of the Eurasian continent, and then squeeze the center to complete the occupation of the World Island.

After World War II, the United States squeezed the Soviet Union based on the theory of the marginal zone. Europe was a very important strategic node, and the North Sea was the top priority of the European defense zone, which was responsible for encircling the Soviet navy.

But now, if Scotland becomes independent, it will definitely regain control of the North Sea, and then use it as capital to serve the United States, with strong support from the United States. Presumably, the United States is also happy to see a divided Britain.

It can be foreseen that Scotland will gain huge ZZ capital after independence. Together with the oil and gas resources in this region, it accounts for 2/3 of the UK's fishery, 1/2 of animal husbandry, 1/2 of optoelectronics, microelectronics, and life sciences. And the unique whiskey, as well as the well-developed tourism industry, will definitely become a small but extremely rich country, which may not be inferior to the four Nordic countries in terms of wealth, and may even exceed it.

On the contrary, Britain will lose 1/3 of its land and 1/10 of its population, and its hard power will further decline. The most critical thing is the lack of strategic resources and military fortresses. The blow to Britain is by no means measurable on paper.

Losing Scotland is equivalent to losing the barrier of the North Sea. It is equivalent to not lifting your pants after going to the toilet, walking on the street with bare buttocks, and the back door is cold. Can you feel safe?

Otherwise, why is William worrying? Even though he, the current second in line heir, has little power, but the royal family also needs to be based on a powerful country, so they have more confidence to be mascots, don't they?

Otherwise, the king of a poor tribe in Africa came to your house to do his best, not only wanted to sleep with your wife and refused to give you money, but also spit on your face when he turned around, would you pay him any attention?

It's all the same reason. From the current point of view, **** should go into the coffin with honor in this life, but William might have to face a fragmented Great Britain. What should he do then?

Unless he has the confidence to regain control of the army,

And lead the troops to take Scotland back with guns, otherwise. . .

Think about Ireland back then, note: it was Ireland, not Northern Ireland!

In fact, looking at the map, Ireland and Northern Ireland are on the same island, that is, the island of Ireland. This island is in the Atlantic Ocean, facing the British Isle across the sea, and is not connected to England, Scotland, and Wales. It should be one country with the UK.

In fact, it is precisely because of the geographical separation that Ireland and the United Kingdom were not a country in the first place.

Since the 12th century, Ireland has been encroached by the British. In the 16th century, King Henry VIII became the king of Ireland. However, the Irish people did not want the British to establish colonial rule on their islands. There are uprisings.

However, Britain during the Industrial Revolution was powerful after all.

At the beginning of the 19th century, Ireland was officially incorporated into the United Kingdom and became part of the United Kingdom, but this did not mean that the Irish gave up their pursuit of national independence.

In 1845, there was a great famine in Ireland. However, the United Kingdom failed to provide effective assistance, resulting in starvation everywhere in Ireland. Coupled with the religious conflicts between the two sides, the already tense relationship became more fragile, and the Irish independence movement gradually pulled out. Prologue.

In the early 20th century, Ireland, dominated by its pursuit of independence, had its own parliament and republican army.

Afterwards, the IRA began to kill royal security and ZF officials, and robbed weapons and money. Faced with this situation, the British side would of course send troops to suppress it, and the Irish War of Independence broke out.

While Britain was mired in the quagmire of the world war, Ireland really won many victories in this internal struggle.

Of course, neither was a large-scale battle that could be called a battle, or a small guerrilla warfare, which made Britain really unbearable.

Finally, at the end of 1921, the two sides reached an armistice agreement, and Britain made a compromise. At that time, Britain had just experienced World War I and was still in the stage of recovery. ZF believed that endless wars would weaken Britain's national strength.

Moreover, the king also favored reconciliation with Ireland, and delivered a speech on "Irish Reconciliation".

In the end, the United Kingdom allowed the establishment of the "Irish Free State", but the king of the free state was still the King of England, a bit like the members of the Commonwealth of Nations today. Of course, the British Central Government and the King of England had more power in Ireland at the time.

Still, once the gap is opened, eventual independence is only a matter of time.

Although Ireland launched a war for independence, it did not gain independence by defeating Britain in the war, and, judging from the war situation, Britain seemed to be in a better position.

However, the United Kingdom finally chose to compromise and let Ireland move towards independence step by step. The current situation in Scotland is similar to that of Ireland back then. William has absolutely reason to be vigilant.

However, although the British had no choice but to accept the independence of Ireland, they dug a hole for Ireland. As early as the 17th century, a large number of Protestant Englishmen and Scots immigrated to the northeastern part of Ireland with the support and encouragement of the British government. Sturt area.

During the British bourgeois revolution, Cromwell promulgated the "Migration Act" after suppressing the Irish national uprising, deporting a large number of Irish people to the desolate and barren Connaught County and the swampy Coral. Protestant immigrants gradually gained an advantage in the northern regions.

The United Kingdom recognizes that Ireland has gained independence, but the six northern counties where the Protestant forces are dominant still remain in the United Kingdom. Of course, the British will not bring people back, and it is impossible for Ireland to massacre its own compatriots. Partition, so that the north became Northern Ireland under the Queen's rule.

However, although the Northern Ireland area still remained within the British territory after World War II, the political choice in this area was obviously maintained by the number of Protestants in the territory who "voted with their feet", which would inevitably bring about a weaker local Irish ethnic dissatisfaction.

After all, this part of the Irish in Northern Ireland accounts for one-third of the number. They still hope that the six counties of Northern Ireland can join the Republic of Ireland, so these Northern Ireland nationalists formed the "Irish Republican Army" and began to fight against the British government. Armed struggle for more than half a century.

The local English also formed a royalist armed force to fight against the Irish nationalists.

At present, according to the agreement signed between the United Kingdom and Ireland, the Republic of Ireland recognizes Northern Ireland as a British territory, and the United Kingdom also guarantees the autonomy of Northern Ireland and the rights of local Catholics.

After 2005, various factions in Northern Ireland were in a state of ceasefire, but the issue of Northern Ireland did not end there. The hatred between the local Irish and English in Northern Ireland will not be completely eliminated because of this armistice agreement, and the issue of Northern Ireland will continue .

Seeing that 'good brother' Scotland is taking the lead in making troubles, Northern Ireland can't sit still anymore, and the rumors of independence are also raging recently, but compared to Scotland, Northern Ireland has much less geographical location and natural resources, so The importance of the British side is definitely not as high as that of Scotland, but it cannot be ignored.

If the loss of Northern Ireland and Scotland is equal to the reduction of half of the land area of ​​the United Kingdom, how dare it be called a kingdom? Is it called Great Britain?

Just call it Little England!

Leaving aside historical issues, at least half of the reason for Scotland's growing independence sentiments can be attributed to the conservative politicians in the UK.

Historically, the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom has been unpopular in Scotland. The Conservative Party had resolutely opposed giving Scotland the right to "self-government" like Ireland. The "poll tax" was first implemented in Scotland during Thatcher's period, which also intensified the conflict between the Conservative Party and Scottish voters. contradictions between.

In the three general elections since 2001, there has been only one Scottish Conservative member in the British Parliament.

There is a joke in Scottish political circles: There are more pandas in Edinburgh Zoo than there are Conservative MPs in Scotland - there are two pandas, but only one Conservative MP.

Kalunzi, who came to power in 2010, imposed strict fiscal austerity on Scotland, drastically reduced welfare expenditures, and provided far less financial assistance to Scotland than the previous ZF.

So the Scottish National Party took the opportunity to build momentum, saying that after the "separation", it can implement flexible economic and fiscal policies, and take back jurisdiction over the oil and gas fields in the North Sea, so that the Scots can live a good life.

The Scottish secession movement was driven by both economic interests and politics, but that doesn't explain everything.

It is worth noting that Scottish separatists have found a new "theoretical basis" for independence: the British government ignores the fact that Scotland has better preserved its own language, judicial and cultural traditions, and blindly emphasizes Scotland's political and social values, such as free Higher education, generous pension policies and a positive attitude towards European integration are completely different from other parts of the UK.

The logic can be simplified as follows: "I" (Scotland) has different "values" from "you" (England), so "I" must be independent.

If you want to add a crime, there is no excuse——I want to be independent, what can you do to me?

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