Red Clydeside was an era ofpolitical radicalism inGlasgow,Scotland, from the 1910s until the early 1930s. It also referred to the area around the city on the banks of theRiver Clyde, such asClydebank,Greenock,Dumbarton andPaisley. Red Clydeside is a significant part of the history of thelabour movement in Scotland andBritain as a whole.
Some newspapers of the time used the term "Red Clydeside" in aderogatory manner, to refer to the groundswell of popular and political radicalism that had erupted in Scotland. A confluence of charismatic individuals, organised movements, and socio-political forces gave rise to Red Clydeside, which had its roots inworking-class opposition toBritain's participation in theFirst World War. The region had a long history of politicalradicalism dating back to theSociety of the Friends of the People and the "Radical War" of 1820.[1][2]
The 11,000 workers at the largestSinger sewing machine factory in Clydebank went onstrike in March–April 1911, ceasing to work in solidarity with 12 female colleagues who were protesting against the reorganization of work processes. This reorganization involved an increase in workload and a decrease in wages.[3] Following the end of the strike, Singer fired 400 workers, includingJane Rae,[4] one of the women activists, as well as all strike leaders and purported members of the Industrial Workers of Great Britain, among them Arthur McManus, who later became the first chairman of the Communist Party of Great Britain between 1920 and 1922.[5]
Labour unrest, particularly among women and unskilled labourers, greatly increased between 1910 and 1914 in Clydeside, with four times as many days on strike as between 1900 and 1910. During these four years precedingWorld War I, membership of those affiliated to the Scottish Trades Union Congress rose from 129,000 in 1909 to 230,000 in 1914.[5]
To mobilise the workers of Clydeside against the First World War, theClyde Workers' Committee (CWC) was formed, withWillie Gallacher as its head andDavid Kirkwood as its treasurer. The CWC led the campaign against the coalition governments ofH. H. Asquith andDavid Lloyd George and theMunitions of War Act 1915, which forbade engineers from leaving the company they were employed by. The CWC met with government leaders, but no agreement could be reached, and consequently, both Gallacher and Kirkwood were arrested under the terms of theDefence of the Realm Act and jailed for their activities.
Anti-war activity also took place outside the workplace and on the streets in general. TheMarxistJohn Maclean and theIndependent Labour Party (ILP) memberJames Maxton were both jailed for their anti-war propaganda efforts.
Helen Crawfurd was opposed to conscription and, although there were anti-war and anti-conscription campaigns in organisations such as theWomen's International League for Peace and Freedom being organised and run by middle-class women, few working-class women were involved in Scotland. Frustration on her part on their lack of representation, Helen Crawfurd organised a grassroots meeting called 'The Great Women's Peace Conference' involving socialist-minded women in June 1916. From this meeting, and alongside her fellow Rent StrikerAgnes Dollan, TheWomen's Peace Crusade (WPC) arose in November 1916 inGovan, Glasgow. As intended, the organisation initially attracted working-class women in Govan to activism, and with open air meetings throughout Glasgow,Edinburgh and withinLowland Scotland they began to extend their reach.[6] By 1917, street meetings were regularly being held all around the districts of Glasgow and beyond, includingPartick,Maryhill,Bridgeton,Parkhead, Govan,Govanhill,Whiteinch,Shettleston,Springburn,Possilpark,Bellahouston,Rutherglen,Paisley, OvernewtonBarrhead,Cambuslang,Blantyre,Alloa,Cowdenbeath,Drongan, Drumpark,Douglas Water andLanark. As a further indicator of their success, a mass demonstration was organised by the WPC on Sunday 8 July 1917, in which processions marched to the sound of music and the flying of banners from two sides of the city to the famousGlasgow Green in the centre of the city. As the two streams of Crusaders approached the green they merged into a huge colourful and noisy demonstration of around 14,000 participants.[7][8]
By the time that the Peace Crusade disbanded it had become a UK-wide organisation.
At the turn of the twentieth century, the Clydeside area in Glasgow experienced rapid industrial and population growth, during which time Glasgow became Scotland's largest city, as its population grew from almost 200,000 in 1851 to over 1,000,000 in 1921. Despite this significant growth, housing remained a huge problem for its inhabitants, as few houses were added to Glasgow's housing stock to accommodate the influx of immigrants from all over Scotland, other areas of Britain, and Europe.[9] Eleven per cent of Glasgow's housing stock was vacant due to speculation, and few new houses were built as landlords benefited from renting out overcrowded and increasingly dilapidated flats. As Highlanders and Irish migrants came to Glasgow, the city's population increased by 65,000 people between 1912 and 1915, while only 1,500 new housing units were built. Glaswegian activists had demanded legislation and the building of municipal housing as early as 1885, when theRoyal Commission on Housing for the Working Class noted the housing crisis. The Scottish Housing Council organised in 1900 and under pressure from trade unions the House Letting and Rating (Scotland) Act 1911[10] was passed. The act introduced letting by month, previously workers with unstable jobs had been forced to put up a year's rent payment. But as landlords increased rents protests by tenants became more frequent.[11]
John Maclean of theBritish Socialist Party organised the Scottish Federation of Tenants' Associations[12] in 1913 to fight against rent increases and championed public housing. In 1914 the Independent Labour Party Housing Committee and the Women's Labour League formed theGlasgow Women's Housing Association. Under the leadership ofMary Barbour,Mary Laird,Helen Crawfurd,Mary Jeff,Jessie Stephen[13] andJessie Fergusson[14] the Glasgow Women's Housing Association became the driving force behind the rent strike that started in May 1915 in the industrialised area ofGovan. Tenants refused to pay the latest increase in rents and staged mass demonstrations against evictions, resulting in violent confrontations. With the start of the First World War local young men left Glasgow to serve in the army overseas, and the first violent protest in the Govan district took place in April to resist the eviction of a soldier's family. As evictions were repeatedly attempted with support from the police, women attacked the factors and the sheriffs' men.[15][16]
In early summer 1915, the rent strikers were supported by mass demonstrations and by August, the rent strikers had found widespread support in Glasgow. Rent strikes spread from heavily industrialised areas of the city to artisanal areas and slum areas. Strikes ignited inPartick,Parkhead,Pollokshaws,Pollok,Cowcaddens,Kelvingrove,Ibrox, Govanhill, St Rollox,Townhead, Springburn, Maryhill,Fairfield,Blackfriars, andWoodside. In October 1915, 15,000 tenants were on rent strike and a demonstration led by women converged onSt Enoch Square. By November, 20,000 tenants were on rent strike as violent resistance against evictions continued. Trade unions threatened factory strikes if evictions supported by the police continued and following demonstrations on 17 November, legal action against rent strikers was halted.[16] State Secretary of ScotlandThomas McKinnon Wood asked the Cabinet to freeze all rents at pre-war levels and in December, theRents and Mortgage Interest Restriction Act 1915 received royal assent.[15]
In March 2018, to mark International Women's Day, a bronze sculpture of Barbour was unveiled in Govan, Glasgow portraying Barbour leading a line of strikers.[17]
The left-wing activities continued after the end of the war. The campaign for a 40-hour week, with improved conditions for the workers, occupied the exertions of organised labour. On 31 January 1919, a massive rally, organised by thetrade unions, took place onGeorge Square in the city centre of Glasgow. Although it has been claimed that as many as 90,000 people were present, contemporary sources suggest 20-25,000.[18] Once again, although it is claimed that theRed Flag was raised in the centre of the crowd, this had in reality happened on Monday 27 January.[18] The failure of the tram drivers to join the strike had led to growing hostility, and some of the strikers tried to block the tram traffic in the Square. Police attempts to clear the way led to violence and a series of baton charges.[18] TheRiot Act was read, and attacks were made on strike leader David Kirkwood as he exited the City Chambers.
The Sheriff of Lanarkshire, who had earlier checked that troops would be available if he needed them, called for military aid. Mainly Scottish and mainly veteran troops were sent from bases elsewhere in Scotland, and one battalion was sent up from the north of England. Claims that the troops were sent by the government, as well as claims that Scottish troops were locked in their barracks during the incident, are part of the extensive mythology surrounding the event.[19] It was only fourteen months since theRussian Revolution, and theGerman Revolution was still in progress in January 1919. The troops started arriving at 10 pm that evening, after the violence was over. Six tanks arrived from Dorset on Monday, 3 February.[18]
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There remains a debate on the left, over whether the Red Clydeside movement constituted a revolutionary opportunity for the working-class, though on the face of it, it would appear that the revolutionary potential of the Clydeside working-class has been exaggerated. Firstly, except Maclean, none of the labour leaders developed a class analysis of the war, nor did they seriously consider threatening the power and authority of the state. Furthermore, it was the behaviour of those conducting the war, not the war itself that provoked opposition within the labour movement. TheIndependent Labour Party'sMay Day Manifesto of 1918 makes this very clear in calling forA Living Wage for all andJustice for our Soldiers and their Dependants. Moreover, the massive demand for men to fight in the war meant that few Glaswegian families escaped personal loss of some kind. To undermine the war effort was to risk alienating the working-class, which many labour leaders were unwilling to do-–apart from Maxton, Gallacher and Maclean.[20]
William Gallacher, who would later become aCommunist MP claimed that, whilst the leaders of the rally were not seeking revolution, in hindsight they should have been. He claimed that they should have marched to the Maryhill Barracks and tried to persuade the troops stationed there to come out on the protesters' side.
The trade union leaders, who had organised the meeting, were arrested. Most were acquitted, although both Gallacher andManny Shinwell were put in jail for their activities that day, Shinwell also being charged with an inflammatory speech the week before in James Watt Street in the city's docks, in an episode that later erupted into a race riot.
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The aura ofRed Clydeside grew as delegations of organised labour replaced theLiberal Party as the political formation most popular among theworking class. This manifested itself at the1922 general election, when several of theRed Clydesiders were elected to serve in theHouse of Commons (most of themIndependent Labour Party members). They included Maxton, Wheatley, Shinwell, Kirkwood,Neil Maclean andGeorge Buchanan.
According to theLabour Party, theRed Clydesiders were viewed as having a dissident left-wing character. Many of them, most notably Maxton and Wheatley, were great critics of the first and second Labour governments, elected in1924 and1929 respectively.
TheRed Clydeside era still impacts upon the politics of the area today. Ever since,Glasgow has been known for political and industrial militancy. TheUpper Clyde Shipbuilders Work In of 1971 offers a pertinent example. TheLabour Party has been historically dominant in Glasgow where they held the vast majority of parliamentary seats until SNP gains in2015 from where they held all seats (with the exception ofGlasgow North East between 2017-2019) until their return to Labour in2024.
This period in Glasgow's colourful past remains a significant landmark for those on the political left in Scotland. The story of theRed Clydesiders can still be politically motivating. At the1989 Glasgow Central by-election, theScottish National Party candidateAlex Neil called himself and the SNP member of Parliament for Govan at the time,Jim Sillars; the "new Clydesiders".
The albumRed Clydeside byAlistair Hulett andDave Swarbrick contains nine songs about the movement, particularly the anti-war protests and the rent strike. The Red Clydeside movement was also featured inJohn McGrath's playLittle Red Hen, performed by7:84.
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