1. Issue 4 - Unionism Higher History Paper 2

2. Before 1914 there had been discussion of a possible Home Rule Bill for Scotland giving a Scottish Parliament some limited powers. However, in the patriotic atmosphere of the war this demand was dropped. Before WW1

3. After the War After the war, all of the 3 main parties paid lip service to home rule to a certain extent. The biggest demand came from the Scottish Labour Party and ILP but there was little enthusiasm for limited Home Rule in its manifesto. Most Scots seemed bound tighter to the union than ever.

4. Why? There was a feeling of mutually shared suffering with the other home nations. The rise of the Conservative and Unionist Party in the 1920s as Scotland’s biggest party suggested a strongly pro-union attitude. The Labour and Liberal parties quietly dropped their proposals for home rule after attempts to introduce a home rule Bill in 1924 and 1927 died from lack of Support.

5. Why? continued The foundation of the National Party of Scotland in 1928 would point to a resurgence in nationalism but candidates like its chairman Roland Muirhead did very poorly in the elections of 1929 and 1931. Most Scottish newspapers – e.g. the Sunday Post or Weekly News were very pro-Unionist.

6. Against the Union Those Scots who were dissatisfied with the union were more concerned with Scotland’s declining industries and the lack of assistance from Westminster rather than separation. Many of these swelled the ranks of emigrants to Canada and Australia as emigration grew like never before from Scotland.