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Date Posted: 01:35:11 09/06/02 Fri
Author: Perceptor II
Subject: Civilization descriptions: Scottish

I've been researching world history and geography quite a bit over the last few months. I've gotten into the Civilization games and started creating my own civilizations to use and fight against. I now have 92 civilizations, 90 of which actually existed (the other two are the Amazons of Greek legend and the Klingons). I've also started writing up descriptions of each civilization: sort of a summary of their history and where they are now. Here's the one I wrote last night to describe the Scottish civilization. Perhaps some of you Scotsmen can critique it for me.

The land now known as Scotland was originally known as "Caledonia", but became known as Scotland when the Scots, a Celtic tribe from Ireland, emigrated to the land and settled throughout. The land has drawn people from diverse sources--Celts, Angles and Normans, among others--but has maintained a fairly homogenous culture.

Scotland's known history began in the period from AD 82 to 208, when Roman legions from Britannia began a series of invasions. Despite the might of the Roman military, they were turned back each time and were never able to establish control. The land was made up of separate kingdoms until the mid-9th Century, and remained united until the end of the reign of Macbeth in 1057, after which Scotland started to come more and more under the influence of England. Finally, in 1296, King Edward I of England tried to exert direct control over Scotland, touching off a popular revolt lead by William Wallace and Robert the Bruce. This revolt ended in 1328, when King Edward III of England recognized Robert the Bruce as King Robert I of Scotland.

After the reign of Robert's son, David II, the Stuart dynasty rose to power. The Stuarts maintained close ties with France, England's longtime enemy, until John Knox led the Scottish Reformation. Roman Catholicism, and France by extension, lost influence and the Presbyterian Church was established as Scotland's national church. The Catholic Mary, Queen of Scots, was forced to abdicate the throne, leaving her son, James VI, as king.

In 1603 Queen Elizabeth of England died and Scotland's James VI was named her successor as King James I. Scotland and England remained two separate kingdoms ruled by the same monarch, save for a short time during the English Civil Wars when England deposed their monarchy in favor of Oliver Cromwell's government, until 1707. In that year, the parliaments of both countries ratified the Act of Union, which joined England, Scotland and Wales into the United Kingdom of Great Britain. Scotland maintained some autonomy over its laws and courts and was allowed to have its own church, but dissolved its parliament and sent representatives to Westminster.

When Queen Anne, the last of the Stuarts, died, the Hanovers assumed control over the British monarchy. However, many in Scotland remained loyal to the Stuart line. Known as the "Jacobites", the Stuart supporters rebelled in 1715 and again in 1745 and attempted to place one of their own on the throne. The rebellion was put down each time, and after that Scotland would never again try for independence.

The Industrial Revolution swept through Scotland in the 1820s, bringing with it shipbuilding, coal mining, iron and steel industries and replaced the traditional textiles as the dominant business. This changed again in the 1960s, as these heavy industries declined and Scotland embraced computer and electronics industries. At this time the east Central Lowlands became known as "Silicon Glen". Scotland also became a staging area for the drilling of the North Sea petroleum fields.

In 1999, Scotland established a Scottish Parliament and Scottish Executive as their own regional government. Although still part of the United Kingdom, Scotland has maintained its distinct culture and its own legal and educational systems, as well as its own church.

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