the impact of the empire on scotland

Question 1

city expansion

Answer 1

glasgows major manufacturing industries recieved so many orders through the empire that it became known as the “second city of the empire” and the “workshop of the world”. the empire therefore helped glasgow to flourish as a city.

Question 2

depopulation of rural areas

Answer 2

jobs created by huge investment in heavy industry in cities was partly the cause of scotlands huge internal migration during the period. the empire therefore contributed to the depopulation of local areas like highlands + islands where local populations declined quickly.

Question 3

jute

Answer 3

raw jute was sent to dundee from bengal in india . the factories of dundee then turned the raw material into a highly profitable textile jute cloth, which was then exported back across the empire. this created a huge number of jobs in dundee & became the citys primary industry

Question 4

rail production

Answer 4

springburn in glasgow produced 1/4 of the worlds locomotives during the height of the empire, in particular because of scotlands connections with canada where the rail network was expanding rapidly. the empire therefore significantly expanded scotlands train production industry.

Question 5

architectural investment

Answer 5

many scots made their fortune across the empire and then returned home to scotland, building huge mansions with their wealth such as the glassfords in glasgow. broughty ferry on the outskirts of dundee is an area made up of mansions for the super-wealthy which were constructed using money made through the empire.

Question 6

investment trusts

Answer 6

the cities of edinburgh and aberdeen particularly benefitted from the profits made through the concept of ‘investment trusts’ which was created by scots who worked in the finance industry. they used these trusts to heavily invest in projects across the empire, and the arrangements of trusts maximised their profits.

Question 7

lack of investment

Answer 7

while scottish investments across the empire made individual scots very wealthy, areas outside of scotlands major cities didnt see much investment as most of scotlands capital was being sent abroad. the empire therefore damaged the amount of money being invested in scotland & held some areas back

Question 8

empire competition

Answer 8

from 1900, scottish industry began to struggle against competition from within the empire, where many scots had developed booming industries. this competition led to a low-wage economy within scotland as prices had to be kept as low as possible to continue recieving orders. this caused povertys for scotlands working class

Question 9

social structure

Answer 9

opportunities were created for middle-class men in medicine, civil service and the army in empire countries - particularly india. their new social status was brought with them when they came home, changing scotlands previous strict social structure and class system.

Question 10

scot’s leaving

Answer 10

some of scotlands most talented businesspeople, political activists and creatives left scotland during this period to find a new life in one of the empire countries as they believed they would have more success elsewere. this talent was therefore lost to scotland.