Britain Transformed - A Changing Politcial & Economic Environment

Question 1

What was the main change in British Politics between 1918-1931

Answer 1

Change in political dominance from Liberals to Conservatives to Labour and Conservatives
Before 1918, politic was hugely dominated by Conservatives (Tories) and Liberals (Whigs) however now in present day Labour has replaced the Liberals

Question 2

Historian Arguments for Liberal Decline

Answer 2

Historians have a range of arguments for Liberal decline
George Dangerfield argued it was due to their failure to deal with threats from trade unions, suffragettes and the problems in Northern Ireland
George Bernstein argued it to be due to their failure to their inability to cater t5o class voting
However, most agree that without the events after 1914, the Liberal Party could have survived

Question 3

Liberal Decline - Government Intervention

Answer 3

Traditionally, Liberals din’t like government intervention
However, due to the war, they were forced to become involved with people’s day to day lives and the economy
David Lloyd George (who became leader of the Liberal Party in 1916 over Asquith) favoured government intervention and people started to see him as a traitor

Question 4

Maurice Debate

Answer 4

The Maurice debate in 1918 cemented bitterness between Lloyd George and Asquith
General Maurice wrote a letter that accused Lloyd George of lying about the number of troops on the Western Front
Asquith then led the attack on Lloyd George when this was brought to Parliament
This caused divisions within the Liberal Party between leaders within it

Question 5

Liberal Dependance on Other Parties

Answer 5

Lloyd George became increasingly dependent on the support from the other parties in the coalition (The Conservatives)
This created even more divisions within the party
This also meant that the party was likely to become unable to be an independent party in the future, as it had become so used to relying on the conservatives
Divisions within the party also meant that they were unable to focus on the problems that were facing them after 1918

Question 6

1918 Representation of the People Act

Answer 6

This act extended those who were able to vote
All men over the age of 21 were now able to vote and the previous property and wealth restrictions that were previously in place to vote were removed
It also extended the vote to women, however before 1928, they ha to be over 3 and meet the property requirements (husbands must own property that was £5 or over)
This meant the electorate had tripled in size
The working class made up 80% of the electorate and women 43%

Question 7

Labour Success

Answer 7

Labour had always been a smaller party since its formation in 1900, yet in 1923 they gained more votes than the Liberals and in 1924 Ramsay Macdonald became the first Labour Prime Minister. Some reasons for their success include:
Labour became united at the end of WW1
Ride in Trade Unions post WW1 led to increasing Labour support
Labour supported a working class identity
Asquith supported a Labour government in 1923
Macdonald was viewed as a calm and reasoned leader

Question 8

Conservative Success

Answer 8

80% of the electorate were working class after the ROTPA and the Conservatives are seen as a party of the wealth and privilege. However hey ere still extremely successful, for reasons such as:
One Party Nation
Love of Stanley Baldwin
Irish Free State
Plural Votes
Safety First and Economic policies
Protectionism

Question 9

1918 Election

Answer 9

The 1918 election saw an overwhelming victory for the wartime coalition
The largest single opposition party was Labour who now had 57 PMs
The new government did face significant problems
Many Conservatives disagreed with Lloyd George’s use of the honour system

Question 10

1922 Election

Answer 10

The election of 1922 saw the Conservative win an overall majority
However, the result was arguably more significant for Labour and Liberals
In this election, Labour won 142 seats and became the official opposition party

Question 11

1923 Election

Answer 11

In 1923, another election was held and resulted in Labour holding a minority government, with Liberal support
The Labour Government faced many problems, but eventually brought down by the Campbell Affair and the Zinoviev Letter

Question 12

The Campbell Affair

Answer 12

In the Campbell Affair, a communist magazine editor, J.R. Campbell, was accused of incitement to mutiny in one of this articles
When the Labour Attorney General withdrew charges, Liberals accused the Government of being pro-revolution and withdrew their support
The Labour Government resigned

Question 13

The Zinoviev Letter

Answer 13

The Zinoviev Letter was published by the Daily Mail which was a conservative supporting news paper
The letter, purported to come from a leading Russian Communist, Zinoviev, advised the Communist Party how to effect a revolution in Britain
It was subsequently shown to be a hoax but it did irreparable harm to the Labour Government

Question 14

National Government Definition and Leaders

Answer 14

A National Government is a coalition government, especially one subordinating party differences to the national interest in a time of National crisis
Leaders
Ramsay MacDonald - 1931-35 (retired)
Stanley Baldwin - 1935-37 (retired)
Neville Chamberlain - 1937-40 (resigned)
Winston Churchill - 1940-45

Question 15

The National Government

Answer 15

After the Wall Street Crash, almost all the Labour MP’s disagreed with making cuts but PM MacDonald and his Chancellor, Philip Snowden saw no choice but to make cuts
MacDonald was expelled from the party and Labour now had a radical new Leader, George Lansbury
MacDonald was ready to resign
However, on 24th August he announced he would stay on as leader of a national government to face the emergency
He had been persuaded by King George V as having political instability to this time would not be good for the country
The Conservatives backed MacDonald and there was an overwhelming sense of national unity
The National Government was meant to be a temporary solution to a national crisis
However, it continued through WW2 until 1945
One reason it lasted so long was that it held political centre whilst extreme political parties failed to gain support

Question 16

Right Wing Political Parties during National Government

Answer 16

Oswald Mosley was a Labour MP who had become a disillusioned
He found the New Party for the 1931 election
He included his own ideas for tackling the economic problems
However, he only gained 0.2% of the vote
This made him disillusioned with democracy and he founded the British Union of Fascists with the aim of emulating Mussolini’s fascist Italy
They were racist and anti-Semitic
In October 1936, a BUF march through East London (against Jews) became a violent clash known as the ‘Battle of Cable Street’

Question 17

Left Wing Political Parties during the National Government

Answer 17

The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) gained one MP in 1924 and 1935
However, Communism was rejected by the British public
This is mainly due the strength of the trade unions and Labour
People preferred home grown socialism to the ideals of Communism
They opposed the war until Russia became which lost them the support of the British Public

Question 18

Response to the Extremist Parties during the National Governments

Answer 18

In the face of threats from extremist groups, the government passed the Public Order Act in 1936 which banned inflammatory meetings and the wearing of military style uniforms

Question 19

Policies 1931-39

Answer 19

Then biggest challenge for the government was economic issues
The government implemented severe spending cuts and introduced tariffs to protect British Industry
The Import Duties Act 1932 introduced a 10% on most ports
The interest rate was reduced from 6 to 2%
This helped stimulate recovery by encouraging borrowing
The government also had to deal with the issue of huge unemployment
The Unemployment Act 1934 introduced a ‘means test’ for those whose employment insurance had ran out
The government also tried to deal with areas which had seen a decline in traditional industry
The Special Areas Act 1934 introduced grants to try and stimulate economic growth in depressed areas
The later National Government Prime Ministers began to adopt a policy of rearmament
This helped to ease the economic difficulties of the 1930s

Question 20

Labour 1945 Victory

Answer 20

If Churchill won the war, why did Labour win the 1945 election?:
- Conservatives were associated with the Depression of the 30’s
- failure of Conservatives to build a ‘home for heroes’ after WW1
- Labour had been part of the wartime coalition - people liked Attlee as he was the face ofr the home front during the war
- Labour had a good campaign
- Churchill was not a good peacetime leader
- Churchill’s gestapo speech
- Labour represented a changing Britain

Question 21

Consensus Politics

Answer 21

Consensus politics is when the two main parties adopt some of each other’s policies
For example, Labour may adopt a Conservative economic policy if this is the best idea for the country
The main reasons for the formation of consensus politics are:
- WW2/a switch to collectivism
- a fear of economic depression
- Conservative leaders were more progressive

Question 22

Attlee’s Government Main Policies

Answer 22

Attlee’s Government shied away from a socialist revolution and built on the experience of wartime planning
Their economic initiatives included:
- nationalisation
- planning
- control measures and austerity

Question 23

Consensus Politics within Different Governments

Question 24

End of Consensus Politics

Answer 24

In 1979, the British public voted overwhelmingly for an end to the post-war consensus politics electing Thatcher who was against consensus
The Keynesian economics policies followed by governments were failing by the 1970s
Leading Conservatives began to call for free market policies to solve problems such as inflation and unemployment
Conservatives also tried to restrict trade union power whilst Labour was dependant on the unions so couldn’t tackle the growing problems
This eventually led to the Winter of Discontent in 1978-79

Question 25

Economics

Answer 25

While the seriousness of economic problems changed over time, the range of issues remained roughly the same:
- the level of government debt
- the balance of payments
- the value of the £ against other currencies
- inflation
- unemployment
Britain experienced an extremely tough economic situation between 1918 and 1979 due to growing industrial competition, the impact of two world wars, the Great Depression and an oil crisis in 1973
However, ineffective solutions offered by politicians were a part of the problem

Question 26

Boom and Recovery 1918-1939

Answer 26

The end of the war was followed by a short-lived economic boom that ended in a recession in 1920
By 1921, 2 million workers were unemployed
The main problems faces after WW1 were:
- loss of trade
- debt
- value of the £
- inflation
- technological development
The war, however, cannot be blamed for all of these problems as other nations such as France and Germany were able to recover
Several British industries were old and struggles to compete with new international rivals
British investors were slow to back new industries and continued to seek overseas investment opportunities
Trade Unions were also very powerful and reduced productivity levels
A number of ineffective solutions were put forward:
- tax, spending and balancing budget
- interest rates and the value of the £
- protectionism

Question 27

Effect on Wall Street Crash to British Economy

Answer 27

The Wall Street Crash led to a collapse of global trade and many European nations were unable to repay debts to Britains
British bankers began to panic about the loss of money loaned to Germany
- they demand further spending cuts to boost economic confidence before they would lend any money to the government

Question 28

Spending Cuts due to Wall Street Crash

Answer 28

The May Report 1931 forecast that, by April 1932, the deficit would be as high as £120 million
It proposed significant cuts in welfare and salaries of public sector workers
Ramsay MacDonald imposed a round of spending cuts
It was these cuts that led to the fall of the second Labour government and the creation of the National Government
Overall, spending cuts were not successful as they caused a reduction in consumption which impeded economic recovery
When 12,000 sailors mutinied in opposition to pay cuts, it was clear that the cuts couldn’t5 continue anymore and Britain left the Gold Standard on the 19th September 1931

Question 29

Economy by the Mid-30s (Post Wall Street Crash)

Answer 29

By they mid-1930s, it was clear that the change in priorities had led to greater s economic success
British exports became 25% cheaper and far more competitive
Interest rates could now be cut from 6% to 2%
Employment was then boosted by rearmament in 1935
All of this Depression was not as hard on Britain

Question 30

Managed Economy 1939-1951

Answer 30

The period of 1939 to 1951 saw the development of centrally planned and controlled economy, first to manage wartime production and second to facilitate post war recovery
The National Government had no reservations about interfering in people’s lives to allow them to wage a total war
Rationing and conscription were introduced almost immediately
Registration for employment was made compulsory in 1941
By 1945, 3.2 million people had working in munitions, 4 million in other war work and 5.5 million in the armed forces
Although there were some strikes, these were to boost wages rather than attack government policies
People accepted the need to give up certain freedoms to defeat fascism
A longer-term impact of this war was increased acceptance of government management of the economy
In 1944, the government declared its long-term responsibility for the maintenance of high employment
The was also lent weight to the theories of Keynes which were used during consensus politics

Question 31

Post War Austerity 1941-1951

Answer 31

Attlee’s post war government not only had to pay for the cost of the war, but had to fund their new Welfare Statev
By the end of WW2, Britain had accumulated over £4 billion of debt to the USA
Repaying this with the interests cost £70 million per day
The result was a constant pressure of the value of the £ which saw devaluation by 30% by September 1949
British trade was also damaged by the war and shrank as much as 66%
Due to American fears about European Communism, Marshall Aid was offered in 1948
Britain was one of the largest recipients, consuming to £2.7 billion

Question 32

Economic Challenges 1951-1971

Answer 32

“The Economist” coined the phrase Butskellism to sum up the almost identical policies of Labour and the Conservatives in the 1950s
Apart from re-privatisation of steel and road haulage, the Conservatives accepted Labour’s post war reforms and subscribed to the same Keynesian approach to managing the economy
The years 1951 to 1979 saw a period of sustained economic growth which lasted until the early 70s, however a range of problems began to develop that this approach was seemingly unable to solve:
- inflation
- unemployment
- slow growth
Overall the Conservatives were criticised for responding to short term problems rather than effectively managing the economy
The ‘stop-go’ approach papers over problems target than solving them
In 1957, Macmillian’s entire Treasury team resigned over these measures
In 1961, the Conservative government set up tow organisations to develop a planned economy:
- NEDDY
- NICKY
By the mid-1920s, the spectre of stagflation hung over Britain

Question 33

Attempts from Wilson and Callaghan to fix Economic Issues 1951-1979

Answer 33

The Labour governments of Harold Wilson and James Callaghan failed to improve on the Conservative track record
Attempts were made to improve planning and increase investment in technology but these failed to make an impact due to inflation, unemployment and slow growth
Instead of planning, Labour responded to problems with the same ‘stop-go’ measures as the Conservatives before them
However, the most damaging lack of consistency was over the value of the £
Wilson made it clear that he wanted to avoid further devaluation
Yet, in November 1967 he was forced to cut the value of the £ from $2.80 to $2.40

Question 34

The OPEC Oil Crisis

Answer 34

The OPEC Oil Crisis began in October 1973
It was an event where the 12 countries involved that made up OPEC (at the time) stopped selling oil to the US
This was a move from Arab
Members in relation for the US decision to re-supply the Israeli military during the Arab-Israeli war
However, the embargo also targeted other nations (Canada, Japan, the Netherlands and the UK) as they also had supported Israel during the war
It was later extended to Portugal, Rhodesia and South Africa
This obviously led to an oil shortage and so the price of oil nearly quadrupled in the UK by the end of the embargo in March 1974
In the UK, the combination of the fuel shortage and high prices and had a dramatic effect on the British economy, which produced an energy crisis
This caused the government to take measures like rationing petrol and reducing of oil supplies to power stations in attempt to reduce the use of oil by 10%

Question 35

Industrial Relations

Answer 35

Industrial change was they result of changing technologies and the growth of international competition
It benefited parts of the country where money was invested in the development and manufacture of new technologies, but it caused a great deal of suffering for ordinary workers in the ‘old industries’
While governments wanted to maintain a health and competitive industry, trade unions wanted to protect the working conditions of their members
While serval approaches were used to try and improve industrial relations, anger sometimes led to widespread strike action

Question 36

Industrial Relations 1918-1939

Answer 36

After 1918 trade started to decline which left to unemployment
The reasons for this were:
- new technologies
- competition
- WW1
- trade unions
- poor industrial relations
- high unemployment
In 1918, following the armistice, there was an enormous wave of unrest across the country as not only workers, but soldiers and police went on strike
In 1919, there were 32 million days lost to strike
Many feared the strikes were politically motivated with workers seeking a Russian style revolution
However, most were about fair pay and working conditions

Question 37

Tensions Before the General Strike - Miner’s Strike 1921

Answer 37

• returned to private industries
• wages cut and longer hours
• triple alliance
• Black Friday

Question 38

Tensions Before the General Strike - Miner’s Strike 1921

Answer 38

• returned to private industries
• wages cut and longer hours
• triple alliance
• Black Friday

Question 39

Decline in Traditional Industries 20s and 30s A

Answer 39

Reasons: - an outdated industrial infrastructure e.g. old factory buildings medical it difficult to compete
- decreases productivity due to industrial owners failure to promote greater efficiency and mechanisms
- mining, in particular, and textile suffered from use of out dated Machinery
Details: - key British industries, above all shipbuilding, coal mining and textiles, were struggling with changed markets and increased foreign competition. Britain’s railways had not paid any dividends to shareholders since 1923
- markets from cal in Eastern Europe, for textiles in Asia, were inexorably slipping to competitors with lowers costs than Britain in producing these fairly unsophisticated goods. What is really remarkable, of course, is not that this eventually happened but it took so long
- although the old export-based staple industries suffered badly in the 1930s, there was a compensating growth of newer enterprises. The3se new industries were generally concentrated in London, the South East and the West Midlands. They were powered by electricity rather than coal and moved their good by road rather then rial; this is emphasised the move away from the traditional coalfields. Britain became the second biggest car producer in the world. Electrical engineering was another growth industry

Question 40

Decline in Traditional Industries 20s and 30s B

Answer 40

Reasons: - the reluctance of the government and the banking industry to provide investment
Explanations: - Lloyd George believed that there was little choice but to wait for the economy to improve on its own. He was anxious to appease middle class voters who were experiencing financial hardship after 1920, many of whom wanted to see tax cuts amid less government spending

Question 41

Decline in Traditional Industries 20s and 30s C

Answer 41

Reasons: - the export markets lost during the WW1 were not regained, often due to the protective tariffs of competitor nations
Explanations: - British industry suffered from long term underinvestment and the 1920s this had begun to cause serious problems. In the steel industry, output through the interwar period was lower than Britain’s rivals. By the 1920s, a growing number of British manufacturers were importing American steel because of its superior quality and price. By 19376, British steel foundries were producing 83,000 tonnes per year, but American foundries were producing 210,000 tonnes and Germany was producing 125,000

Question 42

Decline in Traditional Industries 20s and 30s D

Answer 42

Reasons: - the red turn of the Gold Standard in 19525-31 made exports more expensive
Explanations: - Stanley Baldwin’s Chancellor of the Exchequer was Winston Churchill. The had never held the post of chancellor before, and presided over one of the most catastrophic economic blunders of the decade. By reintroducing the Gold Standard it had been argued that the economic slump was prolonged
- many businesses wanted to come off the Gold Standard to make their exports cheaper so they could sell their products across the world, and compete with cheaper imports flooding the country. The higher costs of British export de were offset by employers through reducing wages or moving workers onto short-hour contacts
- after WW1, the financial system was very unstable. Britain returned to the Gold Standard in 1925 (a decision taken by Winston Churchill, then Chancellor in Baldwin’s Conservative government) hoping that it would leads to financial stability and help economic modernisation. In fact, the Gold Standard probably increased the rigidity of the economy. One key moment in the crisis of 1931 was the decision of a Labour Chancellor to take Britain off the Gold Standard and too devalue to pound against to dollar

Question 43

Decline in Traditional Industries 20s and 30s E

Question 44

Decline in Traditional Industries 20s and 30s F

Question 45

The General Strike 1926 Timeline

Answer 45

Tuesday 4 May - A general strike is called by the Trade Union Congress (TUC) to support their miners in the dispute with the mine owners, who wanted to reduce wages by 13% and increase shifts from 7 to 8 hours. Huge numbers of road transport, bus, rail, docks, printing, gas and electricity, building, iron, steel, chemicals and coal workers stay off work. JH Thomas, a trade unionist and MP, says ‘God help us unless the government wins”
Wednesday 5 May - Government acts aggressively against the strike and tries to exert greater control over the media. It attempts to take control of the BBC and publishes a newspaper ‘The British Gazette’. The government also sends a warship to Newcastle and recruits 226,000 special policemen
Thursday 6 may - Middle-class volunteers get some buses and trains, and the electricity working. A few buses are set on fire, and there are fights between police and strikers in London, Glasgow and Edinburgh. Stanley Baldwin, PM, declared the strike an attack on Britain’s democracy
Friday 7 May - Police and strikers clash in Liverpool, Hull and London. The government calls the army to London. It also seizes all supplies of paper, which hinders publication of the TUC’s paper, ‘The British Worker’. The TUC is embarrassed when Russian trade unionists send a large donation and send it back
Saturday 8 May - Police make baton-charges on rioting strikers in Glasgow, Hull, Middlesbrough, Newcastle and Preston. The number of volunteers increases. The army escorts food lorries from the London docks. Secretly, JH Thomas has talks with the mine owners
Sunday 9 May - The Roman Catholic Church declares the strike ‘a sin’
Monday 10 May - Some textile workers join the strike. Strikers in Northumberland derail the Flying Scotsman train. Baldwin declares that Britain is n’threatened with a revolution’, and the government arrests 374 communists
Tuesday 11 May - The TUC, led by JH Thomas, calls off the strike. The Strikers are taken by surprise, but drift back to work.
The miners struggle on alone until November when they are forced to go back to work for less pay and longer hours

Question 46

The General Strike - Tuesday 4 May

Answer 46

Tuesday 4 May - A general strike is called by the Trade Union Congress (TUC) to support their miners in the dispute with the mine owners, who wanted to reduce wages by 13% and increase shifts from 7 to 8 hours. Huge numbers of road transport, bus, rail, docks, printing, gas and electricity, building, iron, steel, chemicals and coal workers stay off work. JH Thomas, a trade unionist and MP, says ‘God help us unless the government wins”

Question 47

The General Strike - Wednesday 5 May

Answer 47

Wednesday 5 May - Government acts aggressively against the strike and tries to exert greater control over the media. It attempts to take control of the BBC and publishes a newspaper ‘The British Gazette’. The government also sends a warship to Newcastle and recruits 226,000 special policemen

Question 48

The General Strike - Thursday 6 May

Answer 48

Thursday 6 may - Middle-class volunteers get some buses and trains, and the electricity working. A few buses are set on fire, and there are fights between police and strikers in London, Glasgow and Edinburgh. Stanley Baldwin, PM, declared the strike an attack on Britain’s democracy

Question 49

The General Strike - Friday 7 May

Answer 49

Friday 7 May - Police and strikers clash in Liverpool, Hull and London. The government calls the army to London. It also seizes all supplies of paper, which hinders publication of the TUC’s paper, ‘The British Worker’. The TUC is embarrassed when Russian trade unionists send a large donation and send it back

Question 50

The General Strike - Saturday 8 May

Answer 50

Saturday 8 May - Police make baton-charges on rioting strikers in Glasgow, Hull, Middlesbrough, Newcastle and Preston. The number of volunteers increases. The army escorts food lorries from the London docks. Secretly, JH Thomas has talks with the mine owners

Question 51

The General Strike - Sunday 9 May

Answer 51

Sunday 9 May - The Roman Catholic Church declares the strike ‘a sin’

Question 52

The General Strike - Monday 10 May

Answer 52

Monday 10 May - Some textile workers join the strike. Strikers in Northumberland derail the Flying Scotsman train. Baldwin declares that Britain is n’threatened with a revolution’, and the government arrests 374 communists

Question 53

The General Strike - Tuesday 11 May

Answer 53

Tuesday 11 May - The TUC, led by JH Thomas, calls off the strike. The Strikers are taken by surprise, but drift back to work.
The miners struggle on alone until November when they are forced to go back to work for less pay and longer hours

Question 54

Reason for General Strike - TU Militancy

Answer 54

1910-1912 was a period of industrial unrest, and in 1913 the miner’s, railwaymen’s and transport worker’s unions formed the Triple Alliance
This included a promise to support each other if there’s was a strike
However, on 15 April 1921 (Black Friday) the railway and transport unions failed to support the miners when mine owners reduced their wages and increased their hours of work

Question 55

Reasons for General Strike - Economic Depression

Answer 55

There were problems in the economy after the war, and in 1925 the government returned to the gold standard
- it tied the value of the pounds to the amount of gold in the Bank of England
This caused a depression and reduced exports, especially of coal

Question 56

Reasons for General Strike - Fear of Communism

Answer 56

In 1924 the ‘Daily Mail’ published a supposed letter from the Russian Communist leader Zinoviev to British communists, urging them to start a revolution
It was forgery, but it frightened middle-class people and made them determined to oppose the demands of the workers

Question 57

Reasons for General Strike - Problems in the Coal Industry throughout the 1920s

Answer 57

The industry was out of date. Workers were still using pickaxes and only 1/5 of coal was cut by machine
The mine owner’s response to the Depression was not to modernise, but to cut wages and increase working hours (1921)
In 1925, the mine owners tried to cut wages and increase hours again. The Triple Alliance threaten a general strike so on 31 July 1925 (Red Friday), the government paid a 9 month subsidy to prop up wages
In March 1926, the government’s Samuel Commission suggested cutting wages, but not increasing hours. Both miners and mine owners refused this compromise. Mine owners began drawing up plans to increase hours and cut pay
At the TUC conference on 1 May 1926, a general strike was planned to start 2 days later. The TUC and the government began negotiations
When print workers refused to print an edition of the ‘Daily Mail’ attacking the miners as ‘a revolutionary movement’ negotiations collapsed, and the General Strike went ahead as planned

Question 58

Results of the General Strike

Answer 58

1 - miners were defeated
2 - the TUC was ruined - membership fell from 5.5 million in 1925 to 3.75 million in 1930
3 - the Trades Disputes Act of 1927 made general strikes illegal
4 - the Labour Party won the 1929 election

Question 59

Reasons for the General Strike Failing

Answer 59

The Government was ready
- they had spend the 9 months paying the subsidy preparing
- it set up the Organisation for Maintenance Supplies (OMS) under Winston Churchill to defeat the strike
- it took a very aggressive line against the strike suing both propaganda statement and army/police action
The Middle Class opposed the strike
- the incidents of violence and evidence of support for the strike from the communists frightened the middle classes
- many of them volunteered as strike-breakers, although some of them were just fulfilling boyhood dreams to be a train or bus driver
The Labour Party betrayed the Strikers
- the Labour Party and the TUC leaders were frightened by the strike

Question 60

Union Activity in the 1930s

Answer 60

Union activity throughout the 1930s was significantly weakened by the aftermath of the General Strike
The aftermath of the Great Depression also saw a resulting mass unemployment which meant union revenues were depleted
Membership had declined from its height of 8 million in 1922 to 4.5 million in 1932

Question 61

Changing Opportunities and Working Conditions

Answer 61

The total number of people working increased despite rises in school leaving age and a fall in the average age of retirement
There were huge falls in numbers of of miners despite government efforts to protect traditional industries
Although the number of manufacturing work increased until the 1980s, there was a marked growth in the white collar sectors
This was because:
- higher disposable income fulled demand for goods and service, such as meals at restaurants which created more jobs
- governments increased spending on services such as health and education
- less ability for mechanisation to impact jobs

Question 62

Impact of the Wars on Work for Women

Answer 62

Women had worked jobs left by men during WW1 but soon after the war, they returned to more traditional ‘women’s work’
Trade Unions didn’t want to change and the men returning from war expected employment
Whilst a single woman could do certain jobs, a married woman was expected to go back home to look after her husband and children
It’s a common misconception that after getting jobs during WW2 women demanded employment and then had the same opportunities as men
Many women were forced out of their jobs after WW2
However, WW2 started something in motions - women had had jobs and freedom
They didn’t want to let go and wee now willing to fight for change

Question 63

Changing Work Opportunities for Women

Answer 63

Until the 1980s, most jobs were in the traditionally male blue collar areas of work
Educational opportunities were also limited
- most women left education at 15 and those who stayed on and extra year studied courses such as hair dressing and childcare
Very few women studied science, law or medicine
- in the 1960s only 5% of lawyers and 15% of doctors were women
They still got married young and had children and employers didn’t want to hire mothers
A mixture of factors helped women to have increased opportunities in the workplace:
- WW2 made women want to work and have freedom
- changes in education made for a more even playing field
- social changes which made women more aware of their power

Question 64

Laws Passed that Helped Women

Answer 64

Equal Pay Act 1970
- ‘equal pay for equal work’
- this remained voluntary for businesses until 1975
Sex Discrimination Act 1975
- made it illegal to treat workers of one gender more favourably than this of another gender
Employment Protection Act 1975
- made it illegal to sack workers for being pregnant
- gave women a right to maternity pay and to return to their jobs

Question 65

Industrial Relations 1939-1950s

Answer 65

During the war, the economy was good, employment was high and people wanted it to stay this way
Both Labour and Conservatives promised to keep it this way
Over time, this strengthened the bargaining power of TUs and led to the inclusion of trade unionists in government bodies
The government hoped that the unions would continue with the cooperative attitude that they had during the war and restrict waged demands
This persisted until a spike of inflation in the 1950s

Question 66

Industrial Relations 1950s-1979

Answer 66

The British economy did continue to grow but not at the same rate as foreign economies
British industry couldn’t compete and jobs were lost a result
This, coupled with government efforts to manage inflation through wage control, led to simmering tension
Consensus governments used appeasement to deal with strikes
Labour’s funding from TUs made it impossible for them to stand up to strikes
In 1969, Barbara Castle came up with ‘in place of strife’ which would have limited the power of TUs but it was so unpopular that it was never used
The Tories also backed away from confrontation because they favoured short term electability over long term solutions

For the first time since WW2, wages did not rise in line with prices
This made people discontent
Industrial action increased due to government failures to resist increased pay demands
This industrial action then led to more inflation which led to even more demands for increased pay

Question 67

Timeline of Industrial Relations 1972-1979

Answer 67

1971 - Miners demand a 33% pay rise. The government offer 8% and 280,000 miners go on strike. The government had to call a state of emergency and they offered a 27% pay rise in February
1971-1973 - This encouraged more workers to go on strike and demand more pay. Despite the creation of the Pay Board, some businesses, teachers, hospital staff and train delivers went on strike
1973 - The oil crisis led to even higher wage demands. The NUM demanded a further 35% pay increase. Heath asks ‘who governs Britain?’
1978 - Callaghan is forced to limit pay increases to 5%, however he only has ‘social contract’ with the TUs to enforce this. A strike at Ford leads to a 17% pay increase
1979 - Tanker drivers quickly won a pay increase and went back to work. The lorry drivers stuck it out for 6 weeks, in which this time they refused to deliver goods to shops, industries and hospitals. P-expel started to panic buy food
1979 - 1.5 million public sector workers went on strike in the Winter of Discontent. All school closed, hospitals could only take emergency cases and piles of rubbish built up. The dead were not being buried. The government accepted defeat and approved pay increases of 10-15%

Question 68

Decline in Trade Unions 1970s

Answer 68

By this stage, the public had been frightened and disgusted by the impact of strikes (especially after the Winter of Discontent’
A vast majority now believed that the TUs were too powerful and that something had to be done to limit their power
Thatcher promised to do this, which led to her victory in the 1979 election