2. The State of the Economy 1906-14

Question 1

How big was the population in the UK and Ireland in 1906?

Answer 1

43 million

Question 2

Where was the textiles industry prominent in 1906?

Answer 2

Leeds, Bradford and Lancashire

Question 3

Where was the coal mining industry prominent in 1906?

Answer 3

South Wales, Yorkshire and north-east

Question 4

Where was shipbuilding prominent in 1906?

Answer 4

Liverpool, Glasgow, Belfast

Question 5

Where was engineering prominent in 1906?

Answer 5

Birmingham and the West Midlands

Question 6

Where was the steel industry prominent in 1906?

Answer 6

Sheffield

Question 7

What were the new industries?

Answer 7

Chemicals, electricity and motorcars

Question 8

What were the main staple industries?

Answer 8

Textiles, steel, coal, shipbuilding

Question 9

What percentage of exports came from staple industries in 1913?

Answer 9

60%

Question 10

How much of the world’s shipping did England own before 1914?

Answer 10

50% (1/2)

Question 11

Why were some people not worried about Germany and the USA overtaking Britain economically?

Answer 11

Both Germany and the USA had considerable more access to raw materials. It would have been worrying if England was being taken over by countries who had similar amounts of resources to them, but they weren’t

Question 12

How many tons of coal had been mined in 1870 as opposed to 1913?

Answer 12

• 100 million tons in 1870
• 287 million tons in 1913

Question 13

How much of British exports were cotton goods?

Answer 13

Just over 1/4 before WW2

Question 14

How much were new industries growing yearly compared to the overall growth rate

Answer 14

• New industries growing by 3.8% annually
• Overall growth rate at just over 2% annually

Question 15

Between 1906 and 1914, how much of employment, national investment/income did farming account for?

Answer 15

10%

Question 16

How many cars did Henry Ford make in 1913?

Answer 16

7310

Question 17

How many cars were made in total in 1913?

Answer 17

16,000

Question 18

Where did Henry Ford build a new factory?

Answer 18

Manchester (the leading UK producer)

Question 19

How much had people working in agriculture fallen between 1850 and 1913? Why?

Answer 19

• 1850 - 2 million
• 1913 - 1.4 million
• Because of mechanisation/an increase in how much overseas produce Britain consumed

Question 20

What percentage of goods and services produced in Britain were sold abroad in 1914?

Answer 20

30%

Question 21

What percentage of the of the world’s trade did Britain have in 1914?

Answer 21

25% (though this was down from 40% in 1870)

Question 22

What were invisible exports? How important were they to Britain?

Answer 22

• Exports of services like banking, insurance and lending/investing money
• Vital to Britain’s economy, being world leader in banking, investment and insurance
• London remains commercial centre of the world
• Reliability of the Bank of England encourages many businesses to invest in British enterprises

Question 23

What percentage of Britain’s total national wealth was in overseas investments by 1913?

Answer 23

32%

Question 24

What was the late-Victorian recession?

Answer 24

Between 1870 and 1914, Britain was overtaken by Germany/USA in iron/steel output, its rate of industrial growth was less than the USA and its share of world exports declined

Question 25

What is a trade gap?

Answer 25

- Imports growing faster than exports

Question 26

What was Britain’s lack of research?

Answer 26

- Britain had been leading in cheap textiles and providing iron/steel to build railways and steamships. However, they weren’t investing anywhere near enough money in figuring out how to improve production of these goods. America invested much more time into it. - For example, in US/Germany, they made more efficient and effective ways to make iron. However, the British refused to adopt these methods. - Foreign observer says that the British steel industry was characterised by ‘pessimism and a lack of courage’

Question 27

Why was there a lack of innovation in Britain?

Answer 27

- Industries were so much more established in Britain, with factory/plant equipment often less modern than other countries - Changing would be too expensive

Question 28

What percentage of coal was cut mechanically in Britain vs the US?

Answer 28

- 8% in Britain in 1914 - 25% in US in 1900

Question 29

How many people were employed in the mines for the most of 1913 and 1927? What did this show about the mines?

Answer 29

- Over 1 million - Shows how Labour intensive it was

Question 30

How much did productivity fall between 1880 and 1914?

Answer 30

Around 20%

Question 31

How much bigger was the German chemical industry in 1913?

Answer 31

Twice the size of Britain’s (even though industrial output was only slightly higher)

Question 32

What percentage of artificial dyes were imported into Britain in 1913?

Answer 32

90% (British army used German dyes for their uniforms)

Question 33

When did electrification for tramways and factories start compared to the US?

Answer 33

Only began at the end of 1890 (ten years after America) + many cos producing electrical equipment came off of German/US companies

Question 34

What was a high wage vs low wage economy?

Answer 34

- Americans introduced a high wage economy where workers were paid enough to buy goods produced. Ensured high demand/encouraged production - Britain had a low wage economy where only the rich/middle class could afford new manufactured goods. Domestic market remains quite small

Question 35

Why did the Liberal’s Free Trade policies come into question?

Answer 35

- More competition meant that foreign traders had easy access to British markets and Britain couldn’t bargain with other countries to reduce tariffs - Germany/US both have tariffs to keep domestic market competition free

Question 36

What might imply that Britain was behind in education?

Answer 36

- Both US and Prussia introduced primary education for all children in the early 19th century - Britain did this in stages between 1870 and 1881 - They were behind Germany in science teaching in schools and unis - Fewer graduate engineers

Question 37

What proportion of wheat sold in Britain came from English farms before WW1?

Answer 37

Only about 1/4 of wheat sold

Question 38

What were the main problems in agriculture in the 1900s?

Answer 38

- Foreign competition from steamships and railways meaning that grain started being sold more cheaply from North American farms - Refrigerated ships brought cheap meat from Australia, New Zealand, South America

Question 39

What were positive impacts of the British economy?

Answer 39

- Staple industries still profitable - World trade expanding rapidly so overall Britain was selling goods in greater quantities than ever before - London still commercial centre of the world - World’s largest foreign investor from invisible earnings which compensated the growing trade gap - Home demand for meat remains strong. Census of 1911 shows increase in number of farmers