GEORGE SQUARE GLASGOW

The square was named after George III, a statue of whom was originally intended to occupy the centre of the square, but the turmoil and anxiety caused to the city's Tobacco Lords by the American War of Independence in 1776 and eventual British defeat in 1782, coupled with his ever more frequent bouts of madness had created mixed feelings toward the Hanoverian and so it was decided instead to commemorate Sir Walter Scott, which, incidentally, was the first ever memorial dedicated to him.
The eastern side of the square itself is flanked by two lawns and is also the site of the city's Cenotaph, which was originally built to commemorate Glaswegians killed in the First World War when it was erected in 1922 by the Earl Haig Fund. An 80 foot high column in the centre features author Walter Scott, which was erected in 1837. Many of Glasgow's public statues are situated around the square and include the only known equestrian statues of a young Queen Victoria and her consort Prince Albert, poets Robert Burns and Thomas Campbell, inventor James Watt, chemist Thomas Graham, generals Sir John Moore, Lord Clyde and politicians William Gladstone and Robert Peel.
The square has often been the scene of public meetings, political gatherings, riots, protests, celebrations, ceremonies, parades and concerts. Perhaps the most famous was the the Black Friday 1919 rally, when campaigners for improved working conditions (particularly protesting a 56 hour working week in many of the city's factories) held an enormous rally, with at least 90,000 protesters filling the square and the surrounding streets. The meeting descended into violence between the protesters and the police, with the riot act being read. The city's radical reputation, and the raising of the red flag by some present, made the Liberal government fear a bolshevik revolution was afoot. The government responded by deploying fully-armed troops and tanks into the square and the city's streets.

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