battle of George Square

After World War I, the United Kingdom's demobilization of its military and industry, combined with the increasingly worsening post war domestic fiscal and monetary environment, created the prospect of mass unemployment, which the Scottish TUC and Clyde Workers' Committee (CWC) sought to counter by increasing the availability of jobs for demobilised soldiers by striking to obtain a reduction of the working week from a newly-agreed 47 to 40 hours.{{cite web |title=Manifesto of Joint Strike Committee, Glasgow, Feb 1919|url=https://sites.scran.ac.uk/redclyde/redclyde/rc029.htm |website=Glasgow Digital Library |date=31 January 2019 |publisher=University of Strathclyde}} The resulting strike began on Monday 27 January, with a meeting of around 3,000 workers held at the St. Andrew's Halls.{{cite web |title=The 40 Hours Strike 1919 |url=https://sites.scran.ac.uk/redclyde/redclyde/rceve13.htm |website=Glasgow Digital Library |date=31 January 2019 |publisher=University of Strathclyde}}

On 29 January, a delegation of strikers met the Lord Provost of Glasgow and it was agreed that he would send a telegram to the Deputy Prime Minister Bonar Law asking the government to intervene. It was agreed that the strikers would return at noon on Friday 31 January to hear the response. After the meeting, the Sheriff of Lanarkshire contacted the government to ask if military aid would be available to him, if needed, should there be any disorder on the Friday.

The telegram and the Sheriff's request prompted the War Cabinet to discuss the 'Strike Situation in Glasgow' on 30 January"[http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D7652246 War Cabinet, Minutes of Meeting 522, 30 January 1919]". UK National Archives. CAB 23/9/9

At the meeting, concern was voiced that, given the concurrent European popular uprisings, the strike had the possibility to spread throughout the country. While it was government policy at the time to not involve itself in labour disputes, the agreed action was justified to ensure there was 'sufficient force'The Glasgow Herald, 7 February 1919 present within the immediate locale of Glasgow to secure the continuation of public order and operation of municipal services.Pamphlet, Duties in Aid of the Civil Power, "[http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2552066 Use of military personnel in aid of civil powers in event of civil disturbances and strikes]". UK National Archives. WO 32/18921 The decision to use the armed forces to provide the requested force, in the absence of a declaration of martial law, required those forces be acting on behalf of a civil authority.The King's Regulations and Orders for the Army (1914) On the meeting's close, instructions were sent to Scottish Command informing of the situation and to be prepared to deploy government troops if requested.

On 31 January, a large number of strikers (contemporary estimates range from 20,000 to 25,000{{Cite web|url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/16172087.debunking-more-myths-around-the-battle-of-george-square/|title=Debunking more myths around the battle of George Square|website=HeraldScotland|date=20 April 2018 |language=en|access-date=23 January 2019}}) congregated in George Square. They were awaiting an answer to the telegram the Lord Provost of Glasgow had sent to the Prime Minister on behalf of a delegation of strikers on 29 January, asking the government to intervene.{{Cite book |last=McLean |first=Iain |url=https://archive.org/details/legendofredclyde0000mcle |title=The legend of Red Clydeside |date=1983 |publisher=J. Donald |isbn=978-0-85976-516-9 |location=Edinburgh |oclc=44884180 |url-access=registration}}

The failure of the tram workers to join the strike and thereby paralyse transport in the city had been a source of growing tension in the preceding days. Some of the strikers tried to stop the tram traffic in the Square. Attempts by the police to clear a way for the trams led to a series of baton charges and growing violence.Evening News, 31 January 1919

As the fighting started in George Square, a Clyde Workers' Committee deputation was in the Glasgow City Chambers waiting to meet the Lord Provost of Glasgow. On hearing the news, CWC leaders David Kirkwood and Emanuel Shinwell left the City Chambers. Kirkwood was knocked to the ground by a police baton.{{cite web |title=David Kirkwood on the ground after being struck by police batons, 31 Jan 1919 |url=https://sites.scran.ac.uk/redclyde/redclyde/rc052.htm |website=Glasgow Digital Library |date=31 January 2019 |publisher=University of Strathclyde}} Then he, Shinwell, and William Gallacher were arrested. They were charged with "instigating and inciting large crowds of persons to form part of a riotous mob".{{cite web |title=Kirkwood and Gallacher arrested during 'Bloody Friday', 31 Jan 1919|url=https://sites.scran.ac.uk/redclyde/redclyde/rc213.htm |website=Glasgow Digital Library |date=31 January 2019 |publisher=University of Strathclyde}}{{cite web |title=Letter from lawyer of Emanuel Shinwell to defence witnesses in the 40 hours strike trial, 31 Jan 1919|url=https://sites.scran.ac.uk/redclyde/redclyde/rc054.htm |website=Glasgow Digital Library |date=31 January 2019 |publisher=University of Strathclyde}}

The fighting between the strikers and police, some mounted, spread into the surrounding streets and continued into the night.National Records of Scotland file JC 36/31, Trial transcript from the trial of William McCartney etc. Evidence of the Chief Constable During the evening, Police Constable William McGregor (who had recently returned to the police from the army) was struck on the head by a bottle thrown by rioters in the Saltmarket; he died of his injuries on 1 June 1919.

File:1919 Battle of George Square - tanks and soldiers.jpg and soldiers at the Glasgow Cattle Market in the Gallowgate]]

The events of the day prompted the request for military assistance by the Sheriff of Lanarkshire (Alastair Oswald Morison Mackenzie, 1917–1933) the most senior locally based judge, also known as the Sheriff Principal. The deployment had already begun before the day's meeting of the War Cabinet,{{cite news |title=Debunking more myths around the battle of George Square |url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/16172087.Debunking_more_myths_around_the_battle_of_George_Square/ | date=20 April 2018|work=The Herald}} which convened at 3pm.CAB 23/9/9, 'War Cabinet, Minutes of Meeting 523, 31 January 1919'

During that meeting, Robert Munro, Secretary for Scotland, described the demonstration as "a Bolshevist uprising". A force made up mainly of Scottish troops was dispatched from bases in Scotland, and one battalion was sent up from northern England. General Sir Charles Harington, the Deputy Chief of the Imperial General Staff informed the meeting that 6 tanks supported by 100 lorries were "going north that evening".

It is sometimes suggested that the War Cabinet ordered this deployment, but this is incorrect: the government lacked the authority to deploy troops against British civilians without declaring martial law, which was not declared. The War Cabinet discussed the issue but the military deployment was in response to the request from the Sheriff of Lanarkshire.

The first troops arrived that night,Evening News, 3 February 1919 with their numbers increasing over the next few days. The three Medium Mark C tanks, and three Mark V* tanks of the Royal Tank Regiment arrived from Bovington on Monday 3 February.Aberdeen Daily Journal (later Aberdeen Press & Journal), Tuesday 4 February 1919. "Tanks Reinforce Troops in Glasgow" The Observer newspaper reported that "The city chambers is like an armed camp. The quadrangle is full of troops and equipment, including machine guns."{{Cite news |last=McKie |first=Robin |date=6 January 2019 |title=100 years on: the day they read the Riot Act as chaos engulfed Glasgow |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/jan/06/100-years-on-the-day-they-read-the-riot-act-in-glasgow |access-date=6 January 2019 |issn=0261-3077}}

The military arrived after the rioting was over and they played no active role in dispersing the protesters. The troops guarded locations of importance to the civil authorities throughout the period of the strike, which lasted until 12 February. The troops and tanks then remained in Glasgow, and its surrounding areas, until 18 February.Glasgow Herald, Tuesday 18 February 1919. "Departure of Troops from Glasgow"

A common misconception around George square is that tanks were used against protesters. According to historian Gordon Barclay, no evidence exists to support this assertion. {{Cite book |last=Barclay |first=Gordon |title=Tanks on the Streets?: The Battle of George Square, Glasgow, 1919 |publisher=Pen and Sword |year=2023 |isbn=9781526782663}}

Key members involved in the strike were arrested in the immediate aftermath of the events of the 31st. Only two – William Gallacher and Emanuel (Manny) Shinwell – were convicted, and were sentenced to three months and five months in prison respectively.{{cite web |title=Petition for the release of CWC leaders, 31 Jan 1919|url=https://sites.scran.ac.uk/redclyde/redclyde/rc155.htm |website=Glasgow Digital Library |date=31 January 2019 |publisher=University of Strathclyde}}

Some of those involved claim that this came close to being a successful revolution. Gallacher said "had there been an experienced revolutionary leadership, instead of a march to Glasgow Green there would have been a march to the city's Maryhill Barracks. There we could easily have persuaded the soldiers to come out, and Glasgow would have been in our hands."{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/jan/06/100-years-on-the-day-they-read-the-riot-act-in-glasgow|title=100 years on: the day they read the Riot Act as chaos engulfed Glasgow|last=McKie|first=Robin|date=6 January 2019|work=The Guardian|access-date=6 January 2019|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}} Most historians now dispute this claim and argue that it was a reformist rather than revolutionary gathering. Gallacher always regretted not having taken a more revolutionary approach to the 40-hour strike and to the events in George Square in 1919, writing afterwards that, "We were carrying on a strike when we ought to have been making a revolution".{{cite book |last1=Gallacher |first1=William |title=Revolt on the Clyde |date=2017 |orig-year=1936 |publisher=Lawrence & Wishart |location=London |isbn=978-1-912064-69-4 |page=156}} Shinwell, born to a Jewish immigrant family in London, ran in the municipal elections to the Glasgow Corporation following his release from prison.{{cite web|title=Election address of Emanuel Shinwell, Labour candidate for Govan Fairfield ward, 4 Nov 1919|url=https://sites.scran.ac.uk/redclyde/redclyde/rc008.htm |website=Glasgow Digital Library |date=31 January 2019 |publisher=University of Strathclyde}}

In the general election of 1922, the second election held after the passage of the Representation of the People Act 1918, Scotland elected 29 Labour MPs. Their number included the 40 Hour Strike organisers and Independent Labour Party members Manny Shinwell and David Kirkwood.The Times, 17 November 1922{{cite web|url=http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/TUkirkwoodD.htm|title=David Kirkwood: Biography|access-date=6 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109042403/http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/TUkirkwoodD.htm|archive-date=9 November 2013|url-status=dead}} The General Election of 1923 eventually saw the first Labour government come to power under Ramsay MacDonald. The region's socialist sympathies earned it the epithet of Red Clydeside.{{cite web|url=http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/scotlandshistory/20thand21stcenturies/redclydeside/index.asp|title=Red Clydeside – 20th and 21st centuries|access-date=6 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109103352/http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/scotlandshistory/20thand21stcenturies/redclydeside/index.asp|archive-date=9 November 2013|url-status=dead}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book |title=Tanks on the Streets? The Battle of George Square Glasgow 1919 |author1=Heren, Louise |author2=Barclay, Gordon |url= |url-access= |publisher=Pen & Sword |year=2023 |isbn=978-1-5267-8265-6 |location=Barnsley |author-link=}}

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Category:Red Clydeside

Category:1919 riots in the United Kingdom

Category:Military history of Glasgow

Category:Riots and civil disorder in Scotland

Category:Labour disputes in Scotland

George Square

Category:Protests in Scotland

Category:1919 in Scotland

Category:20th-century history of the British Army

Category:Economy of Glasgow

Category:January 1919 in the United Kingdom

Category:Revolutions of 1917–1923

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