era of the great war - rent strikes
- 1. Era of the Great War The 1915 rent strikes
- 2. The 1915 rent strikes In today’s class I am learning to: • Explain why rent strikes took place in Scotland during World War One • Describe events during the rent strikes
- 3. The 1915 rent strikes During the Great War there were major protests across Scotland; these aimed to stop rent increases and try to improve people’s living conditions.
- 4. The 1915 rent strikes The Great War had led to an economic boom across Scotland; more people had jobs and key industries such as shipbuilding needed more workers. As a result, more people came to live in areas near these industries.
- 5. The 1915 rent strikes Areas such as Glasgow, Clydeside, Dundee, Edinburgh and Aberdeen saw increases in their populations. Due to more people living in these areas, there was then a much greater demand for housing.
- 6. The 1915 rent strikes In Glasgow in 1915, with more people wanting houses in the city, landlords decided to massively raise the rents that they charged (by as much as 25%). This meant that tenants had to pay more money or lose their homes.
- 7. The 1915 rent strikes The rent increases also caused anger because they came at a time of rising food prices, meaning people were already short of money. In addition many of the homes were very poor quality and people resented paying more.
- 8. The 1915 rent strikes Big rent increases – and tenant anger – were not new in Scotland. In 1912 when Dundee landlords tried to raise rents there were public protests and threats to not pay rent, which meant the increases did not go ahead.
- 9. The 1915 rent strikes Some landlords may have assumed that because large numbers of men were at war fighting, this would stop any protests against the rent increases. However the tenants – especially women – instead fought back.
- 10. The 1915 rent strikes In response to the rent increases, campaign groups were formed against this. One group was the Glasgow Women’s Housing Association, led by women such as Mary Barbour, Agnes Dollan and Helen Crawfurd.
- 11. The 1915 rent strikes The anti-rent rise groups used various campaign methods. They held public meetings, sometimes spoke directly to politicians and also produced propaganda posters to try and attract more supporters. “The soldier dies for his country and the landlord calls for his furniture”
- 12. The 1915 rent strikes In May 1915 the rent strikes began. This meant that tenants would refuse to pay their rents, and around 25,000 people took part in this. The strikers were then threatened with eviction (being thrown out of their homes).
- 13. The 1915 rent strikes The campaign groups worked to stop evictions. When sheriff officers came to throw people out of their homes, mass protests took place. Often thousands of people would turn up to stop them getting near the house.
- 14. The 1915 rent strikes Eviction protests sometimes turned violent. Sheriff officers would be attacked, often with flour bombs or other missiles. At other times male workers would strike and support the women in their campaign.
- 15. The 1915 rent strikes Rent strikes also led to strikes in munitions factories, hurting the country’s war effort. The rent strikes soon spread across Scotland, and various other areas were involved, including Dundee, Aberdeen and parts of Fife.
- 16. The 1915 rent strikes The government worried about the rent strikes. They feared it would stop Britain winning the war or even build support for a revolution in Britain. They passed the Rent Restriction Act to keep rents at 1914 prices.
- 17. The 1915 rent strikes As a result of the rent strikes’ success, more direct action was encouraged amongst working class people. Male workers took part in strikes in their workplaces, to try and get higher wages or better conditions.
- 18. The 1915 rent strikes After the war ended these protests to achieve a better standard of living continued. Famously the 1919 Battle of George Square saw thousands of protestors fight with the police, leading to soldiers being sent in.