ISSUE 4- How did the war affect Scottish politics?

RED CLYDESIDERED CLYDESIDE

• This issue is about; how people became more political during & after WWI

• How people became more radical (wanted greater change)

• How people changed who they voted for

Two main themes of this unit:

1. Radicalism (growth of left wing politics) during and after the war –

• ILP• Rent Strikes• “Red Clydeside”2.Post-war Politics:• The decline of the Liberal Party • The rise of the Labour Party.• The re-emergence of the Scottish

Conservative and Unionist Party.

Before WW1• Before 1914 Scottish politics was dominated at

national and local level by one party, the Liberals

• e.g. famous Liberal MPs the Scot H.H. Asquith & Winston Churchill was MP for Dundee for a short time.

• The Labour party was newly formed but found it difficult to make an impact on the working class Liberal vote.

• The Scottish Conservatives seemed to be fading into obscurity north of the border and were unpopular as they were associated with the big land owners and big business in Scotland.

1. Radicalism during and after the war – Rent Strikes• The Great War made many Scots more

politically aware. The people became radicalised.

• Red Clydeside is a term used to describe the era of political radicalism that characterised the city of Glasgow.

• The rent strikes that started in Glasgow are perfect examples of people taking direct action to change or protect their way of life.

• Rent strikes were the refusal of people to pay high rents charged by landlords during the war (profiteering)

• In February 1915, Helen Crawfurd, Mary Barbour, Agnes Dollan and Jessie Stephens helped to form the Glasgow Women’s Housing Association to resist rent rises and threatened evictions.

• In May 1915 the first rent strike began and soon about 25,000 tenants in Glasgow had joined the strike.

• The strikes spread all over Scotland e.g. Dundee.

Why was the government Why was the government concerned about the rent concerned about the rent

strikes?strikes?• On 17 November 1915 a mass demonstration

in George Square worried the government.• The rent strikes had grown to an extent that

they threatened wartime production.• The government passed the Rent Restriction Rent Restriction

ActAct. Rents were frozen to 1914 levels.• However the important point was that this was

the birth of the idea of Red Clydeside, a more radical Scottish society that the Westminster government had to watch closely.

• The government ignored the fact it was about limited economic aims of fair rents, many women supported the war, had husbands or sons at the front etc.

Video Clip

Independent Labour Independent Labour PartyParty

• We have already read about the success of the Rent Strike in 1915 which was organised locally but also received support from the radical wing of the Labour Party the Independent Labour Party, the ILP.

• The ILP organised the Clyde Workers Committee (CWC) to support the rent strike by organising strikes in support in munitions works, shipyards e.g. Fairfield’s shipyard.

• Famous leaders of the ILP/ Clyde Workers Committee were men like James Maxton, David Kirkwood and Willie Gallagher

• many would become ILP MPs after the war.

During the war the ILP/CWC were concerned with issues such as:

• the dilution of labour the dilution of labour (training women or non-skilled men to do a skilled worker’s job), which threatened to cut the skilled worker’s wages or even make him unemployed.

• The Munitions Act The Munitions Act which prevented workers striking or even leaving their jobs without their employer’s permission, created a lot of bad feeling in the workforce.

• The success of the rent strikes in 1915 encouraged radical groups that they could take on the government and win. take on the government and win.

The ILP Post-WW1The ILP Post-WW1 The ILP continued to be involved in

radicalism after the war e.g.• “Red Clydeside” protests – see next note.• ILP leaders became Glasgow MPs e.g. James

Maxton Bridgeton, John Wheatley Shettleston and continued to pursue a left wing agenda.

• ILP MPs dominated local Glasgow politics with the majority of Labour MPs

• ILP heavily involved in local issues e.g. improved housing – ‘homes fit for heroes’, school meals etc.

• John Wheatley became the housing minister in the first Labour government in 1924.

1. Radicalism during and after the war – “Red

Clydeside”Red Clydeside:Red Clydeside:

- Revolution= change the government

or- Radicalism=major changes to society

or- Reaction=keep things as they are

Red ClydesideRed Clydeside• One of the pervading myths of post-war Scottish

politics has been the strikes and demonstrations during and after the war called Red Clydeside.

• Was it as the government claimed an attempted revolution like Russia in 1917. Some have argued that it increased radicalism (the desire for major political change) in Scotland.

• Others however claimed it was more about protecting jobs and wages, not changing governments, in other words reaction (keeping things the same).

The George Square The George Square Demonstrations 1919Demonstrations 1919

The government were alarmed at the growth of discontent in Scotland during the war especially around the vital Clydeside area:

• Rent Strikes• Strikes by the Clyde Workers Committee over

dilution of wages & the Munitions Act.• The government tried to pacify the rent strikers

by freezing rents at 1914 levels.• They took a hard line with troublesome trade

union leaders e.g. David Kirkwood and others were arrested & some deported.

• However this only added to the bad feeling among Glasgow workers.

When the war ended war workers were worried about:

• job losses or wage cuts due to the dilution of skilled labour

• Reducing unemployment • Trade unions wanted to reduce working

hours from 54 to 40 per week. • Lloyd George’s famous wartime phrase

“a land fit for heroes” never materialised and the improvement of slum housing was a concern for both workers, returning soldiers and wives .

The George Square Riot January 31st 1919January 31st 1919

• A wave of strikes followed by a mass demonstration of over 90,000 people in George Square ended with a riot following heavy handed police tactics.

• When some of the protestors waved a red flag the government panicked and fearing the start of a Bolshevik or Spartacist revolution sent 12,000 English troops north and 6 tanks.

• However within a week the strike was over when a compromise 47 hour week was agreed with trade unions.

What was the effect of Red Clydeside?

• The strikes and demonstrations that went on in and around the Glasgow area (e.g. Lanarkshire miners came out on strike too) have come to have legendary status in Scottish politics:

• At the time the government and most newspapers thought it was the beginning of a revolution; remember it happened at the same time as the Spartacist Revolt in Germany, and less than two years after the Russian Revolution.

• However it is clear the strikes and demonstrations were not about revolution but a limited demand for less hours of work- the 40 hour week-and the protection of their jobs and wages, not the removal of the government.

• Once the strikers got a 47 hour week and promises to end dilution of skills and wages the protests ended.

• Certainly the events inspired those involved in radical/far left politics, in particular the ILP for decades afterwards.

• Many of its leading members were arrested at the time but later became ILP MPs e.g. James Maxton, Manny Shindwell.

• At times it seems the myth was more important than the reality, Red Clydeside inspired a generation of radical Scottish politicians (the British Communist Party was formed in 1920 and based in Glasgow)

• However this must be balanced with the fact that the strongest party in Scotland was the Conservatives before WW2.