From
the Middle Ages onwards, it was 'royal' dynasties that created unions
of nations for the sake of collecting land, wealth and power. The UK,
Spain, Russia and Austria-Hungary were nothing but the
nation-collections of dynasties who used acquisitive marriages when
conquest failed.
The rise of Nationalism in the 19th century was a
manifestation of the rights of distinctive peoples to use their own
language and culture to control their own domain and destiny. It is not
by accident that the nations that won back their sovereignty usually
opted for an elected head of state rather than a grasping hereditary
family of nation-collectors.
Let's begin our tale by looking at a counter argument to a popular pro monarchy video below:
- and here is a quick government estimate of the cost of the recent jubilee events.
The estimate for the jubilee's cost to the UK are between about 1bn to 3.5bn in this government assessment 2010. Assessment can be found here
