KQ1 - The Coming Of The Depression Flashcards
What were the 4 main British industries?
Coal, Iron and Steel, Textiles and Shipbuilding
- produced raw materials or heavy goods
What were the 3 main reasons for the decline of British industry?
Competition from Abroad
New Markets
Obsolete Methods
Describe the competition from abroad
The industries depended on the EXPORTS as they were only profitable if sold to worldwide markets.
From the early 1920s,
Foreign companies MUCH BIGGER than their British counterparts
Produced goods CHEAPER than small British companies.
E.g Palmers Shipyard in Jarrow
USA, Japan + Germany had modernised, efficient plants. Germany gave coal as reparation payments.
Britain’s major economic rivals
USA, Japan and Germany (despite WW1)
Describe why Britain struggled to enter New Markets
Finding new markets to buy British goods was proving difficult and was made worse by the policies of successive British governments.
They followed a policy of free trade in the 1920s which allowed foreign goods to come into Britain freely. Conversely, British companies that exported goods often had to pay import duties to foreign governments.
What is the industry that is considered to have been worst hit at start of depression? Why?
Shipbuilding
As no one was buying or selling, then no new ships were needed to transport goods around the world
Stats to show decline of shipbuilding
In 1930, British shipbuilders built 1 400 000 tonnes of shipping
In 1933, the figure had fallen to 133,000 tonnes
Describe obsolete methods
During the 1920s in the USA, new methods of production was seen.
Mass-production was pioneered in the production of the motor-car which was copied in many other consumer type industries.
Major british industries were slow to move to new, quiver and more efficient methods of production. Also, national resources were not switched quickly enough to new emergences such as chemicals, rayon and automobiles
What were the new emerging industries?
Chemicals, rayon and automobiles
Describe the decline of the coal industry in terms of competition abroad
Competition from abroad - in the mid-1920s, coal was produced in USA for 65p a tonne, whilst £1.56 in Britain.
By the 1920s and early 1930s, the industry has lost its European markets because of German reparations (paid in coal).
The French preferred American coal meaning demand from the welsh coalfields dropped significantly
Describe the decline of the coal industry in terms of obsolete methods
Mines had not invested in latest machinery = more expensive
Coal mine owners did not want to invest in modernisation
Investment in the coal industry was stagnant which meant modern mining methods could not be introduced like in competitor countries
What was the effect on people from the decline of the coal industry?
Unemployment in Swansea and Merthyr Tydfil reaches 25%
As high as 80% in Dowlais
Describe the decline of the Iron and Steel industry
There was far less demand for ships and armaments in the years after WW1. Competitors such as USA and Japan regularly undercut British prices + their steel-making plants were generally larger, more efficient and modernised than those in UK.
Steel industry in South Wales particularly ill-equipped to cope with the pressures of changing markets & new competitors.
Faced competition with America + Germany -> plants more technologically advanced and more efficient.
1929, steel making ceased completely in Ebbw Vale
1930, major part of steel works closed in Dowlais -> 3000 workers unemployed
Stats for the decline of the Iron and Steel industry
In 1929, steel making ceased completely at Eve Vale.
In 1930 a major part of the steel works at Dowlais closed leaving 3000 steel workers unemployed.
Describe the decline of the Shipbuilding industry
Shipbuilding declined more rapidly than other industries.
Post-WW1, fall in world trade = less need for ships.
International disarmament = fall in demand for warships
Foreign countries such as the USA could produce ships much BIGGER + CHEAPER than Britain’s small companies (e.g Palmer’s Shipyard in Jarrow)
1930, British Shipbuilders built 1 400 000 tonnes of shipping.
1933, fell to 133 000 tonnes -> unemployment
