Britain 1929-39 POLITICS Why did the Conservatives lose the election of 1929? Positive achievements undertaken by Baldwin’s Conservative government: The Local Government Act 1929 Amended system of Poor law, Board of Guardians and Workhouses,

The Local Government Act 1929 • This abolished the Poor Law • Handed all workhouses over to county /county borough councils • Public Assistance Committees-responsible for poor (PAC’s) • Grants from Government towards costs • All farms and 25% factories exempt from paying rates

The Unemployment Insurance Act 1927 • The conservatives were accepting the principle of long term maintenance by the state • Workers contributions were increased and their benefits decreased • Benefit would now be received for an unlimited period-providing the unemployed person could show they

were genuinely seeking work • The extra benefit over and above the ‘covenanted’ benefit was now known as the ‘transitional benefit’

Equal Franchise Act 1928 • Granted the vote to women on the same terms as men ie; all citizens over the age of 21

CEB Established 1926 Central Electricity board- encouraged the building of a large number of privately owned power stations and set up an effective power grid to distribute current over the whole of the country-> efficiency of electricity industry greatly increased. BBC British Broadcasting Company taken into public ownership becomes a Corporation

Election Campaigns for 1929 Election Conservative Party- Conservative Party- ‘Safety First’ -Stanley Baldwin was the pipe-smoking safe choice, backed by the vast majority of newspapers, businesses, middle-class and significant parts of the working-class. Assumption was Conservatives did not have to win elections but to avoid losing them because of strong support base and, to a lesser extent, weaknesses of other parties. ‘Safety first’ an attack on the radical ideas of LG-not able to deliver them- Baldwin described as ‘the man you could trust’

Labour Party Labour Party- popularity had increased, the ‘age of socialism’. Although disadvantages:

o Identified with one class only-the industrial workers and hence with o revolutionary communism – as the enemy of the nation o By 1929 was becoming respectable

The impact of The General Strike 1926 and the Trade Union Disputes Act 1927 This was the first ever general strike and there was not much support for it from the general public. Many ordinary people sympathised but did little to help. Those who did become involved tended to be on the Governments side. Ex-officers from the armed services became special constables, while university students became bus and train drivers. It was a bit of a lark for these ‘bright young things’ The aim and behaviour of the strikers were peaceful and responsible.

‘The voluntary recruitment of the First World War and of the strike of 1926 were acts of spontaneous generosity, without parallel in any other country....The strikers asked nothing for themselves. They did not seek to challenge the government still less to overthrow the constitution. They merely wanted the miners to have a living wage.’ AJP Taylor, English History 1914-45, 1965 Given the Government’s readiness, the TUC’s reluctance and the general public’s indifference, the strike stood no chance of success. There were violent clashes here and there between the police and strikers but few unions were willing to support the miners in a fight to the finish. On 12th May after 10 days the TUC called off the strike without winning any concessions from the employers or the Government. The miners themselves carried on for another 7 months, before they too, gave in unconditionally. Impact of the strike Working class disillusionment with the TUC for betrayal of miners TUC abandonment of idea of gen strike No solution to the problems of the coal industry with no modernisation – just slow decline exports falling slowly The Trade Disputes Act May 1927 Aim- to make another General Strike impossible; Outlawed general and sympathetic strikes Restricted strike action to specific disputes Forbade trade union funds being used for political purposes unless the individual member chose to contribute by ‘contracting in’- 25% reduction in Labour Party income

• Bitterly resented by the unions –not necessary as the TUC had had enough of Gen Strikes • Working classes realised that parliamentary action offered best chance of achieving aims • 1927- Labour made extensive gains in local elections Gen Elections 1929 seats up from 151 to 288 • Employers warned did not make drastic wage reductions like the mine owners

Membership in millions of unions

date

8.3 1920 5.5 1926 4.9 1927 4.4 1938 6 1938

exports 1913 73 mill

tonnes 1929 60 1932 39

Liberal Party Liberal Party – in long terminal decline. D L George, finally undisputed leader of the Liberal Party after Asquith resigned in 1926 following a stroke, popular, but this only served to hide long term shift to Labour. Had reinvigorated Liberal Party with a personal donation to the party funds of £400,000 and also new ideas in consultation with the radical economic thinkers of the time. The idea was to work out a radical but non-socialist strategy for the next election. The result was the 1929 programme ‘We can conquer Unemployment’ to face the major problem facing Britain – The ‘intractable million’. A carefully costed scheme of public works was put forward to be paid for initially by loans. Roads, bridges and houses were to be built, telephones installed and land reclaimed. 600,000 men were to be taken off the dole and employed for 2 years at a cost of £250 million. This went against many of the accepted financial principles of the time (balancing budgets, cutting costs). Could prosperity be secured at no real extra cost and without raising taxes? Could Lloyd George be trusted? –Broken promises of 1918-reconstruction a failure homes for heroes -> homes only heroes would live in

Election Results for 1929 Election Oct 1924 Election : 1924-29 Conservative Government Stanley Baldwin

seats vote Vote in millions

Cons 419 48.3% 8.04 Labour 151 33.0% 5.49 Liberals 40 17.6% 2.92

turnout 76% of 22 milllion May 1929 Election : 1929-31 Labour Government Ramsay MacDonald

seats vote Vote in millions

Cons 260 38.2% 8.65 Labour 288 37.1% 8.39 Liberals 29 23.4% 5.31

Turnout 77% of 29 million LG had dominated the election. His policies had offered the electorate a real choice between radical new

economic ideas and ‘more of the same’ cuts and retrenchment. The outstanding problem was unemployment and ‘Safety first’ was not going to help. However, the long term decline of the liberals was also a factor. The Liberals substantially increased their vote but lost 11 seats. Tories had won slightly more votes although also had fewer seats. Why conservatives dominant in this period? • Benefitted from first past the post system • Plural voting –business owners, university students could vote twice – both categories likely to be ‘Tory voters’ • Seems likely that the Conservatives secured the largest share of the female vote in the interwar years plus

having female volunteers and fund raisers. Local branches of Conservative associations had >1 million female members by 1930.

• Wealthy supporters – more publicity material • Support of press

The Second Labour Government MacDonald now had the opportunity to form a second minority government. Minority government indicated inability to push through radical reforms. (1935 election -last one in Britain in which the winning party polled more that 50% of the vote-all governments since then have been minority governments in terms of popular will although not in terms of seats ) PM: Ramsay MacDonald Cabinet: mainly right-wing and moderate. Snowden in Exchequer. Innovation with Margaret Bondfield Minister of Labour +ves

• Further experience • Further opportunity to prove capable of government • Gain voters by doing so

-ves • (Several figures on the left had urged Labour not to form a government as a minority government not

sufficiently strong to introduce socialism.) Optimistic and confident RMcD described himself as ‘tenant with a lease’ instead of ‘squatter in constant danger of eviction’ as in 1924 First job –to tackle unemployment and international friction

International friction– MacDonald dealt with naval rivalry to improve Anglo-American relations

• Naval conference in London- Tri-nation Agreement Naval tonnage ratios USA:BR:JP 5:5:3 Arthur Henderson dealt with Europe

• Relationship with Soviet Union resumed (1924 Zinoviev letter) • Young Plan – new reparations deal with Germany • 1930- last of allied troops occupying the Rhineland to be removed 5 yrs earlier than planned

Committed to Indian independence Mohatma Ghandi’s ‘salt protest’-250 mile march- resulted in him being put in prison- an embarrassment- Ghandi released from prison arrived at London Conference (Nov 1930)for negotiations. Labour Government prepared to accept that lasting settlement would have to be on India’s terms and India would have to be granted its freedom. Fall of government prevented this in 1930-31

Domestic achievements Coal Mines Act 1930-

• reduced working day from 8hrs to 7 ½ hrs • Employers entitled to fix minimum wages and production quotas • A commission set up to examine how unprofitable mines could be phased out with least damage to miner’s

livelihoods Agricultural Marketing Act 1931

• Boards of food producers set up –powers to fix prices and arrange supplies more efficiently Housing Act 1930-introduced by John Greenwood the minister for Health

• Reintroduced government subsidies for council housing • Greater powers to local authorities to enforce slum clearance • More slums cleared between 1934-9 than in whole of previous half century

Education Bill 1930-rejected by lords (to raise leaving age from 14 to 15) because of debate over faith schools parental contributions London Transport Bill 1931 –introduced by Herbert Morrison- became law 1933.

• Created public corporation responsible for providing cheap and efficient bus and underground service for the population of London

Failed to reverse Trade Disputes Act- no support from Liberals

Financial and political crisis of 1931 The Wall Street Crash and the Great Depression Oct 1929 led to financial and political crisis of 1931 Unemployment rose from 1 million June 1929 to 2.5 million in Dec 1930 Earnings fell and balance of payments went into deficit in 1931. Unemployment benefits increased as unemployment reached a new high( 1928 cost £12 million- 1931 £125 million), tax revenues decreased as employment and production ↓->the government ran out of money. The search for alternatives to traditional economic approach RMacD appointed a small team to tackle unemployment including J.H.Thomas, George Lansbury and Sir Oswald Mosley. Mosley was frustrated at the pace of this team and came up with his own proposals borrowing ideas from Keynes, Lloyd George and Conservative protectionists.

• Tarrifs to protect against imports • Credit for public works to promote expansion • More Government intervention in industry to promote rationalisation and efficiency • Increased pensions and benefits to boost public consumption and promote early retirement

Moseley Memorandum –rejected in May 1930 by Cabinet. Mosley resigned from government and took it straight to the Labour Party annual Conference in Oct. Defeated after powerful speech and standing ovation. RMacD also gave brilliant speech asking for party loyalty to the vision of Socialism Mosley expelled from the party in Feb 1931 and went on to from the British Union of Fascists in 1932 RMacD commissioned reports, one by a special committee led by Sir George May in Feb 1931 to find a way out of the financial crisis. Reporting on July 31 1931 the May Report (which Keynes called "the most foolish document I have ever had the misfortune to read") had no other suggestions other than to cut expenditure (cuts in pay for teachers, civil servants and the army plus a 10% reduction in unemployment benefit was 20% cut initially-many in the cabinet believed that this would destroy the principle for which the Labour party had come to power-to protect the working class) brought the attention of the world's bankers to the possibility of a deficit in Britain.

• Ramsay MacDonald told his colleagues that there was no alternative to making the cuts as international bankers were unwilling to make further loans to Britain unless its expenditure was cut. RMacD argued the bankers had offered the Government ’the most valuable help’ and it was the desperate financial circumstances that had created the need to reduce welfare expenditure-not malicious design. Britain could not cope without an international loan ‘Otherwise Sterling would have collapsed. There would have been a run on the banks and then on the Post Office’

• many in the cabinet believed that this would destroy the principle for which the Labour party had come to power-to protect the working class and believed the bankers were holding the Government to ransom

• Phillip Snowden (chancellor) believed in balanced budgets, free trade keeping to the gold standard- high interest rates to encourage investment in sterling, exports expensive, investment in capital is expensive, gold reserves used to maintain sterling at artificially high level set by Churchill in 1925 $4.86)

Snowden pushes for the implementation of retrenchment as per the May Report. Negotiations were long. Put to vote in cabinet 10 out of 21 voted against it – untenable. Cabinet split led to RMacD declaring his intention of resigning on behalf of himself and his Cabinet

RMacD held discussions with Herbert Samuel-Liberals and Stanley Baldwin -Conservatives and went formally to see King George V. Sir Herbert Samuel suggested a National Government to the King and on August 24th MacDonald agreed: the Cabinet resigned on August 26th.

The National Government –formed 24th August 1931 :CRISIS Government RMacD expelled from the

Labour Party Formed as a temporary expedient. It was called into existence in response to the extreme national emergency the state of the national finances had created. Its aim was to implement the necessary cuts (that a large number of Labour Cabinet ministers would not do) to balance the budget and to ‘save the pound’ Almost the entire Labour Party refused to support MacDonald in the National Government and moved into opposition under Henderson. They viewed the bankers as holding the Labour Government to ransom.

• For both historians and political activists at the time the 1931 election was the moment when Labour fell victim to the world bankers and was betrayed by MacDonald (The Lucifer of the Left) who allowed the National Government to use Red Scare tactics to reduce the Party to a rump at the General Election.

• The case could just as easily be made that the Labour Government faced a desperate position with the

Slump and failed to take the imaginative measures needed to find solution: it relied instead on the half measures and orthodoxy of previous governments and failed, a victim of its own shortcomings as much as of some political manoeuvres.

Domestic Measures George V persuaded RMacD to form a coalition and put ‘Country before Party’ Ramsay MacDonald, Snowden and JH Thomas and Lord Sankey stayed.

• Snowden made economies of £70 million in government expenditure, including 10% unemployment benefit cut

• Increased taxation std rate 22.5%->25% These measures balanced the budget and allowed Britain to secure a foreign loan

But nevertheless, still forced to come off the gold standard 17th September1931. ‘Invergordon Mutiny’ 15th September British sailors in the fleet off the coast of Scotland refused to obey orders in protest to 10% pay cut that had been imposed (generals only suffered 7% cut)-news of this abroad produced a flight from sterling.

• Gold reserves of the bank of England became seriously depleted. • Abandoned gold standard on recommendation of Montagu Norman, Governor of the Bank of England • Expectations –dire consequences of rapid inflation • This did not happen even though £ devalued from $4.86 to $3.40-benefitted exports as valuation was

realistic. Now aims had been realised or made impossible the Conservatives put pressure on RMacD to call an election. RMacD had been expelled from the Labour Party on the announcement of the formation of the National Government and had nowhere else to turn. He called an election for 27th October 1931

Election ; 27th October 1931 Election campaign- the National Government simply asked for a vote of confidence a ‘doctor’s mandate’. Snowden turned on his former colleagues and criticised their programme as ‘Bolshevism run mad’. The campaign ran in an atmosphere of jingoistic panic. Labour was now a divided party and its opponents were united in the National Government: the once great Liberal Party had weakened itself again by splitting and was in reality, if not in name, a supporter of the Conservative Party. This simple alignment explains the dominance of the Conservative Party over the electoral politics of the next decade. The 1931 election returned 471 Conservatives, 35 National Liberal, 33 Samuelite Liberals, 4 Lloyd George Liberals, 12 National Labour against 52 Labour(leader Henderson) - 215 Labour MP's lost their seats! Oswald Moseley’s New Party contested 24 seats but lost them.

National Government under Ramsay MacDonald Oct 1931-35 Greatest electoral landslide of the century.

Oct 1931 Election : 1931-35 National Government Ramsay MacDonald seats vote Coalition incl. conservatives

554 -90% 473

67% 55.2%

Labour 52 30.6% Elected in answer to what was regarded as a national emergency. It was not expected to last (as LG’s previous coalition had not lasted 1918-22). In fact it ran almost full term and then fought the 1935 election as a united government. It did change though –became increasingly conservative dominated especially after MacDonald’s retirement due to ill health June 1935- remained in government until 1937-died. Cabinet Aug 1931: 4 Labour, 4 Tories, 2 Liberals: Oct 31 11 Tories, 9 others: 1935 15 Tories, 7 others

• National Labour– • diminished in National Government -Snowden elevated to Lords replaced by Neville Chamberlain (Tory) in

Oct as Chancellor • Ramsay MacDonald played an important and constructive part in foreign affairs –Lausanne conference 32

reparations abandoned, followed by war debts • Then suffered progressively from poor health -32 glaucoma op insomnia. Always imprecise became rambling • 1935 removed from premiership Baldwin replaced him still in cabinet as Lord President of the Council • Retired from government 1937 year of his death • National Liberals • Split between Simonites; Sir John Simon-leader of 35 Liberals even abandoned free trade in siding with the

conservatives. • Herbert Samuel leader of 33 Liberals :Samuelites-supported government but more reservedly –still

supported free trade. Later split became clearer, by 1933 they had resigned with Snowden over free trade and crossed the floor in the commons to sit with the opposition

• Conservatives • Baldwin’s position very dominant after 1931. Turnabout from 1929 where Baldwin’s failed campaign left him

as a political liability • Moderate – aims national not party • Critics on right –‘ideas were half way to socialism’-but, prior to Nat. Government had defeated Lord

Beaverbrook, press Baron, and his campaign for semi-protectionism in ‘empire free trade’. Tariffs for countries outside the empire. Baldwin criticised this as ‘power without responsibility-the prerogative of harlots throughout the ages’

National Government Policies 1931-35 The Economy and unemployment

• Expenditure cuts prior to election • Leaving the gold standard-forced on it but advantageous so deliberate action to keep value of the pound

down • Low interest rates 1931 6% lowered to 2% 1932 stayed until 1939. Result –encourages private investment • Protectionism. Most energy and hope into this policy. Unimaginative and largely ineffectual

Import Duties Bill –imposed 10% general duty an all goods entering the country. (Goods from the Empire were exempt). Bill was passed pending outcome of Ottawa conference July/Aug 1932. Outcome was in fact 12 separate agreements between Britain and Dominions and between the Dominions themselves. No ‘Empire free trade’ nor abolition of tariffs on British goods in the Dominions, but an increase of tariffs against other foreign goods in the Dominions. => some measure of preference to British goods within the empire but overall outcome of the policy was to have little positive impact. Special Areas Act 1935 made £2 million available to the depressed areas of the country. 44,000 workers were encourages to move to other towns and 30,000 men were found places on retraining courses. The two commissioners responsible for implementing the legislation resigned Special Areas Act 1936 offered firms/factories remission of rates, rents and taxes of up to 100% for five years , but little success was achieved. Unemployment Act 1934 regularised the complex system of unemployment benefits. Insurance benefits to apply for a maximum of 26 weeks. Those who remained unemployed after this time and who claimed the dole were to receive ‘unemployment assistance’ after having been assessed by the ‘means test’. The ’means test’ applied to the whole household and was assessed by the UAB (Unemployment Assistance Board)- hated by all National Government Housing Acts 1933 and 1935 a development of Greenwood’s measures of 1930 granting increased subsidies to those councils prepared to tackle the problems of slum clearance and overcrowding. By 1936 average weekly rate paid by council house tenants was 11 shillings (55p). There was also a massive increase in the number of private house building. By 1939 1/3rd of the 4 million homes in Britain had been constructed in the 20 years since 1918, many of those in the 30’s. Concomitant increase in the number of Building Societies Impact Cyclical unemployment disappeared but structural unemployment remained. Shipbuilding, coalmining, textiles, iron and steel industries remained depressed in the 1930s as in the 1920s. (Cyclical troughs 1921-2, 1929-33 and 1938)

Conservative and unimaginative solutions to economic disaster View on how to tackle Unemployment :Times 1932 ‘ the right way to deal with unemployment is to stimulate the normal activities of trade and industries’ Chamberlain was in agreement that private enterprise should be stimulated and deficit financing of public works should be avoided. He encouraged people to save not spend –hindering the expansion in the domestic market, although he did agree to restore the cuts in benefits and wages made in 1931 by 1934 and 35

Unemployed August 1931-Jan 1933

2.5 million

July 1933 <2million July 1936 1.6 million

Snowden made economies of £70 million in government expenditure, including 10% unemployment benefit cut Increased taxation std rate 22.5%->25%

Capitalism boomed from mid 1930s, signs of real prosperity for those in work. ALSO

• 2.7 million houses were built in the 1930s –largely without any state subsidy. • The number of cars doubled • Number of radios sold trebled • Holiday camps started up • By 1935 industrial production 11% higher than 1929 • Wages had fallen by 3% BUT cost of living fallen by 13%=> real wages risen. 1924-1935 real wages rose 17%

on average Criticism of Government Tended to come from outside of parliament

• Hunger marches, invariably peaceful. Jarrow most famous march took place in March 1936 by 200 unemployed ship builders from the Tyneside shipyard works, walked from Jarrow to London

• Serious disorder caused by the BUF British Union of Fascists as per The Battle of Cable Street in Oct 1936. BUF declaring their hatred for immigrants, planned a march through the London’s East End home to many Jews and Irish. This was met by barricades and fierce, violent resistance from locals. The BUF never advanced beyond the lunatic fringe in politics, largest membership 50k in 1930s although never came to test in a general election had some success in local politics. Had initial support from the press notably the Daily Mirror and Daily Mail, with the early measures espoused by his party to alleviate unemployment, but this support dwindled once the racism in Moseley’s movement became overt. Likewise with his economic policies he attracted support from politicians like Aneurin Bevan and Harold Macmillan (cons) but the economics was all they agreed with.

• CPGB Communist Party of Great Britain –a minority pressure group. Had quite an influence in pockets of the country , eg Glasgow, but never became a national movement as such. Communists were often behind the strikes and industrial disruptions of the time but they failed to exploit the situation well enough to become a real threat to the political order. All attempts by the Communist Party to affiliate with the Labour party were rejected (applications made in 1924,35,43 and 46). The greatest support for the Communist Party came, not from the workers but from the intellectuals, Auden, spies in Cambridge University recruited by Comintern in the 30’s Burgess, Maclean, Blunt, Philby.

• Recovery of world trades plus the growth in the domestic market helped large parts of the country to experience a substantial increase in affluence post mid 1930s. Although unemployment remained the outstanding domestic political issue it fell from its peak of 2.6 million in 1932 to 1.7 million in 1938

1935 Election • 1935 election result showed that despite in ability to deal with unemployment, the support for the National

Government was largely maintained.

Nov 1935 Election : 1935- seats vote Coalition incl. conservatives

429 387

53.3% 47.8%

Labour 154 38% Liberals 21 6.7%

Consumer goods boom : domestic market replaced losses in exports to some extent-‘mod cons’, makeup, magazines/newspapers, cinema

Britain 1929-39 ECONOMICS Why was Britain in a financial and economic crisis in 1929? Structural unemployment vs cyclical unemployment The affect of WW1 on the economy

• Abandon laissez-faire- the pre war method of running the economy with free trade, the gold standard and balanced budgets was too inefficient for war time

• Coal mines and merchant shipping taken over by state • Strikes and lockouts prohibited • Farmers obliged to cultivate more land • Wages and prices controlled • Food was rationed •

By 1921 Unemployment was at 2 million in Britain. During the inter-war period this never fell below 1 million (10% of the working population) Structural unemployment -some parts of the economy going into slow permanent decline. Long periods of unemployment where people find real difficulty in finding jobs- certain regions can be badly affected

• More efficient foreign industries and cheaper foreign goods eg – Japanese, Indian and Eastern European textiles

• Cheap coal from Germany, Poland and Holland • Demand for coal decreasing as oil, gas and electricity came into wider use • More efficient rival shipyards in the US, Japan, Holland and Scandinavia • Many countries had tariff barriers/ subsidies to protect their home industries • Britain had no tariff barriers, subsidies or modernisation of old and inefficient industries • World Depression began in USA resulted in 70% decrease in world trade. British unemployment reached 3

million 1932-33- 23% of workforce

Staple Industry in decline 1920s-1930s Parts of England and Wales suffered -prolonged depression-especially coalfield areas. The ‘locust years’ especially in Welsh History, but also unemployed areas of England Dec 1933, the worst month of the depression, 208,000(32.3% of the insured working population) out of work in Wales-4x as many as in south-east England 1934 Merthyr Tydfil had 61.9% unemployment-eastern coalfield towns 44.5% 1934 36.8% Brynmawr workers had been out of work for five years- same for coal mining and shipbuilding towns of North East- shops closed in Jarrow and Merthyr -long term unemployed-no custom

Health Rowntree conducted another survey in York – 31% working class families lived in serious poverty Diet and health suffered – infant mortality rates alarming level in Durham 76/1000; Jarrow 114/1000 as per 42/1000 South . Rickets and anaemia became more common in these areas as families could not afford to eat properly. Housing and health deteriorated to an alarming extent Industrial diseases –silicosis, pneumoconiosis Infectious diseases-diphtheria, TB, 1935 14.6% Rhondda children declared undernourished -1937 death rate in the Rhondda 50% higher than national average

Government policies- Little done – thriving communities in 1914 were severely depressed –cataclysmic effect on social and cultural life. 1929 Local Government Act-reduced rates for business + gave central government grant for poor rates , slum clearance, road building- still comparatively high rates in depressed areas Reinvestment – not effective until rearmament brought some demand for coal and steel in the late 30’s and early 40’s Most obvious failures in education – by 1939 hardly any working class children were receiving any ‘advanced’ secondary education –(1918 provision for full-time compulsory education to 14-plus plans to extend it to 16-never happened cuts hit education hard)and health insurance- no provision for workers families to have medical treatment or payments towards hospital or enough hospitals provided by local authorities-not compelled to provide them.

Housing • Wheatley Housing Act 1924- First Labour Government scheme- provided grants of £9 million to local

authorities to build council houses for rent only. Rents were to be at pre-war levels, so that working people could afford them. The scheme ran until 1933, when over ½ million houses had been built under the act.-benefitted better off working class

• The Greenwood Housing Act 1930- Second labour Government scheme- required every local authority to draw up a plan for slum clearance and new houses and provided government subsidies to local authorities to carry out their plans. The National Government suspended the scheme 1931-34, when the slump was at its worst. Restarted again in 1934, by 1939 more than 700,000 council houses had been built to re-house slum dwellers.

• Over 3 million council houses were built by private developers- new houses tended to be far superior to houses they replaced, brighter , more spacious, easier to clean, more bedrooms and better sanitary facilities.

• Between 1918-39 ave. number of people per house reduced from 5.4 to 3.5 • BUT of 4 million houses built only 26,000 had been built to relieve overcrowding/ allow demolition of unfit

property 1936 survey in Birmingham still 39,000 back to back houses and 51,000 without lavatories.

British economic performance 1918-39 1918-20: Post war boom-Investment/demand for goods-high. Industrial production rose 20% in 2 years of end of war. Unemployment –low 1920-22: Brief acute depression. Price of goods ↓ industrial production ↓ unemployment 2 million by June 1921 18% for insured workforce. 1923-29: Years of gradual recovery. No boom (as in US) throughout period 1 million unemployed (10% ) Britain suffered current account deficits (value of goods imported exceeded the value of those exported) ‘invisible exports’(banking and overseas investments profits) prevented overall balance of payments deficit. Industrial production ↑ 3% p.a., productivity (output per worker) also ↑significantly. New industries; chemicals, motor vehicles, electrical engineering also did well. 1929-32: The Great Depression. Britain didn’t do so badly compared to rivals – no banking collapse. Prices of goods fell ; value of exports almost halved, causing bal of payments deficit, unemployment ↑. 1931-2 almost 3 million people out of work (22%) Many people thought the whole capitalist system was breaking down. 1932-39: Economic Recovery. Unemployment dipped in the final months of 1932, thereafter recovery slow but sure –except for 1937-38 short-lived recession. But by 1939 still 1.5 million unemployed –although production totals significantly exceeded those of 1929. Why? 1930s annual growth rate of at least 2%-3%. Exports not reached pre-war levels but significant expansion in domestic markets: new consumer goods including electrical goods, cars and housing boom. >0.5 million cars built in 1937 and in the whole of the decade 2.7 million houses were built. New ‘service’ industries such as retailing, insurance, advertising and entertainment also grew rapidly. At the end of the decade rearmament programmes also boosted the economy.

Impact of Unemployment Unemployment scarred the economy during the inter war period – personal blight on families 2 unemployed men committed suicide every day in the 1930s Cyclical troughs 1921-2, 1929-33 and 1938 Structural unemployment- prevented some areas seeing the recovery and consumer affluence after 1933. New industries tended to be capital intensive=> didn’t employ as many workers but saw higher wages. Staple industries – which accounted for a larger although declining proportion of industrial output tended to remain technologically backward and to pay lower wages.

Standard of living Positives:

• Everywhere in the country those in work experienced rising standards of living • Wages ↓but prices ↓ even more sharply • Period of deflation not inflation. • During 1930s ‘real wages’ ↑15% • Far more disposable income to spend on luxuries • 1938 ave. British family (smaller than before the war) had 2x income of family in 1913-14 • Boom in consumer goods + entertainment industry –picture palaces 5,000 by 1930s 20 million tickets/wk • By end of 1930s 11 million took a holiday at the seaside • Beginning of a housing revolution in private ownership of homes 1914 10%- 1964 60%. By 1939 1/3rd of the 4

million homes in Britain had been constructed in the 20 years since 1918, many of those in the 30’s. An impressive feature of these new homes was their use of electricity as the main source of power. By 1939 the National Grid was providing electricity to nearly all of urban Britain.

Negatives: • Those on unemployment benefit certainly better off than counterparts in 19th c but still suffering acute

poverty • Household means test introduced 1931 dole reduced if anyone in the family earning money or if family

owned possessions had savings • Poor diets – John Boyd Orr 1936 4.5 million diets inadequate in all respects only 1/3 of Britons had healthy

diets • Health standards much lower in depressed areas –infant mortality /1000 live births

Assessing economic performance Difficult:

• Economy changed vastly over time b/c of trade cycle not in one direction • ‘economy’ not a single entity-but vast collection of diverse activities varying in different areas • Economic history is not separable from social history. Judgements about economic history invariably involve

judgements about human beings – never easy to balance the hardships of one vs the benefits of the other eg Russia – Stalin’s 5yr plans/collectivisation

• Use of statistics does not imply objectivity Problems with statistics

1. What exactly is being measured? 2. Average amounts –averaged over time/regions/sectors of economy etc 3. Unemployment figures –only registered unemployed not included 0.75 million in 1930s not on

register. Unemployment - higher in winter and vary considerably from month to month Statistics can be used to show trends – not as absolute truth. Disraeli’s comment ‘lies, damned lies and statistics’

Home counties 42 Glamorgan 63 Jarrow 114

WWI Impact on the economy -ve

• enabled rivals to replace British exports in overseas markets • fouled up complex international system of banking and finance • forced the government to sell overseas assets-hastened decline of the City of London as world’s financial

capital • produced vast overinvestment in the staple industries

+ve

• stimulated increased mechanisation • creation of several new industries

Comparison of interwar to pre war period

Britain compared to rivals • 1939 Br 4th behind USA, Germany, USSR. Had only been overtaken by USSR in inter war period-Stalin • Structural unemployemt worse but cyclical better • Growth rate lower that USA 2.9%, but better that Germany 1.2% France 0.8%

Dual Vision of period. 1930s higher standard of living-( increased production, cheaper imports of raw materials) But a substantial number of people were unable to take part in this growing prosperity. Evidence for this can be seen in Seebohm Rowntree’s survey of York 1899 and 1936

Britain 1929-39 SOCIAL POLICIES Baldwin’s Conservative Government 1925-29 Poor Law abolished, PAC established, central government grant for poor relief and slum clearance, road clearance and town planning all had been undertaken– making poor rates a more equitable burden. Plus Pensions Act 1925-In return for higher national insurance contributions all workers and their wives would receive a pension of 10s (50p) a week at the age of 65 –before this pensions had been given after the age of 70, but only to those whose income fell below a certain level Now to be widows pensions as well

Second Labour Government May 1929-Aug 1931 Achievements; relaxing strictness of rule relating to unemployment benefit, restricted miner’s day to 7 ½ hrs, launched slum clearance programme However failed to tackle unemployment. Unemployed rose from 1.25 million to 2.725 million-by 1931 even privileged regions of south-east England were suffering

National Government 1931 Aug 31-39

• Unemployment Act 1934 Unemployment benefit cut by 10% bringing it down to 15s 3d a week (man +wife +2 kids £1.50-£1.35 or 30s-27s/week)- recognition that rapid end to unemployment unlikely.

Pre war Inter war Annual rate of growth

2.3% 2%

• Means test introduced –the assets of a claimant who had been out of work for 6 months were looked at closely Those who claimed the dole were to receive ‘unemployment assistance’ after having been assessed by the ‘means test’. The ’means test’ applied to the whole household and was assessed by the UAB

• It was the humiliation of such a system which made the 1930s such a distressing period for the unemployed Transference Unemployment reached its zenith in 1932. In some areas improvement was seen-North and East of England-unemployed were urged to move to centre and south- but growth of new industry slower than decline of old- those that moved could not be sure of a job.

• Special Areas Act 1934 made £2 million available to the depressed areas of the country. 44,000 workers were encourages to move to other towns and 30,000 men were found places on retraining courses. The two commissioners responsible for implementing the legislation resigned

• Special Areas Act 1936 offered firms/factories remission of rates, rents and taxes of up to 100% for five years little success was achieved BUT difference in South Wales especially on Treforest near Pontypridd-estate employing 2,383 people by 1939

Success? • South Wales lost 8.15 of inhabitants between 1921-1938- headed for Midlands, South East, South West and

especially for London and Home Counties. Some found work in automotive industry in Oxford/Luton; miners from depressed areas helped develop the more profitable coalfields of Kent

• Some emigrated- but in 1920s total net emigration was only about 13,000/year and in 1930s when the depression hit abroad most of them returned- more people entered Britain than left in the 1930s.

Limitations on mobility- • house prices as many were house owners. Maerdy impossible to leave- 1920-35 house price fell from £350-

£50. • Secondary education hard to find in London/Coventry • Credit from shopkeepers easier to find (the Co-op, in particular) • heavy burdens the local authorities where the influx was great eg; In the south-east in the 1930s, the Welsh

represented one in five of those who migrated there. Social Consequences of Unemployment- differed depending on age, sex, occupation, length of unemployment, year, place, family circumstances and personality of the unemployed BUT resilience of working people in face of Depression is apparent.

• Migration but no mass exodus-communities survived • Poverty brought physical and mental suffering but working class life survived, attitudes to work,, roles in the

family, respect for law and order and political behaviour were not substantially altered Attitudes to women and the position of women in society didn’t change much.

• Campaign for equal pay –little success due to low paid work and depression of 30’s • Women’s role in the work force had not deteriorated- but not much improvement either.

Period of Change Dawn of Affluence-Industry changes from obsolete industries of the nineteenth century to new technological industries that were to provide the basis of the prosperity of 1950’s and 1960’s-electic industry including appliances, motor cars, chemical industry (including ICI in North Wales, retail shopping (Marks and Sparks and Woolworths in every town) Devil’s decade- haunted by spectres of mass unemployment and hunger marches, dole and means test North /South divide true although patches of depressed areas. Only 13% unemployed in London and south east BUT 36% unemployed in Wales with Merthyr , Amman and Rhondda Valleys figure exceeded 70%

Not bleak for the majority BUT millions suffered great hardships Any election held up to 1939 would have resulted in another term for the national Government. Seeds of 1945 labour landslide lay dormant

BRITAIN 1929-39 POPULAR CULTURE SPORT AND LEISURE 1930s Rugby had become very popular in South Wales. Most villages had own teams where working class miners played with so-called superior classes eg; teachers, doctors, ministers of religion. Interwar period and depression–many talented players went to North England to join the professional Rugby League teams Association football (soccer) was widely played and supported throughout Wales and England-largely working class sport-the ‘Peoples Game’-thousands of supporters would travel by train to watch the top sides. 1920s in Wales and England- 6 million paid to watch first division football. > 1/2 million regularly played >300 soccer clubs in South Wales alone Hard hit by Depression By 1937 crowds began to return Increasing press and radio coverage-created own sporting stars Transfer fees going up-1938 Arsenal signed Bryn Jones (ex-Merthyr from Wolves) for £14,000 (£7 million today) Littlewood Pools-allowed people to bet each week on results 1923 first week 35 coupons submitted-1938 >10 million betting regularly Boxing –popular with working class and richer classes who would bet huge amounts of money US fighters made large amounts of money eg; heavy weights Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis dominated scene.1937 Louis fought former Rhondda miner Tommy Farr-the people’s champion and one of Wales’ first sporting superstars- he earned £10,000 for this fight. International Cricket-reached height of popularity during the wars. England were world leaders. Contentious tour 1932 to win back Ashes. Douglas Jardine-captain ordered bodyline balls-upset UK/Aus relations for many years. Greyhound racing-grew in 1930s-‘going to the dogs’-exciting night out to gamble on the races. Venues included Cardiff Arms Park, White City,London, Belle vue Manchester. 1933 >6 million visited dog tracks -Growth in spectators was significant during the period. The record attendances for most football clubs were set in the 1930s. Manchester City and Chelsea set records>80,000 . Lower division crowds large too Chesterfield, Halifax Town over 30,000. Wrexham top record 29,271 set Dec 1936 in local derby vs Chester -availability of cheap transport +increased leisure time factors in increasing spectators. Railways connected most towns –no regulation on admissions led to huge crowds on terraces. -Radio coverage meant that the final scores on a Saturday were popular –especially for pools coupons-although coverage banned in depression in an attempt to boost attendances at games. Theatre/Music halls Most large towns had one theatre and several music halls. Trips a special treat. Music halls more raucous-crowd would sing along and laugh with entertainers

Church /chapel Sunday attendance by many. For many women and children, especially in rural areas, activities organised by church/chapel only regular form of entertainment. Very important for keeping Welsh language alive in Wales. Pubs/Clubs Essential part of working class leisure time-generally a male activity. Working men’s clubs/institutes funded by members and open to them. Offered alcohol, company ad entertainments-sports teams used them as HQ’s and institutes in particular had billiard rooms, concert halls and libraries. Film –first of the mass media- invented towards end of 19th century. Early 20th century films were a novelty shown in music halls and at fairs

• First cinema in Britain opened in Balham in London 1907 • First in Wales-Carlton, Swansea built 1914- by which time there were over 4,000 cinemas in Britain • Often called ‘Living pictures’ or ‘Picture Palaces’-showed short black and white films accompanied by a

pianist • Special Saturday matinees offered to children for a penny entry. • After 1920 cinema became one of the most popular forms of entertainment-good quality entertainment for

all generations-escapism from harsh reality of working class life • Cinemas became more luxurious –‘dream palaces’-the Empire, the Majestic, the Paramount, the Royal • Big film companies created MGM, Fox and Warner Bros –better quality films from Hollywood • Films remained silent until 1927 when audiences heard Al Jolson talking in ‘the Jazz singers’ feature length

talkie using movietone technique • Even in recession of late 1920s and 1930s cinema remained incredibly popular and influential form of

entertainment • 1930s half the population of Britain went to the cinema at least once a week • Stars became famous round the world, Clarke Gable, Errol Flynn, Greta Garbo • Young people met there – a popular place for dating • By 1934 Wales had 320 cinemas. Cardiff had over 20 • Film types westerns, gangsters, musicals, cartoons • 1935 first welsh language talkie ‘y chwarelwr’ attracted large crowds in North Wales • How green was my valley’-romantic view of life in a mining community in South Wales • Proud Valley-starred black American singer Paul Robeson as heroic miner who gave his life to save his work

mates • IMPORTANT PART OF PEOPLE’S LIVES –VAST MAJORITY in 1930s •

BRITAIN 1929-39 THE CHANGING ROLE OF WOMEN Sphere of work Pre-war Large number of women seeking employment outside homes. 35% in paid employment only 10% married women working; Over 1.6 million domestic service, 600k textile workers 200k office workers – most expected to return to traditional role of homemaker once married. 1914 – Campaign for franchise put aside as soon as war broke out . An extra 1.5 million women were employed during the war 750 k new jobs in manufacturing, especially munitions production, 750 k in clerical/ transport/other jobs. Women took on non traditional roles by dilution or building huts for Western Front, coal miners, coke haulers, bus-conducters. Employers happy –women’s pay 2/3 that of men for the same job. 1918 - End of War- votes for women at the age of 30

1919 – Restoration of Prewar Practices Act – TU’s had accepted women workers and dilution of skilled jobs- on condition that at the end of the war there would be a return to traditional practices. Munitions workers were given 2 weeks pay in lieu of notice and a train fare home Civil servants dismissed –UnE benefit denied those who accepted domestic or laundry work Most women believed it was their duty to stand aside and return to their ‘proper sphere’ – expected to leave the factories with a sense of relief By 1920 ¾ of 1.5 million war workers had left labour market but there were 2 million more women than men ‘Our surplus Girls’ (Daily Mail) and these encountered a hostile labour market especially during the 30’s depression. 1928 Equal Franchise Act 1928 gave the vote to women over 21 – the same for all citizens. Now there were more women than men on the electoral registers Herbert Austin car manufacturer believed all women should be sacked –in such a climate attempts to remove the marriage bar could not succeed – normal for clerical workers to be sacked when they married - virtually impossible for an unemployed married woman to claim unemployment benefit since a married woman’s pay was viewed as a supplement to her husband’s Effect of World War One was short lived Women in work Year Single Married All Women Ave Female earnings 1911 70% 10% 35% 44% of men’s 1931 71% 10% 34% 48%of mens Exceptions Middle class women made significant gains BY 1935 200 women in the legal profession By 1935 number of women doctors 2,500 1911 only 500

Education Girls education still not considered as important as boys. In 1923 the Board of Trade recommended that girls be given less homework that boys because of the household work they were expected to do. The overwhelming majority of girls left education at the age of 14 with only 0.5% continuing their education beyond 18. Oxford only allocated 730 places to women – Cambridge did not allow women to take degrees until 1947. There was a cult of domesticity 1918-1939 – breeding healthy babies was a national duty. Women’s magazines at a zenith in terms of their popularity – over 50 titles in circulation. Married bliss and motherhood in an ideal home – every girl’s dream. Unmarried mothers sent to special institutions (virtual Prisons) and forced to give up their babies for adoption.

Law Divorce laws were becoming more equal. From 1923 wife could divorce her husband on grounds of adultery. 1937- cruelty/ desertion became sufficient grounds. Most houses were in the husband’s name only. Any income from renting rooms or taking in laundry belonged to the husband. Most wives were as financially as dependent as ever on their husbands.

Sexual Freedom 1918 Marie Stopes published ‘Married Love’ advocating birth control and insisting that sexual fulfilment was possible for both partners. Such ideas were slow to gain acceptance and often printed material was banned under the ‘obscenity’ laws

Only after 1930 did doctors agree that it was right to offer contraceptive advice, and then only to married women whose health might suffer from another pregnancy. A breakthrough into the man’s world of work and the achievement of the vote – the period seems to be one of great change – but the day to day living did not bear witness to this. Women had never been welcome in men’s jobs – the belief that their presence devalued skills was never overcome. Emancipation and enfranchisement are NOT the same thing. Enfranchisement makes emancipation possible it does not guarantee it. After WW1 women returned to their ‘Proper’ place and they stayed there until another war demanded their services.

The Cult of Domesticity The rise of women’s magazines 1920-30s number of magazines increased to over 50. New colour printing and glamorous content appealing to a younger readership eg Woman’s Own 1932, Women’s illustrated 1936 and Woman 1937. Circulation of these new magazines were in their millions not just the hundreds of thousands as previously. Took advantage of increased standards of living-more consumer goods. All propagated an ideology of domesticity. An acceptance that women would work up until they were twenty- but that they only aspire to having their own family. Had experts on Beauty, Fashion, Life, Baby care, Cookery, Furnishing and housekeeping. Issues such as divorce reform not taken much notice of. Women should consider jobs which would serve as a preparation for married life. Royal family was a favoured theme- now seen to be above politics. In 1937 year following the abdication crisis 89 out of 101 newsreels produced by Movietone News included items on the royal family.

An improving situation? Many families-rising living standards and increased disposable income for consumer goods Electric cookers sold? Trebled between 1930-35. Vacuum cleaners 200k-400k between 1930-38. Domestic chores took up far less time and were easier. New jobs in 1930s secretaries, administrative jobs and retail sector. Boots and Woolworths-household names employed many women White collar workers increased to over ¼ of workforce by 1939- many women employed as white collar workers-although they were the lower paid jobs-poorly paid and working for male bosses Wives of unemployed men had a different story. Often went without to ensure children ate well. Tighter budgets, emotionally distressed husbands Health developments 1930s Maternal clinics set up to help mothers with young children. Infant mortality and maternal mortality rates were markedly lower than at the start of the decade, when they actually rose. Pregnant women suffered if incomes decreased as good food was more expensive-fish, milk and fresh vegetables. Minority Parties

BRITAIN 1929-39 MINORITY PARTIES Opposition in the 1930s

Opposition inside Parliament Britain achieved profound political stability in 1930s whilst Europe was in turmoil Political volatility- Liberals in decline, Labour reacted constructively to the new political scene, the only real challenge came from the extremes left and right but this was in the street not in parliament

The Liberals Splits into • Samuelites – anti-protectionist • Simonites – pro-protectionism and barely indistinguishable from the conservatives • Lloyd George’s tiny following

Decline in candidates standing for the general election: 1929 12.5% 1931 <10% 1935 <8%

Labour ; Largest single party in 1929 - dropped to only 52 MP’s in 1931. Arthur Henderson and 12 other former cabinet members had been defeated. This meant that George Lansbury became the leader by default. Had financial difficulties. By 1933 they had better fortunes and fresh ideas in policy debates. If they recovered their political fortunes

• They had decided never again to accept a minority administration • To introduce ‘definite socialist legislation’ immediately • They would nationalise key sectors of the economy

Lansbury was a pacifist ‘I would abolish the whole dreadful equipment of war and say to the world “Do your worst” –pacifist policy defeated 1935 Lansbury replaced by Clement Atlee- ‘A good enough parliamentarian but desperately uninspiring’ Learnt from 1931 crisis that the leader must be controlled by the party-ghost of Ramsay MacDonald was most influential figure. Socialist League – founded by Sir Stafford Cripps 1932, barrister and Solicitor General in second Labour Government had more radical ideas which were not accepted by the Labour Party

• Abolish the House of Lords • Nationalise the means of production within 5 years with full workers’ control of industry. • Pass emergency powers to prevent capitalists from sabotaging socialism • Extend life of parliament beyond 5 years and allow rule by ministerial decree

Cripps was regarded as ‘unbalanced in judgement’ by Beatrice Webb. In 1935, when the key political question of the day was whether the League of Nations should impose sanctions, Cripps judged that warfare and sanctions were capitalist plots to increase private profit! Post 1935-evolutionary socialism not revolutionary socialism under Atlee

• Refusal to join a ‘popular front’ of left and centre groups opposed to government’s policy of appeasement • Gradually abandoned pacific tendencies and began to support rearmament and a firmer line against Hitler

1935 Election Labour won 154 seats- very respectable figure- and a higher percentage of the vote 37.9% Still a long way from power but a growing political force and might have won an election in 1940. if one had been held-a dozen more seats had been won in by elections by then

Opposition outside Parliament The Extreme Left The Communist Party CPGB Founded 1920- tried to form an affiliation with the Labour party- three attempts were rejected in the early 1920s and members of the Communist Party were ineligible to join the Labour Party By 1930 Communists in Britain had only 3000 members, half of whom were from the mining areas of South Wales and Scotland. 1924 Zinoviev letter-suggested Communist Party engaged in subversive activities-False ‘Red Threat’- aim to increase support for Conservatives 1925 election 25 Communist candidates polled 56,000 votes in total Most active in Gen Strike 1926. Prior to which central leadership of CPGB arrested and imprisoned Gen Strike and Miner’s strike afterwards CPGB defended strike and attempted to develop solidarity with miners- increase in membership in mining areas 1926-27 1930s CPGB opposed Conservative Governments Appeasement policy towards Nazi’s and Mussolini’s Fascists On the street played a leading role in the struggle against the BUF, but they were never a serious threat to the main parties. 1931 – post Great Depression party membership doubled but still did not improve much in the election, although membership continued to increase 1929 1931 1932 1938 membership 3000 6000 9000 18000 CPGB was behind a number of strikes-eg Lancashire cotton strike 1932 Daily Worker was the CPGB’s newspaper- circulation 80,000 Middle class intellectuals- spies (Philby Burgess Maclean Blunt) poets (WHAuden, CDay Lewis) But most workers remained loyal to Labour and /or politically apathetic Orwell ‘There’s no mob anymore only a flock’ 1933 onwards – Moscow changed tack- Communists were ordered to affiliate with other left-wing groups ‘popular front’ against fascism. 1935 election 2 Communist candidates, one was elected, and encouraged voters to support Labour, but advances again refused by Labour – only Socialist League interested Stalin’s show trials- supported in the Daily Worker ‘Shoot the Reptiles’ – but executions a dire warning to Labour’s moderate leaders against too close an involvement with USSR Left Book Club- success –set up 1936, by 1937 had 50,000 members, sold two books a month selected by editors, over half the books issued in the first year were written by communists. Had an Aid Spain campaign to support popular republican government (communist influence) vs General Franco (aided by Hitler and Mussolini) 1939 Nazi-Soviet Pact, large blow to Communist Party. Reversal of policy again-fascism no longer the enemy- ‘popular front’ discarded The National Unemployed Workers’ Movement NUWM Set up 1921 by Wal Hannington, one of the founding members of the Communist Party Aim –to agitate for ‘work or full maintenance’ 1932 Hunger Marche organised. 2000 protesting against the ‘Means Test’ marched to London, scuffles broke out, 2000 police intervened, Hannington arrested and sentenced to three months imprisonment. Violent riots in Liverpool, Birkenhead-police opened fire killing 2 BUT limited and damages estimated at only £200 1934 similar, better behaved march 1935 demonstrations against low rates of benefit awarded by Unemployment Assistance Board–more success as benefits raised Post 1935-depression eased-movement ceased to be important. Most important function had been to advise unemployed on entitlements. NUWM fought >2000 legal cases over denial of benefits and successful in >1/3

Nationalist Parties Plaid Cymru-

• Welsh Nationalist party-formed 5th August 1925 by members of Welsh Home Rule Army + Welsh Movement • Aim- keep Wales welsh speaking and make Welsh only official language of Wales • 1929 election candidates-no success • 1936 Saunders Lewis, DJWilliams, Lewis Valentine attacked and set fire to newly constructed RAF base

Penyberth on the Llyn –raised profile • By 1939 still small party with 2000 members

The ExtremeRight New Party and BUF

• Set up after Oswald Mosely’s expulsion from the Labour Party in 1930 with the presentation of his Memorandum in the Annual General Conference

• At 1931 election contested 24 seats, but only Mosely himself and candidate standing at Methyr Tydfil against Labour won a decent amount of votes

• Following the election Mosely became convinced of the virtues of Fascism • Some parts of the movements had already begun to adopt fascist thinking; eg youth movement • 1932 Mosely formed the BUF (British Union of Fascists) to which the New Party subsumed itself. • BUF claimed 50,000 supporters at high point • Daily Mail early supporter- ran headline ‘Hurrah for the Blackshirts’ • 1936 Battle of Cable Street-violent clashes alienated supports-membership declined to 8,000 • Public Order Act 1936 banned political uniforms • 1940 BUF banned

October 1931 Election-National Government victory for ‘Doctor’s Mandate’ – won 544 seats-conservative’s won 473 of them. This election saw the defeat of the extremists-both Communists and Mosely’s New Party No opposition to national Government –because it was a government for the nation not for a party ‘Our aims are to be national not party our ideas are to be national not party’ Can not be maintained after 1935-RMacD deteriorating health Baldwin took over in May-received his own mandate in Nov to continue in government

Sources

George Orwell’s ‘The Road to Wigan Pier’ published 1937 The depression of the 1930s led to a number of minutely researched social studies, establishing such facts as how many people were unemployed life expectancy in particular parts of the country, income levels, family size etc

• Hilda Jennings, Brynmawr- a study of a Welsh mining village 1934; Pilgrim’s Trust ‘Men without Work’ 1938 • Surveys very valuable, yet impersonal and arid • Martin Pugh ‘We danced all Night’ -The hunger marches helped to create an image of Britain in the interwar

period as a time of economic depression, mass unemployment, poverty and inequality. For subsequent generations this reputation was memorably captured by novels such as William Greenwood’s Love on the Dole 1933 the 2 Left Book Club novels The Road to Wigan Pier and Ellen Wilkinson’s The Town that was Murdered 1939 and the Jarrow Crusade 1936. George Orwell’s book is an extreme expression of the trend of middle-class sympathetic sentiment that the decade was one of suffering for the workers.

• George Orwell’s ‘The Road to Wigan Pier’- Literary source on life work and unemployment in the north of England

• Orwell is a ‘rude old Etonian’ from a lower-upper-middle class background. Commissioned to write the book by Victor Gollancz as part of his Left Book Club series of ‘condition of England’ books.

• Left London 31st Jan 1936 and spent 2 months in Lancashire and Yorkshire. The manuscript was delivered in Dec 36 and the book was published in March 1937 – Orwell was by then fighting in the Spanish Civil war.

• The 32 illustrative plates were included in the first edition but it is unlikely that Orwell chose them and in fact it may not have been his idea to include them. By 1939 47k copies had been printed

• Descriptions of housing, coal mining, working conditions at the mines, unemployment benefits etc constitute

valuable historical evidence, although as Orwell knew, imagination is needed to breathe life into them. Words themselves are feeble things. ‘What is the use of a brief phrase like “roof leaks” or “four beds for eight people”? It is the kind of thing your eye slides over, registering nothing. And yet what a wealth of misery it can cover!’

• Makes wild generalisations about the working class but also makes a graphically unforgettable depiction of the very texture of poverty-stricken, Northern working-class life in the mid-thirties.

• Contains factual inaccuracies and fabrications –will be subjective as Orwell is an accomplished novelist • Aim – as a left wing intellectual he wanted to shock people –to create a climate suitable for widespread

reform? • Omits – • the role of women workers –textile mills and pit heads • political and trade union activities • sports and pubs and all scenes of enjoyment or jollity

We should not accept the view that in the 1930s things were getting worse and worse. Orwell insisted that, on average, English people were declining physically. Were suffering in poverty. Lacking proper historical perspective- relying on own childhood memories of pre war days. No foolproof historical source but still valuable, especially if we take into account the book’s inaccuracies and Orwell’s biases. In fact these can enhance the book’s usefulness.

Ellen Cicely Wilkinson (8 October 1891 – 6 February 1947) was the Labour Member of Parliament for Middlesbrough and later for Jarrow on Tyneside. She was one of the first women in Britain to be elected as a Member of Parliament (MP).

In the 1935 General Election, Wilkinson re-entered Parliament as MP for Jarrow, 'the town that was murdered',[2] having one of the worst unemployment records in Britain with nearly 80% of the insured population out of work. In 1936, 'in the grandest tradition of British dissent' she organised the historic Jarrow March of 200 unemployed workers from Jarrow to London where she presented a petition for jobs to Parliament.

Wilkinson was associated with the left of the Parliamentary Labour Party, helping to found Tribune magazine and supporting the International Brigades fighting fascism in the Spanish Civil War. She travelled to Spain with Clement Attlee where they documented the German bombing of Valencia and Madrid.

Sydney ( 1859-1947) and Beatrice Webb ( 1858-1943) Both members of the Labour Party Beatrice Cousin of Charles Booth-pioneering survey of the Victorian Slums of London 1905-1909 member of the Royal Commission on the Poor Law and Relief of Distress Webb headed the minority report which outlined the need for a welfare state Sydney

Co-founder of London School of Economics Member of Fabian Society-pre-eminent political and intellectual society of England MP for Seaham in 1922 Peerage in 1928 Baron Passfield –Sec of State for Colonies RMacD 2nd Labour Government -Sec of State for Dominion Affairs RMacD 2nd Labour Government

Seebohm Rowntree

Investigated poverty in York, inspired by the work of his father Joseph Rowntree and the work of Charles Booth in London. He carried out a comprehensive survey into the living conditions of the poor in York during which investigators visited every working class home. This amounted to the detailed study of 11,560 families or 46,754 individuals. The results of this study were published in 1901 in his book Poverty, A Study of Town Life. He surveyed poor families in York and drew a poverty line in terms of a minimum weekly sum of money "necessary to enable families... to secure the necessaries of a healthy life". The money needed for this subsistence level of existence covered fuel and light, rent, food, clothing, and household and personal items, adjusted according to family size. He determined this level using scientific methods which hadn’t been applied to the study of poverty before. According to this measure, 27.84 percent of the total population of York lived below the poverty line. This result corresponded with that from Charles Booth’s study of poverty in London and so challenged the view, commonly held at the time, that abject poverty was only present in London Other sources Film Archives- films such as Caeg lightbulb factory, The National Archives-records of cabinet meetings for the period Magazines and newspapers; Daily Worker (Communist), Daily Mail (Early supporter of BUF), Daily Telegraph, The British Gazette (short-lived British newspaper published by the Government during the General Strike of 1926) British Worker ( produced by the TUC General Council for the duration of the 1926 United Kingdom General Strike)