How did the First World War and its aftermath transform Scottish society, politics and economy between 1914 and 1928?
Scots on the Western Front, the home front and the role of women, industry and the economy, political change including Red Clydeside, and the social and economic impact of the war on Scotland to 1928.
An SQA Higher History answer on the Impact of the Great War 1914 to 1928, covering Scots on the Western Front, the home front and women, the wartime and post-war economy, political change including Red Clydeside, and the social and economic effects of the war on Scotland.
Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed
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What this key area is asking
The SQA wants you to explain how the First World War affected Scotland: the experience of Scottish soldiers, the changes on the home front, the wartime and post-war economy, and the political shifts the war triggered, especially Red Clydeside. You must judge how far the war transformed Scottish life by 1928. This option is examined through both knowledge and the source-handling questions.
Scots on the Western Front
- Recruitment. Scotland saw a strong early rush of volunteers, with whole communities and workplaces joining together; conscription followed from 1916.
- Scottish regiments such as the Highland regiments gained a fearsome reputation but paid a terrible price in casualties.
The home front and the role of women
- Daily life changed through recruitment drives, food shortages and rationing, the Defence of the Realm Act (DORA), and propaganda.
- Women moved into munitions, shipbuilding support work, transport, agriculture (the Women's Land Army) and clerical jobs, challenging pre-war assumptions about women's work.
- The vote. The Representation of the People Act (1918) gave the vote to women over 30 who met a property qualification, partly recognising their wartime contribution.
Industry and the economy
During the war Clydeside's yards and works ran at full capacity. After 1918, however, government orders collapsed, export markets were lost, and the staple industries entered a deep slump, with mass unemployment in shipbuilding and mining through the 1920s.
Political change and Red Clydeside
- Rent strikes (1915). Glasgow rent rises during the war provoked mass rent strikes, led notably by women, forcing the Rent Restriction Act.
- Industrial militancy. Engineering disputes and the 40-hours strike of 1919, which ended in the deployment of troops and tanks after the George Square demonstration, fed the legend of Red Clydeside.
- Party shifts. The Liberal Party declined and the Labour Party and the Independent Labour Party (ILP) rose, winning many west-central Scottish seats by the 1920s.
The social and economic impact by 1928
The war left Scotland with widespread bereavement and disabled veterans, severe post-war unemployment, a continuing housing crisis that fuelled council house building (under the 1919 Housing Act), and a political landscape reshaped towards Labour. Scotland's dependence on declining heavy industry left it especially vulnerable in the inter-war years.
Examples in context
A model "evaluate the usefulness" response to a 1919 government report on George Square would tie each feature to the enquiry into Clydeside unrest: "As an official government report of 1919 (origin), the source was written immediately after the events and is well placed to record what the authorities saw, but it speaks for the state, not the strikers. Its purpose was to justify deploying troops and tanks and to present the demonstration as a Bolshevik-style threat (purpose), so it is strong evidence of how the government viewed Clydeside but is likely to exaggerate the danger. Its description of the red flag and the violence in the square reveals the official fear of revolution (content). It omits the strikers' real aims, a 40-hour week and jobs for returning soldiers, and the rent and housing grievances behind the unrest (omission). It is therefore useful for official attitudes but one-sided on the causes." Each comment is explained in terms of usefulness, which is what earns the SQA marks.
Try this
Q1. Roughly what proportion of serving Scots died in the war? [1 mark]
- Cue. About a quarter.
Q2. Name one event associated with Red Clydeside. [1 mark]
- Cue. The 1915 rent strikes or the 1919 George Square demonstration.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of SQA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
SQA Higher 20186 marksEvaluate the usefulness of Source A (a 1919 government report on the George Square demonstration) as evidence of unrest on Clydeside.Show worked answer →
The "evaluate the usefulness" question is marked out of 6 across developed comments on origin, purpose, content and omission, each linked to usefulness for the enquiry.
Origin: an official government report of 1919, written close to the event, so contemporary but produced by the authorities. Purpose: to justify the deployment of troops and tanks and to present the demonstration as a threat, which makes it strong evidence of how the state viewed Clydeside but likely to exaggerate the danger. Content: select its account of the crowd and the violence and explain what it reveals. Omission: it ignores the strikers' actual aims (a 40-hour week, jobs for returning soldiers) and the rent and housing grievances behind the unrest. Conclude that it is useful for official attitudes but partial.
SQA Higher 20229 marksHow fully does Source B explain the impact of the First World War on Scottish society and economy?Show worked answer →
The "how fully" question is marked out of 9, from points selected from the source and accurate recalled knowledge it omits, plus a judgement.
From the source, select the impacts it names (for example casualties, women's work, or the post-war slump). Then add omitted knowledge: the roughly quarter of serving Scots who died, the 1915 rent strikes and the Rent Restriction Act, the shift from Liberal to Labour and the rise of the ILP, the 1918 franchise, the collapse of shipbuilding and mining orders after 1918, and the housing crisis. Judge how fully the source explains the impact: it usually covers some areas and omits others, so it is partial.
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Sources & how we know this
- SQA Higher History Course Specification — SQA (2018)