BRITAIN Trade union militancy 1915-27 PART 3 Flashcards
What were the problems with the 1926 General Strike?
Effective government response to the crisis; chaotic and sporadic support TUC secured
What was the hostile Conservative press led by the during the 1926 General Strike?
Churchill’s ‘British Gazette’
What were the priorities for the government during the 1926 General Strike?
Maintaining food supplies and essential services; preserving law and order
When did the government send out orders for volunteers to be mobilised during the 1926 General Strike?
3 May
What did the government do on the 5 May of the 1926 General Strike?
Sent instructions to the Boards of Guardians to refuse relief to strikers
How many middle- and upper-class volunteers did the government recruit during the 1926 General Strike?
300,000-500,000
What were the volunteers the government gathered during the 1926 General Strike used for?
To man power stations and docks; act as special constables and transport workers
Who manned the London Underground during the 1926 General Strike?
2,000 Cambridge undergraduates
What was an example of particularly upper-class solidarity during the 1926 General Strike?
At Dover, 460 Cambridge students worked the docks
What did the government use instead of the armed forces during the 1926 General Strike?
A civil constabulary reserve from former soldiers and members of the Territorial Army
Which city was responsible for 1/5 of the nation’s imports and kept supplies flowing during the 1926 General Strike?
Liverpool
Which area of industry did the government fail to resolve during the 1926 General Strike?
Railways
How many passenger rail services were running by the 12 May of the 1926 General Strike?
22.4%
Where were there several disturbances during the 1926 General Strike, despite law and order being maintained?
Plymouth; Glasgow; London
How many arrests were made during the 1926 General Strike?
1,760
What was the most iconic act of violence during the 1926 General Strike?
Derailing of the famous steam locomotive, the ‘Flying Scotsman’, by protesters at Newcastle on 10 May
What did the ‘British Gazette’ do during the 1926 General Strike?
Informed public that the government was in a strong position; raised fears that strike represented a revolutionary threat to state
When was the BBC formed?
1922
Why was the BBC not actually impartial during the 1926 General Strike?
Refused to publish content that would be damaging to government- depended on it for license
What tone did the BBC take on during the 1926 General Strike?
A conciliatory one
How was the TUC’s propaganda affected during the 1926 General Strike?
Severely restrained- reduced to 4 pages from usual 8
What was the TUC’s pro-strike newspaper?
‘British Worker’
Why did Churchill order the requisitioning of the TUC’s newsprint?
Believed government had right to propaganda, unlike the TUC
What proves that Baldwin’s government never really took the 1926 General Strike seriously?
Limited use of armed force
