Chapter 10

Question 1

What were some of the ‘new’ industries that benefited from the war?

Answer 1

Chemicals, motor vehicles, electrical goods and canned food

Question 2

What reforms benefited housing?

Answer 2

The 1926 Central Electricity Generating Board and the National Grid brought a more flexible form of power to homes

Question 3

How did the Conservative government attempt to solve problems with trade?

Answer 3

Baldwin proposed tariff reform to protect British industry but lost the election on this belief

Question 4

How did the Labour government attempt to solve problems with trade?

Answer 4

Signed a trade treaty with Soviet Russia, helped negotiate the Dawes Plan in 1924 and the Young Plan in 1929, restoring trade with Germany and Russia

Question 5

How did the Labour government attempt to solve problems with unemployment?

Answer 5

Launched a public works program which aimed to create new jobs but it was too small scale to have any real effect

Question 6

How did the Labour government attempt to solve problems with industry?

Answer 6

Subsidies were extended to Imperial Airways and the development of aviation was encouraged

Question 7

How did the second Conservative government reverse Labour government economic reforms?

Answer 7

Broke off relations with Soviet Russia in 1924 and put Britain back on the Gold Standard in 1925

Question 8

Why was the move on the Gold Standard welcomed by the banking sector?

Answer 8

Fixed payments of money were worth more as the pound was more valuable and benefited money lenders

Question 9

What was the most obvious problem with the move on the Gold Standard?

Answer 9

British exports were now uncompetitive in staple industries, thus increasing unemployment

Question 10

How many miners were killed and injured in 1922-24?

Answer 10

3603 were killed and 597,158 were injured

Question 11

How did Baldwin’s government attempt to appease the miners?

Answer 11

It offered financial support to subsidise miners’ wages and owners’ profits for nine months and set up the Samuel Commission

Question 12

What did the miners’ nickname the day that the subsidy was announced?

Answer 12

Red Friday

Question 13

Why did the Samuel Commission prove a disappointment?

Answer 13

It rejected nationalisation and recommended that mines should be restructured and wages should be cut

Question 14

What slogan did the miners’ use in protest of wage cuts?

Answer 14

‘Not a penny off the pay, not a second on the day’

Question 15

How did Baldwin fail to prevent a strike?

Answer 15

The 1920 Emergency Powers Act declared a state of emergency and ended talks with the trade union leaders

Question 16

How did Baldwin disadvantage the workers economically?

Answer 16

He set up the Organisation for the Maintenance of Supplies, organising 100,000 volunteer workers to supplement the armed forces

Question 17

What role did Churchill play in undermining the General Strike?

Answer 17

He was put in control of the British Gazette and fought a campaign to undermine support for the strike

Question 18

How did the TUC fail to garner support for the General Strike?

Answer 18

TUC leadership was not organised enough, the British Worker did not make a significant impact

Question 19

What was the result of the General Strike for the miners and the coal mining industry?

Answer 19

The miners did not gain their demands over wages or hours and the strikers faced penalties, were demoted, and were unemployed

Question 20

What was the result of the General Strike for the trade union movement?

Answer 20

The 1927 Trade Disputes Act made sympathetic strikes illegal, restricted picketing and allowed for sequestration of funds - trade union membership dropped to under 5 million and moderate union leaders like Ernest Bevin came to the fore

Question 21

What was the result of the General Strike for the Conservative government?

Answer 21

The handling of the strike was praised by the middle and upper classes, but Baldwin’s treatment of the strikers led the unions to turn against them

Question 22

What was the result of the General Strike for the Labour Party?

Answer 22

It did not harm the Party as Ramsay MacDonald had projected an image of firmness and moderation