Trade and Commerce 19414-1947 Flashcards
What impact did WW1 have on Britain?
debt - the war cost Britain abut £35 billion pounds, which was 13x the cost of the Boer War, Britain was loaned £4 billion by the USA, government debt grew from 700million to 7 billion by the end of the war
markets and undustty - war production took priority therefore British exports lagged, leading to rival countries taking over industries such as Japan with textiles and America with machinery
Empire became costly - extension of empire in Middle East stretched the resources of the empire which affected Britain
What impact did WW! have on the empire?
India - contributed 146milllion to the war effort, which lead to inflation an d shortages
but some benefits - India became less reli on British goods, more foreign cooperation which boosted manufacturing
Canada - benefited economically from the war, became more of an industrial power,, also less reliant on Britain, and began to develop closer investment links with the USA
Australia and New Zealand - disruption to worldwide trade during and after the war badly affect their ability to export food did not benefit from proximity to the US ike Canada
What was the Sterling Area?
soem colonies in he empire tied the value of their currency to sterling and others tied kept their reserves in sterling
this gave access to the British markets for the colonies
Britain were able to use the empire to soften the blow of the collapse of international economy
how important was trade with the empire
44% of exports were with the empire in 1934
24$ of imports came form the Empire in 1934
had been an increase since 1914
What was the Ottawa Conference
1932
Britain implemented a 10
5 tax on all imports except the crown colonies
imperial preference was implemented between Britain and its dominion s
What were the effects of WW2?
U-boat attacks devastated trade, 11.7 million tonnes of shipping lost n the war
factories were used for munitions - damaged trade, and balance of trade sifted
Britain had to sell assets to fund the war, Lord-Lease got Britain into debt
Keynes negotiated a massive loan £900 million
loss of territories in South East Asia
