The Quebecois are fighting through the Canadian courts and legislature for the right to secede. Though this pro-French sentiment is currently only an annoyance for the remainder of Canada, the final impact has yet to be determined. For the moment things are calm. But consider a standoff that has turned deadly. In the United Kingdom, Northern Irish Catholics have taken their fight for cultural and political autonomy to an extreme.
Murders occur on the streets of Belfast and bombs are blowing up in downtown London.
Had the English imposed the same cultural assimilation on Northern Ireland that they did in Wales, certainly they would have avoided these modern problems. When Wales was conquered, the English language was mandated, and although the Welsh still possess their own cultural identity, it is as a part of the greater United Kingdom. Through common language and culture, the Welsh have integrated into the whole. Add to this a vocal, nationalist movement that is already present, and the recipe for disaster is complete. Violence is hard to stomach, but George Washington killed thousands of British to gain recognition for thirteen colonies that claimed the right to be independent.