Economy

Impact of war

Napoleonic

World War 1

World War 2

From the Crusades to the Cold War, the highland economy has both suffered and benefited from military activity.

In 1248 the Count of St. Pol in Flanders commissioned a ship in Inverness, to sail to the Crusades. Rich timber resources and local skills were exploited much later by Cromwell, who ordered a frigate to be built for patrolling Loch Ness.

Mercenary service overseas has a long tradition in the Highlands. During the Thirty Years War (1618-48), for example, the Munros alone had 46 officers engaged in the Swedish Army.

Following the Jacobite Rebellions
Following the '15 and '45 Jacobite Rebellions the Government established forts (Forts George, Augustus and William) and the Ruthven Barracks at Kingussie. General Wade oversaw the building of military roads and bridges, which greatly improved the Highland's infrastructure. General Roy undertook the first detailed mapping survey of the Highlands, so laying the foundation of the Ordnance Survey.

After the '45 rebel highland chiefs could recover their fortunes by raising regiments for the Crown. Fraser's and Cameron Highlanders fought in the American and Napoleonic wars.

The closure of markets by the Napoleonic Wars encouraged the very profitable domestic processing of kelp for soap and glass making. This helped to finance fine buildings such as Armadale Castle.

The World Wars
The arms race leading up to World War I brought battleships and big business to the Cromarty Firth. But huge casualties on the Western Front were disastrous to small highland communities, depriving them of young men. Whole forests (Abernethy, Torridon) were felled to make ammunition boxes.

World War II boosted strategic aluminium production. The factory at Foyers was bombed. A.I Welders of Inverness supplied the machines for making PLUTO (Pipe Line Under The Ocean) for fuelling the Normandy invasion. Loch Ewe was the base for the Arctic convoys; in the 1960s it was converted to a NATO base with large refueling facilities built by Logan's of Muir of Ord.

The Cold War
MOD activity during the Cold War included a base on Benbecula, firing ranges in Easter Ross and North Sutherland and an early-warning station at Unst in Shetland. These, like both hostile and friendly garrisons of the past, have made an important contribution to local highland economies.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

If a book listed in the bibliography below is available from the Highland Libraries it will be indicated by a book icon -

Darling, Frank Fraser
The Highlands and Islands

Houston, R. A.
The New Penguin History of Scotland

Hunter, James
The Making of the Crofting Community

Ash, Marinell
This Noble Harbour

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