Economics Flashcards
WWI cost…
£35 billion (13 x Boer War)
Britain returned to the gold standard following WWI
1925
Britain went off the gold standard again
1931
Amount India contributed to the war effort
£146 million
Britain placed high taxes on Indian imports after WWI
Actually grew India’s domestic economy
Taxes in 1917 = 11%
Taxes in 1931 = 25%
Colonial Development Act 1929
Made £1 million available to the colonies
UK gov could borrow money to develop the colonies without this being backed by the gold standard
Sterling Area meant that…
Volatility in the pound would not affect trade as everyone was trading in the same currency
Shifts in trading patterns during the inter-war period
1913 - 1934
Total global exports fell by 28%
Exports to Empire only fell by 15%
Ottawa Conference
1932
Campaign for ‘Empire Free Trade’
Imperial preference
Lord Beaverbrook’s Daily Express was heavily involved
Who supported imperial preference?
Conservative Party
Majority of industries
Conservative Party came into power in Britain which meant Empire Free Trade could be implemented
1931
Neville Chamberlain became Chancellor of the Exchequer
Conservative Party came into power in Canada
1930
Had made support for imperial preference part of their campaign
Agreements made at the Ottawa Conference
Series of bilateral trading agreements which effectively enacted a system of imperial preference
Britain introduced a 10% import tax but the colonies were exempt from it
Dominions and other colonies were allowed to continue to grow their economies with free trade outside the Empire
Impact of the Ottawa Conference on British exports to the Empire
1931 - 1937
Exports rose by 7%
Impact of the Ottawa Conference on British imports from the Empire
1931 - 1937
Imports rose by 13%
U boat attacks in WWI lost the British
11.7 million tons of shipping
54% decrease in merchant ships
Export trade decline following WWI
2/3 pre-war export trade lost
Impact of WWII on stored wealth
Lost 1/4 stored wealth
Fraction of Britain’s overseas assets were sold to pay for the war
1/3 overseas assets
Lend Lease
Britain borrowed from USA in 1941
John Maynard Keynes negotiated a loan with America
1945, £900 million to help with the end of Lend Lease
What did the Americans demand regarding Keynes/Lend Lease
Free convertibility of the pound which would ‘hamper an economic recovery based on imports’
Colonial Development and Welfare Act 1940
Wrote off some colonial debts
Provided colonial grants/loans of up to £5 million per year
Colonial Development and Welfare Act 1945
Increased aid available to the colonies to £120 million over the next ten years
Colonies had to provide a ten-year development plan regarding their use of the funds
Import Duties Act
1932
British imposed a 10% tariff on most imports
Example of bulk British purchasing
1939, bought the entire cocoa crop of British West Africa
British debt in 1945
£3,500 million
