Introduction 1.2 Economies Flashcards
Economies
Mazower - ‘Bringing Europe back to the pre 1914 ‘Normalcy’ i.e. a return to free trade, fixed exchange rates and minimal state involvement as during war state had to control production of food, materials and ensure feeding
Pre 1914 (turn of the century) - Britain much more urbanised than its major European competitors though Germany too had high urban populations but its large cities were smaller
European populations growing but grain production not keeping pace so potatoes being used more (labour leaving land and industry becoming more important) as well as imports from abroad. e.g. Labour goes to Krupp (Essen) and Skoda
Economies 2
Severe agricultural depression mid 1870’s/80’s leads to less cultivation and move to cities & higher wages, populations sustained by imported American wheat. Italian exodus to US with millions of lire sent home or saved to buy land in Italy
Industrial development needed - entrepreneurs, competent managers, pool of relatively mobile labour to work new processes and and markets for products - Germany and Russia not so adept as Britain
Economic historian Gerschenkron - it was the state that substituted for some elements in Germany and Russia i.e. it was the Tsarist state that provided investment for industry, put excessive tariffs on foreign manufactured goods, bought newest kit from Germany and built biggest plants to balance lack of managers/entrepreneurs
Emergence of trans-national cartels to protect prices and control outputs
Economies 3
The Gold Standard - The principal monetary unit of a country is kept at the value of a fixed weight of gold. By the mid-1890’s most of the great trading nations are using it with London the market’s focal point.
Scramble for Africa - often regarded as driven by the demands of capitalist imperialism
British overseas investment mainly in Americas, French invested heavily in Russian bonds, Germany had money in Italy Britain had a food and shipping advantage via food imports from Canada and the US, Germany had neither of these which would cause it problems as the war progressed
Number of Times Reviewd
15/5, 23/5, 5/6
