State Intervention Flashcards
How big was the British army before 1914?
About 250,000.
How did Britain get men to serve in the armed forces?
Try relied on men volunteering to serve, ‘Voluntarism’.
How many men volunteered for the army 1914-16?
About 2 million.
What encouraged men to volunteer for the army?
Recruitment posters & propaganda which played on pride, patriotism and fear of embarrassment.
When was Conscription first introduced? For what ages?
January 1916, first Military Service Act introduced. Ages 18-41.
When was the Military Service Act extended? (It was extended twice)
Summer 1916, married men included.
February 1918, age increased to 50.
What could happen to men that refused to fight?
They could be imprisoned, if in army & refused to fight could be court martialled & shot.
What agreements were made between Lloyd George and the Trade Unions? What
Dilution agreements.
When were the Dilution Agreements?
1915 onwards.
What were the dilution agreements?
Various industries allowed semi-skilled, unskilled and women to be trained to jobs/part of jobs previously for skilled craftsmen.
Trade Unions worked closely with employers to avoid strike.
What did the government agree to in return for the Dilution Agreements?
Trade Unions demanded State controls on profits and rents, safeguards so workers could get their old jobs back after the war.
What strikes were there despite the dilution agreements?
1915, major strike on Clydeside & 1917 one in South Wales.
What did the Dilution Agreements do for the number of strikes?
Number of working days lost through strikes fell from 10 million 1913 to 3 million 1916.
What was DORA?
Defence Of the Realm Act. Legal basis for huge extension of State power during the war.
When was DORA originally passed?
1914 but extended regularly during war.
What was the change in State intervention from 1914-1918?
1914-business as usual
1918-State basically running the whole economy
How did shell production change from 1915-18?
1915-2 million
1918-187 million
How did production of machine guns increase 1914-18?
1914-270
1918-120,870
What war materials did Britain have to supply to its allies?
Transport, increase & protect provision of food & ensure adequate supplies of fuel, especially coal.
What did huge demand for war materials do?
Push up prices & created shortages of materials & workers.
What was the Ministry of Munitions?
Oversaw purchase, production & supply of all war materials.
Who was the head of the Ministry of Munitions?
Lloyd George
What did the Ministry of Munitions do to help with shortages of war materials?
- Set up central purchasing system for buying essential war materials.
- Organised British science to help war effort.
- Encouraged development & production of new weapons.
- Encouraged factories to switched from peacetime to wartime production & built own factories.
What key industries came under State control?
Railways, docks & coal mines.
How many factories did the Ministry of Munitions manage & supervise by 1918?
Managed 250 & supervised 20,000.
How many workers were controlled by the Ministry of Munitions by 1918?
4 million.
What did the Ministry of Munitions control?
Prices, wages & profits; rationed essential foods; bought 90% of all imports & had charge of transport and fuel.
Why was the Department of Food Production set up?
Increase amount of homegrown foodstuffs.
How did the State help increase the amount of homegrown foodstuffs?
Subsidised farmers to plough up wasteland.
Allocated scarce fertilisers.
Supplied prisoners of war to work the land.
Encouraged women to volunteer for farm work.
How much did government spending increase during WW1?
1913: £200 million
1918: £2,600 million
How much did Britain’s debt increase during the war?
1,200%
How did the government get the money to increase government spending?
By borrowing money from it’s people and from neutral countries.
Increasing taxation eg. income tax extended 1915.
What did WW1 do to trade?
Weakened it:
Traditional export markets blocked off, hurting profits.
Many imports unavailable or very expensive.
Attacks on shipping meant cargo lost at sea.
How did Britain import the goods it needed?
Relied on US:
Bought lots of war materials from US
Loan of $5,000 million.
War costing Britain $5 million a day, $2 million of this raised from US.
