Ireland 1918-1939

In 1918, the Prime Minister David Lloyd George faced a serious situation
in Ireland. He had to try and negotiate a compromise between Ulster
Unionists and Irish Nationalists. Home Rule for Ireland had ben postponed
at the outbreak of WW1 and the tensions and divisions had been increased
by the Easter Rising and its effects in 1916.

The main problem was whether Ulster should be excluded from Home Rule and
whether this should be temporary or permanent. Stubbornness and
intransigence on both sides made an agreement impossible. The attempt by
the DLG government to impose conscription upon Ireland in March 1918 was
met with anger and noncooperation by the Nationalists and stimulated
support for the radical nationalist sentiments of Sinn Fein. In the
subsequent General Election of 1918, 73 Sinn Feiners were elected as MPs
for Irish constituencies out of a total of 105 seats. This success for
Sinn Fein and the decline of more moderate Irish Nationalists made it
clear that the problem had to be adversed now World War 1 had ended (John
Redmund died in March 1918, leaving a void in Nationalist leadership).

The Sinn Fein members refused to take up their seats at Westminster and
set up an unofficial parliament in Dublin - ‘the Doil’ - the assembly of
Ireland and declared a republic with (UDI). Eamon de Valera, one of the
surviving leaders of the Easter Rising was elected president after the
treaty). De Valera worked with Arthur Griffith and Michael Collins to
establish a feasible government with a judicial system.

## The Anglo-Irish War: 1918-1920

The Declaration of Independence ratified the establishment of Irish

Republic, declaring that a state of war could never end until Britain’s
armed forces were evicted from the shores of Ireland. This at first
seemed to be based upon passive resistance. This change with sporadic
attacks on the police, the Royal Irish Constabulary by the IRA. The
reaction of the British Government was to treat the IRA terror attacks as
a police matter - this was made worse by Eamon de Valera touring the USA,
raising financial support while Michael Collins and Arthur Griffith
(founder of Sinn Fein) trained and organised IRA terrorist groups to
carry violence against British linked targets. At this point, the DLG
government called in the ‘Black and Tans’ (an irregular paramillitary
force mainly recruited from Protestant Scotland) which was infamous for
its use of violence and brutality against equally ferocious IRA attacks
on the police, members of the Black and Tans, and innocent civilians.

In February 1920, in his anxiety to find a solution to the Irish

question, DLG pushed through the Government of Ireland Act, which
established partition for the first time and created seperate parliaments
in Dublin and Belfast. This did not satisfy Sinn Fein aspirations for
complete independence and irish united Republican control. The war
continued with increasingly shocking atrocities on both sides until June
1921, when DLG invited the leaders of both sides to London for talks.

## The Anglo Irish Treaty of December 1921

Lloyd George, leader of the Coaltion government, now decided to end the
Anglo-Irish war by offering partition of Ireland with a Protestant
dominated Ulster and a Catholic dominated South. Formal negotiations were
led by Lloyd George himself and took place with Arthur Griffith, Michael
Collins and other Sinn Fein leaders in October 1921. De Valera refused to
attend as he saw the treaty as a ploy for the British government to stop
the unification of Ireland. The key issues were to reach a compromise
over finance, defense obligations, the status of Ulster and the oath of
alligience. The most controversial aspects was giving Ulster full
independence from the rest of Ireland and the oath of allegiance to the
British Commonwealth and King, insured that the new Ireland would not be
fully independent.

The treaty was signed in London in December 1921 and set up the Irish
Free State in the south and a Northern Ireland Protestant Prime Minister,
James Craig with his parliament in Belfast (this parliament, dominated by
Protestants, ruled Northern Ireland from 1922-1971)

## The Anglo Irish Treaty and its effects 1921-1939

1) Many Unionists remained bitter at partition and handing over the

government in the south what they considered to be an ‘IRA murder squad’.

2) There was a lot of anger in England, particularly amongst Conservative

backbench MPs, such as Winston Churchil. who felt that Lloyd George had
given into terrorism

3) The Irish Nationalist movement was also split over the treaty. De
Valera completely renounced the treaty and started a Civil War between
1922 and 1923 against the Free State government and politicians like
Michael Collins who had signed it. De Valera believed that the new state
should be a republic and not a Dominion state within the Commonwealth.
Collins became a high profile casualty of the Civil War, when he was
murdered by a group of pro Republicans in County Cork. Although the Civil
War ended with a victory for treaty supporters, it was a brutal civil war
which did not end the hostility felt by many Irishmen towards the
settlement.

4) Lloyd George claimed to have settled the Irish question which some
historians feel he did for the next 40 years until the troubles of the
1960’s. However, Lloyd George was brought down by the Conservatives at
the Carlton Club rebellion of October 1922 and the signing of the Irish
Treaty could have been a contributing factor.

5) Northern Ireland Catholics were now stranded in a Protestant dominated

state, led by Unionist Prime Minister - Sir James Craig. Craig was able
to dominate the setting of parliamentary boundaries between 1921-1938 and
was able to maximise Unionist advantage i.e. gerrymandering. Craig and
the Unionist’s won 5 Stormont elections between 1921-1939 and completely
dominated local government - example of LondonDerry. The worst
discrimination was within the Royal Ulster Constablery that had replaced
the Royal Irish Constablerary. Discrimination led to periodic sectarian
violence between Catholics and Protestants but this was harshly dealt
with by the RUC. In July 1925, riots in Belfast and Derry led to several
deaths.

## The Irish Free State Post Partition 1922-1939

After the treaty and the partition agreement, de Valera broke with Sinn
Fein and formed a new party called Fianna Fáil (Soldiers of Destiny)
which won the 1932 election and stayed in power for the next 16 years
with de Valera as Prime Minister.

The Statute of Westminister 1931 gave Britain’s dominions the right to

control their own parliaments. This gave de Valera the right to cut most
official ties with Britain, such as removing all power from the Governor
General. In 1937, during the Abdication Crisis, de Valera declared
Southern Ireland’s independence from Britain - drawin gup a new
constitution and naming the new state ‘Éire’. Neville Chamberlain, now
Prime Minister, offered reconciliation, but de Valera threatened to
refuse to pay any outstanding debts to Britain and his only concession
was that Ulster would become part of Éire (Ireland).
Social legislation 1918-1939

## Background

In the 1918 election, David Lloyd George had campaigned on the slogan of
‘Homes fit for Heroes’, by which he meant that Social policies were to be
provided for the working class ‘Tommies’ or Soldiers however after a
brief economic boom between 1919 and 1920, a sudden economic slump came
in 1921.

In order to deal with the ensuing economic slump, DLG’s government

appointed Sir Eric Geddis, a prominent businessman to make cuts in
government spending, this became known as the ‘Geddis Axe’ and made
specific cuts in social programs such as health, welfare, plans to build
new council houses and further education. However, although retrenchment
became successful in cutting government expenditure, this increased
unemployment and may have worsened the regional divide.

## Housing

1) Addison’s Act of 1919: The Addison’s Act or The Housing and Town
County Planning Act was crucial in establishing the concept of local
authority housing provisions, this act was the work of Dr Christopher
Addison, a Liberal MP, who had in 1919 set up the new Ministry of Health
and provided the idea of housing as a social service. When the Lloyd
George government failed to introduce radical social reform, he switched
to Labour.

This legislation invested power to local authorities to carry out house

building programs in their locality and promised a Government subsidy of
£260 for each house built.

2) Wheatley’s Act of 1924: - The Wheatley Act was one of the few pieces
of legislation of the first short lived Labour Government of Ramsay
Macdonald. It was drawn up by Scottish MP and Minister of health; John
Wheatley and it increased a subsidy to local governments to encourage
them to build houses to let to working class families. This led to the
building of around 1/2 million new houses between 1924 and 1934, it
stimulated house building and brought about a turning point in the
attitude of politicians who were committed to providing social housing.
Wheatley’s Act was scaled back after the May Report of 1930 but it was
continued despite the financial crash.

3) Greenwood Housing Act of 1930 - named after Arthur Greenwood, a

prominent Labour MP and future deputy leader of the Labour Party, it was
designed to provide subsidies to local authorities for slum clearances
and their replacement with new houses (mainly council houses), but this
again was suspended during the period of depression as was the Wheatley
subsidies. Subsidies for general housing were given on the number of
people rehoused, not the number of properties demolished.

## Housing 1934-1939

From 1934 to 1939, there was an unprecedented boom in house building, in

which 700,000 council houses were built, over a million families were
rehoused from slums to towns and cities. Some new council estates were
developed on the edge of major conurbations, such as Wythenshawe in
Manchester and developed on the Garden City principle (/a rural setting
on the fringes of towns/).
# Education

Background:

By 1918, there were provisions for full time education for children up to
the age of 12. This had been established by the Balfour Education Act of
1902, which had established state responsibility for secondary education.
As a result, local education and author had been established, and had the
power to build and maintain secondary schools.

There were also endowed grammar schools such as Manchester, Stockport and
Altrincham. these state aided maintained secondary schools charged a
modest fee but since 1907, 25% of places had to be provided for poorer
children on a scholarship basis. Consequently, these schools were
dominated by the lower middle classes. Children of the wealthy and
privileged attended fee paying schools such as Erin and Harrow, often
boarding away from home.

Fisher’s Act of 1918: - Fisher’s Act was named after Herbert or H.A.L.
Fisher, who was the Liberal MP for Sheffield Hallam and was also the
President of the Board of Education. This act raised the school leaving
age from 12 to 14 and increased the provision of free secondary places
for children from lower income families. State scholarships were also
introduced to provide opportunities for poor children to go to
Universities.

Local authorities were encouraged to set up county colleges, providing

part time tertiary education for pupils who had left at 14 and wanted to
continue education whilst at work until the age of 18. It also created
nursery schools for 3-5 year olds, it abolished all fees in state
elementary schools and widened the provision of medical inspections,
nursery schools and special needs education

However many of these innovative changes could only be implemented in

part due to cuts in public expenditure (Geddis Axe) forced by the
economic depression of the 1920s.

Hadow Report of 1926: This was named after Sir William Henry Hadow, Vice
Chancellor of the University of Sheffield who published a series of
reports, notably the ‘Education of the Adolescent’ of 1926, which called
for a division of the educational provision at the age of 11 to
distinguish between primary and secondary education, and the setting up
of two types of schools. The Grammar School was to provide academic
education and for the majority, the modern school with a leaving age of
15. A national examination at the age of 11 (11+) was set up to decide
which type of school was suited to the individual child. The Hadow Report
was actually implemented gradually in some progressive areas from 1926-
1929.

However, the attempts of schools to introduce the kinds of reports

suggested by the Hadow Report were curtailed by the May Report of 1931,
which suggested ways for the government to restrict public expenditure
and the subsequent reforms of the National Government after 1931.
Economy 1929-1939

In October 1929, the Wall Street Crash hit the American stock markets,
which led to a loss of US markets and a sharp reduction in European
trade. Between the end of 1929-31, the value of British exports fell by
50%. Unemployment increased from 1 million to 2.5 million from 1929-31
and 3 million by the end of 1932.

The depression led to a massive fall in Britain’s overseas trade which

fell by 1/3 between 1930 and 1937, for instance, textile exports by 1932
were less than 50% of what they had been in 1913. As a result,
unemployment rose by frightening levels - for instance in the summer of
1932, 40% of coal miners and 47% of steelworkers were out of work.

The banking crisis of 1931 led to the set up of the May Commission which
recommended large cuts in public spending which were resisted by the
Labour Government 1929-1931, but it led to the formation of the new
National Government led by Ramsey Macdonald (1931-35) and the Doctor’s
Mandate election of 1931 whose public support was given to cuts in social
spending, increases such as unemployment insurance wages, education and
housing. After this election, Snowden, the Chancellor, decided to take
Britain off the Gold Standard which gave Britain more flexibility in
monetary policy, reducing interest rates and helping to boost business
confidence. Also, the MacDonald government moved towards protectionism by
passing the Import Duties Act of 1932, which introduced a 10% tariff on
any goods from outside the British Empire.

## National Government attempts to tackle Depression:

- Financial Policy: - Aimed to balance the budget and limit government

spending to match government income. Implemented cuts in wages of public
employees. Aimed to keep the value of the pound stable by intervening in
the currency market
- Trade Policy: - set up ‘Sterling Area’ with members mainly in the
British Empire, using the pound rather than gold to settle trading
accounts. Granted aid to the ‘depressed areas’ through the Special Areas
Act of 1934. British Shipping Assistance Act of 1935 provided government
loans to build new ships.

## Economic Realignment

The output of motor cars doubled between 1929 and 1939, making Britain
the second-largest car manufacturer in the world. Staple industries began
to recover although it was slow and limited. Coal Production in 1938 was
227,000 tonnes. More people in work and this together with lower prices
and cheaper borrowing created rising consumer demand in areas such as
house buildings. This led to an increase in general consumption. House
market growth encouraged jobs in service industries. Output of
electricity quadrupled between 1935-1939.
The General Strike

The General Strike was a combination of long-term causes building up for

several years and short-term causes triggering the whole thing.

## Long Term Causes

1) Nationalisation of the mines during WW1- During the war, the

government had nationalised the mines in order to control the war
directly. This brought a great advantage for the miners as they were paid
a national wage instead of miners in different pits receiving different
wage levels that varied according to the profitability of the mines. The
miners naturally wanted this to continue but once the immediate crisis
was over in 1921, David Lloyd George, as leader of the post-war
coalition, returned the mines to private ownership.

2) Overall, British miners were inefficient and backwards-looking; they

failed to promote greater efficiency and more mechanisation, which would
have helped them compete better with other countries. They tended to
blame declining profits on high wages, and when they did try to cut
wages, this tended to lead to strained relations with their workforce.

3) The effect of Versaille: The effects of the post-war Versaille

settlement of 1919 worsened the situation, which encouraged stiff
competition from Germany and Poland, which had now more mechanised pits.
France and Italy were receiving free coal from Germany as part of
reparations.

4) In the background was the post-war economic depression, which brought

falling exports and mass unemployment, particularly to the staple
industries.

5) Trade Union movement had become increasingly militant since the end of
the First World War, with the increasing number of strikes and the
creation of the Triple Alliance in 1913 (agreement to hold sympathetic
strikes for railwaymen, dockers, and miners) suggesting that syndicalism
could lead to a General Strike where the country could be brought to a
standstill.

## Short Term Causes

1) Some historians have suggested that the return to the Gold Standard in
April 1925 worsened the export position of all British industries, not
just coal. According to famous economist J.M. Keynes, Churchill,
Chancellor of the Exchequer, though acting on the best advice, had
overvalued the pound by 10%, making exports more expensive.

2) The situation worsened in June 1925 when a sudden fall in coal exports
due to a recovery in the German markets. The owners announced that they
would have to lower wages, abolish the national wage and increase hours.
The miners protested and threatened action. Their leader, A.J. Cooke,
coined the phrase - ‘not a penny off the pay, nor a minute on the day’.

Then Stanley Baldwin (1926-1929 PM) came up with a temporary solution,

offering financial support to subsidise both miner's wages and owner's
profits for nine months. It also set up a royal commission led by Herbert
Samuel and came up with a solution - the miners viewed this as a victory,
and it became known as Red Friday. The Samuel Commission rejected
nationalisation but recommended restructuring the industry with
government help. It argued that the wage cuts were essential to save jobs
but that working hours should not be longer.

The mine owners brought a showdown one step closer by announcing that
wages would be reduced on the 30th of April 1926, and the miners replied
that they would strike on the 1st of May 1926. The TUC tried to negotiate
a settlement with Baldwin, but negotiations broke down on the 2nd May
when Baldwin called off negotiations when he heard printers at the Daily
Mail had staged a lightning strike (/when you just walk out, no
announcement/) as a result of an editorial attacking the miners cause.
The TUC now declared that the first general strike in Britain’s history
would now go ahead.

--------------------------------------------------
The General Strike and its Effects

According to Norman Lowe argued that the General Strike was an impressive
show of working class solidarity. In the industries called out, the
response was 100%, and over three million workers were on strike. Since
the aim was to paralyse the industry, workers in essential industries
such as sewage, rubbish collection and domestic electricity were not
called out. The unions claimed it was not a political strike and it was
not designed to bring down the government; however, Baldwin was
determined to present the Strike as “an attack on the Constitution”,
whereas the unions presented it as an industrial strike designed to force
the government to intervene to make the mine owners see reason.

Despite the strike lasting for nine days, there were many violent
incidents, especially in Scotland (Red Clydeside in Glasgow), the north
of England and in London itself. Strikers detested the volunteers,
particularly seeing as middle class (lackeys). However, there were very
few attacks on volunteers. Striking miners from Cramlington derailed ‘The
Flying Scotsman’ whilst in Preston, a crowd of 5,000 attacked a police
station.

There are diverging views about how the Prime Minister Baldwin handled
the strike. The sympathetic view that he was prepared to play a waiting
game knowing that the TUC had no stomach for a prolonged strike. Baldwin
refused to negotiate until the strike was called off, he concentrated
upon operating emergency plans approved earlier, he also used the
organisation for the maintenance of supplies (/to gain more volunteers/)
controlled by Winston Churchill and worked hard to keep food supplies
moving, unloading ships and driving trains and buses.

The more critical view was that Baldwin in his more indolent (/lazy/) way
allowed the more right-wing fire eaters in his cabinet e.g. Churchill and
Joynson-Hicks to take aggressive action. The Historian A.N. Wilson points
out - “Churchill was in his element, he forgot the job of Chancellor was
merely to look after the economy and immediately moved into dictatorial
mode”.

Baldwin put Churchill in charge of a government propaganda newspaper

called the British Gazette, which printed some uncompromising articles
about the TUC. Churchill also started to use armoured cars to protect
food convoys, declaring ‘we are at war’. On the 12th of May, the TUC
suddenly called off the General Strike but the miners refused to go back.
Since the mine workers refused to compromise, the strike dragged on until
December 1926 when the miners were forced to go back to longer hours and
shorter wages. There was also bitterness about how the miners had been
betrayed by the TUC.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
/////////////////////////////////////////

1) Dissolusionment / falling membership of the Trade Unions - Membership

dropped from 5.5 million before the strike to 4.9 million in 1927 and 4.4
million in 1933

2) The TUC abandoned the idea of a General Strike, convinced that no

strike like this could ever succeed - ‘the end of syndicalism’

3) The General Strike and its defeat had not improved the situation of
the coal industry and its efficiency. In 1913, exports had been 73
million tones and in 1933 this was just 39 million tonnes.

4) The Baldwin government introduced the Trade Disputes Act of 1927 which
was designed to make another General Strike impossible. Baldwin had
originally ruled this out after pressure from right-wing members of his
cabinet (fire-eaters). He decided to make sympathetic strikes and
picketing illegal and outlawing the Seizure of Union Funds in a strike.
Also, Trade Union members were not required to contribute to a Union’s
political fund unless they chose to do so in writing, after the reversal
of the Osborn Case in 1913. According to Norman Lowe “the effect of this
Act was negative” and “this act seems to be largely uneccessary since the
TUC had actually had enough of General Strikes and it was bitterly
resented by the Trade Unions.

5) The working class realised that parliamentary ascension affected the

best chance of achieving their aims rather than industrial ascenscion.
MacDonald had always been skeptical of the General Strike and had been
heavily criticised for his lack of support. Labour made a recovery after
1937, making extensive gains in local elections. In the General Election
of 1924, they became the largest party in the commons for the first time.
Post-War economic policies 1918-1939

After the brief post-war boom fueled by the DLG’s inflationary policies
in 1918-1919, including borrowing to meet a high level of expenditure and
promises in social policies such as ‘Land Fit for Heroes’ and ‘Homes Fit
for Heroes’ that led to more expensive social policies such as Fisher’s
Act of 1918 (which increased School leaving age to 14) and Addison’s Act
of 1919 (which increased council house building) and the Unemployment Act
of 1920 (extended unemployment insurance commitments).

However, the government started to move towards retrenchment (/cut

spending/) - Geddes Axe of 1922. Another measure was the Safeguarding of
Industries Act 1921, which was designed to allow the imposition of duties
on imported goods that affected key British Industries. This was
controversial as it heralded the end of free trade and perhaps an overall
move towards trade Protectionism. The overall effect of the slump after
1919 was a contracting economy - in 1923, the pressure for protectionism
again influenced Stanley Baldwin, who made good on his promise to call a
general election in order to introduce protectionism to remedy the
effects of the slump. The Conservatives surprisingly lost the General
Election of 1923, with Labour and Liberals uniting to defend Free Trade
and working-class incomes against higher food prices.

However, the government started to move towards retrenchment (/cut

spending/) - Geddes Axe of 1922. Another measure was the Safeguarding of
Industries Act 1921, which was designed to allow the imposition of duties
on imported goods that affected key British Industries. This was
controversial as it heralded the end of free trade and perhaps an overall
move towards trade Protectionism. The overall effect of the slump after
1919 was a contracting economy - in 1923, the pressure for protectionism
again influenced Stanley Baldwin, who made good on his promise to call a
general election in order to introduce protectionism to remedy the
effects of the slump. The Conservatives surprisingly lost the General
Election of 1923, with Labour and Liberals uniting to defend Free Trade
and working-class incomes against higher food prices.

In 1925, Winston Churchill, the new Chancellor of the Exchequer in

Baldwin’s government, made the controversial decision to return Britain
to the Gold Standard. Britain had been on the Gold Standard for much of
the 19th century but had come off it in 1914 as a preventative measure to
stop people hoarding gold and protect Britain’s gold reserve. In 1919, it
was decided by the Lloyd George Government to stay off the Gold Standard
for another six years in order to aid financial recovery. However, there
were arguments for returning in 1925 because the economy had stabilised,
and although wages in Staple industries were falling (/reparation
payments by Germans and Austrians made this worse/), wages overall were
steady, and a return to the Gold Standard, therefore, meant a return to
normality after the war and could stimulate competition, making staple
industries more efficient and give a boost to new industries.

However, Keynes argued that this policy would be deflationary and would
increase unemployment and industrial unrest. Many economists agreed with
Keynes that Britain re-joined the Gold Standard at pre-war parity
(/level/), which meant that the pound was overvalued, making British
goods expensive to buy and crippling the export market, which slowed down
the post-war recovery in trade. This is why in 1929, when the Wall Street
Crash occurred, many investors withdrew gold from Britain, threatening
the collapse of the British Banking System.
Labour 1930-1939

- Recovery of the Labour Party after the disastrous General Election of

1931 - After 1931, they were lead by George Lansbury, replaced brief
tenure of Henderson and was leader from 1931-1935. Labour revitalised
themselves at municipal level - tending to win a lot of council
elections, Clement Attlee and Morrison were council leaders in London.
They had a more radical leader with more radical policies - launching the
‘Million New Members’ campaign in 1932. Clement Attlee took over after
Lansbury, (/Lansbury was not a strong leader, bit like Jeremy Corbyn,
very pacifist and opposed actions of League of Nations - anti rearmament,
very left/) Attlee was a much more populist leader from middle upper
class, an ex major in the British Army who fought at Gallipoli, was a
very good manager with a clear strategy of how Labour was going to
recover. Morrison led the Labour council - Sadiq Khan of his day but
Attlee became leader. In 1935, Labour recovered in terms of seats,
winning 135 seats compared to 52 in November 1931, reasons for this were
due to negatives of the National Government - that they had not done
enough, however they are still very popular (/This is because Chamberlain
started to introduce some interest rate cuts, economically starting to
bring Britain out of the recession/)
- Development of more radical and popular policies after 1935 -

1) Did start to develop Nationalisation, people like Bevan started to

play a more crucial role, Bevin, head of Trade Unions start to argue for
Nationalisation. Herbert Morrison is one of the core people arguing for
Nationalisation, even though he was on the right of the party.

2) Creation of a National Health Service (NHS) - much more radical policy

to unite people during the depression, suffering from inequality and
depression.

Labour’s policies are put into Labour's immediate programme in 1937.

Labour in opposition was a good thing, did not hamper Labour as they were
developing policies. There were still splits however, this was because
the Communist Party had become a big threat to Labour - Socialism may not
be enough to fight Fascism.

- Successfully isolated and eventually expelled active members of the

Communist Parties of Great Britain - A lot of moderate Labour Leaders
wanted to detach themselves from Communists, many were expelled. Popular
Front idea was popular in France, Spain and other European countries -
idea that all sections of the Left should unite and fight Fascism. This
was the position of Crips and Bevan, who founded ‘the Socialist League’,
could be compared to Corbynites, much more left wing - they were both
expelled from the Labour Party (/Bevan and Crips later come back in WW2
and are core members of the Labour Governments/)
- Labour entered Churchill’s coalition in 1940 with Attlee as Deputy
Prime Minister - successful comeback as a major part of the Churchill
Government: Bevan was Ministry for Labour, Morrison was Home Secretary
and Labour gained credibility as a patriotic force within the government.
Labour were out of power for most of the 30’s - 1931 onwards, only having
a minority government from 1929 to 1931. There is no election for 10
years, from 1935-1945.
- Could say they failed as they never went into power until 1940, lost
the General Election in 1935 and the weak leadership of George Lansbury -
did not confront Germany and/or take on appeasement.
British Fascism 1930-1939

- Not founded by Oswald Mosley, but by Rotha Lintorn-Orman - small scale,

motivated by Italian Fascists. In 1932, Oswald Mosley founded the BUF
(British Union of Fascists) after leaving the Labour Party in the 1930s -
due to lack of action on unemployment, inspired by Blackshirts in Italy,
not by German Nazis. Like Nazis, they used violence to intimidate
opponents, very anti Communist, anti semetic.
- Had strong support from newspaper owners such as Lord Rothermere, owner
of the Daily Mail - famous headline of ‘Hurrah for the Blackshirts’,
(/Daily Mail supported Blackshirts due to their right wingness -
attracted to Mosley for his colourful figure, ex cabinet figure. William
Joyce was involved, later being called Lord Haw-Haw, British Olympia
speech led to Daily Mail retracting support, behaving like German SA.
Part of the battle of Cable Street, march in place by BUF, march was
stopped and abandoned at Hyde Park - opposition to Mosley. Mosley also
didn’t contest 1935 Election (BUF never had MPs). In 1936, Public Order
Act was passed, placing restrictions upon the BUF and other extremist
groups. Economy started to improve after 1934, many lost faith in the
Fascists and Communists. When the war broke out, Mosley was detained in
the Isle of Man.
Communist Party of Britain 1930-1939

- British Communist Party was formed in 1920 and was inspired by the
Bolsheviks however the Labour Party distanced itself from communism
(/Labour Politicians wanted to distance as Conservatives would use the
threat of Communism against the Labour Party due to their similar
socialist ideologies/). Communism was popular in certain parts of the UK,
amongst the working class and dockers, in particular in Glasgow - Red
Clydeside, (/support for Communism as they had a big industrial,
shipbuilding working class - prolateriat, Scotland being closely linked
with socialism, Macdonald, Hardy etc/). It reached its peak in 1926 with
70,000 members but it wasn’t strong enough to launch a revolution
throughout Britain - No communist MPs after 1926 and also failed to push
the General Strike into success.

- After 1926, they made a comeback, improving their popularity in

unemployment marches in 1929, organising in Manchester and other cities,
a National Unemployed Workers Movement. They tried to infiltrate groups
to control them - encouraged by the Comintern. They involved themselves
in the Jarrow March, march of unemployed workers from Newcastle - marched
south through Manchester and down towards London. There was a lot of
violence on the way down, with fascists, Communists provided soup
kitchens, failed however as National Government did not take too much
notice.

- Communist Party took part in the famous Cable Street Riots of 1936,
attacked by Mosley and his Mosleyites. Many communists left Britain to
fight in the Spanish Civil War against Franco. The Communist loss
(Unified Left) undermined the Communist movement
Liberal Party 1930-1939

- In 1931, Great Betrayal by Macdonald, most Liberals joined Macdonald in

forming a national government. Lord John Simon became Foreign Secretary
in 1931, dealing with the Manchurian Crisis and Simon got a lot of
criticism for this, due to lack of reaction and allowed Japanese to rule
it as a puppet state.
- All Liberals go with the National Government but party splits. The more
protectionism Liberals, the Simonites were for protecting the Empire,
believed that trade and economy needed to be protected - like Joe
Chamberlain in 1903, 35 seats. Other hand was a group called the
Samuelites, named after Herbert Samuel. He was a more radical Liberal,
and these liberals supported free trade with no import tax which lasts
throughout the 1930s.
- Some Liberals were not in the National Government, called Lloyd George
Liberals. Made up of DLG, his daughter and brother - they steered clear
of the National Government (/DLG was in the wilderness because he is seen
as a burnt out politician, still considered a threat to the
Conservatives/)
- Samuelites left the government due to the Inter War Duties Act of 1932,
whilst the Simonites remained until 1939. Lloyd George’s faction remained
a rump group until 1939.
Conservative Party 1930-1939

1) Macdonald creates National Government in 1931:

- Few months later, Macdonald calls a General Election, always had to

happen because the National Government did not have a mandate
(/Legitimacy in authority to pass particular policies/) this was called
the Doctor’s mandate because it was a nickname of this election being
‘harsh medicine’ and that it would be made to legitimise the cuts. This
election is a disaster for Labour, biggest defeat in the 20th century
with Labour only winning 52 seats and Conservatives winning 473 seats. As
a result of this, Macdonald National Government carries on from 1931-
1935, dominated by Conservatives, Macdonald is seen as a puppet and
Baldwin was de facto Prime minister, Chamberlain also becoming Chancellor
of the Exchequer. Economy starts to pick up in 1934, signs that
Chamberlain was a successful Chancellor. Britain also came off the Gold
Standard in 1931, which helped the government as it allowed flexibility
of the currency and interest rates could lower (/Gold Standard had fixed
interest rates - high interest rates can be damaging to people’s
finances/).
- In 1935, Macdonald resigns and the new Prime Minister is Stanley
Baldwin, allowing Conservatives to take over, Conservatives winning 432
seats compared to Labour’s 154 seats (/recovered due to new leader George
Lansbury and Attlee who became new leader, more united party than in
1931, policies had started to unite over Nationalisation and social
agendas/) Baldwin is PM from 1935-1937
- 1936 - Abdication Crisis after the death of George V and Edward VIII
was crowned King, he wanted to marry a woman called Wallace Simpson, an
American divorcee, this was deemed to be unacceptable. In 1936, Baldwin
took a moral stance, argued that Edward should not become King and
created a massive debate. There were political reasons, some historians
thinking it was due to his links with the Far Right in Germany. (/Edward
would have encouraged appeasement/) King Edward VIII abdicates in 1937.
Churchill’s role, sides with King Edward due to constitutional roles.
- In 1937, Baldwin resigns and is replaced by Neville Chamberlain - no
election with Chamberlain taking over from 1937-1939. (/National Tag was
a way of providing cover for the Conservatives/) Some Historians feel
that there was a vacuum of action in the economy - different to America
and Germany.
2nd Labour Government 1929-1931

- This was a minority government once again but this time, Labour were
the largest party- 288 to 260, however they were reliant on Liberals, who
had 59 seats (/Liberals were now a united party but throughout the 1930s
they split/)
- This time Macdonald did not combine Foreign Office with position of PM,
which he had done in 1924, Foreign Office went to Arthur Henderson (A
rival to Macdonald). According to Norman Lowe - ‘The cabinet was solidly
moderate again’, not as many radicals in Macdonald cabinet (/made up of
centre right members, example of James Maxton, who was a rival to
Macdonald who was still involved with the ILP, therefore he wasn’t
included. Only real radicals included James Wheatley, who had previously
made Wheatley’s Act./) Snowden is made Chancellor, controlled the
alternatives of economics, J.R. Thomas was made Colonial Secretary with a
sprinkling of former Liberals.
- It contained one left winger George Lansbury, a future leader of the
Labour Party (1931-1935, similar to Jeremy Corbin) in a minor role ,
Clement Atlee, a very successful future leader, Herbert Morrison - all
council leaders in London and even contained Margaret Bondfield - the
first ever female cabinet minister as Minister of Labour and also had
Oswald Mosley as Chief Secretary to the Secretary, Number 2 to Phillip
Snowden, after his switch from the Conservatives

Labour passed a limited number of Social Reforms between 1929-1931:

- Greenwood’s Act of 1930 - named after Arthur Greenwood, the Minister of

Health (/Housing reforms came from Minister of Health as housing at the
time was part of local government affairs, linked to poverty and
disease/) - gave a government subsidy for council house building and
organised the speeding up of slum clearances, although it was suspended
during the financial crisis between 1931-1934, but then the National
Government re-established it from 1934-1939.
- Coalmines Act of 1930 - Reduced Miners working day from 8 1/2 hours to
an 8 hour day - also attempted to reform Trade Disputes Act of 1927 (made
Union memberships more difficult and also ban general strikes - passed by
Baldwin but was controversial as it was seen as vindictive punishment for
the General Strike) however it was blocked by Liberals (/ Liberal’s did
not support this because Liberal MPs were influenced by business and did
not want strikes/) and Conservatives.

# How did the economic crisis bring down the Labour Government in 1931?

Effect of the Wall Street Crash in USA, 1929:

was a cycle of the Americans having to call in their loans from Austria
and Germany and also the World Trade Crisis between 1929-1931. It all
began in Austria when an Austrian bank collapsed, which had a knock on
effect to German banks which causes a run on the pound. Currency crisis
where speculators go after different currencies. There is a banking
crisis in 1931, which causes the value of the Pound to fall
significantly, government trying to shore up the pound. Gold Standard
made it harder as Britain could not devalue the pound as Gold Standard
was a fixed exchange rate - only way was to cut public spending and
wages. This was made worse by unemployment in Britain was rising, up to
2.5 million by 1930 due to lack of demand for goods. Unemployment
benefits had gone up in the 1920’s which put a massive strain on public
finances.

# Alternatives to deal with Crisis:

1) The Mosley Memorandum 1930 - he advocates more Keynesianism, that
Labour should start to use the public purse to invest in roads,
infrastructure etc. Rubbished by Snowden in the 1930 conference and
pushes Mosley to resign and forms his own party called ‘The New Party’.

2) DLG - ‘We can Conquer Unemployment?’ and the Yellow Book, he is

influenced by the need to increase public spending down

3) The Treasury View instigated by Phillip Snowden, sets up the May

Commission which makes a number of recommendations that there should be
large cuts in public sector pay - mostly 10% and a 20% cut in
unemployment benefits. This is very devisive in Labour, they do not
accept this and many are opposed to these recommendations as Labour was
committed to the working class, many who would have been on unemployment
benefits.

4) ‘Bankers Ramp’ - viewed by some on the left, thought it was a

conspiracy of Capitalism to bring down the Labour Government (/No
International Monetary Fund, which loans money to governments in
difficulty, money would have to be raised by private companies such as
J.P. Morgan/) J.P. Morgan was prepared to put up cash to shore up the
pound only if there was a 10%, not 20% reduction of unemployment benefit.

This created a Banking Crisis which put Labour into a difficult position
where they could not get out of this crisis.
First Labour Government (January 1924-October 1924)

***How was Labour able to take office?***

***1) Labour recovery 1918 -1922:***

They did very badly in the coupon election of 1918, Macdonald, Henderson
and Snowden all lost their seats. Their recovery was due to losing these
seats - because Henderson and Macdonald were not in Parliament, they
instead reformed the party. These reforms are still with us today.
Firstly they created a National Executive Committee, the organisational
committee of the party and is a federal organisation made up of many
groups - a trade union section, a women’s section, a parliamentary
section etc - this was good for Labour as it introduced a national
structure to the party and also introduced discipline to the party, to go
against party divisions. Sydney and Beatrice Webb created the Party
Constitution of 1919 which is important for its 4th Clause - which
committed the Labour Party to common ownership of the means of
production, also known as Nationalisation. The state would nationalise
the commanding heights of the economy, this idea was that if they were
nationalised, their wealth could be used to redistribute throughout the
country. The coal industry was an example of one of these. Some
historians believe this was never going to happen and that Labour was
only making these promises to attract working-class votes as they didn’t
do anything in 1924 towards Nationalisation.

***2) Macdonald became Party Leader in 1922:***

He had been Labour Leader beforehand since 1910, however, he resigned in

1914 and lost his seat in 1918 however is back in 1922. In 1922 he
replaced two lesser-known leaders William Adamson who was leader from
1917-1921 and J.R. Clynes from 1921-1922.

**3) Baldwin’s disastrous Government protectionist election of November

1923:**

Labour did well in 1923, becoming the second-biggest party, winning 191
seats and challenging the Liberals to become the natural party
opposition, Macdonald had always wanted to push out the Liberals, in 1923
they went into government yet the Conservatives had by far the largest
number of seats, had an overall majority of 75. However, Baldwin thought
that a Labour minority government supported by Liberals would be weak and
indecisive and he himself was divided over reintroducing protectionism.
Baldwin didn’t take power but realised that the Conservatives would not
have been able to implement any reform and Labour and Liberals would have
joined together and slowed down any reform. He let Labour take power,
creating a Labour minority government to take power in January 1924

***Events of the First Labour Government:***

1) Moderate nature of the government - Was not filled with left wing MPs,
most of the key players being moderate Labour:

- Philip Snowden - Specialised in finance and economics, on the right of

Labour, very conservative over spending, described by historians as a
‘Victorian Liberal’.
- J.R. Thomas - Trade Union leader, also a pro MacDonald right-wing
element.
- Arthur Henderson - Previous Labour leader after McDonald’s WW1
resignation
- Sydney Webb - Fabian, more Liberal wing of Labour
- Christopher Addison - Former Liberal, involved in number of reforms.
- Wedgwood Ben - Liberal to Labour

It also antagonised the left and had little support from the trade unions
- Docker’s Strike in 1924 and MacDonald actually deployed troops into
Liverpool and Glasgow, led to a state of emergency, this was unusual as
Trade Unions were still heavy backers, was very unsocialist and showed
Macdonald to be a right wing Labour leader. However there was a more
socialist drift due to:

- Wheatley’s act - Encouragement of building more Council houses, more

practical side of the government.
- Increased Old Age Pensions and Unemployment benefits at a time when
there was rising unemployment and a slump

Government was also criticised over Arcon Affair - was the lifting of the
trade embargo on Soviet Trade after Russian Civil War. Macdonald also
wrote off debt that Bolsheviks had against Britain and this was
controversial because this was at the height of the Red Scare:

1) Campbell Case - Campbell was the editor of a socialist newspaper that

published an article that British troops should mutiny if they were
encouraged to put down a working class revolt. Campbell was tried for
sedition, potentially coordinating actions with the Comintern and
coordinating with Zinoviev. This is important as it lead to a Cabinet
meeting in which Macdonald stopped Campbell from going to prison - which
lead to the Liberals withdrawing their support from Labour - which lead
to a vote of No Confidence in the Labour government, which they lost.

2) Zinoviev Letter - found in a paper bin of the Foreign Office, alleged

letter from Zinoviev, calling for Labour themselves to rise up against
the establishment and take power - most believe that the Daily Mail was
behind it, potential spy who planted it and was seen as a genuine letter.
Some historians believe this had a disastrous effect on Labour, as it
would associate Labour with Communism, at a time of Communist fear.

Conservatives achieved a massive majority:

- Conservatives - 419 seats

- Labour - 151 seats
- Liberals - 40 seats
Conservative Government 1924-1929

The 1924 Conservative government had a very large majority over the other
parties using 419 seats compared to 151 for Labour and 40 for the
Liberals. It was headed by Stanley Baldwin for his second stint as PM.
Baldwin was by nature a moderate and a fairly liberal Conservative who
was however also a populist and like Lord Salisbury, he was a good party
manager.

Baldwin’s cabinet was made up of a variety of talented politicians, for

instance, Austen Chamberlain Foreign Secretary who negotiated both the
1925 Locarno Treaty and The Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1927 and was awarded
the Nobel Peace Prize and also Winston Churchill was brought back into
this government as Chancellor of the Exchequer despite criticisms of his
confidence (like Disraeli) and Churchill made a mistake in returning
Britain to the Gold Standard in 1925.

Baldwin was also amiable and well respected and also opposed to the idea
of class war and his approach when dealing with Labour relations and
trade unions was well respected. During the miners’ strike of 1925-26, he
did develop an even-handed approach by allowing a subsidy on Red Friday,
but also toughness in refusing to negotiate with the strikers during the
general strike accusing them of ‘trying to challenge the constitution
allowing Churchill to manipulate the BBC leading to the strike being
called off however some historians have criticised Baldwin for weakness
in preventing the Trade Disputes Act of 1927 which replaced restrictions
on strikes - e.g. banning all future general strikes.

The Baldwin government was also able to develop a more Liberal agenda in
1924-1929 creating the BBC and Central Electricity Board in 1926, these
were public corporations, the first to be used in Britain and a step in
the direction of nationalised industries.

Baldwin gave Neville Chamberlain the position of Minister for Health and
Housing. Neville Chamberlain was the younger son of Joseph Chamberlain
and half-brother of Foreign Secretary Austen Chamberlain, who had also
been the mayor of Birmingham. Chamberlain brought in a series of reforms
in unemployment insurance, housing and local government, eventually
abolishing the Poor Law in 1929 and establishing Neville Chamberlain with
a reputation for component administrative reform. Baldwin’s government
also passed the Equal Franchise Act of 1928 which gave women equality in
voting for the first time (21 and above) - the so-called Flapper vote.

Criticism however has been levelled at the Baldwin government for its
lacklustre performance in the 1929 General Election. Baldwin decided upon
his ‘Safety First’ campaign, hoping that the bitterness caused by the
general strike had dimmed and underlined the government’s record on
health and housing. The Wall Street Crash in the USA had not occurred yet
however there had been a slump in Britain since the early 1920s, with
rising unemployment and pressures upon national spending. The historian
Robert Skidelsky criticised Baldwin for his “economic Conservatism” in
1929 and his refusal to consider radical Keynesian strategies for
controlling the problems of rising unemployment and the slump. Also,
Keynesian views were being supported by a number of Radical politicians -
David Lloyd George, leader of the Liberal Party, after Asquith’s death in
1926, wrote a pamphlet sometimes called the Yellow Book - officially
titled ‘We can conquer unemployment” - David Lloyd George argued that it
was now necessary for the government to stimulate demand by using public
spending on projects such as road building and other infrastructure
projects.
Also Oswald Mosley was a rising star of the Labour Party at the time as
Chief Secretary to the Treasury. Mosley was also advocating Keynesian
views for increased public spending on public works to stimulate the
economy however his views were rejected by the Shadow Chancellor, Phillip
Snowden and Labour Leader Ramsay Macdonald. Therefore Skidelsky argues
that the 1929 General Election was fought between the main rivals,
Conservatives and Labour, who were both dominated by economic
Conservatives, rejecting the ideas of Keynesianism.

The Conservatives under Baldwin managed to lose the 1929 General

Election, with Labour managing to become the largest party for the first
time with 288 seats, Conservatives 260 seats and the Liberals 59 seats.
Conservative Government November 1922 - 1923

The Conservatives won a decisive victory in November 1922, winning 345

seats and a majority of 75 over all other parties combined. They were led
by Andrew Bonar Law. It was a disaster for the Liberals who fought the
election in two separate groups - the Asquithian Liberals won 62 seats
and the Lloyd George Liberals won 54 seats, a combined Liberal total of
116 seats was well behind Labour’s 142 seats and “It was clear that
Labour had emerged as the main opposition party to the Conservatives”
according to Norman Lowe.

However the new Conservative Government did not last long after Bonar-
Law’s resignation due to ill health in May 1923 (throat cancer) - Stanley
Baldwin became Prime Minister, Baldwin had famously resigned during the
Carlton Club revolt and Bonar-Law had surprisingly made Baldwin
Chancellor of the Exchequer. However, after only a few months in office,
he decided a General Election was necessary and like in 1846 and 1903, it
was Protectionism and Tariff Reform that was the issue. Baldwin, like
Joseph Chamberlain before, argued that Tariff’s must be introduced as
after an initial post-war boom, the post-war economy was faltering and
unemployment was rising rapidly as a slump set in Bonar-Law had
previously ruled out tariffs but Baldwin felt he had to give voters a
chance to express their views on Protectionism. Lord Beaverbrook, who was
now a very successful owner of the Daily Express, wanted to campaign to
introduce tariffs.

Many Conservatives however felt this was a totally unnecessary exercise

and Lord Curzon called it an “idiotic decision”. Baldwin’s argument was
that tariffs would make foreign goods more expensive in Britain and give
a much-needed boost to industry and drastically decreased unemployment.
The two sections of the Liberals reunited under Asquith’s leadership and
campaigned for free trade - the traditional Liberalism policy. Together
with Labour, they argued that continuing free trade would keep down the
cost of living for workers, the results being Conservatives 258 seats,
Labour 191 seats and the Liberals 159 seats - Conservatives losing their
majority and a clear defeat for Protectionism and according to Norman
Lowe - “a further confirmation that Labour had replaced the Liberals as
the alternative party to the Conservatives”.