The older, heavier industries, on whose exports the British economy had traditionally depended – coal, textiles, iron, and ship building.

Learning Objectives To understand why the staple industries went into decline after World War One.

The ___________ between the wars has a ____________ place in British economic _______________. With the exception of a few _________ during the _________ World War and just _____________, it was a period of high and persistent _________________. Furthermore, this unemployment was worst in the industries and the ________ which had been most ______________ before the war. Steel, ship-building, cotton and _________ (the __________ industries) were the industries worst hit by adverse world _____________: Lancashire, ________ ________, the West of Scotland, and West Cumberland were the regions worst effected. From ______ to 1932 the world depression further reduced ___________ activity, but after this there was a sustained ___________, although, its _________ on the worst affected industries was limited. The First _______ War and its aftermath of depression also led to changes in the way that the politicians, _________ __________, and economists thought about central _______________ relationships with the economy, although these changes were slow. SPECIAL, CIVIL SERVANTS, 1929, YEARS, AFTERWARDS, WORLD, GOVERNMENT’S, CHANGES, PROSPEROUS, RECOVERY, AREAS, COAL, STAPLE, UNEMPLOYMENT, HISTORY, CONDITIONS, FIRST, SOUTH WALES, ECONOMIC, PERIOD, IMPACT.

Read the extract from D. Murphy and answer the following questions in full sentences: 1.How much debt had Britain accumulated by the end of World War One? 2.What effect had the war had on British exports? 3.What made this problem even worse in the post-war era? 4.What problems had already made the staple industries vulnerable? 5.What happened immediately after the war and what was this replaced by after 1920? 6.Where was there high unemployment? 7.What incident made this unemployment and hardship even worse? 8.Give some examples of the newer industries that managed to avoid the worse effects of the depression and expand in the 1930s? 9.What had happened to trade union membership during the First World War (give statistics)? 10.What happened in 1926 and is seen as the most dramatic example of industrial conflict in British history? 11.What had happened to the key resources of railways and mines during the FWW? 12.How had the war ‘distorted’ some areas of the economy? 13.What other sector of the economy was affected by Britain’s lack of exports? 14.What does ‘invisible income’ mean? 15.What is a ‘balance of payments’? 16.Who was Britain’s main creditor after World War One? 17.What was the ‘gold standard’ and when did Britain return to it? 18.What value was the pound given in dollars? 19.What was the effect on Britain of a world fall in the price of primary products? 20.How much less were cotton textile exports between 1913 and 1922? What about coal? 21.What was ‘rationalisation’? 22.What level did unemployment not fall below between 1921 and 1940? 23.What did it reach at its peak in ? 24.How did manufacturing export levels compare between 1913 and 1937?

Explain why the staple industries were in decline after WW1. Return to the Gold Standard in 1925 Huge number of strikes in 1919 caused further problems Markets were lost and never regained. New products and new fuels Post-war boom created false confidence Other countries faced economic problems Coal industry – worst for outdated machines, hatred of owners, poor industrial relations & mistrust of government, War disrupted and distorted the British economy. Ageing machinery and out of date working practices Strong trade unions resisted change to working practices Poor management, lack of investment and innovation Foreign competitors were more efficient Tariffs and subsidies by other countries

After World War One, there was a period of inflation (meaning that prices of goods increased). As well as this, wages did not rise. The trade unions were eager to protect their members, and so between 1919 and 1920 more than 2,000 strikes were held. There were also additional problems for the workers apart from money. In terms of morale, there was much depression (psychological) in the post-war period caused by horrendous experiences of the soldiers. The war had also shown clearly that there was a huge social gap in Britain, with the workers on one side and the captialists and the wealthy on the other. The revolution in Russia had stimulated the belief that nationalisation was the best way to ensure fairness and safety for the workers. The government was afraid of this revolutionary spirit. This was shown in January 1919 when the Government had to use the military to break up a protest by engineers and shipbuilders on (‘Red’ ) Clydeside. Also, the Fed, that is the Union of South Wales Miners, continually threatened a national strike for: shorter hours, a 30% increase in wages and the continuation of nationalisation. Lloyd George had to offer a 7-hour working day and set up the Sankey Commission to look into the miners’ complaints.

This was set up under the leadership of Sir John Sankey in 1919 to look at working conditions of the miners. It concluded that miners should have higher wages and work a seven-hour day (with the possibility of a six-hour day in the future). It also suggested that the mines should remain nationalised The government ignored the second part of the report suggesting nationalisation but pushed forward with the adoption of a 7-hour working day. The government announced its intention to hand back control of the mines to private owners in March The new owners intended to cut wages and pay different wages to workers on a regional scale. The miners responded by going on strike. The miners called on the support of the Triple Alliance, (Miners Federation of GB, National Union of Railwaymen & National Transport Workers’ Federation) but the rail and transport workers pulled out of the strike hours before it started on 15 April That day was called “Black Friday” because of that. The miners remained on strike for three months before returning empty-handed on 1 July.

Learning Objective To understand why the General Strike of 1926 occurred.

Look through the sheet on the causes of the General Strike and produce a flow chart showing links and chronology.