National Government 1931-1945 Flashcards
What happened in the 1929 General Election?
- Baldwin’s ‘Safety First’ campaign didn’t bring enough people to support the Toris - conservatives won but with not enough seats as Labour won most seats with support of 59 Lib MPs
- Labour formed a minority gov - they could govern + pass laws but as long as Libs supported them
- However, this created a weak gov
What was Ramsay Macdonald’s attitude as Prime Minister in 1929?
He was determined to try to make up for the unhappy memories that Labour had from their only other time as gov in 1924
What two examples of social reform were passes by the Labour gov 1929-1931?
- 1930 Housing Act - demonstrated great gov commitment + provided better Council Housing through ‘new builds’
- 1930 Coal Miners Act - way of fixing quotas + stabilising prices for coal mine owners. It increased financial security for those who worked + operated the coal mines (some say it stored economic probs for the future)
Why was the National Government formed?
- By 1931, Labour gov were struggling to finance its spending commitments e.g money for welfare reforms
- Brit. needed loans from US + France - however international bankers demanded a balanced budget as a condition for the loans
- The gov put together plans to cut spending + raise taxes to balance the budget (one of the main proposals was that they wanted to cut unemployment benefits by 10%)
- They thought these proposals would stabilise the pound although causing hardship for working class
What was the negative effect of the proposals of solving the economic problems on Labour?
It split the Labour Party. Macdonald + Snowden (chancellor) were expelled + Arthur Lansbury took over.
What was the role of Ramsay MacDonald in creating in the National Government in 1931?*
- MacDonald did not have a party + was going to resign but King George V + Toris wanted MacDonald to continue as PM - but for very diff. reasons
- King George V appealed to MacDonald’s patriotic duty + argued that resigning him would make things even more unstable at such a difficult time
- Toris, led by Baldwin, were happy to allow MacDonald to continue as PM thinking he would bear the brunt of any unpopular economic measures, giving way for toris to take power later on
- MacDonald announced that he would continue as PM leading the National gov to face the emergency
What happened in the General Election of 1931?
- MacDonald called for an election in Oct. 1931. He was worried that this would split the Labour Party - some joined him in the Nat. gov. but the rest formed a separate Labour Party with Lansbury
- The liberals were similarly split
- The toris who got their members to support the Nat. gov. insisted on an election as they wanted a coalition gov. to tackle the crisis to be voted by the people
- The outcome of 1931 gen. election was an overwhelming victory for Nat. gov. winning 554 seats (toris holding 473 of them) Labour did very badly winning only 52 seats
What did MacDonald do when he was leader of the National Government?
- 1931, MacDonald + Snowden make spending cuts (confronting econ. probs)
- MacDonald’s health begins to fail + Baldwin takes over from 1931
What did Baldwin do when he was leader of the National Government?
- 1935 Baldwin’s plan to appease fascist Italy by giving Mussolini 2/3 of Abyssinia was hugely unpopular when leaked to press
- Nazi Germany a growing threat - some wanted rapid rearmament, others wanted disarmament + cooperation with League of Nations to avoid war
- 1935 Baldwin offers a compromise - increased spending on rearmament to fulfil any military requests from the League
- 1936 Abdication Crisis - Baldwin advises King Edward VIII to abdicate so he can marry Wallis Simpson, a divorcee, Baldwin is praised for handling the crisis
What did Chamberlain do when he was leader of the National Government?
- Attempts to find ‘peace in our time’ - hugely popular with Brit. people
- 1938 flew 3 times to meet Hitler
- Once war begins he is forced out of parliament by a vote of no confidence
What did Churchill do when he was leader of the National Government?
- Had long been an opponent of Hitler + a critic of appeasement
- Appointed thanks to backing amongst Labour + Lib MPs
- Set up war cabinet of just 5 men, to make quick war decisions
- Created new ministries e.g Ministry for Aircraft Production
- Emergency Powers Act (May 1940) gave wide-ranging powers to the Brit. gov
- He was an essential wartime leader + he maintained public with inspirational speeches
What were the two main challenges that the National Government had to deal with?
- Dealing with the rise of extremism
* Confronting the economic challenge of the Great Depression
Which two extremist parties grew in popularity during the Depression?
- British Union of Fascists (BUF) - formed by Mosley
* Communist Party of Great Britain
How significant was the challenge of the growing popularity of the BUF that the National gov. had to deal with?
- Mosley formed BUF in 1932 with the aim of imitating Mussolini style leadership
- BUF was racist + antisemitic
- Party was funded Mosley himself + some wealthy aristocrats
- 50 000 members in 1930s
- Oct 1936 ‘Battle of Cable Street’ - BUF marched through East London (home to many Jews + Irish immigrants) turned into a violent crash
- WW2 made BUF even more unpopular - Mosley imprisoned for 3 years + BUF was banned
How significant was the challenge of the growing popularity of the BUF that the National gov. had to deal with?
- Far left was much more successful than Mosley
- They gained 1 MP in 1924 + 1935
- Only gained 0.4% of vote (Brit. electorate rejected communism)
- Traditions + strength of TU + Labour prevented communism from taking off
- They used ‘entryism’ - tried to infiltrate Labour to steer their ideas further left (Labour banned CPGB members from joining their party)
- CPGB puppets of Russia, were against WW2 until Germany’s invasion of Russia in 1941 (funded by USSR)
- Gained some support after Russia helped to defeat Nazi Germany
