Trade and Commerce 1947-67

Question 1

How important was the Empire/Commonwealth for trade 1947-60?

Answer 1

They were essential until the 1960s, providing imports of food and raw materials at a time when British reserves of foreign currency were too limited to source many imports from other parts of the world.

Question 2

How did British economic interests shift in the 1960s?

Answer 2

From the 1960s, Britain’s economic interest in the Commonwealth/Empire waned, seeing future economic prosperity in other parts of the world, especially Western Europe.

Question 3

What percentage of British overseas investments went to Empire in 1956?

Answer 3

Approx. 58%.

Question 4

What was the value of British imports in 1948, and what proportion went to the Commonwealth compared to Western Europe?

Answer 4

1948:
Total imports: £2077 million.
Commonwealth: £933 million (45%).
Western Europe: £427 million (21%).

Question 5

What was the value of British imports in 1954, and what proportion went to the Commonwealth compared to Western Europe?

Answer 5

1954:
Total imports: £3400 million.
Commonwealth: £1600 million (48%).
Western Europe: £800 million (24%).

Question 6

What was the value of British imports in 1960, and what proportion went to the Commonwealth compared to Western Europe?

Answer 6

1960:
Total imports: £4700 million.
Commonwealth: 32%
Western Europe: 24%

Question 7

What was the value of British imports in 1965, and what proportion went to the Commonwealth compared to Western Europe?

Answer 7

1965:
Total imports: £5800 million.
Commonwealth: 30%
Western Europe: 31%

Question 8

What was the value of British exports in 1948, and what proportion went to the Commonwealth compared to Western Europe?

Answer 8

1948:
Total exports: £1600 million.
Commonwealth: 46%
Western Europe: 25%

Question 9

What was the value of British exports in 1954, and what proportion went to the Commonwealth compared to Western Europe?

Answer 9

1954:
Total exports: £2755 million.
Commonwealth: £1333 million (48%).
Western Europe: £776 million (28%).

Question 10

What was the value of British exports in 1960, and what proportion went to the Commonwealth compared to Western Europe?

Answer 10

1960:
Total exports: £3789 million.
Commonwealth: £1353 million (35.7%).
Western Europe: £1009 million (26.6%).

Question 11

What was the value of British exports in 1965, and what proportion went to the Commonwealth compared to Western Europe?

Answer 11

1965:
Total exports: £4897 million.
Commonwealth: £1365 million (27.9%).
Western Europe: £1593 million (32.5%).

Question 12

What were the 3 main reasons for the quick (Western) European recovery from WW2?

Answer 12

1) The continuing support of the USA and the Marshall Plan.
2) The political climate favoured private enterprise.
3) Advances in science and technology, alongside industrial relations.
This meant that by the mid 1950s, there was full employment throughout Western Europe, with high growth rates and living standards.

Question 13

What was the European Free Trade Association (EFTA)?

Answer 13

Britain founded the EFTA, a trading bloc of non-EEC European nations, in order to counter the EEC.

Question 14

Why did Britain apply to join the EEC in 1963 and 1967?

Answer 14

Britain realised that their future economic prosperity lay not with the Commonwealth, but with trade and economic relations with Europe.

Question 15

Why was Britain rejected from the EEC in 1963 and 1967?

Answer 15

Britain insisted on special concessions to be allowed for British commerce with the Commonwealth.

Question 16

What was the 1967 sterling devaluation?

Answer 16

In 1967, Wilson’s labour government reduced the exchange rate from £1 = $2.80 to £1 = $2.40; a 14% cut. This was due to a balance of payment crisis, and aimed to cut Britain’s deficit by making exports cheaper.

Question 17

What was the significance of the 1967 sterling devaluation for Britain’s international economic position?

Answer 17

It destroyed the Sterling Area by weakening international faith in the value of the sterling, damaging Britain’s global imperial pretentions. Britain eventually joined the EEC in 1973.

Question 18

With British import costs rising after WW2, how did Britain build up foreign currency reserves (2)?

Answer 18

1) Britain continued rationing at home, to cut the cost of food imports, and to prioritise domestic production for exports rather than for domestic consumption.
2) Britain tried to develop the productive and export capacities of the colonies, especially in Africa, in order to increase dollar reserves from colonial sales, and to provide Britain with a supply of goods from the sterling area, saving reserves. E.g. Britain used the Colonial Development and Welfare Acts (1940,1945), the Colonial Development Corporation (1948) and the Tanganyika Groundnut Scheme (1948).

Question 19

What was the Colonial Development Corporation 1948, and what did it become in 1963?

Answer 19

It was set up to co-ordinate major projects and develop self-sustaining agriculture, industry and trade in the colonies. It was renamed the Commonwealth Development Corporation in 1963.

Question 20

What was the total value of exports from British colonies in 1946, and what was the value of each areas exports?

Answer 20

1946:
Total: £319.6 mil.
West Africa: £43.1 mil.
East Africa: £30.5 mil.
Central Africa: £32 mil.
Asia: £191.4 mil.
Pacific: £2.6 mil.
Caribbean: £20 mil.

Question 21

What was the total value of exports from British colonies in 1950, and what was the value of each areas exports?

Answer 21

1950:
Total: £1218.2 mil.
West Africa: £167.1 mil.
East Africa: £75.7 mil.
Central Africa: £86.4 mil.
Asia: £819.6 mil.
Pacific: £5.6 mil.
Caribbean: £63.8 mil.

Question 22

What was the total value of exports from British colonies in 1956, and what was the value of each areas exports?

Answer 22

1956:
Total: £1485.
West Africa: £228.5 mil.
East Africa: £123.4 mil.
Central Africa: £181.7 mil.
Asia: £815.1 mil.
Pacific: £8.8 mil.
Caribbean: £127.5 mil.

Question 23

What was the Hard Currency Pool?

Answer 23

A collective pool of dollars earned by the Sterling Area.

Question 24

How did Britain’s trading relationship with the colonies stoke nationalism c1945-50 (3)?

Answer 24

1) Workers felt that they were being exploited by British trade. British companies formed price-fixing pools in order to keep their profits as high as possible. E.g. Cadbury’s, as well as Fry’s, brought raw cocoa from West Africa, to turn into chocolate in Britain.
2) Workers in Ghana, encouraged by Kwame Nkrumah’s nationalist movement, boycotted British imported goods in 1948.
3) In Uganda in 1947, cotton farmers protested outside of the Kabaka (king)’s palace, angry about their pay. They were paid so little for their raw product, they could not afford the clothing it was turned into in British factories.