Politics (1918-1936) Flashcards
What was the Impact of Victorian Britain?
- Technological progress
- Expansion of communicants
- Empire
- Free trade
- Urbanisation & modernity
- Huge inequality, grinding poverty & disease
- Worker exploitation
What were the States of the Major Parties Following WW1?
- Liberalism
- Reforms after 1870 & 1906 caused division among supporters
- Struggled to respond to social changes
- WW1 damaged their reputation
- Conservatives
- Increasingly the party for the middle class
- Strong position following WW1
- Labour
- Looked to benefit from the larger amount of voters
- Increased trade union membership
How can we Explain the Eclipse of the Liberals?
- Long term support shrinking
- Inability to respond to change
- Rise of class based politics
- Impact of WW1
What did Lloyd George Want?
- “People’s Budget”
- Large tax increases
- Wants to improve welfare
- Super tax for the super rich
- Angered the aristocrats
How did Lloyd George Force the Passing of the People’s Budget?
- House of Lords had more power than the House of Commons so they rejected the budget
- Lloyd George took the issue to the people and put the Lords in a position where if they again rejected the budget they would be removed
What did the Liberals do for Irish Home Rule?
- Liberals used Ireland for power and in return pushed through Irish Home Rule
- Angered unionists who wanted to remain
- As war broke out no agreement was made and both sides were angered
What were the Results of Mass Democracy?
- More diverse groups with different classes, upbringings and genders
- Engaging the whole of society in politics
- People in society active in their citizenship
- Representing and fulfilling the aims and beliefs of a whole society
What were the Political Effects of WW1 for the Liberals?
- Compromised principles
- Conscription (1916)
- Rationing (1918)
- Go against beliefs of freedom alienating their supporters
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What were the Political Effects of WW1 for the Liberals?
- Compromised principles
- Conscription (1916)
- Rationing (1918)
- Go against beliefs of freedom alienating their supporters
- Split in leadership
- Asquith vs Lloyd George following 1915 collaboration
• Unsure how to appeal to larger voting group
- Asquith vs Lloyd George following 1915 collaboration
- Accountability
- Troop problems led to
conscription - Lack of accountability
- Maurice debate (1918)
- Shell crisis (1915)
- Troop problems led to
What were the Issues with the British Economy?
- Trade downturn post-war
- Less jobs - due to influx of those back from war
- High unemployment led to lower overall wages
Further effects due to end of WW1?
• Needed extra housing
• Extra education for former servicemen
• Women taking new role in work force
- A necessity rather than choice
• Voter numbers up
- more working class men
- women allowed vote
Why Should Labour Benefit in 1918
• Mass democracy - politics aimed towards working class giving them more voters to aim for
• Majority of populous = WC
• Blue collar jobs key party of economy
• Union support + funding
• More WC members in parliament (40 since 1910)
Why didn’t Labour Benefit?
• Links with Marxism
• Red scare led to them adopting cautious polices and wanting to look mediocre
- Led to them appealing more towards middle and upper class and they were therefore unable to motivate the WC as they were too moderate
• Not a complete WC turnout as they were unmotivated
What led to the Lack of WC Motivation?
• Working class men saw unions as representatives rather than organisations they were involved in due to a larger concern with material issues
• WC women excluded from the culture of workplace and therefore weren’t involved with unions
- Women disengaged as they lead domestic lives - politics a “man’s business”
• Traditional working class (northern industrial) felt left behind
- WC culture not linked to to politics
- Confrontation relationship with managers lead to politicians seen as an authority figure typed as well
• Political discussion not the norm
What Issues with Credibility did Labour have?
• Fear of revolution drew concern about Labour
• Parliamentary Labour stayed moderate
• Continued communist present in UK & radical trade unions
• Zinoviev Letters
Was there Any Truth to Arguments about Communist Activity?
• Labour offered stability as a competent government
- They achieved their own aim of credibility
• Socialism became a big issue in 1924 as economic problems seemed to have been solved
• Zinoviev letter didn’t have that big of an effect
- More votes than in 1922/23 and linked to the conservatives
• Collapse of the Liberals in 1924 opened the way for conservatives
How did Labour’s first moment in control go?
• Bad industrial relations in the mid 1920s led to them being seen as the WC representative over Trade Unions
• When they got into power they faced financial problems
- Limited power to spend
• Decades of experience seeking moderation led to compromise when in crisis
• Time in office only lasted 9 months (1924) but helped show their credentials as a party to protect national stability
- Improved house building
Why did the Conservatives Dominate in the Interwar Years?
• Liberal decline and Labour rise led to conservative dominance with no true party to rival them
• Shifted from class based policies to the party of the nation
• Ability of conservatives to create a place for themselves in mass democracy
• Moderate leadership in crisis
- Baldwin a figure of national stability
• Conservatives understood their voters
• Electoral Dominance
How did the Electoral System support the Conservatives?
• Conservatives had support evenly spread throughout the nation
- System worked to their advantage
• Large benefit from the opposition split between Liberal & Labour
What were the Effects of the Wall Street Crash?
• Caused by excessive speculation and too much debt resulting in collapsing banks in the US and became a worldwide crisis
• Government responded by cutting public spending
- Welfare by 10%
- 1930s Great Depression led to millions unemployed
• McDonald’s second government fell in 1931 over issue of welfare cuts
- Party split & McDonald ejected from Labour
• Liberals split over Free Trade with some abandoning the party
What were Stanley Baldwin’s Qualities?
• Appealed by saying he represented national values
• Prolific public speaker
• First radio broadcast from Prime Minister
• Sought to deal with issues with moderation
• Principled - Gave away war profits
• Able to deal with a constitutional crisis (Abdication of the King)
How Was Labours Second Period in Power (1929-31)
• More ambitious but due to financial situation they had to hold back to deal with the crisis
• Unemployment rose from 1.5mil to over 2 & interest rates skyrocketed
• Doubled spending on public work schemes
- Worsened debt but gave more jobs
• Cut unemployment benefit big 10%
- Caused a huge split in Labour Party as it went against fundamental beliefs
What Happened in the Labour Gov Split?
• Following the cutting of unemployment benefits MacDonald and his followers were expelled after following the split they created an emergency coalition
• Labour party were crushed in the following election while the coalition went on to become a permanent government
What were Stanley Baldwin’s Aims?
• First Aim - To maintain trade due to worries for political stability
• Second Aim - Social improvement and he got 1mil people jobs and built houses
• Further Aims - To rearm as he felt otherwise the LoN would be too weak
- This rearmament lead to economic recovery
• “Our country is leading the world on the path of progress”
