On Friday 31 January 1919, a strike rally in George Square ended in a police baton charge, a red flag flying over the crowd, and — in the days that followed — tanks on the streets of Glasgow. To a British government still reeling from the Russian Revolution, the scenes of ‘Bloody Friday’ looked like the beginning of a Bolshevik rising, and it responded by pouring troops into the city as though into enemy territory. In truth it was an industrial dispute over working hours, not a revolution — but it became one of the most extraordinary days in the history of Glasgow.
This page sets out what actually happened: the strike behind it, the violence in the square, the arrests, the tanks that followed, and the long argument over what it all meant.
The forty-hours strike
The confrontation grew out of a strike for shorter working hours. With the First World War just ended, Clydeside’s workers feared mass unemployment as servicemen returned home, and campaigned to cut the working week from fifty-four hours to forty, so that the available work could be shared among more men. Backed by the Clyde Workers’ Committee and the trades unions, tens of thousands downed tools in a ‘forty-hours strike’ and demanded that the government intervene. It was, at heart, a dispute about jobs — but it unfolded against a backdrop of revolution across Europe.
George Square, 31 January
On Friday 31 January 1919, an enormous crowd — tens of thousands strong — packed into George Square in front of the City Chambers, waiting to hear whether the government would act. A red flag was raised above the throng, and the atmosphere grew electric. Inside the City Chambers, a deputation of strike leaders, including David Kirkwood and Emanuel Shinwell, was meeting the Lord Provost to press the workers’ case. Outside, thousands of restless strikers and onlookers filled the square and the surrounding streets, hemmed in by ranks of nervous police.
Bloody Friday
Exactly what sparked the violence has always been disputed — whether strikers halted the trams, or the police allowed trams to drive into the crowd, or the mere sight of the red flag provoked the authorities. Whatever the trigger, the police suddenly mounted a baton charge, clubbing their way into the mass of people. The square erupted, and fierce fighting broke out that spilled into the neighbouring streets and on towards the Saltmarket. Hearing the uproar, David Kirkwood rushed out of the City Chambers, only to be struck down by a police baton the moment he appeared.
The arrests
In the chaos, the authorities moved to seize the strike’s leaders. Kirkwood was arrested where he lay; William Gallacher and Emanuel Shinwell were taken too, and other leaders were rounded up in the days that followed in a raid on the strike headquarters. Many people, police and strikers alike, were injured in the rioting. Remarkably, no one was killed on the day, though one police constable would later die of injuries received. For all its fury, ‘Bloody Friday’ claimed no lives in the square itself.
Tanks in the city
It was the government’s reaction that turned a riot into a legend. Convinced that Glasgow was on the brink of a Bolshevik revolution like Russia’s, ministers rushed thousands of troops north, supported by six tanks, in the days after the clash. The tanks were stationed at the Cattle Market and soldiers guarded power stations, bridges and depots across the city. Tellingly, the Scottish soldiers already stationed at Maryhill barracks were kept confined, for fear they would side with their own people. It is worth stressing, though, that these troops arrived after the trouble and never actually clashed with the crowd — there were no tanks in George Square on Bloody Friday itself, whatever the famous photographs may suggest.
The trial & the end
The strike leaders were put on trial in Edinburgh for incitement to riot. Of the twelve men in the dock, only Gallacher and Shinwell were jailed — for three and five months respectively — while Kirkwood was acquitted after proving, with photographs, that he had been felled by a police baton rather than leading any riot. The forty-hours strike itself was called off in mid-February, once a shorter working week of forty-seven hours had been negotiated. The men returned to work, feeling they had won at least part of what they had fought for.
Revolution or riot?
Was Bloody Friday really the revolution the government feared? Most historians think not: it was, they argue, a reformist industrial dispute that a panicking establishment badly misread. Even William Gallacher later admitted that the leaders had been ‘carrying on a strike when we ought to have been making a revolution’. Yet the episode has lost none of its power. As one of the great set-pieces of Red Clydeside, it remains a symbol of a moment when the British state treated Glasgow’s working people as a threat to the nation itself.
At a glance
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Date | Friday 31 January 1919 |
| Also called | Bloody Friday |
| Cause | The forty-hours strike |
| Crowd | Tens of thousands |
| The clash | A police baton charge |
| The response | Troops & six tanks, days later |
| Deaths | None in the square that day |
Frequently asked questions
What was the Battle of George Square?
It was a violent confrontation on 31 January 1919, known as ‘Bloody Friday’, when police baton-charged a huge strike rally in George Square, Glasgow. Fearing revolution, the government sent troops and tanks into the city in the days that followed.
Why was the strike called?
It was a ‘forty-hours strike’ aimed at cutting the working week from fifty-four to forty hours, so that work could be shared among more men and mass unemployment avoided as servicemen returned from the First World War.
What happened on Bloody Friday?
Tens of thousands gathered in George Square, a red flag was raised, and the police mounted a baton charge that triggered fierce fighting in the square and nearby streets. Strike leader David Kirkwood was struck down, and several leaders were arrested.
Were tanks really sent to Glasgow?
Yes. In the days after Bloody Friday, fearing a Bolshevik rising, the government sent thousands of troops and six tanks to Glasgow. The tanks were stationed at the Cattle Market, but they arrived after the riot and never clashed with the crowd; there were no tanks in George Square on the day itself.
Was anyone killed at George Square?
No one was killed in the square on the day, though many police and strikers were injured, and one police constable later died of injuries received during the rioting. It is often described, a little loosely, as a riot without fatalities.
What happened to the strike leaders?
They were tried in Edinburgh for incitement to riot. Only William Gallacher and Emanuel Shinwell were jailed, for three and five months, while David Kirkwood was acquitted after showing he had been struck down by police rather than leading the disorder.
Was Bloody Friday really a revolution?
Most historians think not. They see it as a reformist strike over working hours that the government, alarmed by revolutions in Europe, badly misjudged. Even Gallacher later felt the leaders had missed a revolutionary moment, but the reality was an industrial dispute, not a rising.