Paper 2 How Far Checklists: Scotland and the Impact of the Great War

ISSUE 1: SCOTS ON THE WESTERN FRONT

Voluntary recruitment

  1. All young men aged 19-35 were asked to volunteer via a massive government propaganda campaign such as Kitchener’s ‘Your Country Needs You’ poster and it was a huge success, by 1915 almost 1¼ million men volunteered.
  2. More Scots volunteered in proportion to the population than any other part of Britain e.g. by the end of August 1914 over 20,000 had volunteered to fight from Glasgow alone.
  3. Many joined due to:
  • Patriotism/Belgian atrocities –censored media told horror stories of German troops raping women inBelgium – increased hatred of ‘The Hun’
  • Peer pressure – friends volunteered, girl friends etc – many men didn’t want to miss out on an adventure
  • White Feather movement humiliated men not uniform;
  • Sense of adventure – get away from mundane lives. Many men had boring manual labour jobs.
  • higher unemployment/Money – many men worked long hours for little money i.e. shipyards,
  • Scottish martial (fighting) tradition inspired many. Many grew up hearing stories of the Scots regiments and bravery – many men were inspired and wanted to become the next Scots war hero
  • Over By Christmas – Britain would win the war in a matter of months.

The kilted regiments

  1. When war broke out in 1914 the British Government focussed on the heroic deeds of past Scots soldiers to encourage men to enlist. The government brought back the ideas of Highland clans to appeal to the patriotism of Highlanders.
  2. Highland soldiers were distinctive on the Western Front: wore the kilt, marched to the sound of bagpipes
  3. Scottish soldiers were seen as brave, loyal and trustworthy who would fight to the end.
  4. Scots Regiments such as the Royal Scots were often used as shock troops – they would be sent across No Man’s Land first to terrify and weaken the enemy before the other regiments came behind
  5. Scottish soldiers (Jocks) often did better than many as Scots regiments employed a rotation system so Scots troops would only spend a short period time on the frontline, roughly a week, before being sent to the rear.
  6. William Angus VC was a Celtic player who served in the Royal Scots. In 1915 he was awarded the Victoria Cross
  7. There were no official Scots ‘pals battalions’ but many Scots rushed to join up alongside friends. Examples -Tramway battalion as it was made up mainly of tram workers, McCrae’s battalion Hearts team & supporters

Experience of Scots on Western Front (including Loos and Somme)

  1. Trench conditions – wet, muddy, no shelter, rats, lice, no sanitation, little sleep, bad weather etc
  2. Trench illnesses – Trench Foot, Trench Fever, Shell Shock (make sure you can describe the causes and symptoms )
  3. Trench Life - monotonous and boring, constant chores to do i.e. repairing barbed wire, cleaning rifles, little time to do personal things such as write letters or play cards – Generals ensured soldiers were always busy
  4. Trench Food – meagre rations; bully beef, hard biscuits, beans and pork fat, tea. Little fresh food available as food had to be tinned and last a long time.
  1. Battle of Loos September 1915–
  • Over 3 days 35,000 Scottish soldiers were involved, almost half of all battalions involved were Scots or Scots Canadian.
  • Out of the 21,000 dead over 7,000 (over 1/3) were Scots, a far higher proportion than any other nation involved, nearly every community in Scotland was affected by loss.
  • Battle facts for Loos – most soldiers volunteers, troops led by Haig, British used Chlorine Gas for first time but it was unsuccessful due to wind direction, gas masks proved largely ineffective due to how new they were, little ground was gained from Germans
  1. Battle of the Somme July 1916–
  • At least 3 full Scottish divisions, between 36,000 – 50,000 troops were to be involved in the British army’s greatest offensive to date, commanded by Scot - General Haig.
  • Scots suffered disproportionate losses e.g. the Highland Light Infantry lost 3,500 men in one day; McCrae’s battalion of Royal Scots had a 75% casualty rate.
  • Battle Facts for Somme – Haig led the troops, British bombarded Germans unsuccessfully due to their deep dug outs, tank used for first time but proved unreliable, battle ended November 1916, massive losses (400,000 British dead)

Role of Scottish military personnel

  1. More Scots volunteered in proportion to the population than any other part of Britain e.g. by the end of august 1914 over 20,000 had volunteered to fight from Glasgow alone.
  2. Overhalf a million Scots served in the war. Figures on Scottish dead vary from 74,000 to 100,000.
  3. The Scots had a casualty rate of 26%; roughly 1 in 4 Scots soldiers were killed or wounded, among the highest of any nation.
  4. General Douglas Haig was a key leader at both Battles of the Somme and Loos –he is often known as the ‘Butcher of the Somme’
  5. After the war Haig made efforts to see justice done for veterans, helping create the British Legion and the Earl Haig Fund to help ex servicemen

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