BB Britain: Power and the People: c1170 to present day Flashcards
Issues between King John and the Pope (1200)
John had a disagreement with the pope when he refused to support the appointment of Stephan Langton as Archbishop of Canterbury (which was a very powerful position as they were a key advisor to the king) as he didn’t want someone who would agree with the pope as an advisor.
The pope then retaliated by banning church services, marriage and funerals in England.
this frightened people as they thought that they would go to hell if they didn’t regularly attend mass.
why were the barons dissatisfied with King Johns rule (1200)
Nervous about the Kings bad relations with the pope as this could lead to a foreign invasion
John made barons pay scutage (tax to help him fight wars in France).
The barons were angry as he had wasn’t good in battle which caused them to lose land abroad and therefore money. Despite the loss of land, John continued to charge them higher feudal payments.
John lost the crown jewels in marshland which made people question his competence.
How did the Barons resolve the issues with King John (1215)
The barons made an army under the leadership of Robert Fitzwalter which they sent to occupy London. The king couldn’t raise an army without the barons help so he had to negotiate with them.
On 15th June 1215 the king met with the barons to negotiate how the country should be run
Magna Carta terms (1215)
was 63 promises which the Barons wanted John to keep which would change the Kings power and give more to the Barons.
Main ones:
no scutage
no freeman shall be arrested without proper trial
a group of 25 barons will be created to monitor the King to ensure he commits to the Magna carta
causes of the general strike 1926
during WW1 the heavy industry was booming with the high demand for armaments and so all coal mines were owned by the government so miners liked this as there jobs were safe as the government had lots of money to invest in the industry unlike the previous private mine owners.
However after the war, the private owners took back over and there was also a fall in demand for coal as there was no demand for armaments which meant that prices were falling and so owners needed to cut costs which was done by shutting inefficient mines or adding machinery as this was cheaper than employing people
other countries also made Britains coal situation even worse as their mines were owned by large companies who could invest lots in modern machinery and Britain could not compete so the Unions wanted the government to reown the mines
other strikes in the leadup to the general strike
Black friday april 1921
mine owners announced an increase in working hours and a drop in wages which outraged miners and so they decided to strike
the trade union congress (TUC) were worried that other employers would do the same so they ordered other industries to strike in solidarity but last minute the other industry unions pulled out (rail and dockers) as they were happy with their jobs. The miners didn’t feel supported so had no choice but to return to working
Red Friday 1925
price of coal fell again and the mine owners declared further changes to hours and pay.
PM Baldwin knew other unions would support the miners now and was worried about a workers revolution.
to combat this he agreed to support the miners economically and he set up the Samuels Commission which helped miners and mine owners reach agreement which was temporarily successful
leadup to the General strike 1926
in april 1926 the money from Bladwins economic support ran out and the trades union congress met to discuss actions
they decided that on the 1 may - may day, a day where workers rights were meant to be celebrated, the were going to strike and so the country came to standstill
General strike 1926 government actions
used emergency powers act from WW1 to get the army to take over jobs from striking workers
encouraged middle class students to break from uni to work in heavy industries and 226 000 student volunteers did this
started a propaganda campaign with its own newspaper, the British Gazette, which tried to turn the public against the strikers
Baldwin made speeches referring to the strike as a revolution which fueled the publics fear of communism
armored cars, driven by the army and police were sent to key cities to stop violent clashes between government and strikers
general strike 1926 TUC actions
created their own newspaper, The British Worker, and used it to explain the motivations for the strike and reminded strikers to remain peaceful and use non violent tactics
some strikers were violent and so clashed with the police
strikers travelled the country to picket with other industries in solidarity
funds were set up to help feed the strikers and their families to ensure the strike could keep going
resolution of the general strike 1926
after 9 days the strike ended with the TUC deciding to negotiate with the government and accepting the findings of the Samuel commission which had been slightly changed and so satisfied the TUC leaders
The TUC then encouraged everyone to return back to work as they were satisfied and had run out of money
the public was also against the strike as they did not like the violent actions so the strike had lost support
the labour party was also not fully in support of the strikers so another reason for the strike to finish
everyone returned to work except the miners who took 6 more months off and when they came back they had to face longer working hours and less pay making it feel like the strike had been for nothing
consequences of the strike on trade unions
after the failure of the General strike, union membership fell dramatically which coincided with a rise in unemployment
the government also passed the Trade Disputes and Trade unions Act in 1927 which made it illegal for unions to band together and strike. Unions could also no longer use money from union memberships to fund political parties unless all members agreed
this weakened the relationship between the labour party and the unions
how did the government decrease the power of trade unions after the general strike
1971 - industrial relations act introduced to try and improve relations between the employers and employees
1974 - labour government introduces social contract securing regular wage increases for workers and abolishes industrial relations act
1979 - conservatives win election and margaret thatcher becomes PM and begins to challenge the union
1980/2 - employment acts introduced changing laws on picketing and making illegal to be dismissed because of a closed shop (a place of work where all employees must belong to same trade union)
1984 - Thatchers government introduces Trade Union act which states that 80% of members must agree for a strike to be called and 85% must be happy with a closed shop otherwise it is illegal and secondary picketing is outlawed
1985 - miners strike ends in government victory but the way miners were dealt with caused controversy and inflation falls but unemployment rises
in general laws introduced by conservatives don’t really work and aren’t very successful
rise of trade unions after the general strike
1960s - country suffers from inflations and unions demand increase in wages to match rising prices
1970 - smaller unions join together and membership fees increase
1976 - social contract is challenged by British Asian women as they strike for 2 years in protest of poor working conditions
1978/9 - many strikes in different industries leads to rubbish piling up in streets
1984 - miners strikes sweep the country and women against the pit closures help feed families
miners strike ends with huge unsold piles of coal, splits in miners union, negative press, lack of support from other unions
