Unit 3.7 Depression and the Dole: Poverty In the Interwar Years 1920-39 Flashcards
Depression
The economic crisis and period of low business activity in the U.S. and other countries, roughly beginning with the stock market crash in October, 1929, and continuing through most of the 1930s
Why did the Great Depression affect the UK?
-The USA asked for their loans to be paid back in full, immediately
-The USA had been Britain’s biggest trading partner; this stopped
-US Wall Street crash meant that they had to ask for their money back to try cure the Great Depression
Which areas were the worst affected by the Depression in Britain in the 1930s?
South Wales, Clydeside, North West and North East of England and NI - starts the north and south divide
Why were these areas the worst affected?
-High unemployment
-clydside had big ship building industry but because of the end of WWI and end of trade because of the depression
-old industries like coal mining, ship building, textiles (cotton) and iron and steel dominated these areas which originally propped Britain up but in 1929 there was the Wall Street Crash
Why were old staple industries already in decline in the 1920s?
-There was big completion in the 1920s from the US and Japan such as coal which was cheaper to import from the US than buying UK
-textiles also faced competition
-international disarmament after WWI (reduced size of navy’s which affected ship buildings industries) - this happened because of free trade in the UK in the 20’s and a lack of high tariffs (Britain companies couldn’t export but it was cheaper to import)
Why was Britain one of the main countries to be affected by the Wall Street Crash?
-Due to previous competition in the 1920s
-free trade (no tariffs)
-US asked for loans back
-US put high tariffs on foreign goods
-British manufacturers couldn’t access many markets
What was the decline in shipbuilding from 1930 to 1933?
-1930 - 1.4 million tonnes of ship produced
-1933 - 133,000 tonnes of ship produced
