How far ……. The crisis in Scottish identity that developed after 1918?

OR ?

1. Scots who had fought in Scottish regiments had a fierce ‘tribal loyalty’ (Trevor Royle) to their regiment and to their Scottishness, but were still loyal Britons – fought for King and Country.

2. Before the war there had been a Nationalist movement – ‘Young Scots’ that campaigned for home rule – not widely supported, Scottish Home Rule Bill defeated 1914.

3. 1920s – all three parties (Conservatives, Liberals and Labour) supported the union. Labour had been committed to Home Rule earlier in the 1920s, but that commitment faded after the first short-lived Labour Government of 1924.

4. Further Home Rule bills defeated 1924 and 1929.

5. 1920s – decade of economic depression. Scotland suffered disproportionately to the rest of Britain. Unionists felt that resources of Britain and the Empire were needed and that Scotland couldn’t survive alone.

6. However – 1928 – National Party of Scotland formed 1934 joined with Scottish Party to form Scottish National Party.

7. Only 3000 votes in 1929 General Election (less than 5% of vote), but beginnings of Scottish nationalism.

Reasons for this:8. High unemployment and decline of

Scotland’s heavy industries – shipbuilding, textiles and coal mining. After the war – Scotland’s place as ‘Workshop of the Empire’ being challenged.

9. Scottish literary renaissance influenced ideas about Scottish identity– e.g. Hugh McDiarmid – Scottish nationalist and Socialist poet and journalist (The Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle), Lewis Grassic Gibbon – nationalist and socialist author (Sunset Song).

10.Crisis in identity manifested (shown) partly by the high numbers of Scots emigrating after the war – 1921-1931 population fell for the first time in a century. Feeling that Scotland ‘being emptied of its population, its spirit, its wealth, its industry and its talent’