The Impact of the Great War Scotland At Work And War

Old traditional staple industries facing problems. Rising unemployment Wartime boost to industry and agriculture. No unemployment. Pre-war economic decline forgotten Post-war economic decline. Old problems return. End of war means end of orders to support the war effort. New problems, such as loss of export markets, adds to difficulties The Impact of the Great War on the Scottish Economy

Shipbuilding 100,000 workers – 14% of the adult male working population depended on shipbuilding. When war broke out, demand for ships increased rapidly and the main shipyards – Beardmore, Fairfields and John Brown – were taken over by the Royal Navy (Admiralty). During the war new technology and production methods were used e.g. automatic machinery and assembly-line production methods but this decreased the need for workers. After the war, international trade fell and orders for new ships dried up.

Fishing Before the war, there were over 10,000 herring boats and Scotland caught 25% of the UK total. During the war, the North Sea was almost closed to fishing. The Royal Navy used many fishing vessels for coastal patrols or minesweeping. The Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve was created. This allowed fisherman to continue with their jobs until they were needed by the navy. After the war there were various problems – fuel costs had risen and compensation for boats used during the war was rarely enough to repair them to equip them. Old markets in the Baltic, Germany and Russia were also gone.

Jute Before the war, raw jute was exported to Dundee from Bangladesh and turned into sacking cloth. There was huge demand for sandbags during the war as they were used to reinforce the trenches. At the end of the war jute factories in Dundee needed investment and repair. Some businessmen had started to develop the jute industry in Calcutta – this cut out the need for raw jute to be sent back to Scotland.

Farming, Food and Rationing Britain imported a significant amount of food from abroad. During the war Germany used submarines or U-boats to sink ships taking supplies to Britain – the aim was to starve Britain out of the war. With many farm workers now in the army, women, boys and older men took their places. 30,000 prisoners, 16,000 women in the Land Army and conscientious objectors worked on the land. Farmers also faced shortages of horses, donkeys and fertilisers because the army had priority during war time.

Profits and wages increased during the war. In many places farm wages rose by 150% and the wages of skilled ploughmen and shepherds doubled. By 1918 sheep prices were 60% higher than in In 1917 the government bought all the wool in the country to meet the demand for blankets and uniforms for the armed forces. By 1917 food shortages became a more serious problems. The government encouraged voluntary rationing and asked people not to waste food. With shortages of food, prices and queues for food increased. By April 1918 full-scale rationing was in force in Scotland e.g. butter, tea, meat, jam. The aim was to protect food supplies, ensure fair distribution and control rising prices.

Land Issue Many Scottish soldiers and sailors returned from war believing they had been promised land as a reward for fighting for their country. In 1917 the Duke of Sutherland had made a gift of a large estate farm to be used for returning soldiers and sailors who had volunteered to serve during the war. However land was scarce and with the fishing industry in decline there were few job opportunities. During the war many landowners had turned arable land (for growing food) into rough grazing for sheep and cattle. Land Raids took place – men marched onto land they believed they should have a right to work on and marked out their farms. They hoped to gain publicity and sympathy for their cause.

Land Issue The Land Settlement Act December 1919 promised land to men who had served in the war. The cost of compulsory purchase of land from previous owners exhausted government reserves – within five months the funds ran out. The Secretary of Scotland stated that land raiders would be banned from any official settlement of land. However land raiders on Raasay were given temporary accommodation, the Board of Agriculture purchased the raided estate and the raiders were given the land. The government continued to argued that they did not have enough money to buy land but by the mid 1920s land raiding had mostly died out.

The Scottish Economy – Additional Notes During the war, the government took control of all the key industries – coal, steel, railways, shipbuilding. All of these industries were interlinked – success or decline in one industry would have a knock on effect in another. After the war all the major industries in Scotland experienced economic decline.

Steel Industry Output doubled during the war. 90% of armour plate used in ships, tanks etc came from Glasgow. 24,000 men were employed in the steel industry which was heavily concentrated in the Clyde Valley. Coal Industry Coal was a major source of fuel for industry and peoples’ homes. Production fell from 42.5 million tonnes in 1913 to an average of 30 million tonnes by the late 1920s. Jute Industry In Dundee there were 69 firms involved in the production of Jute. 25% of male workers and 67% of female workers in Dundee worked in this industry.

Shipbuilding Industry Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee all benefited from the boom in shipbuilding during the war , 481 warships were built on the Clyde. Skilled workers could not volunteer for the army and were exempt from conscription. At the end of the war there was a short term ‘replacement boom’ as ships damaged during the war were repaired. In ,000 tonnes of shipping was being produced in Clyde shipyards, by 1933 this had dropped to 74,000 tonnes and shipyards were closing. The drop in demand had a huge effect on the steel and coal industry as well.

Lewis and Leverhulme By the 1920s, Lewis was an island facing large-scale emigration, a declining fishing industry and a population struck down by tuberculosis. 7,000 Lewis men served in the army and 17% were killed. Lord Leverhulme hoped build a new fishing fleet, make farming more efficient by reducing the number of small farms and build a new canning factory in Stornoway. A land raid in Lewis increased tension between the islanders and Leverhulme. Leverhulme said he need the two farms to produce milk, he then sacked workers and promised to employ them again if the land raids stopped. It is argued that Leverhulme failed to understand the Highland way of life – people wanted to work on the land and not in a factory.

Migration Between the Scottish population fell – Scotland had the highest rate of emigration of any European country. Emigration to the USA and Canada increased due to shorter travelling times. The Canadian government also had two full-time agents in Scotland encouraging emigration. The Empire Settlement Act 1922 paid subsidies to emigrants who agreed to work the land for a certain amount of time. This offered many the chance to become independent landowners. The Salvation Army also helped single women, unemployed men and young people to emigrate. For many Scots emigration offered an escape from poverty and unemployment, however one third of emigrants did return to Scotland.