Economic developments 1939-64

Question 1

what measures did the coalition govt put into place?

RCBOTC

Answer 1

• rationing inc bread, meat, clothes + fuel
• both men + women conscripted into work that govt deemed as essential
• unpopular scheme of Bevin Boys (1943-48)
• order 1305 was passed - forbidding strikes
• tax on incomes over £1000 per year rose to 38%
• millions of acres of spare land was used for crop production, by 1945 the amount of arable land under cultivation increased by over 50%

Question 2

what was the national service act No.2

Answer 2

took all single women aged 20 + 21 into was service

in 1949 it was lowered to 19

Question 3

what were the Bevin Boys?

Answer 3

men aged 18-24, who were conscripted. this national service no.s would enter a fortnightly ballot, those whose final digit match that weeks randomly drawn no. would be sent to the coal mines

Question 4

how did the British public support the govt?

Answer 4

bought war bonds - almost £8.5 bill raised
civilians also saved + collected aluminium pans + iron railings for war materials
they accepted not only income tax rises but cuts in production to consumer goods

Question 5

what % of women agreed that they should all do war work?

Answer 5

97%

Question 6

what had British gold reserves fallen to in 1941?

Answer 6

£3 million

Question 7

what were British overseas debts at, at the end of the war?

Answer 7

over £3 billion

Question 8

what did lend lease do for Britain?

Answer 8

received $750 million worth of arms in 1941 alone

Question 9

what happened in the 1950s?

Answer 9

a period of economic growth, consumption increased, population became more affluent, British steel industry was booming, British based P&O had become the worlds largest shipping line with 366 vessels

Question 10

in Macmillians premiership what did growth avg out as?

Answer 10

4%

Question 11

examples of leading manufacturers after the war?

Answer 11

Rolls Royce, Vickers, Ferranti

Question 12

what was seen as a poison chalice?

Answer 12

the loan of $3.75 billion at an interest rate of 2%
Britain spent it within a year + they had to make the £ freely convertible to $ from 1947. almost immediately countries with sterling balance took $1 bill from British reserves + govt were forced to suspend convertibly

Question 13

what led to a balance of payments deficit of £438?

Answer 13

the cost of imports from US as they were rearming in response to the soviet threat

Question 14

what was introduced 1951-64?

Answer 14

stop go policies

Question 15

stop (1951-52)

Answer 15

Churchill inherited balance of payment of deficit £700 million
responded by introducing credit restrictions, cutting food subsidies + reducing imports by £600 mill

Question 16

go (1953-54)

Answer 16

cut bank rate, industry began to expand, investment increased + full employment achieved

Question 17

stop (1955-56)

Answer 17

balance of payments deficit 1955

purchase tax was increased + bank rate rose to 5.5%

Question 18

go (1957-58)

Answer 18

taxes lowered + credit restrictions eased
however as consumer demand increased so did imports + prices -> demand of higher wages = strikes
balance deficit

Question 19

stop (1958-59)

Answer 19

thorneycroft resigned over cuts of £163 mill that macmillan didn’t want to do

Question 20

go (1959)

Answer 20

in time for polling day taxes cut, relaxed credit controls, allowed wage increased

Question 21

stop (1960-63)

Answer 21

interest rates rose, 10% added to purchase tax + import duties increased, a pay cause introduced no wage rises for 12 months

Question 22

go (1963-64)

Answer 22

big increase in imports. balance of payment deficit of £748 mill
also due to high production costs which made br exports more expensive

Question 23

what were the changes in industry + trade?

Answer 23

• corporate trading grew as tycoons took over + reorganised poorly managed businesses
• power of good advertising recognised
• modern safer tech in coal mines (large super-pits)
• aircraft + chemical industries expanded

Question 24

how had transport developed?

Answer 24

8 mile Preston bypass in Dec 1958 -> marked the beginning go motorway construction -> 300 miles built 1964
67 miles of the M1 opened in 1959

Question 25

how did the car industry grow?

Answer 25

merger of Austin motor company + Morris motors to form the British motor company in 1952 -> Morris minor became first car to sell over a million costing £350
Mini introduction in 1959

Question 26

how did growing competition affect Britain?

Answer 26

india -> led to decline of Br textile industry
west germany -> due to us investment grew nearly four times as fast
Japan -> outperformed Britain in shipbuilding, camera + electronic technologies, the growth of Honda. by end of 1950s producing an avg of 500,000 motorcycles a yr compared with br avg of 140,000

Question 27

why did Britain experience decline compared to competitors?

Answer 27

reluctance to embrace change

300,000 br companies, only 1% on the stock market

Question 28

Emergency Powers Act 1946

impact

Answer 28

• gave govt authority to bring into force regulations covering any aspect of life needed to secure defence of the realm
• greater centralisation of govt
• ministers set up for food, aircraft production etc
• conscription mandatory for all men between 18-41, extended to 51

Question 29

Emergency Powers Act 1946

success

Answer 29

infringed in peoples rights + freedoms but seen as something for the greater good

Question 30

Food + Rationing

impact

Answer 30

• introduced Jan 1940 - almost all consumer foods rationed or in short supply by 1942
• some thought demoralising vs some thought would stop hoarding
• disappointment that rating continued many years after war had ended

Question 31

Food + Rationing

success

Answer 31

• meat rationed till 1954, the black market

+ convoy system introduced to make sure food was supplied in sensible rationing scheme

Question 32

organisation of labour

impact + success

Answer 32

• Ernest Bevin oversaw allocation of labour -> added industrial conscription -> young men were conscripted for work in coal mines
• women encouraged to work for munitions engineering + shipbuilding
• unemployment remained at 1 mill

successful

Question 33

war production

impact

Answer 33

• in coal industry, total output + productivity remained low; problems w investment + many miners attracted to other wartime jobs
• coal mines were old + lacked new machinery
• royal ordinance factories employed 300,000 workers, another 265 factories work for admirality + ministry of aircraft production
• non essential industries run down so machinery + labour could be used for war work

Question 34

war production

success

Answer 34

women in workforce + new factories but production still slow

Question 35

the impact of the blitz

Answer 35

• people used underground + Anderson shelters as protected
• massive destruction of buildings + considerable loss of life (66,000) + many families were left homeless
• gov made school meals + cheap milk available for displaced children + vitamins for preg women
• gave RAF time to repair + rebuild after battle of Britain
• use of radar = vital role in defeat of German bombers

Question 36

the impact of the blitz

success

Answer 36

collective resistance, sense of national unity + good from strategic POV