Niamh Cremin 5D

Economic and Social Problems in Britain during the Inter-War Years 1920-39
What Do You Need to Know? - Coal Mines; shovels + picks vs
mechanical mining (Germany & US).
Causes of British economic depression in Competition from petrol, oil,
1920’s/30’s electricity. Difficulties brought owners
& miners into conflict/ lockouts 2. Government Policy- Laissez Faire
Social conditions in Britain in inter-war
years (General Strike of 1926)  Government policy of ‘Laissez-Faire’
Role of John Maynard Keyes (intervening very little in the economy) also
CASE STUDY; Jarrow March  Location of Industry- Depressed areas; contributed to economic depression
Clydesdale (shipbuilding & engineering)  Concerned with large national debt & needed
Effects of WWI Tyneside (shipbuilding & coal mining) to balance the budget- did not want to
Lancashire (cotton & engineering) South borrow more money
Wales (coal mining)  Churchill (Chancellor of the Exchequer)
 High unemployment, Low woman’s labor, decided in 1925 to fix value of £ to Gold
750,000 ↑ Taxation Social problems e.g. high infant mortality Standard
soliders Inflation &  Hoped to control inflation by fixing
killed Borrowing  In contrast, Greater London area &
exchange rate
 Kept interest rates high but this damaged
Midlands were prosperous
PM Llyod George investing & spending
 Referred to as ‘Inner Britain’ (new
Causes
Unemployment promised 'Land fit
industries, not dependent on export) VS  These changes only made British exports
for Heroes'
‘Outer Britain’ (depressed) dearer, further damaging trade & slowing
1. Decline of British trade & staple industries; economic growth
- C19th & early C20th- British prosperity
depended on export trade TheJune
Dole1921,
& WageNational
Cuts Insurance
- A general decline in world trade after unemployment Act=
WWI (impacted shipbuilding & export increased to >2 unemployment
million benefit
markets for cotton & coal) Decline of
Britain’s Staple Industries;
- Caused structural unemployment Govt allowed workers to
Scheme was get additional payments
- Shipbuilding; ↓ world trade= surplus ineffective from the Poor Law
ships. Shipyards fell behind in advances- Guardians- DOLE
effected iron & steel production
Those who kept their
- Cotton: Britain had been the leading jobs in the affected After WWI, Trade
cotton producer but after WWI faced industries also suffered unions in a stronger
(particularly coal
competition & lost traditional markets position
industry)
(China/ India)
- Workers wanted
Owners of industry nationalisation
wanted wage cuts (government
& longer working ownership), higher
hours wages & shorter
working hours

TUC membership fell by over 2 million

 general strikes
Effects of
Condition of the
the Strikes
people- Social Problems
The General
` Strike, 1926

Mine owners looked for further wage cuts Unions moved towards negotiation &  Unemployment benefit looked on as a charity, not a
cooperation over conflict  right & affected the esteem & self-respect of the
A.J. Cook, leader of the workers responded- ‘not a workers
penny off the pay, not a minute on the day’  Unemployment was the main cause of poverty
Samuel Commission set up to enquire into the issues  Poverty contributed to disease & death among the
Increased class & social tensions due to Prosperity
facing the coal industry role of the middle class volunteers poorer classes
Found mines should be modernised, agreed that wages  Many of the employed were on such low wages that
should be cut & they did not have enough money for food after
The TUC (Trade Union Congress) supported the miners spending on rent, clothing, fuel, light
& on 3 May 1926, a General Strike began Govt policy of
HungerFree
Marchestrade ended &
About 2 million workers went on strike in support of and The Great Depression in Britain Laissez Faire
protectionism
questioned - govt
in addition to the 1 million miners  brought
 Series When in during
the
of marches NYtoStocktheExchange
highlight crashed
long-term in Oct
unemployment
should take a more
Strike only lasted 9 days as govt plans to counter it in depressed 30s
1929, itsareas,
effects spread worldwide-
organised by the activeWall
National
role
worked Street Crash  
Unemployed Workers’ Movement (NUWM) in 1932,
 J. International
1934, 1936
M. trade fell, factories closed &
Keynes advocated
OMS (organisation for the Maintenance of Supplies) set
govt intervention to rose
unemployment create(3.4 million)- most in the
People demanded govt
up full employment-
industries take greater care of its
already in difficulty 
Churchill oversaw the publication of the British Gazette Keyensian
Government economic
action citizens -creation of
so govt got its message across despite strikes in policy put in place after the Welfare State
 1931 financial
WWII crisis - budget deficit
newspapers
 New Gov - the National Government - PM:
TUC leaders called off the strike leaving miners on their Ramsay McDonald made some difficult
own decisions which all contributed to ending the
6 months later they accepted defeat with less pay & Great Depression in Britain from 1934
longer hours  Introduced means test for unemployment
benefit
 Wages cut for civil servants, soldiers &
teachers
 Bank interest rate lowered (people could
borrow to buy cars etc)