Editing Scotland (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of Scotland}}
{{For timeline|Timeline of Scottish history}}

===Prehistory===
The earliest known evidence of human presence in Scotland is [[Hamburgian culture]] stone tools produced by late [[Upper Paleolithic]] [[Hunter-gatherer|hunter gatherers]] who arrived in Scotland during the [[Bølling–Allerød Interstadial]] warm period at the end of the [[last ice age]], around 14,500 to 14,000 years ago,  shortly following the retreat of the ice sheet that had previously covered Scotland.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hardy |first=Karen |last2=Barlow |first2=Natasha L.M. |last3=Taylor |first3=Edward |last4=Bradley |first4=Sarah L. |last5=McCarthy |first5=John |last6=Rush |first6=Graham |date=2025-04-23 |title=At the far end of everything: A likely Ahrensburgian presence in the far north of the Isle of Skye, Scotland |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jqs.3718 |journal=Journal of Quaternary Science |language=en |doi=10.1002/jqs.3718 |issn=0267-8179|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Ballin |first=Torben Bjarke |url=https://www.archaeopress.com/Archaeopress/Products/9781784919016 |title=Reindeer hunters at Howburn Farm, South Lanarkshire: a late Hamburgian settlement in Southern Scotland - its lithic artefacts and natural environment |last2=Tipping |first2=Richard M. |date=2018 |publisher=Archaeopress Publishing Ltd |isbn=978-1-78491-902-3 |location=Summertown, Oxford}}</ref> [[Early European Farmers|Neolithic farmers]] arrived in Scotland around 6000 years ago.<ref>Rowley-Conwy, P., Gron, K.J., Bishop, R.R. et al. (5 more authors) (2020) [https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/id/eprint/157765/3/Rowley%20Conwey%20et%20al_Accepted_Earliest%20farming%20Britain%20ch%2019.pdf The earliest farming in Britain : towards a new synthesis]. In: Gron, K.J., Sorensen, L. and RowleyConwy, P., (eds.) Farmers at the Frontier: A Pan European Perspective on Neolithisation. Oxbow Books , Oxford, UK , pp. 401-424. {{ISBN|9781789251401}}</ref> The well-preserved village of [[Skara Brae]] on the mainland of [[Orkney]] dates from this period. Neolithic habitation, burial, and ritual sites are particularly common and well preserved in the [[Northern Isles]] and [[Western Isles]], where a lack of trees led to most structures being built of local stone.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pryor |first=Francis |title=Britain BC |publisher=HarperPerennial |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-00-712693-4 |location=London |pages=98–104 & 246–250 |author-link=Francis Pryor}}</ref> Evidence of sophisticated pre-Christian belief systems is demonstrated by sites such as the [[Callanish Stones]] on [[Isle of Lewis|Lewis]] and the [[Maes Howe]] on [[Orkney]], which were built in the third millennium BC.<ref name="short" />{{Rp|38}}

===Early history===
{{Main|Scotland during the Roman Empire|Roman Britain|Pictland}}
[[File:Skara Brae - geograph.org.uk - 3912232.jpg|thumb|right|[[Skara Brae]], Europe's most complete [[Neolithic]] village, occupied from roughly 3180 BC – 2500 BC]]

The first written reference to Scotland was in 320 BC by Greek sailor [[Pytheas]], who called the northern tip of Britain "Orcas", the source of the name of the Orkney islands.<ref name="Forsyth">{{Cite book |last=Forsyth |first=Katherine |author-link=Katherine Forsyth |title=Scotland: A History |date=2005 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199601646 |editor-last=Wormald |editor-first=Jenny |editor-link=Jenny Wormald |location=Oxford |language=en |chapter=Origins: Scotland to 1100 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/scotland00jenn |chapter-url-access=registration}}</ref>{{Rp|10}}

Most of modern Scotland was not [[Roman conquest of Britain|incorporated]] into the [[Roman Empire]], and Roman control over parts of the area fluctuated over a rather short period. The first Roman incursion into Scotland was in 79 AD, when [[Gnaeus Julius Agricola|Agricola]] invaded Scotland; he defeated a Caledonian army at the [[Battle of Mons Graupius]] in 83 AD.<ref name="Forsyth"/>{{Rp|12}} After the Roman victory, Roman forts were briefly set along the [[Gask Ridge]] close to the [[Highland Boundary Fault|Highland line]], but by three years after the battle, the Roman armies had withdrawn to the [[Southern Uplands]].<ref>Hanson, William S. ''The Roman Presence: Brief Interludes'', in Edwards, Kevin J. & Ralston, Ian B.M. (Eds) (2003). ''Scotland After the Ice Age: Environment, Archeology and History, 8000 BC—AD 1000.'' Edinburgh. Edinburgh University Press.</ref> Remains of Roman forts established in the 1st century have been found as far north as the [[Moray Firth]].<ref name=":4">{{Citation |last1=Richmond |first1=Ian Archibald |title=Caledonia |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199545568.001.0001/acref-9780199545568-e-1258 |work=Oxford Classical Dictionary |year=2012 |editor-last=Hornblower |editor-first=Simon |access-date=16 November 2020 |edition=4th online |language=en |doi=10.1093/acref/9780199545568.001.0001 |isbn=9780199545568 |last2=Millett |first2=Martin |editor2-last=Spawforth |editor2-first=Antony |editor3-last=Eidinow |editor3-first=Esther |archive-date=8 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210508085121/https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199545568.001.0001/acref-9780199545568-e-1258 |url-status=live }}</ref> By the reign of the [[Roman emperor]] [[Trajan]] ({{Reign|98|117}}), Roman control had lapsed to Britain south of a line between the [[River Tyne]] and the [[Solway Firth]].<ref name=":8">{{Citation |last=Millett |first=Martin J. |title=Britain, Roman |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199545568.001.0001/acref-9780199545568-e-1178 |work=The Oxford Classical Dictionary |year=2012 |editor-last=Hornblower |editor-first=Simon |access-date=16 November 2020 |edition=4th online |publisher=Oxford University Press |language=en |doi=10.1093/acref/9780199545568.001.0001 |isbn=978-0-19-954556-8 |editor2-last=Spawforth |editor2-first=Antony |editor3-last=Eidinow |editor3-first=Esther |archive-date=14 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114213930/https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199545568.001.0001/acref-9780199545568-e-1178 |url-status=live }}</ref> Along this line, Trajan's successor [[Hadrian]] ({{Reign|117|138}}) erected [[Hadrian's Wall]] in northern England<ref name="Forsyth"/>{{Rp|12}} and the ''[[Limes Britannicus]]'' became the northern border of the Roman Empire.<ref>Robertson, Anne S. (1960). ''The Antonine Wall''. Glasgow Archaeological Society.</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Keys |first=David |date=27 June 2018 |title=Ancient Roman 'hand of god' discovered near Hadrian's Wall sheds light on biggest combat operation ever in UK |agency=Independent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/hand-of-god-ancient-roman-hadrians-wall-sculpture-bronze-found-latest-a8419131.html |access-date=6 July 2018 |archive-date=7 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180707015802/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/hand-of-god-ancient-roman-hadrians-wall-sculpture-bronze-found-latest-a8419131.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The Roman influence on the southern part of the country was considerable, and they introduced [[Christianity]] to Scotland.<ref name="Forsyth"/>{{Rp|13–14}}<ref name="short" />{{Rp|38}}

The [[Antonine Wall]] was built from 142 at the order of Hadrian's successor [[Antoninus Pius]] ({{Reign|138|161}}), defending the Roman part of Scotland from the unadministered part of the island, north of a line between the [[Firth of Clyde]] and the [[Firth of Forth]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Frontiers of the Roman Empire, The Antonine Wall |url=https://www.visitscotland.com/things-to-do/unesco-trail/designations/antonine-wall |newspaper=Visitscotland |publisher=Visit Scotland |access-date=7 January 2024 |archive-date=7 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240107012121/https://www.visitscotland.com/things-to-do/unesco-trail/designations/antonine-wall |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Roman invasion of Caledonia 208–210]] was undertaken by emperors of the imperial [[Severan dynasty]] in response to the breaking of a treaty by the Caledonians in 197,<ref name=":4" /> but permanent conquest of the whole of Great Britain was forestalled by Roman forces becoming bogged down in punishing [[guerrilla warfare]] and the death of the senior emperor [[Septimius Severus]] ({{Reign|193|211}}) at [[Eboracum]] ([[York]]) after he was taken ill while on campaign. Although forts erected by the [[Roman army]] in the Severan campaign were placed near those established by Agricola and were clustered at the mouths of the [[glens]] in the Highlands, the Caledonians were again in revolt in 210–211 and these were overrun.<ref name=":4" />

[[File:Callanish at sunset - geograph.org.uk - 820680.jpg|thumb|left|[[Callanish Stones]], erected in the late [[Neolithic]] era]]

To the Roman historians [[Tacitus]] and [[Cassius Dio]], the [[Scottish Highlands]] and the area north of the [[River Forth]] was called [[Caledonia]].<ref name=":4" /> According to Cassius Dio, the inhabitants of Caledonia were the [[Caledonians]] and the [[Maeatae]].<ref name=":4" /> Other ancient authors used the adjective "Caledonian" to mean anywhere in northern or inland Britain, often mentioning the region's people and animals, its cold climate, its pearls, and a noteworthy region of wooded hills ({{Langx|la|saltus}}) which the 2nd century AD Roman philosopher [[Ptolemy]], in his [[Geography (Ptolemy)|''Geography'']], described as being south-west of the [[Beauly Firth]].<ref name=":4" /> The name Caledonia is echoed in the place names of [[Dunkeld]], [[Rohallion]], and [[Schiehallion]].<ref name=":4" />

The [[Great Conspiracy]] constituted a seemingly coordinated invasion against Roman rule in Britain in the later 4th century, which included the participation of the Gaelic [[Scoti]] and the Caledonians, who were then known as [[Picts]] by the Romans. This was defeated by the [[Comes Theodosius|''comes'' Theodosius]]; but Roman military government was withdrawn from the island altogether by the early 5th century, resulting in the [[Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain]] and the immigration of the [[Saxons]] to southeastern Scotland and the rest of eastern Great Britain.<ref name=":8" />

=== Kingdom of Scotland ===
{{Main|Kingdom of Scotland|Scotland in the Early Middle Ages|Scotland in the High Middle Ages|Scotland in the Late Middle Ages}}
{{Multiple image
| align             = right
| total_width       = 400
| image1            = Early Medieval Scotland areas.png
| caption1          = Political divisions in early medieval Scotland
| image2            = Kingdom of Mann and the Isles-en.svg
| caption2          = Norse kingdoms at the end of the eleventh century
}}
Beginning in the sixth century, the area that is now Scotland was divided into four areas: [[Pictland]], a patchwork of small lordships in central Scotland;<ref name="Forsyth"/>{{Rp|25–26}} the [[Anglo-Saxon]] [[Kingdom of Northumbria]], which had conquered southeastern Scotland;<ref name="Forsyth"/>{{Rp|18–20}} Northern Brittonic territory likely centred on [[Alt Clut]] (Dumbarton Rock) and the Clyde valley;<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clarkson |first=Tim |title=Strathclyde and the Anglo-Saxons in the Viking Age |publisher=Birlinn |year=2014 |isbn=9781906566784}}</ref> and [[Dál Riata]], which included territory in western Scotland and northern Ireland, and spread Gaelic language and culture into Scotland.<ref>{{Citation |last=Woolf |first=Alex |title=Ancient Kindred? Dál Riata and the Cruthin |date=2012 |url=https://www.academia.edu/1502702 |work=academia.edu |access-date=30 May 2023 |archive-date=15 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230715071930/https://www.academia.edu/1502702 |url-status=live }}</ref> These societies were based on the family unit and had sharp divisions in wealth, although the vast majority were poor and worked full-time in [[subsistence agriculture]]. The Picts kept slaves (mostly captured in war) through the ninth century.<ref name="Forsyth"/>{{Rp|26–27}}

Gaelic influence over Pictland and Northumbria was facilitated by the large number of [[Celtic Church|Gaelic-speaking clerics]] working as missionaries.<ref name="Forsyth"/>{{Rp|23–24}} Operating in the sixth century on the island of [[Iona]], [[Saint Columba]] was one of the earliest and best-known missionaries.<ref name="short">{{Cite book |last=Houston |first=Rab |title=Scotland: A Very Short Introduction |date=2008 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=9780191578861 |location=Oxford |language=en}}</ref>{{Rp|39}} The [[Vikings]] began to raid Scotland in the eighth century. Although the raiders sought slaves and luxury items, their main motivation was to acquire land. The oldest [[Norse Scotland|Norse]] settlements were in northwest Scotland, but they eventually conquered many areas along the coast. [[Old Norse]] entirely displaced [[Pictish language|Pictish]] in the [[Northern Isles]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=18 December 2021 |title=What makes Shetland, Shetland? |url=https://www.shetland.org/blog/what-makes-shetland-shetland |access-date=3 January 2024 |website=Shetland.org |language=en-gb |archive-date=3 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240103155353/https://www.shetland.org/blog/what-makes-shetland-shetland |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the ninth century, the Norse threat allowed a Gael named [[Kenneth I]] (Cináed mac Ailpín) to seize power over Pictland, establishing a royal dynasty to which the modern monarchs trace their lineage, and marking the beginning of the end of Pictish culture.<ref name="Forsyth"/>{{Rp|31–32}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brown |first=Dauvit |title=The Oxford Companion to Scottish History |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-19-211696-3 |editor-last=M. Lynch |location=Oxford |page=359 |chapter=Kenneth mac Alpin}}</ref> The kingdom of Cináed and his descendants, called Alba, was Gaelic in character but existed on the same area as Pictland. By the end of the tenth century, the Pictish language went extinct as its speakers shifted to Gaelic.<ref name="Forsyth"/>{{Rp|32–33}} From a base in eastern Scotland north of the [[River Forth]] and south of the [[River Spey]], the kingdom expanded first southwards, into the former Northumbrian lands, and northwards into [[Province of Moray|Moray]].<ref name="Forsyth"/>{{Rp|34–35}} Around the turn of the millennium, there was a centralization in agricultural lands and the first towns began to be established.<ref name="Forsyth"/>{{Rp|36–37}}

[[File:Court.of.Session.1532.James.V.JPG|thumb|left|[[James V of Scotland]] at the [[Court of Session]] in 1532, at [[Parliament House, Edinburgh]], the [[Parliament of Scotland]] until 1707]]

In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, much of Scotland was under the control of a single ruler. Initially, Gaelic culture predominated, but immigrants from France, England and Flanders steadily created a more diverse society, with the Gaelic language starting to be replaced by Scots; and a modern nation-state emerged from this. At the end of this period, war against England started the growth of a [[Scottish national consciousness]].<ref name="Stringer">{{Cite book |last=Stringer |first=Keith |title=Scotland: A History |date=2005 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199601646 |editor-last=Wormald |editor-first=Jenny |editor-link=Jenny Wormald |location=Oxford |language=en |chapter=The Emergence of a Nation-State, 1100–1300 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/scotland00jenn |chapter-url-access=registration}}</ref><ref name="Barrell 2000">{{Cite book |last=Barrell |first=A. D. M. |title=Medieval Scotland |date=2000 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-58602-3 |location=Cambridge}}</ref>{{Rp|at=ch 1}} [[David I of Scotland|David I]] (1124–1153) and his successors centralised royal power<ref name="Stringer"/>{{Rp|41–42}} and united mainland Scotland, capturing regions such as Moray, [[Galloway]], and [[Caithness]], although he could not extend his power over the [[Hebrides]], which had been ruled by various [[Scottish clans]] following the death of [[Somerled]] in 1164.<ref name="Stringer"/>{{Rp|48–49}} In 1266, Scotland fought the short but consequential [[Scottish-Norwegian War]] which saw the reclamation of the [[Hebrides]] after the strong defeat of King [[Haakon IV]] and his forces at the [[Battle of Largs]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=theorkneynews |date=1 October 2022 |title=The Battle of Largs #OnThisDay |url=https://theorkneynews.scot/2022/10/02/the-battle-of-largs-onthisday/ |access-date=3 January 2024 |website=The Orkney News |language=en-US |archive-date=3 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240103153307/https://theorkneynews.scot/2022/10/02/the-battle-of-largs-onthisday/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Up until that point, the Hebrides had been under Norwegian Viking control for roughly 400 years and had developed a distinctive [[Norse–Gaelic]] culture that saw many [[Old Norse]] loanwords enter the [[Scottish Gaelic]] spoken by islanders, and through successive generations the Norse would become almost completely assimilated into [[Gaelic culture]] and the [[Scottish clan]] system. After the conflict, Scotland had to affirm Norwegian sovereignty of the [[Northern Isles]], but they were later integrated into Scotland in the 15th century. Scandinavian culture in the form of the [[Norn language]] survived for a lot longer than in the Hebrides, and would strongly influence the local [[Scots language|Scots]] dialect on [[Shetland]] and [[Orkney]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Petrie |first=Calum |date=7 November 2021 |title=Spikkin Scandinavian: The similarity between Scots and Nordic tongues |url=https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/education/schools/3652656/similarity-between-scots-nordic/ |access-date=3 January 2024 |website=Press and Journal |language=en-GB |archive-date=3 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240103190336/https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/education/schools/3652656/similarity-between-scots-nordic/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Later, a system of [[feudalism]] was consolidated, with both Anglo-Norman incomers and native Gaelic chieftains being granted land in exchange for serving the king.<ref name="Stringer"/>{{Rp|53–54}} The relationship with [[Kingdom of England|England]] was complex during this period: Scottish kings tried several times, sometimes with success, to exploit English political turmoil, followed by the longest period of peace between Scotland and England in the mediaeval period: from 1217{{En dash}}1296.{{R|Stringer|p=45-46}}

===Wars of Scottish Independence===
{{main|Wars of Scottish Independence|First War of Scottish Independence|Second War of Scottish Independence}}
[[File:Wallace Monument , Stirling, Scotland, in Autumn.jpg|thumb|left|230px|The [[Wallace Monument]] in [[Stirling]], commemorates Sir [[William Wallace]], a Scottish independence leader<ref>{{cite web |title=» The National Wallace Monument |url=https://www.yourstirling.com/see-do/the-wallace-monument/ |website=www.yourstirling.com |access-date=9 August 2024}}</ref>]] 
The death of [[Alexander III of Scotland|Alexander III]] in March 1286 broke the succession line of Scotland's kings. [[Edward I of England]] arbitrated between various claimants for the Scottish crown. In return for surrendering Scotland's nominal independence, [[John Balliol]] was pronounced king in 1292.<ref name="Stringer"/>{{Rp|47}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Scotland Conquered, 1174–1296 |url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/utk/scotland/conquered.htm |publisher=National Archives |access-date=4 December 2006 |archive-date=24 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224142317/http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/utk/scotland/conquered.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1294, Balliol and other Scottish lords refused Edward's demands to serve in his army against the French. Scotland and France sealed a treaty on 23 October 1295, known as the [[Auld Alliance]]. War ensued, and John was deposed by Edward who took personal control of Scotland. [[Andrew Moray]] and [[William Wallace]] initially emerged as the principal leaders of the resistance to English rule in the [[Wars of Scottish Independence]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Scotland Regained, 1297–1328 |url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/utk/scotland/regained.htm |publisher=National Archives of the United Kingdom |access-date=25 November 2010 |archive-date=16 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016033523/http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/utk/scotland/regained.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> until [[Robert the Bruce]] was crowned king of Scotland in 1306.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Murison |first=A. F. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iMEMc45g9s8C |title=King Robert the Bruce |publisher=Kessinger Publishing |year=1899 |isbn=978-1-4179-1494-4 |edition=reprint 2005 |page=30 |access-date=17 October 2015 |archive-date=10 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240610011800/https://books.google.com/books?id=iMEMc45g9s8C |url-status=live }}</ref> Victory at the [[Battle of Bannockburn]] in 1314 proved the Scots had regained control of their kingdom. In 1320 the world's first documented declaration of independence, the [[Declaration of Arbroath]], won the support of [[Pope John XXII]], leading to the legal recognition of Scottish sovereignty by the English Crown.<ref name="Brown">{{Cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Michael |title=Scotland: A History |last2=Boardman |first2=Steve |date=2005 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199601646 |editor-last=Wormald |editor-first=Jenny |editor-link=Jenny Wormald |location=Oxford |language=en |chapter=Survival and Revival: Late Medieval Scotland |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/scotland00jenn |chapter-url-access=registration}}</ref>{{Rp|70, 72}}

A civil war between the [[Bruce dynasty]] and their long-term rivals of the [[House of Comyn]] and [[House of Balliol]] lasted until the middle of the 14th century. Although the Bruce faction was successful, [[David II of Scotland|David II]]'s lack of an heir allowed his half-nephew [[Robert II of Scotland|Robert II]], the [[Lord High Steward of Scotland]], to come to the throne and establish the [[House of Stewart]].<ref name="Brown"/>{{Rp|77}} The Stewarts ruled Scotland for the remainder of the [[Middle Ages]]. The country they ruled experienced greater prosperity from the end of the 14th century through the Scottish Renaissance to the [[Scottish Reformation|Reformation]],<ref name="Mason">{{Cite book |last=Mason |first=Roger |title=Scotland: A History |date=2005 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199601646 |editor-last=Wormald |editor-first=Jenny |editor-link=Jenny Wormald |location=Oxford |language=en |chapter=Renaissance and Reformation: The Sixteenth Century |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/scotland00jenn |chapter-url-access=registration}}</ref>{{Rp|93}} despite the effects of the [[Black Death]] in 1349<ref name="Brown"/>{{Rp|76}} and increasing division between [[Scottish Highlands|Highlands]] and [[Scottish Lowlands|Lowlands]].<ref name="Brown"/>{{Rp|78}} Multiple truces reduced warfare on the southern border.<ref name="Brown"/>{{Rp|76, 83}}

===Union of the Crowns===
{{Main|Scotland in the early modern period|Union of the Crowns}}
[[File:Adam de Colone (c.1572-1651) - James VI and I (1566–1625), King of Scotland (1567–1625), King of England and Ireland (1603–1625) - PG 2172 - National Galleries of Scotland.jpg|thumb|right|[[James VI and I|James VI]], [[King of Scotland]], succeeded to the English and Irish thrones in 1603.]]

The [[Treaty of Perpetual Peace]] was signed in 1502 by [[James IV of Scotland]] and [[Henry VII of England]]. James married Henry's daughter, [[Margaret Tudor]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=James IV, King of Scots 1488–1513 |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/history/articles/james_iv |publisher=BBC |access-date=27 November 2010 |archive-date=19 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110219173805/http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/history/articles/james_iv/ |url-status=live }}</ref> James invaded England in support of France under the terms of the [[Auld Alliance]] and became the last monarch in [[Great Britain]] to die in battle, at [[Battle of Flodden|Flodden]] in 1513.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Battle of Flodden, (Sept.&nbsp;9, 1513) |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/210431/Battle-of-Flodden |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |date=2 September 2023 |access-date=25 November 2010 |archive-date=26 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150426233409/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/210431/Battle-of-Flodden |url-status=live }}</ref> The war with England during the minority years of [[Mary, Queen of Scots]] between 1543 and 1551 is known as the [[Rough Wooing]].<ref>[[Marcus Merriman]], ''The Rough Wooings'' (East Linton: Tuckwell, 2000), p. 6.</ref> In 1560, the [[Treaty of Edinburgh]] brought an end to the [[Siege of Leith]] and recognized the Protestant [[Elizabeth I]] as Queen of England.<ref name="Mason" />{{Rp|112}} The [[Scottish Reformation Parliament|Parliament of Scotland]] met and immediately adopted the [[Scots Confession]], which signalled the [[Scottish Reformation]]'s sharp break from papal authority and Roman Catholic teaching.<ref name="short" />{{Rp|44}} The Catholic Mary, Queen of Scots, was forced to [[Act Anent the demission of the Crown in favour of our Sovereign Lord, and his Majesty's Coronation 1567|abdicate in 1567]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Religion, Marriage and Power in Scotland, 1503–1603 |url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/utk/scotland/religion.htm |publisher=The National Archives of the United Kingdom |access-date=27 November 2010 |archive-date=7 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220707113937/https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/utk/scotland/religion.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1603, [[James VI and I|James VI, King of Scots]] inherited the thrones of the [[Kingdom of England]] and the [[Kingdom of Ireland]] in the [[Union of the Crowns]], and moved to London.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ross |first=David |title=Chronology of Scottish History |publisher=Geddes & Grosset |year=2002 |isbn=978-1-85534-380-1 |page=56 |quote='''1603:''' James VI becomes [[James I of England]] in the [[Union of the Crowns]], and leaves Edinburgh for London}}</ref> This was a [[personal union]] as despite having the same monarch the kingdoms retained their separate parliaments, laws and other institutions. The first [[Union Jack]] was designed at James's behest, to be flown in addition to the [[Flag of Scotland|St Andrew's Cross]] on Scots vessels at sea. James VI and I intended to create a single kingdom of Great Britain, but was thwarted in his attempt to do so by the [[Parliament of England]], which supported the wrecking proposal that a full legal union be sought instead, a proposal to which the Scots Parliament would not assent, causing the king to withdraw the plan.<ref>{{Cite web |title=On this Day: 21 November 1606: The proposed union between England and Scotland {{!}} History of Parliament Online |url=https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/periods/stuarts/day-21-november-1606-proposed-union-between-england-and-scotland |access-date=16 November 2020 |website=www.historyofparliamentonline.org |archive-date=25 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125101617/https://historyofparliamentonline.org/periods/stuarts/day-21-november-1606-proposed-union-between-england-and-scotland |url-status=live }}</ref>

Except for a short period under [[the Protectorate]], Scotland remained a separate state in the 17th century, but there was considerable conflict between the crown and the [[Covenanters]] over the form of [[Presbyterian church governance|church government]].<ref name="Wormald">{{Cite book |last=Wormald |first=Jenny |title=Scotland: A History |date=2005 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199601646 |editor-last=Wormald |editor-first=Jenny |location=Oxford |language=en |chapter=Confidence and Perplexity: The Seventeenth Century |author-link=Jenny Wormald |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/scotland00jenn |chapter-url-access=registration}}</ref>{{Rp|124}} The military was strengthened, allowing the imposition of royal authority on the western Highland clans. The 1609 [[Statutes of Iona]] compelled the cultural integration of Hebridean clan leaders.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Devine |first=T M |title=The Scottish Clearances: A History of the Dispossessed, 1600–1900 |date=2018 |publisher=Allen Lane |isbn=978-0241304105 |location=London}}</ref>{{Rp|37–40}} In 1641 and again in 1643, the Parliament of Scotland unsuccessfully sought a union with England which was "federative" and not "incorporating", in which Scotland would retain a separate parliament.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |title=BBC – History – British History in depth: Acts of Union: The creation of the United Kingdom |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/acts_of_union_01.shtml |access-date=16 November 2020 |website=www.bbc.co.uk |language=en-GB |archive-date=20 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181220160524/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/acts_of_union_01.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref> The issue of union split the parliament in 1648.<ref name=":5" />

After the execution of the Scottish king at [[Whitehall]] in 1649, amid the [[Wars of the Three Kingdoms]] and [[Scotland in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms|its events in Scotland]], [[Oliver Cromwell]], the victorious [[Lord Protector]], imposed the British Isles' first written constitution – the [[Instrument of Government]] – on Scotland in 1652 as part of the republican [[Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland]].<ref name=":5" /> The Protectorate Parliament was the first Westminster parliament to include representatives nominally from Scotland. The monarchy of the [[House of Stuart]] was resumed with the [[Restoration in Scotland]] in 1660. The Parliament of Scotland sought a commercial union with England in 1664; the proposal was rejected in 1668.<ref name=":5" /> In 1670 the Parliament of England rejected a proposed political union with Scotland.<ref name=":5" /> English proposals along the same lines were abandoned in 1674 and in 1685.<ref name=":5" /> The Scots Parliament rejected proposals for a political union with England in 1689.<ref name=":5" /> [[Jacobitism]], the political support for the exiled Catholic Stuart dynasty, remained a threat to the security of the British state under the Protestant [[House of Orange]] and the succeeding [[House of Hanover]] until the defeat of the [[Jacobite rising of 1745]].<ref name=":5" /> In 1698, the [[Company of Scotland]] attempted a project to secure a trading colony on the [[Isthmus of Panama]]. Almost every Scottish landowner who had money to spare is said to have invested in the [[Darien scheme]].<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |title=Why did the Scottish parliament accept the Treaty of Union? |url=http://www.scottishaffairs.org/backiss/pdfs/sa52/Sa52_Scott.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111003123611/http://www.scottishaffairs.org/backiss/pdfs/sa52/Sa52_Scott.pdf |archive-date=3 October 2011 |access-date=1 May 2013 |publisher=Scottish Affairs}}</ref><ref name=":7">{{Cite web |title=Popular Opposition to the Ratification of the Treaty of Anglo-Scottish Union in 1706–7 |url=https://scottishhistorysociety.com/popular-opposition-to-the-ratification-of-the-treaty-of-anglo-scottish-union-in-1706-7 |access-date=23 March 2017 |website=scottishhistorysociety.com |publisher=Scottish Historical Society |archive-date=28 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728164330/https://scottishhistorysociety.com/popular-opposition-to-the-ratification-of-the-treaty-of-anglo-scottish-union-in-1706-7/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Treaty of Union===
{{main|Treaty of Union}}
{{further|Kingdom of Great Britain}}
[[File:Treaty of Union.jpg|thumb|Scottish Exemplification (official copy) of the Treaty of Union of 1707]]
After another proposal from the English House of Lords was rejected in 1695, and a further Lords motion was voted down in the House of Commons in 1700, the Parliament of Scotland again rejected union in 1702.<ref name=":5" /> The failure of the Darien Scheme bankrupted the landowners who had invested, though not the burghs. Nevertheless, the nobles' bankruptcy, along with the threat of an English invasion, played a leading role in convincing the Scots elite to back a union with England.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":7" /> On 22 July 1706, the [[Treaty of Union]] was agreed between representatives of the [[Parliament of Scotland|Scots Parliament]] and the [[Parliament of England]]. The following year, twin [[Acts of Union 1707|Acts of Union]] were passed by both parliaments to create the united [[Kingdom of Great Britain]] with effect from 1 May 1707<ref>{{cite web |title=Act of Union 1707 |url=https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament/legislativescrutiny/act-of-union-1707/#:~:text=The%20Acts%20of%20Union%2C%20passed,1%20May%20of%20that%20year. |website=www.parliament.uk |publisher=UK Parliament |access-date=11 January 2024 |archive-date=23 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220923180635/https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament/legislativescrutiny/act-of-union-1707/#:~:text=The%20Acts%20of%20Union%2C%20passed,1%20May%20of%20that%20year. |url-status=live }}</ref> with popular opposition and anti-union riots in [[Edinburgh]], [[Glasgow]], and elsewhere.<ref name="1707 protests">{{Cite book |last=Devine |first=T. M. |title=The Scottish Nation 1700–2000 |publisher=Penguin Books |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-14-023004-8 |page=9 |quote=From that point on anti-union demonstrations were common in the capital. In November rioting spread to the southwest, that stronghold of strict Calvinism and covenanting tradition. The Glasgow mob rose against union sympathisers in disturbances that lasted intermittently for over a month}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |year=2007 |title=Act of Union 1707 Mob unrest and disorder |url=http://www.parliament.uk/actofunion/06_03_mob.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080101193416/http://www.parliament.uk/actofunion/06_03_mob.html |archive-date=1 January 2008 |access-date=23 December 2007 |publisher=The House of Lords |location=London}}</ref> The union also created the [[Parliament of Great Britain]], which succeeded both the [[Parliament of Scotland]] and the [[Parliament of England]], which rejected proposals from the [[Parliament of Ireland]] that the third kingdom be incorporated in the union.<ref name=":5" />

[[File:JamesFirstEarlOfSeafield.jpg|thumb|left|200px|[[James Ogilvy, 4th Earl of Findlater|James Ogilvy]], former [[Lord Chancellor of Scotland|Lord Chancellor]] (1702–1708), initially supported union but by 1713 advocated for its reversal]]

[[Andrew Fletcher (patriot)|Andrew Fletcher]], a prominent Scottish patriot, argued that the ratification of the treaty would see Scotland "more like a conquered province",<ref name="auto3">{{cite web |title=Union of Parliaments |url=https://www.nls.uk/collections/rare-books/collections/union-of-parliaments/ |website=National Library of Scotland |access-date=19 October 2024 |language=en}}</ref> and by 1713, the former [[Lord Chancellor of Scotland]], [[James Ogilvy, 4th Earl of Findlater]], who was a prominent supporter for the Treaty of Union between Scotland and England had changed his position on the treaty, and unsuccessfully advocated for the treaty to be reversed.<ref>{{cite web |title=James Ogilvy, 1st Earl of Seafield, 1663 - 1730. Lord Chancellor |url=https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/3734 |website=Nationalgalleries.org |access-date=19 October 2024}}</ref> The deposed [[Jacobitism|Jacobite Stuart]] claimants had remained popular in the Highlands and north-east, particularly among non-[[Presbyterian]]s, including Roman Catholics and [[Episcopalian Protestants]]. Two major Jacobite risings launched in [[Jacobite rising of 1715|1715]] and [[Jacobite rising of 1745|1745]] failed to remove the [[House of Hanover]] from the British throne. The threat of the Jacobite movement to the United Kingdom and its monarchs effectively ended at the [[Battle of Culloden]], Great Britain's last [[pitched battle]]. 

The passing of the Treaty of Union did not bring about immediate economic prosperity to Scotland as was widely speculated by the [[pamphleteer]] as a result of the little consideration given to prospects of the Scottish economy.<ref>{{cite book |last1=William, Rilley |first1=Patrick, Joseph |title=The Union of England and Scotland A Study in Anglo-Scottish Politics of the Eighteenth Century |date=1978 |publisher=Manchester University Press |isbn=9780719007279 |page=312}}</ref> Campaigners for the union between Scotland and England believed that there would be economic advantages to Scotland as a result of the failed [[Darien scheme]] which left the Kingdom of Scotland bankrupt.<ref name="auto3"/> Eventually however, with trade tariffs with England abolished, trade blossomed, especially with [[Colonial America]]. The clippers belonging to the Glasgow [[Tobacco Lords]] were the fastest ships on the route to [[Virginia]]. Until the [[American War of Independence]] in 1776, Glasgow was the world's premier tobacco port, dominating world trade.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Robert |first=Joseph C |year=1976 |title=The Tobacco Lords: A study of the Tobacco Merchants of Glasgow and their Activities |journal=The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography |volume=84 |issue=1 |pages=100–102 |jstor=4248011}}</ref> The disparity between the wealth of the merchant classes of the Scottish Lowlands and the ancient clans of the Scottish Highlands grew, amplifying centuries of division. 

In the Highlands, clan chiefs gradually started to think of themselves more as commercial landlords than leaders of their people. These social and economic changes included the first phase of the [[Highland Clearances]] and, ultimately, the demise of clanship.<ref name="Devine 1994">{{Cite book |last=Devine |first=T M |title=Clanship to Crofters' War: The social transformation of the Scottish Highlands |date=1994 |publisher=Manchester University Press |isbn=978-0-7190-9076-9 |edition=2013}}</ref>{{Rp|32–53, ''passim''}}

=== Industrial age and the Scottish Enlightenment ===
{{Main|Scotland in the modern era}}
[[File:Sir Henry Raeburn - Portrait of Sir Walter Scott.jpg|thumb|right|[[Walter Scott]], whose [[Waverley Novels]] helped define Scottish identity in the 19th century]]

The [[Scottish Enlightenment]] and the [[Industrial Revolution]] turned Scotland into an intellectual, commercial and industrial powerhouse<ref>"[http://www.uiowa.edu/%7Ec008224b/scotline2.htm Some Dates in Scottish History from 1745 to 1914] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131031090022/http://www.uiowa.edu/~c008224b/scotline2.htm |date=31 October 2013 }}", The University of Iowa.</ref> — so much so [[Voltaire]] said "We look to Scotland for all our ideas of civilisation."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Enlightenment Scotland |url=http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/scottishenlightenment/scotland/index.asp |publisher=Learning and Teaching Scotland |access-date=20 November 2010 |archive-date=30 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630064903/http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/scottishenlightenment/scotland/index.asp |url-status=live }}</ref> With the demise of Jacobitism and the advent of the Union, thousands of Scots, mainly Lowlanders, took up numerous positions of power in politics, civil service, the army and navy, trade, economics, colonial enterprises and other areas across the nascent [[British Empire]]. Historian Neil Davidson notes "after 1746 there was an entirely new level of participation by Scots in political life, particularly outside Scotland." Davidson also states "far from being 'peripheral' to the British economy, Scotland – or more precisely, the Lowlands – lay at its core."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Neil Davidson(2000) |title=The Origins of Scottish Nationhood |publisher=Pluto Press |location=London |pages=94–95}}</ref>

The [[Scottish Reform Act 1832]] increased the number of Scottish MPs and widened the franchise to include more of the middle classes.<ref name="Devine&Finlay1996pp64-5">T. M. Devine and R. J. Finlay, ''Scotland in the Twentieth Century'' (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1996), pp. 64–65.</ref> From the mid-century, there were increasing calls for Home Rule for Scotland and the post of [[Secretary of State for Scotland]] was revived.<ref>F. Requejo and K-J Nagel, ''Federalism Beyond Federations: Asymmetry and Processes of Re-symmetrization in Europe'' (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2011), p. 39.</ref> Towards the end of the century prime ministers of Scottish descent included [[William Ewart Gladstone|William Gladstone]],<ref name="Quinault2007">R. Quinault, "Scots on Top? Tartan Power at Westminster 1707–2007", ''History Today'', 2007 57(7): 30–36. {{ISSN|0018-2753}} Fulltext: [[EBSCO Information Services|Ebsco]].</ref> and [[Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery|the Earl of Rosebery]].<ref>K. Kumar, ''The Making of English National Identity'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), p. 183.</ref> In the late 19th century the growing importance of the working classes was marked by [[Keir Hardie]]'s success in the [[Mid Lanarkshire by-election, 1888]], leading to the foundation of the [[Scottish Labour Party (1888)|Scottish Labour Party]], which was absorbed into the [[Independent Labour Party]] in 1895, with Hardie as its first leader.<ref>D. Howell, ''British Workers and the Independent Labour Party, 1888–1906'' (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1984), p. 144.</ref> Glasgow became one of the largest cities in the world and known as "the [[Second City of the Empire]]" after London.<ref>J. F. MacKenzie, "The second city of the Empire: Glasgow – imperial municipality", in F. Driver and D. Gilbert, eds, ''Imperial Cities: Landscape, Display and Identity'' (2003), pp. 215–223.</ref> After 1860, the Clydeside shipyards specialised in steamships made of iron (after 1870, made of steel), which rapidly replaced the wooden sailing vessels of both the merchant fleets and the battle fleets of the world. It became the world's pre-eminent shipbuilding centre.<ref name="Shields1949">J. Shields, ''Clyde Built: a History of Ship-Building on the River Clyde'' (1949).</ref> The industrial developments, while they brought work and wealth, were so rapid that housing, town planning, and provision for public health did not keep pace with them, and for a time living conditions in some of the towns and cities were notoriously bad, with overcrowding, high infant mortality, and growing rates of tuberculosis.<ref>C. H. Lee, ''Scotland and the United Kingdom: the Economy and the Union in the Twentieth Century'' (1995), p. 43.</ref>

While the Scottish Enlightenment is traditionally considered to have concluded toward the end of the 18th century,<ref name="Magnusson">{{Citation |last=M. Magnusson |title=Review of James Buchan, ''Capital of the Mind: how Edinburgh Changed the World'' |date=10 November 2003 |url=http://www.newstatesman.com/200311100040 |work=New Statesman |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606015918/http://www.newstatesman.com/200311100040 |url-status=dead |archive-date=6 June 2011}}</ref> disproportionately large Scottish contributions to British science and letters continued for another 50 years or more, thanks to such figures as the physicists [[James Clerk Maxwell]] and [[William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin|Lord Kelvin]], and the engineers and inventors [[James Watt]] and [[William Murdoch]], whose work was critical to the technological developments of the Industrial Revolution throughout Britain.<ref>E. Wills, ''Scottish Firsts: a Celebration of Innovation and Achievement'' (Edinburgh: Mainstream, 2002).</ref> In literature, the most successful figure of the mid-19th century was [[Walter Scott]]. His first prose work, ''[[Waverley (novel)|Waverley]]'' in 1814, is often called the first historical novel.<ref>{{Citation |last=K. S. Whetter |title=Understanding Genre and Medieval Romance |page=28 |year=2008 |publisher=Ashgate}}</ref> It launched a highly successful career that probably more than any other helped define and popularise Scottish cultural identity.<ref>{{Citation |last=N. Davidson |title=The Origins of Scottish Nationhood |page=136 |year=2000 |publisher=Pluto Press}}</ref> In the late 19th century, a number of Scottish-born authors achieved international reputations, such as [[Robert Louis Stevenson]], [[Arthur Conan Doyle]], [[J. M. Barrie]] and [[George MacDonald]].<ref>{{Citation |title=Cultural Profile: 19th and early 20th century developments |url=http://www.culturalprofiles.net/scotland/Directories/Scotland_Cultural_Profile/-5402.html |work=Visiting Arts: Scotland: Cultural Profile |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930034445/http://www.culturalprofiles.net/scotland/Directories/Scotland_Cultural_Profile/-5402.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=30 September 2011}}</ref> Scotland also played a major part in the development of art and architecture. The [[Glasgow School]], which developed in the late 19th century, and flourished in the early 20th century, produced a distinctive blend of influences including the [[Celtic Revival]] the [[Arts and Crafts movement]], and [[Japonism]], which found favour throughout the [[modern art]] world of continental Europe and helped define the [[Art Nouveau]] style. Proponents included architect and artist [[Charles Rennie Mackintosh]].<ref>Stephan Tschudi-Madsen, ''The Art Nouveau Style: a Comprehensive Guide'' (Courier Dover, 2002), pp. 283–284.</ref>

=== World wars and Scotland Act 1998 ===
[[File:Bagpiper Battle of Bazentin Ridge 14-07-1916 IWM Q 4012.jpg|thumb|right|A piper of the [[Seaforth Highlanders]] leads the [[26th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)|26th Brigade]] back from the trenches during the [[Battle of Bazentin Ridge]], July 1916]]

Scotland played a major role in the [[History of the United Kingdom during the First World War|British effort]] in the [[First World War]]. It especially provided manpower, ships, machinery, fish and money.<ref>Richard J. Finlay, ''Modern Scotland 1914–2000'' (2006), pp 1–33</ref> With a population of 4.8&nbsp;million in 1911, Scotland sent over half a million men to the war, of whom over a quarter died in combat or from disease, and 150,000 were seriously wounded.<ref>R. A. Houston and W. W. J. Knox, eds. ''The New Penguin History of Scotland'' (2001) p 426.[https://books.google.com/books?id=VI5nAAAAMAAJ&q=casualties] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240610011816/https://books.google.com/books?id=VI5nAAAAMAAJ&q=casualties|date=10 June 2024}} [[Niall Ferguson]] points out in "The Pity of War" that the proportion of enlisted Scots who died was third highest in the war behind Serbia and Turkey and a much higher proportion than in other parts of the UK.[https://books.google.com/books?id=QrYhAQAAIAAJ&q=enlisted] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404004726/https://books.google.com/books?id=QrYhAQAAIAAJ&q=enlisted|date=4 April 2023}} [http://news.scotsman.com/worldwarone/39Savage-Scots39-wish-you-weren39t.6487746.jp] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101005094654/http://news.scotsman.com/worldwarone/39Savage-Scots39-wish-you-weren39t.6487746.jp|date=5 October 2010}}</ref> [[Field Marshal (United Kingdom)|Field Marshal]] [[Douglas Haig|Sir Douglas Haig]] was Britain's commander on the Western Front. The war saw the emergence of a radical movement called "[[Red Clydeside]]" led by militant trades unionists. Formerly a [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] stronghold, the industrial districts switched to [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] by 1922, with a base among the [[Irish Catholic]] working-class districts. Women were especially active in building neighbourhood solidarity on housing issues. The "Reds" operated within the Labour Party with little influence in Parliament and the mood changed to passive despair by the late 1920s.<ref>Iain McLean, ''The Legend of Red Clydeside'' (1983)</ref>

During the Second World War, Scotland was targeted by [[Nazi Germany]] largely due to its factories, shipyards, and coal mines.<ref name="blitz">{{Cite web |title=Primary History – World War 2 – Scotland's Blitz |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/world_war2/scotlands_blitz |access-date=1 August 2018 |publisher=BBC |archive-date=12 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180812052942/http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/world_war2/scotlands_blitz/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Cities such as [[Glasgow]] and [[Edinburgh]] were targeted by German bombers, as were smaller towns mostly located in the central belt of the country.<ref name="blitz" /> Perhaps the most significant air raid in Scotland was the [[Clydebank Blitz]] of March 1941, which intended to destroy naval shipbuilding in the area.<ref name="Clydebank blitz">{{Cite web |title=Scotland's Landscape : Clydebank Blitz |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/landscapes/clydebank_blitz |access-date=1 August 2018 |publisher=BBC |archive-date=20 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181020053750/http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/landscapes/clydebank_blitz/ |url-status=live }}</ref> 528 people were killed and 4,000 homes destroyed.<ref name="Clydebank blitz" /> Perhaps Scotland's most unusual wartime episode occurred in 1941 when [[Rudolf Hess]] flew to Renfrewshire, possibly intending to broker a peace deal through the [[Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 14th Duke of Hamilton|Duke of Hamilton]].<ref>J. Leasor ''Rudolf Hess: The Uninvited Envoy'' (Kelly Bray: House of Stratus, 2001), {{ISBN|0-7551-0041-7}}, p. 15.</ref> Before his departure from Germany, Hess had given his adjutant, [[Karlheinz Pintsch]], a letter addressed to [[Adolf Hitler]] that detailed his intentions to open peace negotiations with the British. Pintsch delivered the letter to Hitler at the Berghof around noon on 11 May.{{Sfn|Evans|2008|p=168}} [[Albert Speer]] later said Hitler described Hess's departure as one of the worst personal blows of his life, as he considered it a personal betrayal.{{Sfn|Sereny|1996|p=240}} Hitler worried that his allies, Italy and Japan, would perceive Hess's act as an attempt by Hitler to secretly open peace negotiations with the British.

[[File:Pan Am Flight 103. Crashed Lockerbie, Scotland, 21 December 1988.jpg|thumb|left|The explosion of [[Pan Am Flight 103]] over Lockerbie remains the deadliest act of terror in the United Kingdom]] 

After 1945, Scotland's economic situation worsened due to overseas competition, inefficient industry, and industrial disputes.<ref>Harvie, Christopher ''No Gods and Precious Few Heroes'' (Edward Arnold, 1989) pp 54–63.</ref> Only in recent decades has the country enjoyed something of a cultural and economic renaissance. Economic factors contributing to this recovery included a resurgent financial services industry, [[electronics manufacturing]], (see [[Silicon Glen]]),<ref>{{Cite news |last=Stewart |first=Heather |date=6 May 2007 |title=Celtic Tiger Burns Brighter at Holyrood |url=http://politics.guardian.co.uk/scotland/comment/0,,2073303,00.html |work=[[The Guardian]] |oclc=60623878 |access-date=27 June 2007 |archive-date=24 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080424021705/http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2007/may/06/scottishparliament.devolution |url-status=live }}</ref> and the [[North Sea oil]] and gas industry.<ref>{{Cite web |title=National Planning Framework for Scotland |url=http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2004/04/19170/35326 |access-date=17 September 2014 |website=Gov.scot |date=April 2004 |archive-date=2 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402090543/http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2004/04/19170/35326 |url-status=live }}</ref> The introduction in 1989 by Margaret Thatcher's government of the [[Poll tax (Great Britain)|Community Charge]] (widely known as the Poll Tax) one year before the rest of Great Britain,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Torrance |first=David |author-link=David Torrance (journalist) |date=30 March 2009 |title=Modern myth of a poll tax test-bed lives on |url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/david-torrance-modern-myth-of-a-poll-tax-test-bed-lives-on-1-1031968 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170920044226/http://www.scotsman.com/news/david-torrance-modern-myth-of-a-poll-tax-test-bed-lives-on-1-1031968 |archive-date=20 September 2017 |access-date=19 September 2017 |newspaper=The Scotsman}}</ref> contributed to a growing movement for Scottish control over domestic affairs.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1 April 2009 |title=The poll tax in Scotland 20 years on |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/7976782.stm |access-date=17 September 2014 |archive-date=8 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230808200804/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/7976782.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> On 21 December 1988, [[Pan Am Flight 103]] exploded mid–air over the town of [[Lockerbie]], killing all on board as well as eleven Lockerbie residents. It remains the deadliest [[Terrorism in the United Kingdom|terrorist attack in the United Kingdom]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Lockerbie tragedy: 35th anniversary of the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 |url=https://news.sky.com/story/lockerbie-tragedy-35th-anniversary-of-the-bombing-of-pan-am-flight-103-13033448 |website=Sky News |access-date=19 October 2024 |language=en}}</ref>

Following a [[Scottish devolution referendum, 1997|referendum on devolution proposals in 1997]], the [[Scotland Act 1998]]<ref>[http://www.opsi.gov.uk/Acts/acts1998/ukpga_19980046_en_1 "Scotland Act 1998"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130215190729/http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/46/contents |date=15 February 2013 }}, Office of Public Sector Information. Retrieved 22 April 2008.</ref> was passed by the British Parliament, which established a devolved [[Scottish Parliament]] and [[Scottish Government]] with responsibility for most laws specific to Scotland.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gov.scot/About/Factfile/18060/11552 |url-status=dead |title=Devolution > Scottish responsibilities |website=Scottish Government |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170301080012/http://www.gov.scot/About/Factfile/18060/11552 |archive-date=1 March 2017}}</ref> The Scottish Parliament was reconvened in [[Edinburgh]] on 4 July 1999.<ref>{{Cite news |date=4 July 1999 |title=Special Report &#124; 1999 &#124; 06/99 &#124; Scottish Parliament opening &#124; Scotland's day of history |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/1999/06/99/scottish_parliament_opening/382490.stm |access-date=1 August 2018 |archive-date=12 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220612220844/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/1999/06/99/scottish_parliament_opening/382490.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> The first to hold the office of [[first minister of Scotland]] was [[Donald Dewar]], who served until his sudden death in 2000.<ref>{{Cite news |date=11 October 2000 |title=Donald Dewar dies after fall |work=The Independent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/donald-dewar-dies-after-fall-634695.html |access-date=1 August 2018 |archive-date=1 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180801225425/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/donald-dewar-dies-after-fall-634695.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== 21st century ===

[[File:Opening of the Scottish Parliament, 1999.jpg|thumb|right|The official reconvening of the [[Scottish Parliament]] in July 1999 with [[Donald Dewar]], then [[first minister of Scotland]] (left) with [[Queen Elizabeth II]] (centre)]]

The [[Scottish Parliament Building]] at Holyrood opened in October 2004 after lengthy construction delays and running over budget.<ref>{{Cite news |date=6 October 2004 |title=UK &#124; Scotland &#124; Guide to opening of Scottish Parliament |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/3719396.stm |access-date=1 August 2018 |archive-date=28 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728164327/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/3719396.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> The Scottish Parliament's form of [[proportional representation]] (the [[additional member system]]) resulted in no one party having an overall majority for the first three Scottish parliament elections.

The pro-[[Scottish independence|independence]] [[Scottish National Party]] led by [[Alex Salmond]] achieved an overall majority in the [[Scottish Parliament election|2011 election]], winning 69 of the 129 seats available.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Carrell |first=Severin |date=6 May 2011 |title=Salmond hails 'historic' victory as SNP secures Holyrood's first ever majority &#124; Politics |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2011/may/06/scottish-elections-salmond-historic-victory-snp |access-date=1 August 2018}}</ref> The success of the SNP in achieving a majority in the Scottish Parliament paved the way for the [[Scottish independence referendum, 2014|September 2014 referendum on Scottish independence]]. The majority voted against the proposition, with 55% voting no to independence.<ref>{{Cite news |date=19 September 2014 |title=Scottish independence referendum – Results |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/events/scotland-decides/results |access-date=1 August 2018 |archive-date=18 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140918212409/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/events/scotland-decides/results |url-status=live }}</ref> More powers, particularly concerning taxation, were devolved to the Scottish Parliament after the referendum, following cross-party talks in the [[Smith Commission]].

Since the 2014 referendum, events such as the UK leaving the European Union, despite a majority of voters in Scotland voting to remain a member, have led to calls for a [[Proposed second Scottish independence referendum|second independence referendum]]. In 2022, the [[Lord Advocate]] [[Dorothy Bain]] argued the case for the Scottish Government to hold another referendum on the issue, with the [[Supreme Court of the United Kingdom|Supreme Court]] later ruling against the argument.<ref>{{Cite news |date=23 November 2022 |title=Supreme court rules against Scottish parliament holding new independence referendum |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/nov/23/scottish-independence-supreme-court-scottish-parliament-second-referendum-indyref2 |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=18 July 2023 |archive-date=13 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221213031458/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/nov/23/scottish-independence-supreme-court-scottish-parliament-second-referendum-indyref2 |url-status=live }}</ref> Following the Supreme Court decision, the Scottish Government stated that it wished to make amendments to the [[Scotland Act 1998]] that would allow a referendum to be held.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Brown |first=Faye |date=14 December 2022 |title=SNP reveals new plan to secure indyref2 without Westminster backing |language=en |work=Sky News |url=https://news.sky.com/story/snp-reveals-new-plan-to-secure-indyref2-without-westminster-backing-12767700 |access-date=14 December 2022 |archive-date=14 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221214005509/https://news.sky.com/story/snp-reveals-new-plan-to-secure-indyref2-without-westminster-backing-12767700 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="r556">{{cite web | last=Torrance | first=David | title=Scottish independence referendum: legal issues | website=House of Commons Library | date=2025-02-18 | url=https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9104/ | access-date=2025-03-03}}</ref>