Scotland And The Era Of The Great War Flashcards
1
Q
Why did men join the Great War?
A
- Propaganda: Posters, adverts encouraging men to enlist
- Pressure: white feathers - cowards
- Pals Battalions: pals enlist together eg 1914 entire Hearts football team signed up - resulted in 500 other men enlisting
- Sense of duty: fight for king & country
- Martial Race: Scots seen as natural warriors - encouraged to prove this
- Adventure: sense of excitement and a desire for adventure esp for young men who believed it would be better than life at home
- Money: Many joined as wages in the army were decent compared to low wages for many working class men
- Conscription: forced to join the army after 1916 - all able bodied men >18
- Professional Recruiters: Horacio Bottomley who called himself an ‘unofficial recruiter of the empire’ used encouraging phrases such as “every past son is automatically wiped out”
2
Q
Describe life for Scots in the trenches
A
- Had to dig trenches deep enough for a man to walk (network of trenches stretched for 400 miles from Channel coast to border w Switzerland - Western Front)
- Trenches often flooded & soldiers used duck boards for walking on
- Rats - running across faces when soldiers slept
- Trench Foot - wet & muddy conditions meant many soldiers suffered from Trench afoot. This was caused by the feet being continually submerged in water - lead to amputation
- Lice - the kilt worn by Scottish soldiers had severe disadvantages in these conditions as it harboured life in the folds
- Often stationed on the front line for long periods of time. For example, the Black Watch once served for 48 days without a break
- Laidlaw played the bagpipes at the Battle of the Somme
- Troops would be sent over the top in frontal assaults, resulting in high numbers of casualties
- Boredom and waiting - often sleep deprivation too
- Shell shock
3
Q
Describe new technology on the Western front
A
- Using a developed railway station - meant supplies could be sent quicker and easier than any other war
- hand grenades such as the Mills Bomb which were used in close combat fighting
- Machine gun - Vickers machine gun could fire 500 bullets a minute
- Artillery - idea was the artillery should fire just ahead of the attacking infantry
- Gas - Ypres 1915 Germans 1st used Chlorine gas - mustard gas used by both sides caused blindness
- Tanks - 1st ones called land ships and firing range 2.5m
- Aeroplanes- mostly for gathering intelligence - later many fighter planes filled w/ machine guns
4
Q
Describe Loos 1915
A
- Historians describe it as a Scottish battlefield due to high numbers of Scottish troops that fought
- 20 Scottish regiments fought at Loos = 300,000 troops
- Scots captures the village of Loos but had to return
- Losses were high eg 1/3 dead = Scottish
- 5 Scots awarded Victoria Cross for bravery at Loos
- Piper Daniel Laidlaw was credited for his courage
5
Q
Describe the Battle of the Somme 1916
A
- Scottish battlefield
- 3 Scottish divisions attacked during the early part of the offensive
- General Haig was Scottish and criticised for his orders (Butcher of the Somme)
- Scots were ferocious which helped lower German morale
- Many Scots died during the disastrous campaign
- Laidlaw played bagpipes to encourage Scots to fight
6
Q
Describe the Battle of Arras 1917
A
- 10 Scottish divisions fought
- 1/3 casualties Scots
- Bc of new technologies attack was more successful
- Scottish battlefield
- Bagpipes
7
Q
Describe DORA
A
- On 8th August, 1914, the British govt passed the Defence Against The Realm Act
- Gave the govt power
- Defend the country from attacks/ spies
- The Act was extended 3 times during the war
8
Q
Describe the military laws from the DORA
A
- Railway and docks came under military law
- Special police were used = not go to war
- Air raid precautions were introduced
- Windows has to be blackened out
- Workers were sent to where they were needed most - eg women sent to work in Gretna Munitions Factory
9
Q
Describe alcohol laws under DORA
A
- Concerns over the effect of drunkenness
- Drunk workers not do a good job
- Pub opening hours reduced: 12-2.30 + 6.30-9
- Pubs were forbidden to open on a Sunday
- Tax increased
- Conviction for drunkenness in Scotland fell by 7%
10
Q
Describe land use laws under DORA
A
- Councils took land to grow more food
- Impact on the Highlands as landowners had land for deer + grouse shooting = :(
- Crofters could bow access this land fro crops
11
Q
Describe the Alien Registration Act (DORA)
A
- Alien Registration Act 1914
- Required all foreign citizens to register as aliens at their local police station
- Restrictions were placed
- Failure to register could lead to a fine or imprisonment
12
Q
What was no one allowed to do under DORA
A
- talk about naval or military matters in public places
- spread rumours about military matters
- spread rumours about military matters
- buy binoculars
- trespass on railway lines or bridges
- melt down gold or silver
- Light bonfires or fireworks
- give bread to horses or chickens
- Use invisible ink when writing abroad
13
Q
Why did the govt introduce DORA?
A
- Give the govt power + control
- Protect the country
- Help the war effort - good workforce = good products
- War affects everyone - universal approach
- Defend Against Spies
- Enough food
14
Q
Why did people get fed up of DORA?
A
- Discrimination
- Trivial, silly, condescending
- Social life - trust? Paranoia
- Landowners
- Separation
- Undermined basic freedoms
- Fear
- Govt kept expanding it
- Restrictions - alcohol
15
Q
Describe the effects of propaganda on the home front
A
- Reports of Germans killing civilians in newspapers
- Anti-German feelings grew
- British royal family had to change its name from Saxe-Coberg to Windsor
- German civilians were arrested as aliens and put in prison
- Dachshund dogs were beaten in the streets
- People refused to sing silent night (originally it was in German)
- People refused to attend concerts featuring the works of Bach + Beethoven
16
Q
What was the role of women in WW1?
A
- Many became employed in munitions factories eg 11,000 worked at Gretna making cordite
- In 1915 women volunteers over the age of 23 were able to serve overseas in hospitals on the Western Front as nurses
- In 1916 the Royal Navy formed the Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS) - clerical work & code breaking
- 250,000 worked as Land Girls
- Many Scottish women became Timber Jills
- Tram drivers in Glasgow
17
Q
Describe what is meant by dilution
A
- Dilution means replacing skilled work men with semi skilled or unskilled workers
- Ministry of munitions in 1915 set up a new scheme
- As men went to fight, women filled their shoes
- Broke Down skills into separate parts so women were not fully trained
- This meant that neither the skilled man’s status nor his wages were threatened
- Women were not paid the same
- Women has to give up their jobs after the war
- For example, women worked in shipyards but were not allowed to be riveters as they ‘weren’t strong enough’
18
Q
Explain why men did not want to fight?
A
- Fear of war - scared of death
- Religion - sinful - biblical justification
- Pacifist - don’t believe in violence - innocent ppl
- Hatred of govt - anarchists
- Socialists - everyone equal - class issue - upper class had money + status that allowed them to be generals/colonels
19
Q
Describe Scottish industry during the Great War
A
- thrived
- heavy industries in the Central Belt provided coal, steel, and ships for the war. Eg by 1918 Ggow produced 90% of the steel used for warships and tanks
- big Jute industry in Fife. In Dundee jutebags produced for sandbags as the army needed 6 million jute bags per month
- Farming in the lowlands. Britain needed lots of food and wool
- massive amounts of munitions produced by munitions factories. Eg Gretna cordite
- engineering firms grew. Beardmores expanded to employ 20,000 men to build artillery, aircrafts and tanks
- rubber. North British Rubber Company in Edinburgh produced many gas masks, waterproof coats and boots for soldiers
20
Q
Describe what reserved occupations were?
A
- Many jobs in heavy industries were very skilled and offered food wages
- These jobs were reserved occupations which meant that they were so important that men couldn’t join the armed forces/ were exempt from conscription:
- Engineers making engines for ships
- Experienced coal miners
- Skilled shipyard workers
- If you were self employed as your livelihood was at risk
- Industrial chemists who made gas etc
- Some doctors were sent away but some were reserved for back home
•
21
Q
Describe the post war decline of heavy industry/ effect of war on heavy industries
A
- Foreign competition - other countries such as India and the USA were developing their own industries
- Britain’s share of world trade manufacturing fell from 30% in 1913 to 22% in 1929
- Jute industry in Dundee collapsed
- During the 1920s, employment in Scottish shipbuilding fell by 90%
- Unemployment levels rose
- Over 1/2 of Scotland’s iron furnaces were dismantled by 1927
- The coal industry employed 1/3 fewer people in the 1930s than before the war
22
Q
Describe the impact of war on the farming industry during the war
A
- The war effort requires both sufficient food for people and fodder for animals
- Need for horses - to the trenches
- By October 1915- 900,000 tons of British shipping had been sunk by German U-boats
- Farmers profited from the increased demand for wool. For example in 1917 the govt bought all wool sheared from sheep in Britain to produce uniform and army blankets
- The wages of skilled ploughmen and shepherds doubled
- Loss of men/horses to army = landgirls
- No.of farm workers dropped by 18,000 over the course of the war
23
Q
Describe the impact on farming after the war
A
- Govt subsidies for farmers ended in 1920
- Wool prices fell by 25%
- Many farmers faced financial loss
- New machines increased output but needed fewer workers = unemployment
- But a majority of farmers did okay - lives off profits from boom period
24
Q
Impact of war on fishing industry
A
- North Sea closed in 1914 - German threat - danger zone
- Fishing in decline
- Many fisherman unemployed
- Cod and Haddock fell from 1.5m tonnes to 0.5m tonnes in 1917
- Fish was rationed - Fish and chip hit rly badly - faced financial ruin
- Before war employed over 32,500 men. By 1917 employed fewer than 22,000 men
- Loss of herring trade to Russia + Northern Germany caused a slump
25
Describe new industries in the 1920s
* Barclay Curle and Harland & Wolff - high tolerance steel workpieces for mark engineering companies - ships for cargo + people - steam ships
* Albion Motor Company, which specialises in building lorry chassis
* Electricity - provides jobs building dams and power stations across Scotland eg Tongland
* Mavour & Coulson, electric motors in factories
* White goods like hoovers and radios produced in factories in North Lanarkshire
26
Why did women not have the vote?
* Men believed they had smaller brains so they were less intelligent
* They believed it would break up families
* Women were in the domestic sphere
* People feared their femininity would be destroyed
* Men feared their masculinity would be threatened
* Women didn’t fight for their country so they didn’t deserve it
27
Explain why women wanted the vote
* End unfairness of society
* Equality
* Elspeth King: ‘allowing women to vote will free them from low pay’
* Education
* End poor working hours and bad conditions
* End violence against women (esp prostitution)
28
When was the National Union for Women’s Suffrage Societies formed?
1897
29
Describe the tactics/methods of the Scottish suffragists
* Held peaceful marches from 1897 onwards with banner such as ‘A guide cause makes a strong arm’
* Held marches with the WSPU eg Edinburgh March 1909
* Held meetings and advertised these in newspapers - eg in 1871 there was a large public meeting in Kirkwall, Orkney
* In Scotland between 1867-76, two million signatures for a petition supporting women’s suffrage were collected and presented to Parliament
* Handed our leaflets and propaganda information
* Writing letters
30
When was the Women’s Social and Political Union formed?
1903
31
Describe the methods of Scottish suffragettes
* Window smashing campaign aimed against government buildings started in 1908
* In Scotland the most common form of militant attack was on pillar boxes, when acid was poured in to destroy letters
* Arson - tried to burn houses of 2 MPs in 1913. Also set on fire cricket pavilions, racecourse stands and golf clubhouses eg Ayr racecourse
* Attacked railway stations and public buildings. Many were closed for fear of attack eg Hollyrood Palace
* In prison the suffragettes went on hunger strikes. In Scotland force feeding was started in Perth prison by Dr Fergus Watson. Ethel Moorhead was the 1st Scottish suffragette to be force fed
* Bombed parliament
* Refused to pay taxes
* St Andrew’s Golf Course - Asquith has his trousers pulled down by Scottish suffragettes while playing
