Light Industries And Emmigration Flashcards
Explain industrial expansion in the 1930s and life for wealthier people
Although for some people in britain, the 1930s were a decade of the Great Depression, a great deal of industrial expansion was also taking place and some people found that their standard of living was rising.
Mass production techniques were now being used to manufacture a range of goods from electrical goods to branded foods.
New chemical processes led to the manufacture of new textiles such as rayon and plastics.
More and more houses now had mains electricity and although some could only afford electric lights wealthier families bought vacuum cleaners and cookers. 12 times as many people were using electricity in 1938 than in 1920.
Car ownership also rapidly increased in the 1930s.
Light industry
Industry manufacturing small or light products( consumer goods) such as washing machines and vaccum cleaners.
How were people encouraged to buy the new cars, motorbikes and household gadgets etc?
Advertising encouraged consumers to buy the new consumer goods on the hire purchase system.
The new system of credit meant that even the most expensive items could be bought by the ordinary consumer.
Why were light industries mainly located in the midlands and south-east england?
The new light industries were largely powered by electricity and not coal. Therefore, they did not need to be built near coalfields. By 1933, the National Grid which linked all generating stations and supplied electrical power to all regions was complete. This meant the new factories, could now be located near their customers in areas of high population, with a skilled labour force nearby. This also meant that they didnt need to pay to transport the consumer good to customers.
What were some of the flourishing businesses of the 1930s?
Ford, Hoover, cadbury and mars
Describe the Special Areas Act
After realising that certain parts of britain were suffering more from the Depression than others, they identified four areas that were ‘special’ or ‘depressed’ due to high numbers of employment. These areas were: South Wales, North East and North west England and West Scotland.
They passed the Special Areas Act in 1934 to give additional help to these areas.
Two commissioners were appointed by the act; one to oversee Scotland and the other to oversee the three ‘special’ areas in england and wales.
The commissioners were given a budget of £2 million to try and attract new, light industries to the old industrial areas.
Plans were made to build a number of factories together on one site to form a ‘trading estate’, such as the Treforest Trading Estate between Pontypridd and Cardiff.
The Special Areas Act only had limited success. In all, the Act created fewer than 15,000 jobs.
Many companies did not want to move from more prosperous areas.
Also, small industrial estates could not replace the numbers that were employed by coal mining or shipbuilding industries.
Explain King Edwards Visit
In 1936 King Edward VIII toured South Wales to see for himself the hardship and poverty caused by the Depression.
He was upset by what he saw and shocked at stories he was told by unemployed people.
He was reported to have said, ‘something must be done’ bringing publicity to the hardship faced by the unemployed in South Wales and hope that the King would put pressure on the government to help them.
However, four days after his visit to Wales the King gave up his throne, therefore all attention was taking off the poor and hungry of South Wales and diverted to the royal crisis.
Explain unemployment by the end of the 1930s.
By the end of the 1930s unemployment had fallen to one million.
This was partly due to government policies, but also due to favourable circumstances such as a world revival in trade and rearmament.
Due to the threat from Hitler, Britain had started to rearm in 1935 which helped to reduce unemployment as it encouraged industries such as shipbuilding, iron and steel, engineering and the manufacture of aircraft.
