Challenges faced by the National Gov. (1a)

Question 1

What challenges did the national gov. face?

Answer 1

• Dealing with the rise of extremism

- Confronting the economic challenge of the Great Depression

Question 2

Why did extremism fail to gain support in Britain?

Answer 2

Partly due to the national gov.

Question 3

Who was Oswald Mosley and the BUF?

Answer 3

Oswald Mosley formed the BUF (British Union of Fascists) in 1932 with the aim of emulating Mussolini style leadership

Question 4

What was the BUF like?

Answer 4

Racist and anti semitic

Question 5

How was the BUF party funded?

Answer 5

By Mosley himself and some wealthy aristocrats

Question 6

How many members did the BUF have in the 1930s?

Answer 6

50,000

Question 7

What was the ‘Battle of Cable Street’?

Answer 7

• Took place in 1936
• The BUF marched through East London (home to many Jews and Irish immigrants)
• Turned into a violent clash

Question 8

What made the BUF even more unpopular?

Answer 8

WW2, Mosley was imprisoned for 3 years until 1943 and the BUF was banned

Question 9

What was the Communist Party of Great Britain like?

Answer 9

More successful than Mosley and the BUF

Question 10

When did the CPGB gain MPs and how many?

Answer 10

One in 1924 and 1935

Question 11

What was the maximum of the vote that the CPGB gained?

Answer 11

0.4%; British electorate rejected communism

Question 12

What prevented Communism from ever taking off?

Answer 12

Traditions and the strength of Trade Unions

Question 13

What did the CPGB use to try and infiltrate the Labour party?

Answer 13

• They used ‘entryism’
• This involved trying to steer their ideas further to the left
• Labour banned CPGB members from joining Labour to support this

Question 14

When did the CPGB gain some support?

Answer 14

After Russia helped to defeat Nazi Germany

Question 15

What did unemployment never fall below in the interwar period?

Answer 15

1 million

Question 16

What did unemployment rise to in 1932?

Answer 16

3 million

Question 17

In 1929 what was unemployment like?

Answer 17

5% of the unemployed had been jobless for over a year

Question 18

In 1932 what was unemployment like?

Answer 18

16.5% of the unemployed had been jobless for over a year

Question 19

What lead to a fall of union membership?

Answer 19

• Mass unemployment
• By almost 50%
• From 8 million in 1922 to 4.5 million in 1932

Question 20

Which workers tended to fight harder for their jobs and pay?

Answer 20

Traditional heavy industries - it was against employers wanting to make cuts and improve productivity

Question 21

Who did the government try to support during this time?

Answer 21

The unemployed, but they didn’t have the resources to do this
Also the gov. tended to side with the employer in trade disputes

Question 22

What industry was in terminal decline and working conditions remained poverty stricken?

Answer 22

Traditional heavy industries (by 1939)

Question 23

When did the National gov. remove the £ from the gold standard?

Answer 23

1931

Question 24

What happened when the National gov. removed the £ from the gold standard?

Answer 24

The value of the pound depreciated from $4.80 to $3.40

Question 25

What did removing the £ from the gold standard allow?

Answer 25

Quicker recovery from the depression compared to other countries

Question 26

How did unemployment change after the £ was removed from the gold standard in 1931?

Answer 26

Unemployment fell from 17% to 8.5% between 1932 and 1937

Question 27

What happened to interest rates when the £ was removed from the gold standard in 1931?

Answer 27

Interest rates were cut from 6% to 2%, leading to greater borrowing
This policy was called ‘Cheap money’

Question 28

How much was the rate of long term gov. borrowing cut by after the £ was removed from the gold standard in 1931?

Answer 28

1.5%, slashing the cost of gov. debt repayment

Question 29

What did greater borrowing trigger after the £ was removed from the gold standard in 1931?

Answer 29

A boom in mortgages and house building

Question 30

How were exports and industrial production affected by the £ being removed from the gold standard in 1931?

Answer 30

• Exports were cheaper as prices of British goods fell by 45% + sales went up by 28%
• Industrial production rose by 46%