Voters in Scotland have turned down independence for now, but separatist movements continue across Europe, possibly threatening to dismantle Spain, France, and Belgium as well as the UK. The next milestone will be an independence vote on Nov. 9 in Catalonia, the region on the northeast coast of Spain which includes Barcelona; separatists are expected to win handily, but the vote is not binding on the Spanish government. Slate has a neat map showing what a completely redrawn Europe would look like, if accommodations were made for all movements that have joined a loose collective called European Free Alliance; a more complete but visually less satisfying map, including EFA holdouts such as Northern Ireland, appears in Wikipedia. The Washington Post has thumbnail descriptions of eight movements.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 24 2014, @06:00AM
The parties didn't really flip positions; the Democrats put forward a Catholic candidate, Kennedy. The South was solidly Protestant; the Catholics were in the Northeast. The South switched to Republicans because Lincoln's party wasn't as bad as a northern Catholic.