ABSTRACT
The place of the Glasgow disturbances within the general picture of race rioting in Britain during 1919 has hitherto been uncertain and, at times, totally overlooked. Any consideration, therefore, of the immediate background to the Glasgow racial disturbances must take into account the economic dislocation as a factor in the riots. When looking at the contemporary reports of the Glasgow race disturbances one is struck by the fact that few of the newspapers which mention the incidents link them to the more general phase of rioting from April to June 1919. The breach occurred when Wilson sacked all the local Glasgow officials, who continued to do their work under the breakaway title of the Seafarers' Union. Knowledge of the events at Glasgow Harbour both adds to the information which is available on the 1919 riots and alters the perspective from which this series of incidents has hitherto been viewed.
