Depth 5

Question 1

What happened to the British economy after WW1 & why?

Answer 1

The economy boomed.

Because new industrial markets were exploited & semi-skilled workers undertook the work done by skilled workers during the war.

Question 2

The post-war booked was short-lived.
How did the Great Depression & the WSC make the situation worse?

Answer 2

It made it worse due to a decline in US exports & the instability of markets.

Question 3

Britain’s heavy industry went into a decline following 1929.

What staple industries failed to adapt to the advances made during WW2?

Answer 3

Coal, steel and iron, textiles & shipbuilding.

Question 4

What percentage of the market did Britain’s shipbuilding hold in the 1920s?

What had it decreased to by 1933?

Answer 4

1920s: 40% market share.

1933: 7% market share.

Question 5

What had happened to coal exports by 1930 & why?

Answer 5

Coal exports had halved due to the revival of other countries coal industries & underinvestment.

Question 6

How much had the price of steel fell after the Depression & why?

Answer 6

The price of steel had fell 45% after the Great Depression.

Due to cheap iron & steel flooding in from Europe & undercut prices.

Question 7

In the coal & cotton industries, what was the level of unemployment in 1924 compared to 1930 due to the mass laying off?

Answer 7

Coal
1924: 6.9%
1930: 23.8%

Cotton
1924: 15.9%
1930: 44.7%

Question 8

What industries had developed & grew during and after the war?

Answer 8

Car manufacture.

Light industry (commodities).

Question 9

What tariff protections were put into place & what did they do?

Answer 9

McKenna Duties (1915)
- Put a 33.3% import tariff on military vehicles during WW1 (continued)
- In 1926, extended to include commercial vehicles.

Safeguarding on Industries Act 1921
- 33.33% import tariff on industries producing optical glass, synthetic materials & metallic tungsten.
(Renewed in 1926)

Question 10

What did the McKenna duties allow the motor industry to do?

Answer 10

The McKenna duties allowed motor industries to keep production levels high.

Question 11

What did the government refuse in regard to tariff protection & why?

Answer 11

The Gov refused protection for heavy, staple industries.

Partly because of commitment to free trade, but also because investment in them in 1919-20 led to an initial post-war boom.

Question 12

What were the factors that led to a decline in trade in the 1920s & 30s?

Answer 12

WW1
Gold Standard
Japanese products/interference
The Empire turns against Britain
WSC & GD ensuing

Question 13

How did WW1 change the structure of trade?

Answer 13

Britain lost markets abroad & industries geared up to war production.

Question 14

When did Britain go back to use the Gold Standard and how did it affect them?

Answer 14

1925

Britain went back to the GS at a time when the price of gold was high which therefore made exports expensive.

Question 15

How did Japan take advantage of Britain’s withdrawal?

Answer 15

They flooded the British market with cheap products, and continuing to export in the 20s.

Question 16

How did the Empire turn against Britain?

Answer 16

Countries such as India developed their own heavy industries & still imposed tariffs on Britain despite being a part of the Empire.

Question 17

How did the GD & WSC crash affect Britains trade in the 20s & 30s?

Answer 17

As the US was Britain’s largest trade market they severely lost out.

The WSC meant the US placed high tariffs on imports & recalled loans.
This meant Britain couldn’t repay war debts as the US was the main source of loan repayments.

They were too owed money by the Allies, but they couldn’t repay either.

Question 18

What areas experienced the most unemployment & why?

Answer 18

The North & North-East

Because that’s where heavy industry was concentrated.

Question 19

Why did lighter industries grow & invest?
Examples of light industry

Answer 19

Because they were ready to adapt.

Printing & paper, car manufacturing.

Question 20

What happened in 1934 that employed a lot of people as well as benefitting those in poverty?

Answer 20

Building of council houses - 1 million built in 1934-35 (double for private purchase).

All houses need furnishing which helped industry.

Question 21

When did the Jarrow March occur?

Answer 21

Oct/November 1936

Question 22

Why did the Jarrow March occur?

Answer 22

Because of the mass unemployment caused by the sudden closing of Palmers Yard (shipbuilding).

Question 23

Events of the Jarrow March

Answer 23

Oct 1936: 200 men marched 300 miles to Parliament with a petition with 11,000 signatures.

It requested the re-establishment of industry in Jarrow.

Question 24

When E. Wilkinson presented the petition to parliament what was their response?

Answer 24

It was basically ignored.

They barely discussed it, just gave the marchers a train fare and sent them off.

Question 25

Nature of support/opposition for the Jarrow March

Answer 25

MP E. Wilkinson, local businesses, religious groups all supported it as well as the blessing from the Bishop of Jarrow (though Bishop of Durham criticised this). Money was raised, volunteers joined in, public turned up to watch. In contrast, the Labour Party Conference in Edinburgh wasn’t supportive & criticised Wilkinson for sending unfit men on a march with no outcome. Trade Union Congress & NEC of the Labour Party advised Labour branches not to offer support (most ignored this).

Question 26

What was the National Unemployed Workers Movement (NUWM)?

Answer 26

Set up my members of the Communist Party, it aimed to destroy capitalism & create employment.

Question 27

What key march did the NUWM organise in 1932? Why did this occur & what did involve?

Answer 27

A national hunger march due to response to the Means Test. It involved around 3,000 people marching to Hyde Park from 18 locations.

Question 28

What was the government and police’s response to the hunger march in 1932?

Answer 28

Government drafted 2,000 extra police, violence broke out. Police confiscated the petition. Government trained spies & infiltrated the NUWM.

Question 29

The NUWM organised a larger hunger march in what year?

Answer 29

1936

Question 30

Why was the hunger march of 1936 significant?

Answer 30

As this time, the Labour Party gave support. Those from Jarrod joined in.

Question 31

What was E. Wilkinson’s political role ?

Answer 31

She was the MP for Jarrow.

Question 32

What did Wilkinson fight for?

Answer 32

To alleviate the plights of her constituents who were experiencing poverty from the close of Palmers.

Question 33

When was the second labour government & who was it led by?

Answer 33

1929-31, led by R McDonald.

Question 34

How did the 1931 crisis occur?

Answer 34

Because of the withdrawal of foreign investors from London banks.

Question 35

What did increasing unemployment mean for expenditures & why was this difficult to handle?

Answer 35

More benefits, which meant less taxes.

Question 36

How much money did the government need to balance the books?

Answer 36

120 million pounds.

Question 37

What did the may report address & recommend?

Answer 37

The 1931 May Report addressed the financial crisis & recommended… - £23 million should come from increased taxes. - £97 million should come from government cuts.

Question 38

Who published the 1931 May Report?

Answer 38

Committee on National Expenditure, set up by P. Snowden (Chancellor of the Exchequer).

Question 39

After a long cabinet meeting in August 1931, what amount of cuts did they agree on?

Answer 39

£56 million, which wasn’t enough.

Question 40

What did the divide in the cabinet lead to?

Answer 40

McDonald’s resignation, and the King requested the creation of a National Government.

Question 41

Snowden, cabinet Chancellor, put a reduction package before the HoC in September 1931. What cuts did this entail?

Answer 41

15% pay cut for teachers. 10% pay cut for MPs, judges & armed forces, 5% pay cut for police. 10% cut in unemployment benefit.

Question 42

Tax increases were also put in place. How much was this estimated to bring in?

Answer 42

£51.5 million

Question 43

The Bank of England negotiated how much loans from what countries?

Answer 43

£80 million worths of loads from US & France.

Question 44

When was Britain forced off the gold standard, having listened to Keynes & Bevin?

Answer 44

End of 1931.

Question 45

What were the results of the October 1931 election?

Answer 45

National Government: Received 14.5 million votes & 556 seats (conservatives winning 471). Labour Party: Votes fell to 6.6 million (1.5 mil decrease), leaving the with only 56 seats.

Question 46

What did a weak pound guarantee which led to what?

Answer 46

Weak pound led to cheap goods in world trade. This resulted in more exports which meant more jobs.

Question 47

What was positive for Britain about the threat of the Nazi’s?

Answer 47

Britain had to rearm, which meant further demand for jobs.

Question 48

What confirmed the National Government’s success?

Answer 48

A further election win in 1935.

Question 49

What did N. Chamberlain (replaced Snowden) introduce? What did it lead to?

Answer 49

Tariffs of 10% to protect British industries like farming. This led to a 15% increase in productivity?

Question 50

In 1935, wages were back to their pre-1931 levels. True/False?

Answer 50

True

Question 51

Housing boom

Question 52

Means test

Question 53

Unemployment act

Question 54

Special areas act