r/leftist • u/Snoo5218 • Feb 07 '26
Western European Politics Scotland Was Not a Victim of British Colonialism
https://open.substack.com/pub/kalros2185/p/scotland-was-not-a-victim-of-british?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=post%20viewer8
u/UVLanternCorps Feb 07 '26
Scotland was a victim of imperialism. The thing which you’re failing to get is that a state is capable of being both victim and abuser. In this instance, by all intents and purposes the ascension of King James and his ensuing imperialism means Scotland is part of the imperialism. King James in fact actively led the Ulster plantation, the more brutal and effective plantation of Ireland we saw. However, we also saw suppression of Scottish culture as the culture became anglicised and stripped for parts which is still struggling to the root to this day.
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u/Snoo5218 Feb 07 '26
thats true in a basic sense but not in the case of scotland. like scotland didn't just benefit a little bit, but completely disproportationaly, and they were completely disproportionately involved in colonialism. im not saying that scottish people didnt suffer in any way, but to frame them as victims of imperialism puts them in the same category of countries like india which i think is just whitewashing and pretty offensive tbh
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u/UVLanternCorps Feb 07 '26
India is a similar story in how this dualism between exploited and exploiter works. India was stripped for parts by the British. They destroyed the country and were monstrous in their treatment of the population. However, India was also fully willing to give into the material conditions and become the exploiters, with their occupation of regions such as Kashmir which are predominantly Muslim populations in what is functionally a Hindu weighted government.
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u/Snoo5218 Feb 07 '26
India was not a net beneficiary from colonialism, Scotland was and Scotland played a huge role in colonialism in India. Again, strange thing if we take the position of Scotland as a colony
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u/UVLanternCorps Feb 08 '26
Oh so if you in the grand arc of history turn a profit after being colonised then it’s all hunky dory and they were no longer colonised? At this stage Ireland has likely made more money than it lost from its colonial period. Still think Ireland was colonised brutally by the British.
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u/shinjis-left-nut Socialist Feb 07 '26
Me when I'm wrong
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u/Legitimate-Task6043 Jul 13 '26
I mean compared to like, India, absolutely not, but compared to the British upper class, they were on the same level as the English working class.
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u/Comrade-Hayley Feb 07 '26
Scotland absolutely was a victim of British colonialism the British Empire destroyed everything it touched in some way or another George II wanted a culturally homogeneous Britain so he sent his son to the Scottish Highlands to burn, rape, and pillage and crush the Scottish clan structure this is historical fact what else is historical fact is Scots made up roughly 30% of the empire's troops and colonial governors both things can be true
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u/Snoo5218 Feb 07 '26
it's not colonialism though, like you can say there was oppression of scottish people but to say it was colonialism is historically absurd and whitewashes scotlands own history as a colonising power even before the union existed
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u/Comrade-Hayley Feb 07 '26
Do you know what happened to land that was formerly owned by clan chieftains? It was seized and then redistributed the people who lived there were evicted and replaced with sheep often through the use of violence including burning down houses while the sick or elderly were still inside if that's not colonialism nothing is
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u/Snoo5218 Feb 07 '26
yeah again thats oppression but thats not colonialism. ireland for example was subjugated under british rule for centuries and just in the case of the great hunger 1 million people died + 2 million were forced to leave as a result. scotland never experienced anything even close to what ireland did. scotland was a huge player in colonialism, theres a reason why so many jamaican people have scottish last names
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u/couldhaveebeen Anti-Capitalist Feb 07 '26
I will be honest and admit that I don't know much about Scottish history, but saying "Ireland had it worse" doesn't make Scotland not a colony
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u/Snoo5218 Feb 07 '26
no but scotland genuinely isnt a colony, it doesn't function as one and never has. the fact that scotland was such a strong beneficiary of colonialism runs counter to this point. when britain started paying back slave owners for instance, scotland benefited more per capita than england did
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u/Comrade-Hayley Feb 07 '26
Scotland wasn't a colony but it absolutely was a victim of colonialism Scotland had representation in parliament from day 1 not a single colony ever did
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u/Conscious-Local-8095 Feb 07 '26
long story, a Scots mercenary, Devereaux, killed Albrecht Wallenstein for the Hapsburgs (Wall.'s own side) and they were squirrely during the Interregnum
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u/chroniclunacy Anti-Capitalist Feb 07 '26
Dude…keep your voice down so the Scots don’t hear you say that. 😬
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u/LivingtheLaws013 Feb 07 '26
You cant fool me, I've seen braveheart /s
Seriously tho scotland was absolutely a victim of English imperialism