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Scotland in 1914
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What you will learn: Scotland’s population before 1914. Some problems. Population movement in the 19 th century and start of 20 th century.
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Scotland on the Eve of the Great War By 1900, population of about 4.5 million. By 1911, 45.6% live in central industrial areas. 1 in every 3 Scots lived in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee or Aberdeen. Industrial areas of western lowlands were the dynamic areas of development.
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Problems Huge overcrowding. 1901 – almost 70% in Glasgow living in 1- or 2- roomed houses. (90% shared toilet with another family) Poor levels of sanitation, ventilation and light. Mortality rate for Glaswegians living in 1-2 rooms was 3-4 times higher that for those in bigger houses. In 1911 7.1% of English population lived in 1-2 roomed houses; in Scotland it was 47.7%.
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Population movement Migration from countryside – number of people who worked in farming by 1900 had fallen to 11%. Emigration: 1904-1911 over half a million left for the USA, Canada and Australasia. Immigration Irish immigration. Catholic population of Glasgow increased by 100,000 between 1875 and 1900. Also immigrants from Italy and Lithuania around 1900.
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An outing of West of Scotland Lithuanians at Balloch, c1910-17. Copyright North Lanarkshire Museums, from www.bbc.co.uk
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Changes in the Highlands Major changes in 19 th century, either naturally or forced by landowners. Tourist industry that wanted ‘Balmoralism’. Highlanders moved to lowland cities or abroad to Canada, New Zealand etc. Napier Report stated that Highlanders lived in state of misery – turned public opinion in favour of Highlanders. Crofters’ Act 1886 ended forced evictions.
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Task Using textbook pages 1-4, complete questions 1-13 under the heading Scotland in 1914 in your workbooklet.
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Scottish economy, politics and identity on the eve of the Great War
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What you will learn:
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Your task: In your group you will use the textbook to research and prepare a presentation on one of the following topics: The Scottish Economy in 1914. (pp.4-10) Scottish Politics in 1914. (pp.10-14) Scottish identity and martial traditions. (pp.14-19 )
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Timescale The rest of this period and next period to prepare your presentations. Presentation will be made on...
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Success criteria...?
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What you should have covered... Scottish Economy in 1914
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Scottish economy, and especially central belt booming. Importance of international trade. Reliance on imported food. Development of foreign competition and some Scottish businesses building factories abroad. Owners reluctance to spend profit on new technology. Global nature of Scottish economy.
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Coal Fastest growing industry 1880-1914. More than 150,000 miners in 1900. Falling behind times by 1914. Impact of new industries like oil, gas, electricity. Lack of investment in new technology – 4/5 tonnes cut using picks and shovels in 1913.
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Iron and Steel Resources of iron ore running out. Demand for steel created boomtowns like Airdrie and Coatbridge. By 1911 Scottish steel towns producing over 1 million tonnes a year. Importance of Parkhead forge. Provided armour plate for Royal Navy.
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Shipbuilding 1879 1 st ocean-going steel-hulled ship launched on Clyde. By 1914 almost 20% of world’s shipping built on the Clyde. Important provider for the Royal Navy.
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Fishing Impact of the railways. Trawling established in Aberdeen by 1880s. Main catch was herring. Fisherwomen would travel to ports to gut fish and pack into barrels for export. Boats crews followed shoals of herring around coast.
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Textiles In decline but still a major employer. Example of jute as reliant on international trade. In Dundee, over 70 jute mills employed tens of thousands of people. Foreign competition. Cotton industry in Paisley. By 1896 J and P Coats controlled most of world’s thread industry. Connected growth of sewing machine industry.
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Highlands Some industry – whisky making, Harris Tweed and aluminium – but did not benefit most Highland population. Real issue remained the ‘Land Question’.
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Summary Economy looked healthy but heavy industries were interlinked and relied on each other’s success. Also reliant on international trade. Economy would suffer if trade was disrupted and export markets lost.
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What you should have covered... Scottish Politics in 1914
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The Liberals Dominant force in Scottish politics. 1910 election won 57 of 70 Scottish seats. Unionists and Conservatives won 10 between them and Labour won 3 Liberals seemed to challenge power of privileged aristocracy and big businessmen. Also benefitted politically from opposition to landowners – importance of the ‘land question’.
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Liberals cont. Rise of New Liberal ideas – argued state intervention needed to help people deal with social problems. Argued for minimum wage, old age pensions, unemployment and sickness benefits and promised to tackle housing crisis by weakening power of landlords. Impact of the ‘Young Scots’ – combined patriotism with social reform. Young Scots Society had 2500 members by 1910.
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Unionism Unionists supported union of Scotland, England, Ireland and Wales. 1886 Liberal Prime Minister Gladstone proposed home rule for Ireland – issue caused splits in the Party.
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Lack of support for other parties. Conservative associated with big landowners and landlords. By end of 19 th century Conservatives wanted to protect farming and some other industries by putting up tarriff barriers. Not popular in Scotland because: Scottish farmers not so dependent on wheat prices as in South of England. Urban population did not want food prices to rise. Scottish industry heavily dependent on international trade.
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Labour Party Set up by Keir Hardie. Previous cooperation with Liberal Party, but Hardie wanted Labour to be independent from other Parties. Scottish Labour Party born 1888. Working class party, campaigning for better health and safety in mining industry, 8-hour working day, votes and political rights for women, home rule for Scotland.
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Importance of Labour Party in Scotland before 1914. Failed to make any big impression. 3 Scottish MPs in 1910. 1914 had only 8 candidates in national election.
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What you should have covered... Scottish identity and martial tradition
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Scotland within Britain Most Scots thought of themselves as British. Happy to be part of Britain and Empire. Shared in nationalist pride of British Empire. Importance of Balmoralism and Highlandism.
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Martial Traditions Soldiers seen as brave, loyal and trustworthy. Importance of clan tradition – male clan members valued for fighting skills. 1777-1800 the Highlands produced more than 20 regiments for the British Army Image of brave Scottish soldier defending the Empire put forward in paintings, plays, biographies, regimental histories and children’s comics.
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Martial Race Ideology Firmly believed by military leaders in mid-19 th Century. Belief that certain races or groups of people were naturally more warlike or aggressive in battle and possessed qualities such as courage, loyalty, strength and willingness to work. The Scottish Highland Warrior was believed to fit the bill!
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The Power of the Tartan Romantic image of kilted Highland soldier encouraged by: Publication of supposedly ancient poems. Stories of Sir Walter Scott. Queen Victoria’s approval and patronage of Highlands.
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Tradition, recruitment and casualties Recruitment focus on heroism and past deeds of Highlanders. Pressure not to let down ancestors and family traditions. By end of war, over a quarter of the 557,000 Scots who joined up had been killed or injured. Rest of British army, death rate had been 11%. Scottish casualty rate of 26% put them behind only Serbia and Turkey in terms of countries who suffered most.
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