British History - Economy 1918-29

What problems did WW1 have on the economy?

*debt, as the government had borrowed to finance the war

*more money in circulation - so prices had risen

*reduction in exports to other countries, the export market to some countries was completely lost

*increase in the workforce during the War - with men either in the armed forces or working in industry and many more women working

Which industries increased production during the war?

*heavy industry - for shells, weapons etc. Engineering, iron, steel coal

*agriculture - especially after the attacks on British merchant ship by Germany

*cotton/textiles, rubber, petrol, new electrical goods

Why was the economy good during the war?

Due to full employment, more production, higher wages and nationalisation of railways, coals

Why was there a post-war boom?

*demobilised soldiers were integrated back into the economy

*new businesses and agricultural small holdings were created

*social reforms were Lloyd George also boosted the economy

What were Britain able to do again and what were they helped by?

To export goods again, helped by lack of competition from Germany and other countries damaged during the War

What were the long term problems of agriculture?

*output had risen considerably in Britain during the war, with 39% growth in arable acreage cultivated

*trend been to reduce arable crops as world production increased so much as to mark crop production unprofitable

What were the problems created worldwide?

*less money for farmers all over the world to buy British products

*increase in production which eroded profits

*in engineering and shipbuilding, huge wartime demands couldn’t be replicated in peacetime

What were the problems of manufacturing methods?

*not much attention given to lowering manufacturing costs and increasing productivity

*neither unions nor management made substantial effects to make industries more cost-effective and relied on traditional machinery and working methods

What were the problems of the growth of the USA?

*declining world trade, meant that vital financial sector didn’t experience post-war growth of manufacturing exports

*Britain lost primacy to USA as worlds financial centre, a major result of the war

What was the ‘Geddes Axe’ of 1921?

Set of public spending cuts proposed in 1921, by a government-appointed committee

What were they intended to do?

Reduce the national debt and balance the budget after WW1

When was British staple industries developed?

18th century

What was this the reason for?

Britain becoming the worlds 1st industrial notion

What did the staple industries consist of?

Iron and steel, textiles, engineering and ship-building

What was it powered by?

Steam power

Due to the British Empire, what was Britain able to do?

Transport goods and products all around the world and dominated trade of these commodities in many areas during the 19th century

What was Lancashire known for?

Textile industry

What was Sheffield and West Midlands known for?

Steel and metal production and engineering

What was the North East known for?

Ship building

What was South Wales known for?

Coal industry

Why was there such a decline in agriculture and food become imported into Britain?

Because so much of the population had moved to the towns and cities by the end of the 19th century

During the 19th century, what had Britain become known as?

The workshop of the world

What was its economy heavily dependent on?

Exporting goods from the Staple industries around the world

How was foreign competition a problem for the staple industries end of 19th century?

Most worrying for British commentators that a united Germany after 1871 gave scope for impressive industrial expansion of state of Prussia to develop

How was German technology a problem for staple industries?

Rivalled and outshone British and German manufactures were protected by tariffs in a way Britain’s businesses weren’t until 1932

What did Britain fall behind in?

The modernisation of its production as well as its reliance on traditional craft - based working practices

Why was there less demand for British products?

Because countries were industrialising, Italy and Russia grew rapidly in the 1880’s and a modernised Japan emerged as a rival

What doubled during the war?

Memberships of trade unions, giving them greater power

What was it believed about united action?

Could bring greater benefits and unions amalgamated to give themselves greater power and there was an increase in militancy

What was there between 1919-1921?

Series of strikes over pay, conditions, and the question of modernisation

What did these strikes cause?

Considerable disruption

How many working days were lost in 1919?

35 million

How many working days were lost in 1921?

85 million

What was the worst industry?

Coalmining, but other industries were affected

Explain why the strike happened and how did the government react?

*after the war, trade union movement was stronger than ever before, with 8 million members in 1921, about 48% of the Labour force, compared with 20% before the war

*allied with this strength went a mood of militancy resulting in a new wave of strikes

What was the government still in temporary control of in 1919?

The mines

What did the mines demand?

A pay increase of 30%, a 6 hour day and nationalisation

How were their demands met?

Rejected and a strike was threatened

What did London only have?

3 days supply of coal

What did the mines announce?

The re-creation of the Triple Alliance

What was the Triple Alliance?

A pre-war agreement between miners, transport workers and railwaymen to assist each other at times of dispute

What did government let it be known?

They would use troops if a strike took place

What did the Sankey Commission recommend?

Made recommendations for wage rises and a shorter working day of 7 rather than 8 hours, both were accepted by the government

Why were miners disappointed at the outcome?

No consensus on nationalisation, commissioners were dead loaded, so Sankey had to use his casting vote. Minors felt betrayed

Explain why the miners went on strike on April 1st?

*Lloyd George rejected the Sankey proposous, price of coal was halved and the industry began operating at a loss

*strike began as an outcome, due to high unemployment and edge was being taken off union militancy

What were the problems of the coal industry and how did it lead to the General Strike of 1926?

*end of 1921, government didn’t want to continue to subside mining when exports were falling

*mines were handed back to the owners and mines were no longer nationalised, which gave miners more secure pay and better working conditions

*mine owners after mines have bee given back, wanted to cut the pay of workers, due to the fall in profits because of high competition

Why had unions become very influential by 1920?

Because of the need for working support during WW1 and post-war boom

What did low unemployment give workers?

Leverage over employers strikes threatened to reduce production at a time when orders were high

What did trade unions increase the idea of?

Radicalism, for example in Scotland with ‘Red Clyeside’

What were the problems for coal production which led to the General Strike in 1926?

*between 1921-1926, position of coal industry got worse

*war had prevented modernisation and nationalisation for Britain, this meant that competition was high and British industry like coal industries, behind other countries like USA

What was the Samuel Commission 1926?

*pit head baths and decent housing

*national wage agreement and against the lengthening of the working day

*mining royalties should be nationalised

*industry should be more efficient with amalgamations

Why were the miners disappointed though?

Recommended that the only way to survive the industry was to introduce wage cuts - implied 10%

What were the problems from the miners and TUC?

*miners led by Arthur Cook, refused any wage with or longer working hours, sticking to a slogan of “not a penny of the pay, not a minute of the day”

*the TUC, while supportive, lacked a clear strategy and plan

*there was little room for compromise between the unions and employers

What were the problems from government and Baldwin?

*Baldwin’s government took a firm stance and refused to subside the coal industry any longer

*government prepared for the strike by organising volunteers to replace essential workers, weakening the unions position

Summarise the reasons why the General Strike started on May 4th 1926?

*negotiations failed between the government/mine owners and the miners

*coal industry struggled to compete with foreign nations due to Britain using old machinery which was no matter for other countries who industrialised later on

*profits for coal were falling, so owners cut miners wages and made them work longer for less money

What did the 9 days of strikes bring?

Brought great disruption with many industries participating, such as miners, railwaymen, printers, gas and electricity workers, dockers

What was the government well prepared for?

The strike and its emergency measures worked well

What happened after the 9 days?

The unions were forced to surrender, though the mines stayed out until the end of the year

What were the weaknesses of the TUC and leadership?

*never complete unanimity

*1760 prosecutions

*the response of workers wasn’t united or enthusiastic enough to bring the total standstill that might’ve made the strike work

*strike wasn’t without violence and the TUC leaders weren’t eager to maintain it

What happened when the strike was called off on 12th May?

Wave of workers returned, disappointment caused a wave of violence and more men went on strike, but was more of a protest than a effective government

What was the role of the government?

*government was much more proactive, branded the strike as a challenge to the constitution, rather than an attempt to stop the exploitation of miners

*government plans worked well during it, country had been divided into 10 areas. Government recruited men and women to a private organisation

What did Churchill spread?

Misleading information, insisting strikers in particular parts of the country were returning to work when in fact they weren’t

What was it easy to present the strike as?

As a contest between an elected government and a trade union organisation that didn’t represent the mass of the people

What was the Trade Disputes Act 1947?

*sympathetic strikes were made illegal

*trade unionists paying political levy to the Labour party had to agree in writing to pay it, this reversing the procedure of the 1913 Act

*reduced the income of Labour Party by ¼

*Civil Servants Trade Unions were forbidden to affiliate to TUC

Explain the main objectives of this act for the government?

*impact of the Labour Party financially

*stops the alliance between each of the trade unions

How were they attempting to weaken the trade unions?

Weakened political influence for the trade unions

Why was there a boom in the coal industry?

Helped by the French invasion of the Ruhr in 1923

What was unemployment like end of 1924?

Below the national average

What was it by 1925?

Badly hit

What was the rising demand in power stations, gas workers and domestic users counter-balanced by?

The decline in demand from iron and steel works

Why had the coal industry declined?

*fell behind its foreign competition after 1948

*collieries were poorly equipped with outdated machinery

*organisation of the industry made it difficult to improve - British colliery was too small to be efficient with too many independent and competing firms

*industry found it increasingly difficult to compete overseas - problem made worse by the return of the Gold Standard in 1925

What was the competition of the coal industry?

Cheap foreign coal, mainly from Poland and Germany. Also competition from alternative sources of energy, oil, HEP, and gas

What was the effect of these troubles?

To reduce the number of men employed in coal mining from 1.25m in 1924 to 1mill in 1930

What did this mean?

A drop in output and a drastic fall in exports

What led to a more economical use of coal?

Improvements in boiler techniques

What other fuels became increasingly competitive?

Petrol and natural gas

Why did motors compete with the steam engines of the railways?

Motors used oil for their internal combustion engines, with steam engines still using coal

Where was more coal being mined?

USA, Germany and France

Where suffered the most from the inevitable decline in demand?

South Wales, Northumberland and Durham

Where did the only increased demand for coal come from?

The newly built electricity power steams

What did the British coal industry fall to adapt itself to?

Post-war situation

Between 1913-1934, how much did Belgium’s output increase by?

39%

What is this compared to Britain?

7%

What was due to this progression?

Mechanisation

What was the chief weakness of the British coal industry?

Existence of numerous competing mines

What was the chief need?

To promote amalgamations in order to reduce overseas

What did the Coal Mines Act 1930 establish?

A commission to further this aim, but it couldn’t enforce such a policy

What did this Act provide?

The control of the output and prices in each mining area

What did the Sankey Commission (1919) and Samuel Commission (1925) recommend?

The nationalisation of mining royalties and the former nationalisation of the mines

What did the iron and steel industry suffer from?

A decline in exports, though the position was relatively worse in the 1920’s than in the 1930’s

Why?

As tariffs abroad and foreign cartels reduced exports, and the home market was flooded with cheap foreign steel

What did the industry suffer from?

High transportation costs and unsuitable sites

When and why did iron and steel recover?

When tariffs were introduced in 1932 and an increase in the home market

What did the industry suffer from?

Unemployment

What problems did the cotton and wool industry face?

A fall in exports as home sales rose

Who were the newly established competitors?

India, North America and Far East

What was the machinery?

Antiquated

Why did the woolen industry suffer less than cotton?

As it had traditionally exported less and so had fewer export markets to lose

Out of all British industries, why did cotton show the most phenomenal decline after 1918?

Because there was a serious fall in the quality of cotton yarns and cloth entering international trade

What did this severe fall in exports from Lancashire due to?

A decline in the demand for coarse cotton goods from India, China and Japan, which was beginning to produce their own cloth