Echoes Of War

The Second World War had lasting effects on Scotland, reshaping life, identity and industry

- by TREVOR ROYLE

THE end of the Second World War was a major turning point in European history. Millions of people were on the move as displaced families from all over the continent struggled to return to places they had once regarded as home to pick up the remnants of their shattered lives after one of the longest and deadliest conflicts in living memory.

Scotland, too, was changed by decisions taken during that period, but there was widespread belief that things could only get better. Even before the fighting stopped and peace returned to a shattered globe, steps had been taken to ensure that it would be a world fit for heroes.

The theme was more intense than a simple appeal to the optimism that had accompanied the end of the previous conflict. For the beleaguered British people, who withstood almost six years of continuous warfare when for much of the time they themselves had been on the front line, the predominant emotion was “never again”.

They had seen what could be achieved when people combined in common cause, and the experience of a coalition government with united war aims had provided the foundations for a new beginning.

Most of their hopes were based on principles embodied in William Beveridge’s Social Insurance and Allied Services report, which provided the blueprint for a comprehensive postwar welfare state. Published in December 1942, its timing was doubly fortuitous. Not only did it bring a promise of change, but it provided hope when it seemed that the war could be won following the victories at El Alamein and Stalingrad the previous year.