Interwar Dominions and Economics

Question 1

WWI impact on Br economy

Answer 1

MASSIVE DECLINE

• production in Br industries were stagnant- in textiles it was declining (1914= textiles made up 40% Br exports v 1938= 25%); sluggish growth in industries that were growing eg steel
• British overseas investment didnt recover from her sale of them to pay for the War- 1b down in 1930 from 1914
• In 1935-9, import trade was 19% of national income vs 33% c. 1910-13
• After Great Depression, Britain’s share of the world’s manufactured exports fell from 25% (1913) to 19% (1937)
• Br cotton barely sold 1% of 1913 figures

Question 2

Decline in imperial preference stat?

Answer 2

By 1930, 83% of Br imports payed no duty whatsoever

Question 3

Change in economic attitudes during the interwar period?

Answer 3

During 20s Br had tried to create a free trade/no preference system which had operated before 1914
Post-Great Depression, Britain wanted to maintain as wide a geographicalscope as possible; far more concerned with empire now

Question 4

Wall Street Crash?

When and effects?

Answer 4

Oct 1929
Br exports to china fell from 71.25m (1929) to 300k (1936)
Br world exports fell from 525m (1913) to 378m (1934)

Question 5

What was the Empire Settlement Act of 1922?

Answer 5

A product of the 1919 Colonial Office creation of the overseas Settlement Committee to promote imperial emigration
The Act committed 3m/year for empire migration

Question 6

Effects of the ESA 1922?

Answer 6

Out of those who migrated in 1923, 23% chose imperial destinations
vs 50% in 1926-7
vs 67% 1929!!!!

Question 7

Egs of Imperial preference?/ what it actually is?

Answer 7

Empire Settlement Act 1922

Growing economic dependence on colonies, and so appropriate measures to assist this

Question 8

Stats demonstrating growing importance of empire in interwar period for Britain?

Answer 8

1920- 27% imports and 37% exports= colonies
1935-9 39% imports and 49% exports= colonies
British trade with the world declined as trade with the empire went up: worldtrade 1913- 525m vs 378m in 1934 THEREFORE RISE IN IMPERIAL TRADE DOES NOT CORRELATE WITH GENERAL TRADE RISE (IT IS SPECIFIC TO THE EMPIRE DEMONSTRATING GROWTH IN BRITAIN’S DEPENDENCE ON IMPERIAL INCOME)

Question 9

Effects of British economic decline on trading relationships

Answer 9

Britain continued to trade more with underdeveloped countries due to inability to compete with other nations- in 1927-9, over 75% of exports went to non-industrial countries vs 58% in 1967-9

Question 10

Imperial preference social effects?

Answer 10

State aided emigration; providing more work at home and reinvigorating Br industry to fufill new demand from emigrants

Question 11

Britain’s economic relation to dominions statas?

Answer 11

br imports from dominions= 14.3% (1909-13) vs 24.5% (34-38)

Question 12

What was the Sterling Bloc?

Answer 12

After Britain forced off the gold standard in 1931, they established sterling bloc where members pegged the value of their currency to sterling and kept lots of their reserves foreign exchange in sterling

Question 13

What does Sterling Bloc mean for colonies?

Answer 13

Currencies enjoyed stable relationship - when LDN devalued, so did the colonies

Question 14

Was Sterling Bloc good?

Answer 14

Sterling kept at a low level to allow ‘cheap money’ - ie interests at 2%
Allowed Britain to recover faster than USA, who also withdrew behind protectionism with Smoot-Hawley (1930) pact
It helped stave off the worst effects of the depression

Question 15

What/when was the Ottawa Conference?

Answer 15

1932
Britain imposed a general tax on all imports but crown colonies were exempts
Britain and dominions gave other’s exports preferential treatment

Question 16

Australia growing nationalism?

Answer 16

During Depression, conflict betw middle class support for Empire (who wanted to follow economic advice of Bank of England governor) vs radical nationalists who believed there to be 'financial anarchists' in British banks in Austrialia
Australia were looking for new markets- esp the East

Question 17

Canada growing nationalism?

Answer 17

Provincialism and mistrust of federal gov also emerged from Depression; this became a political cry against the British in Quebec, Canada
Bennett’s Conservative government cried ‘Canada First’ and introduced a sharp rise on tariffs to defend Canadian industry
-Canadian Nationalism opposition also channelled through the ‘Union Nationale’ of Maurice Duplessis
-Canada gov negotiated the Halibut Fisheries Treaty (1923 Canada and America) as an independent nation
-When Britain ratified the Treaty of Lausanne in the name of the Empire in 1924, Canada refused to accept binding responsibility

Question 18

SA growing nationalism?

Answer 18

Distinct Afrikaner identity- this movement gathered speed in the 30s due to:
the promotion of Afrikaans (it replaced Dutch as SA’s official second lang in 1924)
the rise in Afrikaaner only schools (by 1936, 55% of white children were recieving lessons only in Afrikaans)…this identity tied in perfectly with centenary in 1938 of the Great Trek
When, in 1935, Britain proposed to thee LoN that sanctions against Italy over Abyssinia should be abandoned, SA cast the sole dissenting vote against British proposal

Question 19

What was the 1926 imperial conference?

Answer 19

Led to the Balfour Declaration of 1926 (ANOTHER ONE)
Declared that all dominions are ‘equal in status’ and not subordinate to one another
At the 1926 conference, they established that dominos were no longer bound by British foreign policy
Balfour’s diplomacy in 1926 meant that the dominions stayed on side- convinced both the growing nationalists and the loyalists to stay; phrases like ‘autonomy’ placated SA vs ‘common allegiance to the crown’ pleased colonial loyalists

Question 20

What was 1931 Statute of Westminister?

Answer 20

It broke consitutional links in hope of loyalty of the dominions
Declared that Br could no longer legislate on behalf of a dominion, except if dominion consented, and law passed by a dominion parliament could not be invalidated due to its opposition to English law

Question 21

Background to Ireland (19th cent vague details)

Answer 21

Ireland joined UK in 1801 but experienced rampant Home Rule movement for most of the century
Gladstone had failed and Asquith’s Third Home Rule Bill had provoked opposition in Ulster (they wanted to remain with Britain) and it wasn’t implemented because of outbreak of war

Question 22

1916 Easter Rising?

Answer 22

Quickly put down (450 Irishmen killed and over 2500 injured)
Irish Republican Amry established in 1918- marking the beginning of the Troubles
Followed by guerilla warfare, esp under Sinn Fein who had won a majority of Irish seats in 1918, until 1921 when Anglo-Irish treaty set up

Question 23

What did Anglo-Irish treaty establish?

Answer 23

New Catholic Irish Free State set up and given domion status
Eamon de Valera, nationalist leader, continued civil war until 1923 but he lost
6 northern counties chose to remain with Britain

Question 24

When did Irish Free State achieve full independence?

Answer 24

1937 Statue of Westminister

1948 Republic of Ireland Act cut all links with British

Question 25

Continued support for the Br in Australia and NZ?

Answer 25

• They were most homogenously British; both recognised the economic link, eg Melbourne’s Collins Street was essentially a replica of ‘The City’ in LDN; circulation of credit very closely tied to the size of their sterling reserve
• Professional and business elite of Australia re themselves as AU equivalent to upper Br class
• Aus and NZ refused to enact Statue of Westminister immediately- very dependent on Br sea power
• Australians believed that British origin was integral to their cultural progression/identity e.g Stephenson in ‘The Foundation of Culture in Australia’ said that Australia identity stemmed from Br

Question 26

Continued support for the Br in Canada?

Answer 26

• Canadians felt compelled to follow British ideals: Canadian PM, Arthur Meighen, wanted Canada to be a ‘real British democracy’ and consult its people on participation in WWII
• A liberal Canadia pamphlet in 1933 declared the party stood for ‘British principles of Free Speech and Free Association’
• Social Credit party, which ruled Alberta post-1935, wrapped its electoral platforms in the Union Jack
• Nationalist was rarely defined in conflict with Britishness: debate tended to centre around regionalism v centralised rule

Question 27

Continued support for the Br in SA?

Answer 27

• Hertzog, SA PM, feared Afrikaner nationism on the fringe- he believed the 1926 Imperial Conference meant a proper British connection could be established
• Despite development in Afrikaner, the language remained weak; higher civil service were still overwhelmingly English and only a few senior officials could speak Afrikaaner
• Almost entire business world was English

Question 28

Conclusions from interwar period and relations with domions?

Answer 28

• Br relied on Empire economically when close to losing world economic status
• Despite growing concessions to the Domions, and growing nationalism in them, economic and social ties meant they stayed very close to the Empire and seemed mostly pro-British
• The SoWestminister made Empire stronger by creating new strong bonds between the countries
• Ireland is an anomaly