The Great Depression, war and loss of empire. Richard Holloway continues to explore the Scots-British identity.

Up until the 1930s, Scots were proud of their dual Scottish/British identity. After the great depression had hammered heavy industry, however, confidence was in as short supply as work on Clydeside. While arguments about Home Rule and independence never went away, they started to simmer down in favour of class solidarity across Great Britain. World War 2 heralded a new version of Britishness in which the nations of the UK all pulled together in what was supposed to be the 'People's War'; and after it, they built the welfare state and nationalised industries, so that a strong UK state could help the worst off. At least that was the theory! As the empire shrank, Britain prided itself on gracefully handing out independence to country after country - that was also the theory - though those newly independent countries may have viewed things differently. At home there was a proud and optimistic sense of Britishness, but was this just a bubble before the realities of post-war economics and shrivelled Great-power status caught up with it? Richard Holloway continues his investigation. Show less