Red Clydeside: A history of the labour movement in Glasgow 1910-1932

Events

Development of a Socialist Infrastructure

A socialist infrastructure made up of committed individuals and the differing socialist and Marxist political groupings was already well established on Clydeside during the 1910-14 period. However, in the years 1910-14 the development of this infrastructure grew rapidly, both on Clydeside and other industrial centres in Scotland, with the entry of many new recruits to the the socialist and Marxist causes. These new recruits in turn helped the parties develop their organisational strength and reach a wider audience through the use of propaganda.

Socialist and Marxist political parties such as the ILP (Independent Labour Party), the SLP (Socialist Labour Party) and the BSP (British Socialist Party) were already well organised at this time, holding weekly meetings and distributing propaganda in all parts of the Greater Glasgow region. Anarchist groups were also prominent within Glasgow during this period.

The growing spread and influence of socialist and Marxist ideology amongst Scotland's working classes alarmed many within the right-wing political establishment. In the first decade of the 20th century a loose coalition of Conservative Party members, clergy from all the main denominations and high ranking military personnel helped launch of a propaganda counter offensive aimed at alerting the working classes to the evils of socialism. Many leaflets and tracts were printed warning of the dire consequences of socialism and distributed throughout homes in working class districts as well as being distributed outside of churches and work gates.

The publication and dissemination of political literature and propaganda was seen as a vital part in the process of increasing class awareness amongst Scottish workers, and an important medium for the transmission of socialist and Marxist ideas. Political newspapers like Forward, Justice, Clarion, Vanguard and The Socialist were widely read throughout the region.

During this period John Maclean, a Glasgow school teacher, began teaching classes in Marxist economics and industrial history. These classes were open to interested members of the general public as well as to trade unionists and political activists. Many of those who attended these early Marxist classes would later go on to play important roles in the politics of the Red Clydeside period. Future ILP MPs James Maxton and Neil Maclean acted as tutors, and CWC leaders William Gallacher, James Messer and Harry McShane all attended these classes as students.

On Clydeside, socialist education and teaching was not the sole preserve of adults. Organisations like the Clarion Scouts and the Socialist Sunday Schools, which educated children in socialist principles, proved extremely popular. The Socialist Sunday School movement was established in Glasgow in the 1890s as a protest against, and an alternative to, the perceived middle-class bias and assumptions of the regular churches. The Socialist Sunday School movement grew rapidly, and by 1912 there were 15 schools in Glasgow and eight in Edinburgh, out of a total of 96, affiliated to the National Council of the British Sunday School Union.

During this period the labour movement in Scotland, through its press, workplace meetings, open lectures and study groups, was able to provide an educational counterbalance to the perceived wisdom of industrial capitalism.