Chapter 15 - Trade, commerce and the economic impact of war

Question 1

What British industries experienced difficulties due to war?

Answer 1

Textiles, shipping, coal, iron, steel

Question 2

How much did India give to the British war effort?

Answer 2

£164m

Question 3

What did India experience during the war?

Answer 3

Inflation + food shortages

Question 4

When did Britain return to the gold standard?

Answer 4

1925

Question 5

When did Britain abandon the gold standard?

Answer 5

1930 - due to great depression

Question 6

What was the sterling area?

Answer 6

Most colonies fixed their currency to the Sterling

Question 7

What happened to the value of British exports to the world?

Answer 7

1913-£525 million, 1934- £378 million

Question 8

What happened to the total value of British exports to the empire?

Answer 8

1913- £195 million, 1934- £166 million

Question 9

What was the Ottawa Conference 1931?

Answer 9

. The British introduced a general 10% tax on all imports but the Crown Colonies were exempt

. Britain and the Dominions gave each other’s exports preferential treatment in their own markets

Question 10

What was the total value of British imports to the world?

Answer 10

1913- £769 million, 1934- £727 million

Question 11

What was the total value of British imports to the empire?

Answer 11

1913- £191 million, 1934- £257 million

Question 12

What exports did Malay and Burma rely on?

Answer 12

. Malay - tin + rubber

. Burma - rice

Question 13

What did Britain lose in the war in terms of shipping?

Answer 13

. Britain lost 11.7 million tonnes of shipping in the war

. About 54% of the country’s merchant fleet strength at the beginning of the war

Question 14

What was Lend-Lease?

Answer 14

. 1941 - Britain borrowed from America

. The US supplied Britain with weapons, food and other necessities

Question 15

What did John Maynard Keynes do?

Answer 15

Negotiated a massive US loan, approximately £900 million in 1945 but conditions were tough

Question 16

What was Dual Approach?

Answer 16

Costs of controlling a country massively outstripped its actual or potential value

Question 17

What was the Colonial Development and Welfare Act 1940?

Answer 17

. Wrote off some colonial debts

. Provided colonial grants or loans of up to £5 million per year

Question 18

What was the Colonial Development and Welfare Act 1945?

Answer 18

. Increased the aid available to colonies to £120 million over ten years

. Required each colony to produce a ten-year development plan showing how it would use such funds