Interwar Politics Flashcards
Lawrence (1918-1929) (5)
- The Grand Narratives explaining the rise of Labour (modernisation, secularisation, nationalisation) are flawed. Labour did not rise from class, but from communitarian ethos. 2. TP = Great War - extension of the state through rent controls, postwar unemployment support etc.3. Labour stood as statist against the rolling back of Tories4. 5 million workers demobilised due to war5. Tories saw the working class as working classes - groups in working class. i.e. appealed to unions which were undercut by foreign imports (WC tariff support)
Tanner (1918-1929) (2)
- Prewar politics - localised, variablePostwar politics - nationwide, coordinated2. Labour didn’t rise because of the realisation of class consciousness, but because it became the only expression of anti-Toryism
Clarke/McKibbin (1918-1929)
Liberal strength was undermined by the rise of Labour.
Matthew et al. (1918-1929)
If class sentiments had developed, the electoral evidence doesn’t support it - it did not reflect solid labour support for Labour!Labour was not a party of the working class in 1918, it was more so that the Liberals were in disarray - even in Toquay, Bournemouth, Surrey etc. Where traditional supporters were protesting
Jarvis (1918-1929) (6)
- Tories were fearful of full democratisation:- Proletarian support of Labour- Women support for egalitarianism- Youth support for undermining the status quo2. Tories became ‘consumerist’ about votes - appeal to individual/interest group rather than masses (Conservative Agents Journal).3. Deflationary policies still meant appeal to £500 a year man continued4. Selbourne - argues franchise makes householder conservative5. Tories saw ROTPA on McKibbinite ‘Franchise Factor’ lines6. ‘Prolier Than Thou’ - promotion of working class Tory credentials - candidate in 1924 - Durham miner “spent my whole life down in the pits”
Ramsden (1918-1929) (2)
- Redistribution, the retention of plural voting and the survival of the university constituencies under the 1918 Representation of the People Act all served to offset the unpredictability of the new mass electorate.2. Loss of Ireland electorally good for Tories (Liberal stronghold)
McKibbin (1918-1929) (2)
- Tories attempted to construct new discourse on conventional wisdom against Labour.2.’Franchise Factor’ - fear that the mass vote would result in the Tory downfall
Williamson (1918-1929)
Tories passive beneficiary of war. Baldwin tapped and stimulated forces of a ‘morally conservative and religious nation’.
Bonar Law (1918-1929) (2)
- National Union conference, 1917 - ‘our party on the old lines will never have a future in the life of this country’ 2. The challenges of democracy and socialism posed three critical changes to the party: I. Effectiveness as an electoral organisation II. Internal organisation III. relationship to alternative agencies of political mobilisation
Constantine (1918-1929)
WWI led to greater amounts of interaction across class boundaries, as well as involving a nationally cohesive memory of war.
Wilson (1918-1929) (5)
- Continuity and discontinuity - tariffs, free trade, Ireland, the application of social conscience to living conditions did not disappear, but were marginalised/ reordered in importance during war2. Massive state interventionism exposed the issues with laissez faire government. 3. LG supporting DORA and the destruction of Germany seen as illiberal. 4. Prewar liberals dependent on Irish vote5. Labour inclusion in war government seen as death of progressive alliance as labour no longer subservient to Liberals.
Cowling (1918-1929)
Politics is chess-like: political manipulation and game theory; affairs of 1920s traceable to select elite
Green (1918-1929) (2)
- Steel Maitland (Politician) - believed social reform a necessity of an epoch of mass politics. 2. Supportive of full employment (important - Tory), saw unions as barrier to efficiency
Pugh (1918-1929) (4)
1) Not entirely LG’s fault for Liberal split, Asquith as belligerent.2) Suspension of imports from Germany allowed domestic industries to grow in UK - supporting protectionism3) Tories minimum 260 seats postwar4) Unions boomed - 4 to 6 mil by 1918 (8 mil by 1920)
How many seats did Labour win in 1910 and 1918? (1918-1929)
1910- 421918 - 57(fielded 332 more candidates however)1919 Municipal Elections - 550 from 48 - more significant gain.
how many votes did the Liberals win in 1923 election? (1918-1929)
29.7% (1% less than Labour)
Why were Tories more effective than Labour candidates in elections? (1918-1929)
Tories had demonstrable local credentials (Among a series of other reasons!)
What institutions did the conservatives set up to appeal to marginalised groups? (1918-1929) (4)
- Women’s Institution2. Women’s Unionist Movement3. Young Britons4. Junior Imperial League
Tory Mags? (1918-1929) (2)
- Man in the Street2. Home and Politics
MacKenzie (1918-1929)
Deference - Emphasised the continuing vitality of popular imperialism and monarchism during the inter-war period
Close (1918-1929)
Older Tories believed democracy had been “a blunder, or, at least, a dangerous misfortune”
Who did the guilty men focus on?
Cato’s Guilty Men focused on Baldwin, as deceiving the nation
What did Orwell call Baldwin?
“a hole in the air”
What had happened to Baldwin by 1945?
Erased from the party public memory
How did Chamberlain?n describe Baldwin’s ascension?
An accident of an accident
What was Baldwin’s motion behind protectionism?
industrial protection was reduction of unemployment which remained stubbornly persistent
What was the Conservatives’ mistake in 1923?
Underestimating the hold of free trade upon popular thought
In Birmingham, 1925, how did Baldwin resist unions?
’Truce of God’ and ‘peace in our time’ for ‘a better and happier condition” of the country. Invoked notions of sacrifice, selflessness and Christian ideals.
What was the huge political risk Baldwin took in 1925?
Took huge political risk in 1925 by offering temp government subsidy whilst the Samuel report adjudicated on the validity of coal miner agitations for wage increase.
What hopes did the 1926 General strike dash?
general strike and prolonged coal stoppage temporarily disrupted Baldwin’s hopes of social reconciliation and co-operation in industrial regeneration
What caused Baldwin to collapse?
1927 Trades Disputes Bill due to GS + collapse of Locarno
Why is the narrative of decline as the cause of the failure of the Conservatives’ downfall in 1929? (7)
the reality was more complicated.1- From early 1928 the cabinet regained momentum with new policies2- Baldwin reasserted himself + dominated the Conservative election campaign. 3- Churchill reduced the financial burden upon agricultural and industrial production by rating relief, 4- Baldwin convinced a piqued Neville Chamberlain at this ‘ derating’ scheme was compatible with his large-scale reform of local government. 5- Baldwin encouraged discussions between employers and representatives and the TUC on industrial cooperation, the Mond – Turner talks. 6- Quelled cabinet divisions and an incipient backbench rebellion to preserve the 1924 position on tariffs before the election, but a large extension of industrial safeguarding was promised for the future. 7- He also persuaded a reluctance Churchill to accept the colonial development fund as a further stimulus to trade, and other lesser economic, social, and health measures were prepared.”
What was the inflationary position of Baldwin?
Non-flationist - focus on stability rather than inflationary or deflationary policies
What is the Middlemas interpretation of Baldwin?
Dominance held accountable to ‘character’ and ‘new leadership’ Narrative of Englishness - combining all people from Durham miners, Worcester farmers and city financiers
How did the Liberals fund their 1929 campaign?
LG funded it personally, at great cost
What was the premise behind the 1929 Campaign?
Safety First (Tories)
Why did Baldwin resign immediately in 1929
- Democratically correct- Respect for Labour- Belief that a minority government would flail
What were the divisions in the Conservative Party?
Churchill called for anti-socialist alliance, Chamberlain for imperial preference
What was the relationship between Baldwin and news lords?
Press lords Beaverbrook and Rothermere disliked Baldwin, for he did not pay them enough respect. Resulted in hate campaign from 1923 onwards. Attempted to force removal in 1929 - Beaverbrook promoted Empire Free Trade, Rothermere joined in with imperial unity pledges - Baldwin successfully defeated challenges from Churchill and Beaverbrook
Did Baldwin want a consensual National Government?
Yes - Baldwin did not want the national government to be the conservatives in disguise - more so a consensual government. A non-party solution would blight socialism
What was the most serious count of dissent in Tory ranks?
Most serious conservative dissent was led by Churchill in 1929-1934 over India.Churchill and diehards did not want to concede dominion to India - Baldwin did. Pressing issue was the challenge to party identity. Indian affair destroyed the prospects for a fused national party
Was Baldwin a diehard?
Baldwin was not reactionary or diehard - inherently progressive and modern
What was Baldwin’s style of leadership?
co-ordination, arbitration and troubleshooting
When was Baldwin considered dictatorial?
Considered dictatorial in opposition to protectionism in 1928, and in 1925 over the Macquisten Bill
What was the style of party management?
Party management was a collective affair conducted by Baldwin with senior colleagues, whigs, and party officials; that he usually received excellent advice, and that his own contribution lay chiefly in well-timed delivery and well pitched speeches
How adept was Baldwin with media?
Baldwin good at utilising mass media - i.e. BBC in 1924 for first broadcast political speech“Chief contribution was to become the first politician to master radio broadcasting”“National spokesperson”, first person to give film “serious attention”
What was the outreach of the BBC?
Outreach of BBC - 33million, 70% nation
What was Baldwin’s lessons from industry?
“Two or three rules- cut your losses, cut down your expenditure,; enter into no new commitments, and hope for the best”Baldwin believed business should and could respond positively to economic depression, exercising the kind of enterprise which had enabled the Baldwin firms to adjust to new conditions”
Baldwin’s industrial policy
Far from having been isolated from ‘modern’ industrial relations, the prime minister had one been exercised by the problem of how to retain industrial peace amid changing economic and social condition
Baldwin’s interpretation of democracy
=” a fully fledged democracy before we are ready for it”Requires education - • “democracy has arrived at a gallop in England, and I feel all the time that it was a race for life: can you we educate them before the crash comes?”
What happened to Baldwin’s company?
Could not safeguard - dire straits in 1928
Baldwin’s ideology
• conventional wisdom of sound finance would communalise capitalism thus extending conservative appeal• Presentation of capital helped to provide economic permanence - the wc had substantial savings, which undermined arguments from socialists about the hoarding of capital• Baldwin - Tory weapon was the ‘multiplication of capitalists’ - ‘not to depress people’ with state ownership, but a property owning democracy• Individualism , voluntarism and private enterprise were tenets of property owning democracy, deployed effectively to meet contemp. demands
What was Baldwin’s mission?
Feeding the people was, he declared as PM, “the great mission’ of masters of men “and no higher and finer mission can be found on earth
What was the cost of 1925?
“Buying off the strikes in 1925 had been the cost of teaching democracy”
What power did the TUC hold?
TUC presented as having despotic power, ‘civil war’ power
Baldwin’s adoption of rurality?
dislike for urbanity was not part of a rejection of modernism - tranquility was to assist the execution of urban functions
What was the plan to deal with class hatred
Present it as foreign import
What was Baldwin’s view on the future of empire?
gloomy
Baldwin’s religiosity
“effective politics had to be a christian politics, defending and stimulating the springs of individuality, spirituality and morality”Baldwin did not identify Christianity with Britishness. Nevertheless, expressed a common British belief that Protestantism – Still, in semi-secularised forms, Central to national ideology–that the Lord peculiarly favoured the English and charged them with special tasks.
What was the joke about Baldwin?
When he spoke, a cross appeared above his head
Tory anxieties in 1920s
- independent working class politics might condemn Tories to permanent minority
Where was Labour’s chief source of support
Celtic fringe, mining communities
When was nationalisation important?
Nationalisation important 1918-1940, then important rhetorically till 1990s
What was Snowden’s belief in Capitalism?
Snowden - Capitalism would evolve to be more social democratic- shattered by unemployment of 1920s
What did the 1930s see, economically?
1930s saw the removal of the pillars of the unmanaged economy - free trade and gold standard
Labour drives (6)
• Labour was heavily reliant on foreign policy advice on the so-called foreign Legion – the coterie of veterans from the pre-1914 ranks of radical liberalism• Belief in self determination• Henderson dominated 1930s foreign policy thought in the Labour Party – Repudiation of pacifism• The webb’s argued for a completely reorganised government structure• Focal point remained improving the machinery of government• Constitutional reform was increasingly set by the moderates and not the radicals within the party
Labour success rate?
• Labour never managed to poll more than 37-38% of the vote between 1918 & 1935
Where did Labour support in 1918 come from?
As miners voted Labour, Labour had a strong phalanx of support when the Liberals were floundering
What was working class culture?
Working class culture - scurrilous newspapers, gambling, football, horse racing - tory in nature. Political outlook - monarchy good, improving legislation bad, union good, immigrants, bad
MacKenzie vs McKibbin
Mackenzie emphasised the continuing vitality of popular imperialism and monarchism during the inter-war period, whilst McKibbin argued that Conservative support during this period extended well beyond those who were the objective beneficiaries of deflationary government policies
Witherell (3)
Popular conservatism of the 1920s:- mass organizations, propaganda, educational activities and electioneering involving three sectors: women, youth, and wage earner.- The second element of the popular conservatism thesis focuses on youth, the Junior Imperial League, and Young Britons. - The third component of 1920s popular conservatism was the party’s response to the full-scale enfranchisement of the male working class and the rise of the Labour party. The party sought to develop a mass organization- the Labour Committee-with which to offer wage earners a “different political identity
Popular mags catchphrases (3)
- ‘Autumn cleaning, like industrial relations, becomes easier when people cooperate’- ‘Hanging out close during changeable weather is as risky as voting liberal’;- ‘ Free trade means allowing strangers to steal flowers from your garden’.
Jarvis II
Target women with propaganda to win support against socialism - Feminism was the pictured as inextricably linked with socialism. Furthermore, the service Republic was represented as a full storm of the feminist utopia. “The mother, instead of cooking for herself, her husband and children at home, maybe ordered by the Socialists to cook or wash up the dishes in some public restaurant where are the families take their meals. “
Evans
The metamorphosis of Unionism in the aftermath of the 1911 Parliament Act was striking. It precipitated the narrowing of Unionist objectives in Ireland by forcing Conservatives to concentrate upon the exclusion of Ulster; Home Rule might now be inevitable for the south, but the north could still be saved for Britain.
Childs
A key assumption among such historians has been that class was slowly replacing regional loyalties, occupation, or religion as the major determinant in the formation of political attitudes
Hart (4)
- The divided Liberals had no means of recruiting the support of the million new electors, or even of retaining the allegiance of those who supported the pre-1914 ‘New Liberalism’. 2. After 1918 Labour was the party best able to exploit industrial unrest and to propose (though not to implement) radical solutions. 3. It was not clear until 1924 that ‘the future lay between two distinctly popular parties’ The problem of whether Liberal organization in the constituencies was or was not deteriorating in 1914 has been argued extensively, to no definite conclusion.’ 4. Even if the Liberals were in decline, Labour need not have been advancing. On the contrary, its electoral (as opposed to trade union) base was still closely associated with that of the Liberals, and its inability to win three-cornered contests.
Bogdanor Why did 1951 labour government fail ?
- False teeth and spectacles controversy2. Korean War mass cost 3. Internal troubles - right wing elements like Gaitskell - no commitment to socialism
What did Kruschtev say about Gaitskell?
First to be shot outside Westminster
Snowden’s first budget
Went towards the ‘free breakfast table’ by reducing duties on key staples, but did not introduce a capital levy. Profoundly believed in the morality of the balanced budget, A. J. P. Taylor said his budget “would have delighted the heart of Gladstone”
Why did Snowden resign in 1927?
Snowden resigned from the party in 1927 because he believed it was “drifting more and more away from…evolutionary socialism into revolutionary socialism”
Snowden’s second budget
His economic philosophy was one of strict Gladstonian Liberalism rather than socialism.
Webb’s critique of politics in 1932
became the politics of seduction - left politicians seduced by the power of wealth and status
What was a powerful myth of 1931?
the Aristocratic embrace of MacDonald, Snowden and Thomas
Issues of contention in labour
court dress and deference to the king - MacDonald v party.
Important considerations
Party over leader!
