Social Developments 1914-39 (complete); Flashcards
How did the role of women in work change during the war?
-Millions of men of working age were taken out of economy into armed forces, 1m extra women entered workforce
-Numbers of women in full-time work rose from 5.96m in 1914 to 7.31m in 1918, women made up 1/3 of workforce
-Reluctance to recruit women changed as war continued & increased after introduction of conscription
-Women took on whatever jobs necessary, incl. traditional all-male industries like shipbuilding & engineering
What was the impact of women taking on jobs during the war?
-Willingness to take on men’s jobs in areas eg transport, heavy industry & munitions production + efficiency in running school, hospitals & offices in men’s absences + extensive voluntary contributions via Red Cross & other local organisations + bravery in nursing at war front changed attitudes towards them while war continued
-Participation highlighted the economic & strategic value of women to state
What was the contribution of women in the armed forces and the impact of this?
-Served in auxiliary divisions of armed forces eg Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS, or Wrens) & Women’s Auxiliary Army Corp (WAACs)
-Thousands signed up for Voluntary Aid Detachment , providing medical services in hospitals in GB & in field
-Enhanced their status & created new self-confidence
What were the advantages of work for women despite it being dangerous & difficult?
-Many women received pay packet for first time & those who worked previously in domestic service/textile industry were better paid than they’d ever been
-Gave women sense of freedom & independence that they were reluctant to give up after war
What changed for women when the war ended?
Pressure was soon put on women, partly by press & TUs to give up their war roles & resume their normal household duties
Why was the Representation of the People Act of 1918 passed and what did it allow?
-Indispensable contribution women made to successful conduct of war couldn’t be ignored; made it almost impossible for politicians to deny women vote
-Politicians exercised vote to women 30+; measure of extreme caution, partly to protect male supremacy in voting numbers but also suggesting male attitudes hadn’t moved forward
What was the 1919 Sex Disqualification Act?
Allowed women to serve on juries, become magistrates & join most professions, eg law & accountancy
What did Oxford University do for women in 1920?
Awarded full degrees for women for the first time
What did remarkably few women coming forward to Parliament suggest and who were the exceptions?
-Suggests either they lacked confidence/were discouraged
-Lady Astor; first woman to take seat in Parliament 1919 (Plymouth)
-Ellen Wilkinson; first woman Labour MP & was elected for Middlesbrough East 1923
-Margaret Bondfield became first woman Cabinet minister in 1929
What did the Equal Franchisee Act of 1928 grant?
Women the vote on equal basis to men
Why is it difficult to quantify the gain of women after the war?
-There were more office jobs available for women after war & soon became norm for lower middle-class women
-Were employed in Civil Service, banks, insurance companies & local gov + were mainly young & single
-New fashions; shorter skirts & tighter fitting clothes. But, still wore a hat, though small one, to work. Bought lipstick & powder, smoked in public & continued habit started in war of going out socially w/ out chaperone
-Many working women returned to previous jobs w/ old wage rates. Yet, many of those who’d worked in domestic service for pittance never returned & took up new office job
-Many middle-class women soothed into accepting their place was back in home, home filling up w/ new modern conveniences to help w/ housework, now that live-in maids had gone
What did reforms in the 1920s and 30s do for women?
Improved their legal status & gave them more equality with men, which seemed to indicate acceptance of their increasingly active role in the economic, political + social life of the country
What were the Acts/legislation for women to do with divorce and property?
-The Matrimonial Causes Act of 1923 gave women equal rights of divorce
-In 1937 cruelty, desertion & insanity were added to adultery as grounds for divorce for either partner
-In 1925, women were given equal rights to their husbands of custody of their children in divorce cases
-Legislation gave equal rights to women over holding & disposing of property in 1926 + 1935
How was contraception more easily accessed and what undermined this?
-Easier access for women to contraception, via Family Planning Association established in 1930
-Magazines & advertisements of period, however, gave strong impression that perfect roles for women were as housewives & mothers
-Organisations like Mothers’ Union & Women’s Institute, formed in 1915, reinforced concept that a woman’s place was in the home
Why did the culture of male-dominated society remain?
-The Great War had propelled women into situation where they tasted greater freedom & independence, but for most women it was temporary, most appeared content that it was so
-It would take a Second World War to complete revolution of extending women’s role & equal rights in modern society
What were the main issues that affected the condition of the working classes?
-Whether or not they had a job
-What they could afford w/ their wages
-State of their health
-Standard of their housing
-While half of workers appeared to be better off than previous generation, this begs the question about the condition of the rest
How and why did the working classes struggle with structural unemployment in the 1920s/30s?
-Loss of jobs in old staple industries; coal, iron & steel, shipbuilding + textiles
-Level of unemployment in these industries was always above average
-Technological progress meant there were fewer jobs available in old industries as more efficient scientifically-based production meant fewer unskilled manual workers were required
-Many of the new industries that emerged did not require old skills & instead employed more white-collar (non-manual) workers
Why did many families fall into poverty and did they get any aid?
-Although there were periods of economic improvement during 1920s & 1930s + regional variations, average unemployment rate of uninsured workers betw 1919-39 was 14%
-As Depression deepened in early 30s, there was an increase in numbers of long-term unemployed
As a result many families fell into poverty & neither the gov National Insurance Scheme, nor old poor law relief offered adequate help
What did Seebohm Rowntrees’s 1936 survey of poverty in York show and conclude?
-Showed that 17.7% of total population lived in poverty
-Reached telling conclusion that biggest single cause of poverty was low wages
-Unemployment was another of main factors; affected 28.6% of York’s poor
-However, other main cause of poverty was little to do w/ high unemployment; it was old age, which suggested the old age pension introduced in 1908 was inadequate
In what ways did the everyday lives of workers (especially lower class) change between 1914-39?
-Increase in value of real wages & fall in prices gave WC surplus that they could spend on new consumer goods + leisure pursuits
-In 1914, about 76% of wages went on food & rent, but in 1938 that had dropped to 44%
-Spending on food rose from £835m in 1920 to £1b+ in 1938
-1b cinema tickets were sold in GB in 1938 & approx 20m people enjoyed seaside holiday
-Electricity available in most areas, huge rise in purchase of new electrical appliances
-Sale of vacuum cleaners x2 from 200,000 in 1930 to 400,000 in 1938, by then there were approx 1m electric cookers in use
-Sales of cars rose, but few WC people would’ve been able to afford one
What was the nations health like from 1914-39? include examples
-Overall improvement in nations health
-Life expectancy for babies born in 1930s was higher than earlier decades, though war distorted figures
-Infant mortality rate fell from 67 per 1000 live births in 1930 to 61 in 1940
-Number of recorded deaths from infectious diseases eg measles falling as living standards rose. Tuberculosis was still a big killer but improving living standards had cut number of deaths to 27,000 in 1940
-But, there was no national health service & both medicines + doctor visits had to be paid for; resulted in poor families not receiving attention they needed & higher than average incidence of premature deaths
What was the state of housing in 1914-39 and how universal was this?
-Extensive local authority house-building schemes across country gave many WC families opportunity to move out of poor quality tenements in inner cities to new houses they could rent, on council estates on edge of towns
-Facilities were a great improvement from previous accommodation, w/ hot & cold running water, electric heating + lighting, inside lavatories & small garden, contributed to general improved standard of living
-Recovering economy in late 1930s & new technology made it possible for many WC people to enjoy higher standard of living than ever before, but economic problems of old industrial areas meant it was ‘a post code lottery’ as to whether/not a WC family was able to enjoy advantages of modern era
Why were there regional divisions and how could this be seen?
-Huge disparity in levels of employment in diff parts of country
-During economic boom periods in 19th cent, industrial towns of the N of England & other regions had prospered, while rural south had suffered; in 1920/30s situation was partly reversed
-Unemployment black spots= where communities had grown up around heavy industry dependent on coal, in N of England, S Wales & central Scotland, while in SE of England there was prosperity as jobs were created in new industries, fuelled by electricity
What was happening in many agricultural areas, particularly in the 1930s?
-Pockets of decline across country, as rural incomes dropped
-In remote Cornwall tin-mining district, industry had completely died, leaving most families very poor & permanently on poor relief
-Some families moved away to find work in new industries around Bham, Coventry, London, causing rural depopulation
-Deprivation suffered in these specific areas by individual families was appalling
What were the areas worst and least affected by regional divisions and why?
-Towns in which local economy centred on single big employer, as was case in Jarrow, on Tyneside, where unemployment rose to 72% in 1933
-Merthyr Tydil relied almost entirely on its coal & steel industries, recorded 62% of working population unemployed in 1934
-Halifax, town once at heart of woollen production, was able to survive due to more recent development of its machine-tool industry
-At other end of the scale, in 1934, the year the depression began to lift, unemployment in Birmingham was 6%, Oxford & Coventry 5% + High Wycombe 3%
How did help come to the worst affected areas of the regional divisions and was this effective?
-From voluntary organisations eg Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), Salvation Army & National Council of Social Service
-Their local enterprise schemes eg laying out public parks & creating allotments kept people busy but weren’t substitute for benefit payments
What were immediate post-war attitudes like?
-General disillusionment, reflecting pain of loss suffered by many families across all classes
-Sense of emptiness, mental & spiritual, was expressed in the words of T.S. Eliot’s poem ‘The Hollow Men’ published in 1925, but, even by then, memories of horrors of war were receding
-To an extent, war had broken down class barriers in that all men were equal in trench warfare & shared same fate
-Enemy fire across no man’s land didn’t discriminate betw officer class & ordinary soldier
Why were the days of the aristocratic dominance in the social, political and economic life in Britain ending?
-Death duties & taxation meant the great country estates were being broken up
-Country houses were turned into schools & convalescent homes/demolished. W/out army of domestic staff, they couldn’t function & people who’d previously served as butlers + kitchen maids preferred jobs that paid higher wages, for shorter hours
-High society still flourished but its character was changing, w/ influx of newly created peers from among ranks of successful middle-class industrialists & those rewarded for political services
How did the outlook and habits of the middle class changing?
-Economies had to be made during post-war Depression in 1920s & life was not always easy
-Essential single live-in maid replaced by ‘daily’ help, but appearance of electric appliances in home further reduced need to employ anyone at all
-General use of contraception among middle classes limited size of families, although it wasn’t officially approved of by CofE until 1930
Why was there a greater emphasis on youth, fashion & entertainment and how was this seen?
-Life was short, therefore should be enjoyed
-Nightclubs opened up, mainly in London; drinking cocktails became fashionable & many more people smoked
-It was acceptable to speak openly about sex, there was more sexual freedom betw men & women. However, the so-called era of the hedonistic ‘bright young things’, w/ loose sexual morals, was something of a myth
How did attitudes change after the equal divorce rights legislation of 1924?
-There was a more widespread acceptance of divorce
-This changed attitudes to the institution of marriage
What was increased prosperity marked by and what did this result in?
-New consumerism; ease of access to new commodities of mass markets influenced attitudes, created self-confidence & fed on people’s aspirations for greater material wealth + pursuit of comfort
-By 1930s there were 2 economies and 2 societies in Britain;
-The ‘haves’ could buy range of new goods: electrical goods, ready-made clothing, motor car & neat new house in the suburbs, paid for w/ mortgage. On the other hand, 30s brought increased awareness of appalling conditions suffered by ‘have nots’ in the distressed areas
-This aroused new social conscience & more sympathetic understanding of poverty
-Contributed to development of more tolerant attitudes to less fortunate & greater sense of national responsibility + desire to eliminate poverty, achieve a more egalitarian society
How was the growth of broadcasting stimulated?
-Development of new technology brought new possibilities for mass communication
-Until 1920s, newspapers & magazines were vehicles for disseminating information. The development of the wireless in the 1920s stimulated growth of broadcasting
How was the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) founded and what was its impact?
-In 1922, group of radio equipment manufacturers called the British Broadcasting Company obtained licence to run broadcasting service in London, Birmingham & Manchester
-The company was managed by John Reith
-Owners of wireless sets paid licence fee of 10 shillings, 1/2 of which was paid to Broadcasting Company
-Caught on quickly; estimated that 10m people had access to radio to listen to live broadcast by King George V at opening of Wembley Exhibition in 1924
-By 1926, broadcast coverage had been extended over most of country & 2m+ households owned wireless sets
How did the BBC change its status and what did this result in?
-In 1926, via Royal Charter, status of company was changed from a public commercial company to an independent national organisation, the British Broadcasting Corporation, w/ a monopoly to broadcast
-Was the start of the concept of public service broadcasting, reinforced by John Reith, later Lord Reith, who became first Director General of BBC
-His philosophy was clear; that purpose of broadcasting was to educate, inform & entertain. But, It was from an elitist point of view that he saw broadcasting as bringing culture to the masses & unity to nation
How many BBC licence holders were there in 1939 and what did this mean?
-9m licence holders, meant about 3/4 of all households had wireless; sign of increasing prosperity
-Also meant majority of population was receiving info about what was happening in GB & beyond, from single source
-The BBC always seemed firmly to support the state, establishment & what was often identified as national interest. Eg, during General Strike in 1926, Gov used BBC to get across their message about how conflict should be resolved. The BBC could claim to be the voice of the nation
How was the BBC used for political means and what questions did this raise?
-When Reith suggested broadcasting of political speeches before 1923 general election, the idea was rejected
-Several years later, James Maxton, Labour MP for Glasgow Bridgeton, used media in a debate on BBC radio w/ Conservative MP Harold Macmillan, to attack Gov over their introduction of Means Test in 1931
-Such usage raised question of power of media to influence its audience beyond simply informing
How did public radio influence the newspaper industry and how was this combatted?
-Created anxiety among newspaper proprietors that new medium would adversely affect their sales & profits
-Indeed, they successfully petitioned Gov to restrict amount of ‘hard’ news broadcast, this continued into 1930s
-By then it was clear each had a unique audience appeal
-Print advertising produced essential income for newspapers & magazines. In an increasingly consumerist society, manufacturing companies set up advertising departments to design eye-catching advertisements for their products. In 1936, the first coloured advert appeared in Glasgow Daily Record
When did motion pictures first emerge and what was their impact?
-In 1920s motion pictures arrived & very soon there was a cinema in every town
-In 1938 there were 104 cinemas in Glasgow
-Films created a voila of make-believe & were full of the glamour + excitement of Hollywood
-Tickets were cheap and provided an escape for the unemployed on cold, wet afternoons.
What information did media (motion pictures, news reels, radio recordings) provide?
-More accurate info about the condition of people in the inter-war years
-Evidence confirms deep divisions in the country betw old industrial areas in decline & rest of the country, which was prosperous + enjoying sense of looking forward to even brighter future, before disaster of war set back social & economic development
