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
By 1932, how many people were unemployed in Britain?
High unemployment in 1932 - 3 million out of work who worked in the old staple industries - couldn’t go find jobs because there was high comeptition for jobs and these were the biggest industries
By 1929, how much had the production of pig iron fallen?
By 1929, British production of pig iron by 54%
Prosperity
A successful, flourishing, or thriving condition, especially in financial respects; good fortune
What industries flourished in the 1920s and 30s? What helped them?
-South and South East experienced growth and prosperity in the 1930s
-workforce adapted to the new, light industries - invested in after WWI
-motor vehicles, building industries, chemical production, printing and electrical engineering
-car industry produced 511,000 cars in 1937 unlike 33,000 in 1913 and between 1924-35 over 1 million houses built for local authorise
-able to meet the growing post war demand for convenience and leisure amongst certain classes and their popularity was therefore protected
-helped by Gov tariffs: 1915 McKenna duties put a 33.3% tariff on the importing of commercial vehicles. The Safeguarding of Industries Act put a 33.3% tariff on synthetic chemicals.
Reasons why the Great Depression caused a country of 2 nations?
-Coal industry was failing and thus the North was most affected making them poor and mass unemployment
-3 million people unemployed, particularly in old industries
-Britain were left with very limited markets/ trade after the USA were no longer a customer.
-The USA demanded their loans back
Reasons why the Great Depression did not cause a country of 2 nations?
-Natural factors meant that there were different trades in different areas in the UK
-America raises tariffs
-WWI causing a decrease in old staple industries
-Government centralised south
-Japan and US competition
-The old, staple industries were already in decline before the Depression because of disarmament and competition from other countries like the USA and Japan.
-The government created tariffs which supported newer industries.
-Geographical concentration of jobs led to decline.
-The fact that new industries were willing to adapt, and respond to consumer demand, meant that they prospered
-government favouring new industries
-disarmament
Crusade
A vigorous campaign for political, social or religious reasons
What year did the Jarrow March happen?
1936
What was Jarrow known for? What was the biggest shipyard? How many did it employ? Why did the shipyard close? What happened as a result?
Ship building town - Palmers was biggest but closed in 1934, employed 10,000 people
Closed because: (1) Didnt produce enough money, (2) There was a policy of restricting output, (3) Ships couldn’t be built from another 40 years in palmer
Gov set up The National Ship Building Securities to buy closed shipyard
75% of Jarrow was left unemployed
Who was the MP for Jarrow? What party? What did she say? How did the government respond? What party?
Ellen Wilkinson was the MP - Labour - ‘Politicians and businessmen had murdered the town’
Conservative gov commissioned a report on the consequences of the shipyard closure
What were the conditions of the Jarrow march?
300 miles from Jarrow to the Houses of Parliament - took them a month, they slept in workhouses and were malnourished
Overcrowded, malnourished, knocked knees, crossed eyes, malnutrition
The men slept in workhouses and churches on the way south
How many people signed the Jarrow marchers petition? What were its intentions? What happened to it? Why?
11,000
Wanted to provide work for the town by re-establishing the industry in Jarrow or to generate sympathy for the unemployed
It was presented to Parliament behind their backs whilst they were on a river journey - it was never seen again
However, this was a bad time to ask Parliament for help as they were pre-occupied with the abdication crisis - debated for a few minutes
What did the Jarrow march achieve in the short term? What about the long term?
Benefits were stopped
Families were extremely poor
Achieved nothing great
Fought with members of the establishment
Fought against fascism
Symbols of poverty and community
How many marched in the Jarrow march? Who led it? What support did it gather?
200 Working men marched to London led by Councillor David Riley on what they called a ‘crusade’
The march received support from miners, the police, capitalists as well as members of both the Labour and Conservative Party
Along the way they were aided by Co-operatives and Trade Unions. E.g. reparing their boots - even though the Labour Party warned them against doing so
What did the Jarrow marchers do at every town they visited? What was the media coverage of the march?
At each town they visited the Jarrow marchers collected information about the numbers of unemployed, mortality rates, TB rates - to show the trends of how life was better in the south and that the north were worse off
Joined by 7-8 journalists from the Daily Herald - media could see the poor as humans - becomes national news and gets a lot of media coverage
Reasons why the Jarrow march was effective?
-Media coverage was with them for the whole journey - they saw how malnourished they became - showed them as more human - showed the extent to which they would go to to fight for change - made the rich feel more sympathetic for them
-Raised awareness for the atrocities going on in the north
-One of the reasons why the Tories were replaced by Labour
-Showed that the unemployed were law abiding and responsible citizens - generated sympathy
-Support given from other towns and cities along the route
-Encouraged other towns to take action
-Good publicity
-Helped form positive perception of those in the north and old industries - led to social reform
Reasons why the Jarrow march was not effective?
-Dole cut off as they weren’t theirs for work even though there was no work there to be had
-Petition was discussed by Parliament for only a few minutes - nothing came off it
-Jarrow marchers returned home empty handed
What was the NUWM? What was its aims? Who set it up and when?
-Set up 1921 by members of the Communist Party mainly by Walter Hannington - National Unemployed Workers Movement
-Aimed to draw attention to plight of the hungry
-Aimed to destroy capitalism
-Main concern in 20s and 30s was about the rights of the unemployed to jobs and allowing a reasonable subsistence
What were the aims of the 1927 Hunger March? What support did it except to receive and what did it actually get?
-First Welsh hunger march of out of work miners to London in protest to restriction in unemployment benefits
-It started as a protests about the reason above and how it affected the miners and their fam
-Miners marched to London on the opening of Parliament
-Trades Union Congress allowed this so they changed their minds
-The NUWM still supported so 270 marchers marched to London
-Received support from local councils but the press, TUC and the gov didn’t support
What were the aims of the 1932 Hunger March? What were the consequences of it?
-Many were angered with the means test, so the NUWM organised a national hunger march
-3000 people marched to London
-Aim was to force gov to reconsider the means test and present petition to parliament with 1mil signatures
-The gov drafted 2000 extra police
-Serious violence broke out
-Hannington arrested and police confiscated petition
-Riots continued for days where some were injured - covered by national press and generated questions in parliament - the March itself didnt gain coverage
Means test
1931 policy where all income coming into a household was taken into account before benefits given
What happened with spies and the NUWM? What happened during the 1936 Hunger March? Why is it significant?
-Spies trained and infiltrated the NUWM
-1934 - Incitement to Disaffection Act = criminal offence to seduce police from duty and gave the police greater powers of search - the reason why many were arrested on hunger marches
-Labour gave demonstration support and Clement Attlee (leader of Labour 1935-55 and PM 1945-51) addressed 12,000 people
-joined by the Jarrow Marchers
-It was the last demonstration led by the NUWM - its focus then became on helping families through benefit regulations
What were the 3 different hunger marches led by the NUWM?
- 1927 Hunger March
- 1932 Hunger March
- 1936 Hunger March
What were the successes of the hunger marches?
-The gov obviously felt threatened (evidenced by the 2000 extra police used in the 1932 march, the use of spies and the ‘Incitement of Disaffection Act’ 1934)
-Media attention (even if negative), esp after 1932 march.
-Support of Labour government & Clement Attlee in 1936 march.
-Crowd/ support increased with each march. From a variety of geographical locations and different professions.
What were the failures of the hunger marches?
-Associated with Communism - one of their aims was to “rid of capitalism”
-Faced opposition from the TUC (Trade Union Congress), esp in the1927 March
-had little, if any, effect on gov policy
By 1932, how many people were unemployed in Britain?
3 million
Why did the government find it hard to act out against poverty?
other distractions that were more concerning, such as:
-The Constitutional / Abdication Crisis
-Rise of Hitler and other Fascists
-Rearmament of nations
-Foreign investors had begun making withdrawals from London banks. (Between 15th July and 7th August 1931, £33 million in gold was withdrawn)
-Balancing the annual budgets was proving difficult, if not impossible. (Increasing unemployment meant that more was needed to be paid out in benefits yet fewer people in work meant fewer people paying taxes)
What did the Labour government do to address financial difficulties?
-The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Snowden, set up a committee to advise on what could be done to reduce national expenditure
-This committee was headed by Sir George May
-July 1931 – May Report produced
-The Report calculated that £120 million was needed to balance the budget; £23 million could be found from increased taxation and £97 million from cuts in government spending
What were the recommendation of the 1932 May Report?
-Reductions in Teachers salaries - £14 million
-Cut unemployment benefit by 10% - this was the most controversial
-Reductions in police pay - £1 million
-Reductions in armed services pay - £2 million
Opinions on the cutting of the unemployment benefit?
-Snowden suggested that this particular benefit should not be protected when there were cuts elsewhere
-Over half the cabinet could not cut this benefit - argued that the unemployed suffered enough
What impact did the May Report have on the reputation of the Labour Government?
-The Labour government were left severely divided by the May Report.
-On the 23rd August 1931, Ramsay MacDonald (prime minister) offered the resignation of his government to the King.
-Instead, a coalition government was formed - consisted of Conservative party members, Liberal members and Labour members (but the majority were Conservative party members) = the National Government
-For the unemployed, it seemed that all hope of alleviating poverty was gone
What was the national government?
The coalition government of Labour, conservative and liberal party members set up in 1931 after the prime minister Ramsay Macdonald had resigned his Labour government but remained as the PM in this government
Why was the national government more successful than the previous Labour government?
-From the mid 1930s, there was general recovery in world trade
-Re-armament increased
-The National Government lacked strong opposition (internally or externally)
-no longer an expectation for them to be the party of the workers so they didn’t have limits to things they could do to improve economy
How did the National Government attempt to relieve poverty?
- Unemployment act 1934
- National government backed the iron and steel federation formed in 1932
- Special areas act 1934
- 1935 the government developed a scheme where shipowners could apply for gov loans
What was the unemployment act 1934?
-National unemployment assistance board set up - standardised dole payments - paid using a means test
-Fiercely enforced by district officers
-Deeply unpopular among the unemployed - as some places got more
-Rates set nationally - not varied to local circumstances
-Protests because of the national enforced - found less generous doles
-Delayed until 1936 in response to protests
Why did the national government back the iron and steel federation that was formed in 1932?
-to supervise the demolition of old, unprofitable work and build new ones, thus creating jobs
What was the special areas act 1934?
-an act that applied to regions of high unemployment like south wales and south Scotland
-Gov financed projects like the steelworks at Ebbw Vale - created new jobs
-1939 - employed 8500 people under scheme
-Total number of unemployed in special areas 2 months later was 226,193
What was the 1935 government scheme that allowed shipowners to apply for a gov loan?
-enabled to scrap old ships and buy new ones
-e.g. Cunard White star line ordered the Queen Mary from john brown ships yard
-created work for unemployed shipyard workers
What was world trade like in the 1930s around the time of the national government?
Recovery in world trade and weak £ meant british goods were cheap to buy abroad - exports rose and created more jobs - this had little opposition so Chamberlain introduced import duties
