The Scottish economy did well out the war, but it didn’t do well out of the peace that followed

1. The Scottish economy did well out the war, but it didn’t do well out of the peace that followed • Scotland had a brief boom after the war then started a period of economic decline. • The trouble was that the heavy industry which Scotland was good at was no longer in demand; the new light manufacturing industries such as cars and electricals were being made elsewhere.

2. The following slides summarise the impact of the Great War on Scottish: Shipbuilding Fishing Agriculture

3. Shipbuilding before the Great War By 1913 shipbuilding on the Clyde produced 757,000 tons and the total number of workers dependent on the industry was estimated at 100,000 or 14% of the working population. Clyde yards were innovatory and bred a skilled workforce that was reasonably well paid and led to job security. Men were proud to work in the shipyards.

4. HMS Ajax under construction, Greenock 1913

6. Shipbuilding during the Great War The war had an immediate impact on Clydeside shipyards, where most of Britain’s ships were built. Beardmore’s at Dalmuir, Browns of Clydebank and Fairfields at Govan were placed under Admiralty control. Others followed suit after passing of Munitions of War Act in 1915. Many of the battleships produced for the British navy were produced on the Clyde. As a result of the wartime boom, Clydeside experienced a bonanza, with the three leading yards winning orders worth over £16 million. Skilled workers could not volunteer for the armed forces and were exempt from conscription after its introduction in 1916. Between 1914 and 1918 a total of 481 warships were built on the Clyde, and profits were good. Other heavy industries also benefited: - North British Locomotive Company at Springburn and Polmadie - Beardmore’s in Parkhead employed 20,000 workers by 1915, producing aircraft and airships as well as ships.

7. Shipbuilding after the Great War • Shipbuilding went into decline: between 1921 and 1923 the tonnage built on the Clyde went down from 510,000 to 170,000. By the 1930 yards were closing as orders dried up. This slow and almost terminal decline happened because: • decreased innovation, a return to old practices • lack of investment in new shipbuilding technology • poor industrial relations • increasing foreign competition

8. The Scottish Fishing industry before Great War Herring was a delicacy on the Continent and was caught relatively easily off the Coast of Scotland. By 1913, Scotland had the largest fishing fleet in Europe with over 10,000 boats involved in the industry. At the peak of the Herring Boom in 1907, 2.5 million barrels of fish (250,000 tons) were cured and mostly exported to Germany, Eastern Europe and Russia. The boats followed the shoals of herring around the coast of Britain and along with them there followed an army of curers, merchants, general hands - and the herring lasses. Throughout the boom, the Scots fisher lasses were an integral part of the fisheries landscape at any port where herring was landed. The girls came from fishing villages all around the Coast of Scotland. They began gutting and packing the ‘silver darlings’ at the age of 15, and travelled throughout the season from Stornoway to Lerwick, to Peterhead, and as far south as Yarmouth.

9. Plenty of work packing salted herring to be sold to Russia, Poland and Germany

10. Fishing during the Great War Once the war started, all east coast ports were closed, so the fishing industry here was effectively shut down. “In September 1914 Scotland’s east-coast ports were commandeered by the Admiralty, who also took control of all shipping, including the fishing fleet…” T. Royle This meant the loss of herring markets in Russia and North Germany. Fishing continued on the west coast but only in inshore waters. In 1914, 32,600 men worked in the Scottish fishing industry. By 1917 there were 22,000. In the same years, white fish catches fell from 1.5 million tons to half a million The loss of export markets for Scottish fish caused by the war was a disaster for the industry which struggled to recover after the war.

11. Fishing during the Great War Royal Navy Reserve (Trawler Section), 8,000 strong, kept the industry going when restrictions elsewhere prevented its operation. 2,000 of these fishermen came from Lewis. Restrictions on how much could be fished pushed up prices and by 1917 white fish was rationed. Many of the Scottish fishermen and merchant navy sailors who lost their lives came from the Western Isles; a local perception that these areas suffered disproportionately.

12. Scottish steam drifter from Peterhead on Naval duties German submarine

13. Fishing after the Great war • “During the war, Scottish fishing lost its markets to Russia and to Germany, and with increased competition from Iceland, Holland, Norway, it was an increased cost of production in Scotland.  • The fishing industry was not well equipped to take on these other fishing nations in the 1920s.  • As a result catches fell considerably, exports halved, basically the industry did not recover again until after 1945.  • So in the long-term the impact of the First World War was disastrous for Scottish fishing.” • Dr. William Kenefick (transcript from LtS video clip)

14. Agriculture during the Great War Food became increasingly scarce and more expensive as the war progressed. Government promoted self-sufficiency by introducing measures to make more farmland arable. Attempts to grow more in Scotland not very successful as amount of suitable land was limited; many were hill farms. Only 5 out of 19 million acres were under crops. Labour shortage as many had volunteered to fight in the war; more men in this industry than elsewhere. Number of farm workers dropped by 18,000 over the course of the war. Main contribution from farming in Scotland was from sheep farming: wool and meat. Sheep industry enjoyed full employment and high wages from 1916, when the Government bought all of Scotland’s wool production. Average wage of a ploughman more than doubled by 1919. Oats and vegetables all increased in amount being farmed and yield because of the need to grow more home products. 25% increase in the acreage devoted to oats.  Food shortages led to ‘meatless’ days by 1918: Wednesdays and Fridays in Scotland. Food rationing in operation in Scotland by 7 April 1918.

15. Professor Elaine McFarland “The Defence of the Realm Act plus the inflation surrounding prices for agricultural goods does change agricultural practices and does change the Scottish landscape.  It pushes more land into cultivation, into cereal cultivation, and one crop that really comes to the fore is oats, there’s a 25% increase in the acreage devoted to oats.  Of course this is to feed the horses on which the British Army still relied.”

16. Agriculture after the Great war 1920 Agricultural Act was introduced to maintain prices and production. However, by 1921 this Act was abandoned because of the poor state of the economy causing hardship for many farm workers who lost jobs or had wages cut.

17. Other industries after the Great War Decline in locomotive production by two-thirds at the North British Locomotive company. Engineering work also went into decline as railway companies were amalgamated and their direction moved from Scotland to London. Coal production went into decline as a result of falling orders from expo Jute production faced declining orders and industrial action. Textiles affected by declining markets. Decline in those working on the land.

18. The Highlands after the Great War • Decline in Highland population: • 341,535 in 1911, 325,853 in 1921. (a fall of c.16,000) • Because of: • Emigration, • loss of life • decline in agriculture • Land settlement improved, although there was still a shortage of decent land in the Highlands and Islands. • Highland crofters had enjoyed security of tenure from 1886. The 1919 Land Settlement (Scotland) Act released funds and allowed the Board of Agriculture to compulsorily purchase private land. • However, the process was laborious and slow. • Land raids occurred, especially by ex-servicemen who expected land on their return from the trenches, in areas like Lewis, Uist, Skye and Sutherland.