ADV INFO Economic Development 1851-1886 Flashcards
1
Q
how did E.j Hobsbawm describe Britain as being
A
a place where plants grow and animals feed
2
Q
how was land distributed throughout society
A
4000 landlords owned about 60% of the cultivated land, and they let it to 250,000 farmers who employed about 1,250,000 people
3
Q
what was repealed in 1846
A
the corn laws
4
Q
what had the corn laws done
A
protected British farmers against cheap imported corn
5
Q
what year was the turning point of agriculture in Britain
A
1853
6
Q
what has the period after 1853 been described as being
A
a 20 year golden age of agriculture
7
Q
what methods were used between 1853 and 1873
A
high farming methods
8
Q
what is mixed farming
A
growing crops and keeping animals so that farmers spread risk on crop prices
9
Q
what new chemicals were used in farming
A
artificial fertilisers
10
Q
what artificial fertilisers were used?
A
nitrate of soda, superphosphates, imports of Peruvian guano (bird droppings) and German potash
11
Q
what new technological developments were made in farming
A
more spectacular and advanced machines, such as steam ploughs, were not widely used, but improved ploughs and hoes and the widespread use of the horse-drawn reaper.
12
Q
what was animal husbandry
A
improvements to pedigree breeds such as Hereford and Aberdeen Angus Cattle
13
Q
who encouraged scientific farming
A
the royal agricultural society of England
14
Q
what travel network developed
A
railways were important for many farmers who were distant from towns and cities
15
Q
what happened with the weather during the period
A
between 1850 and 1873 there were many summers leading to good harvests.
16
Q
what happened in 1873 to agriculture
A
a depression struck that would last for a very long
17
Q
what demonstrated Britain’s wealth
A
the Great Exhibition
18
Q
where was the great exhibition hosted
A
Crystal Palace
19
Q
what did the Great Exhibition display
A
all the triumphs of British manufacturing, including cutting edge steam machines (railway locomotives, steam ploughs, steamships); Lancashire cotton, Nottingham lace; and various inventions and oddities, such as an unsinkable deckchair.
20
Q
what were the statistics about the exhibition
A
it was open for five months and received over six million visitors, many from abroad
21
Q
how much money did the exhibition make
A
it made a profit of £186,500
22
Q
what was transforming international trade
A
the development of the steamship and the railway
23
Q
what period did Britain dominate international trade
A
between the repeal of the corn laws in 1846 and the onset of the depression in 1873
24
Q
which of Britains’ competitors were behind them
A
Germany and the USA
25
What was the issue with Germany
it was not completely united until 1871 and so did not fully become the power it would be until after this point
26
what was the issue with the USA
it was consumed by the civil war that raged from 1861 until 1865.
27
what was an essential market for Britain
India, for cotton and other exports
28
what was invisible trade
services such as finance, banking, insurance and shipping
29
what was the value of international trade in the period?
1800 - £300 million
1830 - £400 million
1870 - £2000 million
30
what was the value of British investment abroad?
1840 - £160 million
1850 - £250 million
1873 - £1000 million
31
what was the issue with Britain using developing markets
these countries would go on to become rivals for British industry or, in the long term, not require British imports
32
during the period between 1851 and 1868 what per cent of British trade made up world trade
25%
33
what happened to the number of railways during the period
they rose from 9,500 km in 1850 to 22,000 km in 1875
34
what industries did railways bolster
iron and steel, coal, agriculture and manufacturing
35
what happened to the export of railway iron and steel
it rose from 2,846,000 tons in 1850-1854 to 4,040,000 in 1870-1875
36
what were the statistics on British ships
by 1890, Britain had more registered shipping tonnage than the rest of the world put together
37
which businesses benefitted from shipping insurance
Lloyds of London
38
what had been laid in 1866
the Atlantic cable between Britain and the USA
39
where did the shipbuilding boom
areas like Glasgow, Belfast, Tyneside and Liverpool
40
what was opened in 1869
the Suez canal
41
how did Britain benefit from the Suez canal
only British steamships were narrow enough to pass through
42
what happened to London to facilitate advancing world trade
London alone saw the opening of five new docks, including the Royal Victoria and Royal Alberts docks, between 1852 and 1886.
43
what was invented in 1884
the steam turbine
44
who invented the steam turbine
Sir Charles Parsons
45
what happened to the production of cotton textiles
it almost doubled between the 1850s and the 1870s
46
what did the American civil war lead to in terms of cotton
a significant drop in the imports of US cotton
47
what did the reduction of American cotton lead to
a cotton famine in Lancashire
48
what did the cotton famine cause
reduced production and the loss of many jobs
49
what happened to coal production during the period
it grew from 60 million tons in 1855 to 109 million tons in 1870
50
where did new coalfields open
South Wales
51
What was the difference between coal production in Germany and the USA compared to Britain
in Germany and the USA, their mining industry was mechanised whilst in Britain, most of the coal was still extracted by hand
52
what was the issue with coal mines
they were run by private businesses which were reluctant to invest large amounts of money in mechanised equipment
53
how many men were employed in the mines
500,000
54
what happened to iron and steel production
it went from 2.9 million tons in 1855 to 5.9 million tons in 1875
55
which city produced a lot of British steel
Sheffield
56
what per cent of steel was made in Sheffield
90% of British steel and nearly half of Europe's total production
57
what did George Parry do in 1850
he improved the hot blast furnaces by recycling some of the heat, making ironworks more profitable
58
What did Henry Bessemer create
the converter system, patented in 1856, meant that steel could be produced n large amounts (3 tons per hour) far cheaper than the existing crucible system
59
what did William Siemens create and when
the open-hearth process in 1867
60
what was built using steel
the forth bridge between 1882 and 1889
61
which town was turned into a boomtown by the steel industry
Middlesborough
62
how did steel hold back the British economy
the USA and Germany had large deposits of phosphorus iron ore which they could now turn into steel, so Britain's key competitors benefited from a British innovation
63
what ideology did Britain follow economically after 1846
towards free trade
64
who can free trade be traced back to
adam smith
65
what book did adam smith write
Wealth of Nations
66
What did Adam Smith argue
that a system of a freely operating market was the ideal economic model, as these markets would ensure competition that would drive down prices and benefit the consumer
67
what did Adam smith say about government intervention
that markets should be free from government intervention at both a national and international level
68
what policies were used during Gladstone and Peel
free trade, reduction of income tax, combining small finance bills into a single budget
69
what policies were used during Gladstone and Disraeli
public health acts, factory acts, labour relations and trade union legislation
70
what policies were used during the great depression
agriculture and industrial slump, limited government action, splits in the liberal party over social reform
71
what happened to coal production
1856 - 65 million tons
| 1870 - 110 million tons
72
what happened to iron production
1850 - 2 million tons
| 1875 - 6 million tons
73
what happened to steel production
1850 - 60,000 tons
| 1875 - 2 million tons
74
what happened to production in significant manufacturing areas
coal, iron, steel, railways, shipping, cotton grew and industrial growth ran at about 3.5% a year
75
What meant that Britain could meet growing demand
it had good deposits of the vital raw materials for its industries
76
what happened to Britain's share of world trade
it went from 20% in 1850 to 25% in 1875
77
why did standards of living increase
unemployment fell and wages increased more quickly than prices
78
how did the rise in standards of the living show themselves
they consumed more and further fuelled the boom
79
what happened to the number of agricultural labourers
it fell by almost half a million between 1851 and 1871
80
what happened to the British population
it grew by almost 6 million in 20 years, aiding the growth in demand
81
how was Britain in a better place than France, Germany and the USA
it had been so far relatively untouched by war
82
what policies did the government pursue
free trade and laissez-faire economics
83
what acts helped economic growth
the limited liabilities acts of 1855 and 1862 encouraged the buying of shares in firms at the level of risk that was limited to the value of the investment
84
what evidence counters the idea that Britain was the workshop of the world
Britain was importing goods of a higher total value than it was exporting during this period
85
what happened to net imports during the period
£87.7 million in 1846-50 to £302 million in 1871-75
86
what happened to exports of UK products
it went from £60.9 million in 1846-50 to £239.5 million in 1871-75
87
what happened to the balance of commodity trade
it went from -£26.8 million to -£62.5 million
88
how did Germany and the USA benefit compare to Britain
they had large populations and greater resources of raw materials
89
where did Germany and the USA outperform Britain
education (male illiteracy was 17% in Britain in 1875, compared with 2% in Germany) and the training of engineers and scientists
90
what new production methods were emerging in the US
mass production and the modern assembly line
91
what goods were being mass-produced
guns, clocks and sewing machines
92
what was Britain's disadvantage of being the first to industrialize
the industries in Germany and the USA were being started up with the latest technology and were quick to adopt new techniques (mining and the early use of electricity as a power source)
93
what did the Historian S.B Saul argue in his 1985 book The Myth of the Great Depression
there was no depression in the British economy, but rather an overall average fall in business profits, which caused many at the time to see the economy in a pessimistic light
94
why can falling prices actually show that there was not a depression
they were part of a long term trend due to advances in industry reduction in the cost of production and the failure of the government to alter the money supply in line with increasing trade
95
what happened to unemployment in certain years during the supposed depression
there were some years in the period (1875-95) when unemployment of trade union members was 2%, compared with the 4.6% average in the boom years
96
What happened to production during the "depression"
the production of coal, iron, steel and cotton all increased during this period
97
what happened to the economy during the depression
it continued to grow, albeit a little more than 1% a year
98
How did the expansion in the European and US markets benefit Britain
it was able to expand to new markets in the developing world
99
What did Britain fail to do
invest in new machinery and premises due to complacency and mismanagement by British businessmen, not a depression
100
what did the historians Hobsbawm and Wiener say
they blamed the class structure in Britain, saying that businessmen were trying to emulate the aristocracy rather than developing their businesses
101
what positives emerged during the period
the bicycle and telephone industries, as well as retail
102
what happened to real wages during the period
the cost of living fell as prices fell, so real wages increased
103
what happened to profits during the period
they fell, largely due to falling prices
104
how did companies cut costs
they lay off workers
105
what happened to unemployment during the period
the average rate among trade union members fluctuated, but gradually increased, during this period
106
what happened to Britain's percentage share in world production of steel, iron and coal
it fell
107
how did Germany and USA's economies compare to Britain's
Germany's grew 3 times faster and the USA's 4 times faster
108
What did Britain fail to do
adopt new industries, such as electrical engineering, chemicals and dyestuffs and production of new machines, such as typewriters and sewing machines
109
What did European countries and the USA do to Britain
they protected their industries against British goods using protective tariffs, while Britain maintained free trade
110
what did the fall in profits lead to
British firms did not have the money to invest in new premises and machinery
111
What caused the depression
- increased foreign competition
- failing educational advances
- introduction of tariffs against Britain
- failure of British industry to keep up with advances in technology
- firms were small compared to those in Germany and the USA
