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m Changed the flag’s shade very similar to the Union Jack. Tags: Reverted Visual edit Mobile edit Mobile web edit |
Mutt Lunker (talk | contribs) Reverted good faith edits by Voidener (talk): Poor rationale & not minor; rv. to shade of flag of Scotland |
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{{Infobox UK country
| native_name = {{Native name|sco|Scotland}}<br />{{Native name|gd|Alba}}
| image_flag =
| flag_caption =
| image_coat = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (Scotland).svg
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[[File:German parachute mine.jpg|thumb|right|A defused 1,000 kg Luftmine (German [[parachute mine]]) in Glasgow, 18 March 1941, during the [[Clydebank Blitz]]]]
Scotland played a major role in the [[History of the United Kingdom during the First World War|British effort]] in the [[First World War]]. It especially provided manpower, ships, machinery, fish and money.<ref>Richard J. Finlay, ''Modern Scotland 1914–2000'' (2006), pp 1–33</ref> With a population of 4.8 million in 1911, Scotland sent over half a million men to the war, of whom over a quarter died in combat or from disease, and 150,000 were seriously wounded.<ref>R. A. Houston and W. W. J. Knox, eds. ''The New Penguin History of Scotland'' (2001) p 426.[https://books.google.com/books?id=VI5nAAAAMAAJ&q=casualties] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240610011816/https://books.google.com/books?id=VI5nAAAAMAAJ&q=casualties |date=10 June 2024 }} [[Niall Ferguson]] points out in "The Pity of War" that the proportion of enlisted Scots who died was third highest in the war behind Serbia and Turkey and a much higher proportion than in other parts of the UK.[https://books.google.com/books?id=QrYhAQAAIAAJ&q=enlisted] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404004726/https://books.google.com/books?id=QrYhAQAAIAAJ&q=enlisted |date=4 April 2023 }} [http://news.scotsman.com/worldwarone/39Savage-Scots39-wish-you-weren39t.6487746.jp] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101005094654/http://news.scotsman.com/worldwarone/39Savage-Scots39-wish-you-weren39t.6487746.jp |date=5 October 2010 }}</ref> [[Field Marshal (United Kingdom)|Field Marshal]] [[Douglas Haig|Sir Douglas Haig]] was Britain's commander on the Western Front. The war saw the emergence of a radical movement called "[[Red Clydeside]]" led by militant trades unionists. Formerly a [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] stronghold, the industrial districts switched to [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] by 1922, with a base among the [[Irish Catholic]] working-class districts. Women were especially active in building neighbourhood solidarity on housing issues. The "Reds" operated within the Labour Party with little influence in Parliament and the mood changed to passive despair by the late 1920s.<ref>Iain McLean, ''The Legend of Red Clydeside'' (1983)</ref>
During the Second World War, Scotland was targeted by [[Nazi Germany]] largely due to its factories, shipyards, and coal mines.<ref name="blitz">{{Cite web |title=Primary History – World War 2 – Scotland's Blitz |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/world_war2/scotlands_blitz |access-date=1 August 2018 |publisher=BBC |archive-date=12 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180812052942/http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/world_war2/scotlands_blitz/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Cities such as [[Glasgow]] and [[Edinburgh]] were targeted by German bombers, as were smaller towns mostly located in the central belt of the country.<ref name="blitz" /> Perhaps the most significant air raid in Scotland was the [[Clydebank Blitz]] of March 1941, which intended to destroy naval shipbuilding in the area.<ref name="Clydebank blitz">{{Cite web |title=Scotland's Landscape : Clydebank Blitz |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/landscapes/clydebank_blitz |access-date=1 August 2018 |publisher=BBC |archive-date=20 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181020053750/http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/landscapes/clydebank_blitz/ |url-status=live }}</ref> 528 people were killed and 4,000 homes totally destroyed.<ref name="Clydebank blitz" /> Perhaps Scotland's most unusual wartime episode occurred in 1941 when [[Rudolf Hess]] flew to Renfrewshire, possibly intending to broker a peace deal through the [[Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 14th Duke of Hamilton|Duke of Hamilton]].<ref>J. Leasor ''Rudolf Hess: The Uninvited Envoy'' (Kelly Bray: House of Stratus, 2001), {{ISBN|0-7551-0041-7}}, p. 15.</ref> Before his departure from Germany, Hess had given his adjutant, [[Karlheinz Pintsch]], a letter addressed to [[Adolf Hitler]] that detailed his intentions to open peace negotiations with the British. Pintsch delivered the letter to Hitler at the Berghof around noon on 11 May.{{Sfn|Evans|2008|p=168}} [[Albert Speer]] later said Hitler described Hess's departure as one of the worst personal blows of his life, as he considered it a personal betrayal.{{Sfn|Sereny|1996|p=240}} Hitler worried that his allies, Italy and Japan, would perceive Hess's act as an attempt by Hitler to secretly open peace negotiations with the British.
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