British History - The New Industries

What did the new industries consist of?

*motor car assembly

*chemicals

*electrical engineering

*synthetic fibres

*plastic and rubber

*mass communication and leisure

How were these new industries different from the old one?

*used oil and electricity, especially after creation of Central Electricity Board 1926, for power rather than steam

*as didn’t need coal, much more flexibility as to location

*proximity to markets and size of the market, rather than nearness of raw materials

Where were they mainly located?

South and South-East around London and Midlands

Why were they far less dependent upon export markets?

Majority of their products being sold at home

Why were they more structured in organisation?

Using up to date methods of mass-production and assembly

Why were they more technologically orientated?

Greater attention being paid to scientific research to improve products and production

What did the establishment of the National Grid in 1926 do?

Freed industries from their dependence in the coalfields

What did this do?

With the spread of new electrical consumer durables, households increased the consumption of electricity

What was very good for electrical items?

Export record

What did a high degree of specialisation allow?

Even small firms to survive

What happened in Britain by 1937?

Had a 1/3rd share of world market in exports of electrical products

Before 1920, what was Britain like in the development of industry?

Backward as compared with America and the countries of Western Europe

What did changes come as a result of?

The findings of the War Committee (1925)

Why was the Central Electricity Board set up?

To distribute power through the existing companies lines throughout Britain by means of a National Grid

By 1939, the number of consumers of electricity had risen by how much?

730,000 - 9 million

What did the rise of cheap electricity do?

Gave rise to new electrical engineering industries in Britain

What did their products range from?

Massive generators and dynamics to small domestic appliances

What happened at the outbreak of war?

400,000 people employed by electrical engineering industry

What was set up in 1926?

Central Electricity Board

What did the board do?

Rationalised the large number of small, inefficient power stations and built a new generation of super stations connected by a national grid of high-voltage transmission lines

What was the result of the Central Electricity Board?

Rose fourfeld between 1925-1939

By late 1930’s, what were new consumers being added at a rate by?

700,000 - 800,000 per year

What did the light industries of the South-East do?

Owed a great deal to the geographical dispersal made possibly by electricity

What did electricity do to the homes?

1st wave of electrically-powered domestic appliances, such as radio, vacuum cleaners, cookers, gramophones and electric irons

How was the impact of electricity’s growth upon the economy also seen?

Doubling of employment - 156,000 in 1924, 325,000 by 1938

What was the motor industry stimulated by?

The war

How much did the number of motor vehicles increase by?

1908: 10

1938: 445

Why was this?

Due to economic boom in America and introduction of motor industry and car development

How much did employment increase in the motor industry?

1923: 120,000

1938: 250,000

Why didn’t this increase much?

Because of low unemployment rates in 1930

What were the number of ‘reasons’ for this motor production growth?

*adoption of assembly-line method, pioneered by Ford in 1908

*failing cost of raw materials and an expanding market boosted the industry

*larger firms were established, leading to greater efficiency and standardisation

*depression affected the industry less, as real incomes of the middle classes increased

*exports were never outstanding importance, home market was protected by a 33% tariff introduced in 1915

How was Britain well ahead of all continental competitors in 1929?

Exports of cars was twice of Americas in 1929

What helped the motor industry grow since 1915?

The protection of a high tariff

What did the British road tax and insurance system favour?

An engine of small horse power, but this type of car was less acceptable in the export market

What had Austen done?

Produced the 1st mass-market car in the Austen Seven in 1921, but was soon followed by Morris and Ford

What was the impact of mass production leading to a fall in prices?

By 1935/6, a typical, small family car could be bought for half what it would’ve cost 10 years earlier

What did rearmament from the mid 1930’s ensure?

A steady flow of order

What did the continued growth of civil aviation ensure?

A ready market

What had the engineering industry done by 1937?

Increased its output by 50% in a decade

What did the chemical industry produce?

Dyes, industrial gases, fertilisers and plastics

What was it dominated by?

Large firms such as ICI, which almost held a monopoly

What did the scale of its inter prise help?

Raise the technical efficiency of British industry to the level of its chief foreign rivals

Where did heavy chemical firms develop?

19th century on the salt field of Cheshire and mid-Mersey valley to produce soda by the Leblanc process

What was the Leblanc process 1790?

Making sulphuric acid, hydrochloric and nitric acids were produced

What happened?

Large quantities of chlorine and sulphur firms were allowed to escape and poison the atmosphere round the works

What happened when this was prevented by the Alkali Act 1863?

Soda firms were forced to recover the waste products - thus the manufacture of one chemical led to that of another

What happened in 1890?

50 of these acid and alkali firms amalgamated to form united Alkalic, to compete with Brunner, who had in 1873 began to manufacture soda by the new chemical - soda process

What did the outbreak of war in 1914 do?

Found the chemical manufactures unprepared for mass productions of explosives

What did technical co-operation between many small units during the war lead to?

Their amalgamation in 1918 to form ‘Noble Industries’

What did the war also stimulate?

Britain’s production of dyes, which had became almost a German monopoly, although the original discovery of anure had been made by English Chemist Perkin in 1856

What did amalgamations of firms in textile areas of Lancashire and Yorkshire lead to?

Formation in 1918 of ‘British Dyestuff Coorperation’

What did the amalagamtion of these 4 firms in 1926 do?

Concentrated the production of Britain’s chemical in a vast combine ‘Imperial Chemical Industries’

What other chemical products were energetically developed during the inter-war years?

Artificial silks known as rayons and synthetic nitrates for fertilisers

Why was the growth of the rayon industry also important?

Shows the part played in economic progress by chemical industry

Why was the total capital of ‘Imperial Chemical Industries’ in 1926?

£56,000,000, which became the target industrial organisation in British Empire

What helped GB develop a rayon industry between the UK?

Protective tariffs (1925) on imports

However, what was Britain far behind on?

Other nations (USA, Japan and Germany) in the international trade

What was Britain’s exports of Rayon’s in 1939 only one of?

1/10th of the valve of her exports of catons - reemphasising the point that Britain was falling to offset her loses instead industries by gains in the new ones

What did rationalisation produce?

Great combines such as Imperial Chemicals Industries

By 1939, what did the industry do?

Employ 100,000 people in factories over Britain, including some in depressed areas, such as NW coast

What did the ICI produce?

Wide range of products, including artificial dyes, explosives and fertilisers

What also played an important part in the revival of British economy?

Construction and building industry

What was there a surge in?

Demand for both public and private industry

What was the result?

Industry grew at almost double the average rate for the economy as a whole during the inter-war period

What was demand stimulated for?

Bricks, woodwork, glass, cement and variety of other products such as paint, plumbing and electrical apparatus

What did rationalisation produce?

Great combines such as Imperial Chemical Industries

By 1939, what did the industry do?

Employ 100,000 people in factories over Britain, including some in depressed areas, such as NW coast

What did the ICI produce?

Wide range of products, including artificial dyes, explosives and fertilisers

What was the total capital of ‘Imperial Chemical Industries’ in 1926?

£56,000,000, which became the largest industrial organisation in British Empire

What helped GB develop a rayon industry between the wars?

Protective tariffs (1925) on imports

However, what was Britain far behind on?

Other nations (USA, Japan and Germany) in the international trade

During the 1920’s, what programmes helped house-building?

Addison’s Act 1919, Wheatley’s Act 1924

What did Housing Acts in 1933 and 1935 do?

Gave subsidies to local authorities, enabling them to concentrate on slum clearances and overcrowding

What boom did they see in the early 1930’s?

Private enterprise house-building for sale to those who were able to borrow

What factors promoted this?

Low cost of living, large pool of available labour, low costs of building materials and low interest rates

Why was private house-building criticised?

Diverted resources from local authority construction and it subjected something so vital of housing to the profit motive

What did people argue about red-brick houses along truck roads?

Encouraged snobbery and pointed out that these new properties were full of bored and idle wives as a result of the decline in number of children per family

However, what happened by 1939?

No shortage of houses in the country and 1/3 of all houses in England and Wales had been built

What were builders able to do?

Take advantage of government and local authority road-building schemes which reduced the road and drainage costs associated with construction

In mid 1930’s, how much would a 3 bed house be in Southern England?

£500 cash

How much were council houses?

35-75p per week

What were most of the prosperals industries sheltered from?

Foreign competition from tariffs

What did electrical power and cheap internal transport give?

Greater freedom of location

Why did many settle in the Midlands and London?

To benefit from established metal working skills and market

Overall, what did the inter war years represent?

An image of decay in old industries, contrasted with steady growth in new industries

How did economic recovery and increased disposable income in leisure and communication caused growth of new industries?

Rising wages and falling prices meant that more people, especially in middle and working classes had disposable income to spend on leisure activities

What did Holidays with Pay Act (1928) ensure?

That more workers had paid time off, with shorter working hours

What were the different types of growing industries?

*directly replacing an old industry: rayon, canned food

*others represented new products/services which came to absorb additional wealth available: radios, cars, aircraft, electrical goods

*long established industries which home market was growing: building, hosiery, books and shoes

What did the scale of chemical enterprise help?

Raise the technical efficiency of British industry to level of chief foreign rivals

Between the wars, what were the two main developments in the press?

Increasing concentration of ownership and fierce competition for mass circulation

By 1930, what was it estimated?

That the press was in the hands of 7 large combinations, all with very complex interlocking financial arrangements

What were ¾ of the press owned by?

One of seven groups

Which were?

*The Times

*The Daily Mail/Mirror

*Daily Express

*Daily Sketch

*Morning Post

*Daily Herald

*News Chronicle

What was the only major paper not based in London?

The Manchester Guardian

When was the circulation war at its peak?

Early 1930s

Who was it started by?

J.S. Elias, manager of old harms, who was a publisher, not a newspaper man

What did he realise?

That money was not to be made from readers buying papers, but from papers having readers

What did he realise about the more readers a paper had?

The larger the advertising revenue it could command. It was advertising that provided the money

What did Elias begin by?

Door-to-door canvassing

Soon, what did the Daily Mail follow with?

Offers of free insurance to regular readers and others joined in with torments of free gifts