Reflection Essay 3: Devolution in Europe

Reflection Essay 3: Devolution in Europe

Reasons why the nations want to break away from the countries

The history of Catalonia is vast and shows how the country enjoyed autonomy for a long time. This case mainly emanates from 1977 after democracy came to the region. The desire for independence grew slowly until July 2010. The Madrid Constitutional Court made a ruling that overruled the 2006 statute giving Catalonia autonomy. It stated that there was no legal basis for Spain to recognize Catalonia as an autonomous nation. According to BBC (2019), the primary reason why Catalonia bends towards breaking away from Spain is that they feel they give more to the government, that is Madrid that controls taxes, and receive less in return. The Catalonian nationalists also fault Spain’s move changing their autonomy as a means of undermining the identity of Catalonians. Another article also highlights the Spanish financial crisis and cuts on public spending as fueling the resistance to it (BBC, 2019).

Scotland has also wanted independence from the United Kingdom for a while now. For the UK, they view this move as an expression of the Scottish hatred of them. However, Scotland expresses reasons such as differences in interest from the UK government. These include their vote on Brexit and also the feeling that they would fair better with a government of their own (Campbell, 2020). Even though the UK considers Scotland in its government, Scotland still feels like strangers and that the conservative nation does not integrate their interests.

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has taken a different turn after Russia annexed the Crimea peninsula in 2014. This move happened after the autonomous republic of Crimea and Sevastopol carried out a referendum that supported breaking away from Ukraine and joining Russia. At the same time, the Russian military also carried out a takeover of the nation. The move has been considered controversial and illegal by most countries.

Explanations based on cultural or ethnic characteristics

Catalonia’s reasons for breaking away from Spain are both cultural and ethnic. The country sites differences in linguistics. Catalonia has a population of about seven point five million and distinct language and traditions. They speak Catalan and maintain certain cultures, such as celebrating Saint Joan on June 24 and La Diada on September 11. The region also wants independence for economic reasons. They claim that wealthy Barcelona contributes a lot to the Spanish economy, thus propping up their more impoverished areas. This case does not help Catalonia because they end up getting less in return from the Spanish government.

Scotland has also felt different from the UK for a long time. The English speakers also view the scots as outsiders on many fronts. However, the country has been part of the UK since 1707, and most of its populace speaks English. The Scots have a feeling that they have to balance two identities, that is Scottish and British (Little, 2018). Both countries are Christian, although the Presbyterian Church of Scotland is the national church.

The Crimean Peninsula’s move towards embracing Russia and denouncing Ukraine was primarily political. The country comprises a sizeable Russian population hence their choices. The President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, made a move towards enticing Crimea during the Ukrainian revolution. He turned things around to the extend that he was able to annex one of the provinces of Russia. He appealed to the Russians in Crimea, thus making Ukraine the enemy and Russia, their motherland, a better option (Morris, 2014).

Common aspects of the separatist movement

One of the shared features of the separatist movement between Catalonia and Scotland is the need to pave their own identities. Both countries feel that they do not belong and have to put up a front before the other country. They also have a lot of differences from the countries from which they seek to break. A country like Catalonia has distinct traditions, beliefs, and value systems from Spain. The scots also believe that they need a balance between a Scottish and British identity. Another similarity in the movements is that they think they will be better off without the other nation. Catalonia is a wealthy state and has complained about supporting more deprived Spanish areas with no benefits. Crimea also believes that it might prosper under Russia better than Ukraine. Some of the Crimea people even indicated feeling like the Russian government paid them more attention than Ukraine did initially. All the movements seek autonomy and freedom not only to rule themselves but also to carry out their affairs in their ways. Scotland, for example, is part of the UK that has made some decisions in the past that they did not support. One such move was Brexit. The separatist movements, therefore, all push forward motions in support of their people and the choice of self-sufficiency.