The battle that made Britain? - A study of the historiographical debate on the significance of the Battle of Culloden in 1746 for Scotland, Britain and the world

Abstract

On the morning of 16th April 1746, the Jacobites fought a British army supported by the Government on Culloden Moor in northern Scotland. The battle was short, but brutal. Still, many historians claim that the battle was of major importance for consecutive Scottish, British and international politics, as well as the subsequent social and cultural development in Scotland. This thesis attempts to answer to what extent historians perceive the Battle of Culloden as significant, by exploring the political, social and cultural implications of the battle. It also tries to establish whether or not Culloden was ‘the battle that made Britain’. This is done by identifying three distinct scholarly views in the historiographical debate, categorising relevant historians within these traditions, and accordingly, using this as a basis for the discussion on the various claimed consequences of Jacobitism and Culloden. The conclusion drawn is that historians to a large extent perceive Culloden as a battle that accelerated and intensified important political, social and cultural developments of the subsequent period. For instance, Culloden is given credit for the defeat of the last domestic contestation of the 1707 Act of Union, the consolidation of the Union of Great Britain, the end to the clan system in Scotland, and for contributing to the forging of the British Empire and the development of Britain as a dominant world power. Most historians thus regard Culloden as a significant battle. The thesis also concludes that the Battle of Culloden was a catalytic factor in the creation of the British state, and consequently, definitely was ‘the battle that contributed to the making of Britain’.