1. ISSUE 3 How did the war affect Scottish industry and the economy? ‘LAND QUESTION’ & EMIGRATION

2. What was the ‘land question’ in the Highlands? The land question in the Highlands was about land ownership. Highland ClearancesThe Crofters Act of 1886 put an end to the Highland Clearances by granting security of tenure to the crofters. That meant the crofters could not be evicted from land they rented on the sudden whim of the landowner. However, the Act failed to restore the lost land from which the crofters and their ancestors had been forcibly evicted over the previous century. Basically, Highland farmers wanted security in their own land and felt entitled to it

3. Why did the land question become a problem again after WW1? When the war ended, many soldiers from the Highlands and Islands returned home with the firm belief that they had been promised land as a reward for fighting for their country. Trevor Royle, Flowers of the Forest quotes a soldier saying: ‘’When we were in the trenches down to our knees in mud and blood we were promised all good things when we would return home victorious’’ Propaganda, recruitment statements and speeches had made a firm link between Highland men and their land. Some large landowners did make promises of gifts of land from their own estates to men who had joined up. Land raids resulted when ex-soldiers were not given land fast enough.

4. Land Raids Men would march on to land they believed they had the right to work on Mark out land for publicity and public sympathy Reared sheep on land that wasn’t theirs Happened in Drumnadrochit, the island of Rona and Raasay Land Raids were illegal and posed a problem for the government Argument over whether men were justified in their expectations

5. Land Settlement Act 1919 The Land Settlement (Scotland) Act stated that land would be made available for men who had served in the war. For it to be successful, the government would have to purchase land from previous owners, but very soon it became clear the government could not afford to do so. Land raids continued By the end of the 1920s the problem of land ownership, overcrowding and poverty had still not been resolved in the Highlands. Many of the local people saw emigration as the only escape.Many of the local people saw emigration as the only escape.

6. Case Study: Isle of Lewis & Lord Leverhulme In 1919 the island of Lewis was bought by Lord Leverhulme – the reality was, however, he inherited an island with major problems. Land raids resulted from Leverhulme not understanding the islanders’ problems. High unemployment when the project collapsed led thousands of islanders to emigrate, with many finding employment in the car factories of Detroit and Chicago. After the failure of Leverhulme’s project other investors avoided the Highlands and the situation was not helped by the anti-Highland reporting in many of the newspapers which criticised Highlanders’ failure to modernise Put off other potential investors in the Highlands - too many problems http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/usbiography/l/willi amlever.htmlhttp://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/usbiography/l/willi amlever.html