Glasgow's Great War: 14 archive pictures of Glasgow during the First World War

The outbreak of World War 1 rapidly and irreversibly changed the landscape of Glasgow and Britain - today we wanted to look back at Glasgow in that era as the world changed around them.

Glasgow was at the peak of its industrial era - the city was the second most populated after London at this point, hosting over 1 million people within its borders. At the outbreak of war Glasgow changed on a dime, the city became a massive recruiting centre as Glaswegians responded well to the call to war - almost overnight thousands of Glaswegians had signed up and were sent off to fight the enemy overseas.

In total, from 1914-1918, over 200,000 Glasgow men joined the army either voluntarily, or from 1916 onwards, as conscripts.

It was inevitable that Glasgow would be one of the biggest bastions of production on the home front - given the massive capacity of the Clydeside and heavy industry across the city. Shipbuilding skyrocketed, and the city was the centre for production of the unending munitions needed for the war.

Women were recruited in roles in heavy industry that were traditionally associated with men, pictured below you can see women working in factories across Glasgow producing grenades and other munitions. The First World War also saw the introduction of female tram conductors, which would become commonplace post-war.

The massive push in production radicalised many of the Glaswegians that were on the homefront, while many Glaswegians who returned from war would express resentment for those in power. These sentiments would stoke the embers of something that was underlying in Glasgow for a long time, the rent strikes would soon come upon the city, followed by the battle of George Square and the era of Red Clydeside.

You can see more images and learn about the history of Red Clydeside by clicking here.

Many of the pictures below are supplied from the Virtual Mitchell, an open-access archive of old images of Glasgow from across the ages, you can browse thousands of old images of Glasgow by clicking here.