The Era Of The Great War #11: War Industries

Question 1

By 1913, how many tonnes or shipping was Scotland making a year?

Answer 1

757000

Question 2

How many warships were built on the Clyde during ww1?

Answer 2

481

Question 3

What % of Scotland’s coal, iron, and steel was North Lanarkshire producing?

Answer 3

40

Question 4

Coal workers were…

Answer 4

Exempt from conscription

Question 5

What was coal used for?

Answer 5

Fuelling ships, homes, and producing munitions

Question 6

What was iron used for?

Answer 6

Weapons

Question 7

What was steel used for?

Answer 7

Aircraft engines, tanks

Question 8

What was jute used for?

Answer 8

Sandbags, bags, sacks, packs, wrappings

Question 9

In Dundee, how many industry workers worked in jute?

Answer 9

25%

Question 10

How many sandbags were being produced per month in Dundee?

Answer 10

6million

Question 11

What was sheep’s wool used for?

Answer 11

Uniforms and army blankets

Question 12

Why did older men and boys take over farming?

Answer 12

• most farmers left for war
• government payed guaranteed prices for things like potatoes and milk

Question 13

Aside from jute, how else did textiles experience a boom?

Answer 13

Canvas materials were used for tents

Question 14

How much of Britain’s armour plate was being produced by Glasgow by 1918?

Answer 14

90%

Question 15

What was steel plates used for?

Answer 15

Tanks, ships, weapons

Question 16

What was the job or the Ministry of Munitions?

Answer 16

• run industries like coal, steel making, and railways, to make the more efficient
• encourage industries to diversify and produce different products

Question 17

Why was the MoM created?

Answer 17

To organise the economy and support the army

Question 18

Why would workers be provided with ‘reserved occupation’ status?

Answer 18

If their jobs were crucial to the war effort

Question 19

What were some reserved occupations?

Answer 19

Dock Workers
Miners
Farmers
Scientists
Merchant Seamen
Railway Workers
Utility Workers – Water, Gas, Electricity

Question 20

Aside from their wool, why else were sheep useful?

Answer 20

Their meat

Question 21

What did the farming industry receive?

Answer 21

Government subsidies

Question 22

How many did Beardmore’s engineering firm employ? What did they build?

Answer 22

20k
Artillery, shells, tanks

Question 23

How many were employed in ammunition in the Clyde Valley?

Answer 23

24000

Question 24

What happened to shepards’ wages?

Answer 24

The doubled to £2 a week

Question 25

What did the Edinburgh-based North British Rubber Company produce?

Answer 25

Gas masks, boots, sheets, jackets

Question 26

What happened to many farming horses?

Answer 26

- military work: cavalry & hauling = less work done on farms eg. ploughing

Question 27

How did women help the farming industry?

Answer 27

Through the women’s land army

Question 28

How many women were in the women’s and army by 1918?

Answer 28

300k

Question 29

What did the women’s land army do?

Answer 29

Milked cows, harvested crops, lambing, catching rats, ploughing

Question 30

How did the change in food production benefit farmers?

Answer 30

- less meat imported - more had to be grown - more money

Question 31

How did the change in food production benefit farmers?

Answer 31

- less meat imported - more had to be grown - more money

Question 32

What 3 powers did the Ministry of Munitions have?

Answer 32

- declare factories controlled establishments - restrict the freedom of workers to leave, through a system of certificates and of tribunals - given power to regulate wages in the industry in 1916

Question 33

When was The Munitions of War Act passed?

Answer 33

1915

Question 34

Why was The Munitions of War Act passed?

Answer 34

to address the "Shell Crisis" of 1915, when the British Army faced a shortage of artillery shells