1
Q
Who held the balance if power at the start of 1929?
A
59 liberal MPs
2
Q
Who had a majority in the Lords?
A
the Tories
3
Q
What was unemployment like at the start of 1929?
A
1.2 million especially in the north and midlands
4
Q
When RMD came to power in 1929 what did he aim to do?
A
- tried to move labour away from socialist policies
- stay committed to free trade as opposed to tariffs to protect Britains industries
- keep Britain on the Gold Standard
- wanted to address issues in Germany and India
5
Q
What was the effect of the housing act 1930?
A
- by arthur greenwood
- built 700k new homes
- restored subsidies for local authorities to build houses which were originally in the 1924 wheatley housing act but were removed by conservatives
- began subsudues for slum clearance
- led to clearance of more slums than ever before
6
Q
What was the effect of the unemployment insurance act 1930?
A
- increased workers eligible for benefits
- removed requirement to be searching for work
- restored conservative cuts using surplus funds from unclaimed NI
7
Q
What was the effect of the 1930 road traffic act?
A
- introduced laws against dangerous driving such as drunk driving
- introduced highway code
- removed speed limits on the basis that noone followed them anyway ( reinstated in 1934)
8
Q
What was the effect of the coal mines act 1930?
A
- employers to set minimum wages
- 8 hour shifts
9
Q
How long was britain in an economic depression after the stock market crash?
A
-11 years
10
Q
What happened to world trade between 1929 and 1932?
A
fell from $6.9 m to $2.7m
11
Q
What economic policy did snowden believe in?
A
Retrenchment - cutting public spending to maintain confidence in the £ instead of deficit financing (borrowing and raising taxes)
12
Q
Why did the 1929-31 fall in world trade effect Britain especially badly?
A
World trading companies did not need and couldn’t afford nor afford British financial services, shipping or port facilities
13
Q
What did Snowden refuse to do until 1931?
A
Cut unemployment and welfare spending until 1931 by which time britains welfare payments were higher than most other countries
14
Q
What were the three possibilities that Snowden and Keynes considered replacing retrenchment with?
A
Cutting production
Public works
Radical option
15
Q
How would cutting production help the economy?
A
Reducing production would maintain prices and keep British industries viable instead of risking overproduction
16
Q
What were the effects of the 1931 coal mines act?
A
- national regulation of the production, supply and sale of coal
- central council set district quotas and minimum prices
17
Q
What did the coal mines reorganisation committee do?
A
- forced inefficient mines to close
- limited working day to 7.5 hours per shift
18
Q
What did the agricultural marketing act allow farmers to do?
A
- 1931
- allowed them to form marketing boards to regulate production and prices
- permissive not statutory legislation so largely ignored
19
Q
When and what did the developement loan and colonial loan acts do?
A
- 1929
- provided £42m for public works at home and in the empire
- did allow for some council house building and slum clearance
20
Q
What did veteran left winger George Lansbury commission using public money?
A
Hyde park lido
21
Q
Which labour MP produced a set of radical solutions to the economic crisis in 1930 and what did they consist of?
A
- Oswald Mosley
- ending free trade
- increasing government intervention into the economy and banking sector
22
Q
What did the Mosley memorandum propose?
A
- extensive public works such as road building, financed by massive borrowing
- protective tariffs for british industries
- introduce pensions at 60 and raise school leaving age to shrink the workforce
23
Q
How did the cabinet react to the mosley memorandum?
A
- opposed it
- too expensive
- would cause inflation and loss of confidence in pound
-potentially force britain off gold standard
24
Q
What did this rejection from labour spur mosley on to do?
A
- leave the party and form the New Party
- This later became the BUF
25
When did RMD's think tank meet and what did it recommend?
-1931
- spending money on large scale public works (deficit financing) to kick start the economy(reflation)
26
What did RMD do instead of following the advice of his think tank?
- nothing
- torn between obeying think tank (reflation) and Snowden (deflation)
- put himself in charge of economy
- spent next year setting up commissions to try and buy time
- generally lacked policy
27
What happened May-June 1931?
- two leading european banks collapsed
- then in july the bank of Geneva collapsed
- foreign investors began to withdraw their cash in Gold as they feared the british banks were next
- by august 1st british reserves fell to £133m
- government needed foreign loans to keep the banks afloat
- ths was a problem as the government would have to make serious cuts in public spending
28
What did the may committee report?
- without tax increases and cuts to public spending there would be a £120m deficit
- recommended a 20% cut in benefits
29
What happened on August 19th 1931?
Cabinet discussed the idea of cutting £56m of public spending to help meet a government spending deficit of £120m
30
What happened on August20th 1931?
-RMD met liberal and conservative leaders
- Snowden wanted £78m of spending cuts
- neither the TUC or Labour would accept these
- they argued they weren't necessary and that the government was being forced into them by international bamkers - a bankers ramp
31
What happened on August 21st?
- Cabinet agreed to £56m cuts
32
What happened on August 22nd?
RMD insisted that £56m was not enough and the cabinet agreed on a compromise of £68.5m
33
What happened on August 23rd?
- RMD told the King that £78m in cuts was needed but that the cabinet opposed
- opposition leaders called to king and agreed to coalition
- RMD saw his cabinet again and they narrowly voted to a further £10m of cuts
- RMD had lost control of his cabinet and left to resign
- The cabinet believed they would be replaced by a liberal/conservative coalition
- however RMD was convinced to stay
34
What happened on August 24th?
- the king met the liberal and tory leaders who assured him of their support for a coalition government
- RMD resigned without consulting his party of cabinet
- He then immediately agreed to serve as PM of the coalition
35
Why was labour unable to continue leading?
- they struggled to cope with the great depression
- rmd had lost confidence in his party
- RMD wanted to free himself from having to make decisions beyond the interests of trade unions
-cons and libs had been making coalition offers from 1929
- King saw depression as needing same crisis treatment as a war
- public opinion supported idea of a coalition
- britain had had effective coalitions previously in 1915-1922
36
What are some reasons that RMD could be seen as a traitor to the left?
- corrupted by the establishment
- wanted aristocracy and power
- had been fooled by bankers ramp
- had been meeting with opposition leaders since 1929
37
What are some reasons it could be argued that RMD was not a traitor?
- depression was an unprecedented national emergency
- bankers ramp was a myth
- the idea of a coalition was unplanned and suggested by King George
- RMD had to make contact with opposition parties
- he genuinely believed retrenchment was best
- he was acting in the interests of the country not himself
38
What was the make up of the new national government?
- four labour
- four conservative
- two liberal
39
What did the economy act do?
- made cuts in public spending eg 10% cut to benefits
- kept britain on gold standard
40
What forced britain off Gold?
- sept 11th 1931
- invergordon mutiny
41
When did the emergency government set an election?
october 1931
42
What were the results of the october 1931 election?
massive victory for national parties
43
How did the formation of the national government affect the labour party?
- they disowned RMD and only a small number of labour MPs backed the NG
- didn't play a role in government again until 1940 wartime coalition
- recovered in the long run, winnning 1945 election
44
How did the formation of the NG affect the conservative party?
- able to take RMD prisoner same as LG in 1918-22
- implemented tariffs in 1931
- in many ways chamberlain as chancellor dominated the government
- dominant party in the NG and had a lot of influence over policy
45
What was the impact of the formation of the NG on the liberal party?
- worst affected
- splits meant they no longer held the balance of power
- never recovered
46
What were the fears about Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson?
- EVIII seen as politically indiscrete- unfortunate friendships with Hitler etc
- Divorce still frowned upon
- King had a faction of supporters in governement such as winston churchill who Baldwin feared the King would replace him with
-Commonwealth may be unhappy to have Wallis Simpson as Empress
- Church of England was oppsoed to the marriage and they were intertwined with the tory party
47
How did Baldwin react to the idea of marriage?
- nov 20th - asked king to consider the impact on the country and empire
- advised the king that the cabint wouldnt approve even a morganatic marriage
- warned king that Simpsons divorce could be challenged
48
What did the king do on December 10th 1936?
abdicate in favour of his younger brother
49
What was the result of the abdication crisis?
- victory for baldwin as he had removed a potential crisis and pushed the king's supporters like churchill further out of power
- britihs governments took more care in behaviour of royal family
50
Why did political extremism grow in britain in the 1930's?
- social and political impact of ww1
- economic crash of 1929 and ensuing great depression
- poverty and desperation caused by these events
51
When was britain's communist party founded?
- 1920
- result of comintern
52
When were the two peaks of communist party membership in the UK?
1926- 10 000
1939 - 16 000
53
When were there communist MP's?
- 2 in the 1920s who both lost their seats in 1929
- one elected in 1935 who held his seat until 1950
54
Why did Communism never get much support in britain?
- the main left wing party - Labour - refused to work with communists
- communism was only strong in a few select locations- East London, Tyneside, South Wales
- had lots of opposition and anti communist propaganda - eg Zinoviev letter 1924 and National Gazette blaming the communists for the General strike
- 1926 general strike failed which showed the limitations of radical activity
- TUC were opposed to Moscow's idea of red unions
- stalin's purges after 1934 were shocking
55
Why did fascism grow in britain?
- some values of fascism aligned with people's existing views such as imperialism, white supremacy, discipline and national efficiency
- the impact of the depression attracted some unemployed people to fascism resulting in the BUF's formation in 1932
56
When did BUF membership peak and why did it drop off?
1934- 50 000
violence at olympia rally 1934 led to lord rothermere of daily mail withdrawing his support and membership dropped to a low in 1935 rising to no more than 20 000 in 1939
57
How did government action reduce the amount of support for fascism in Britain?
- 1936 public order act banned processions and demonstations in paramilitary uniform
58
Why did public opinion of fascism change ?
- the movement became more provocative, for example in october 1936 they marched through the jewish east end and caused a punch up known as the battle of cable street
- many were shocked by such overt racial violence
59
How did the british electoral system hold fascism back?
- did not favour small parties unlike the pr system in germany , it encouraged a two party system
60
What dominated british foreign policy in 1929?
- the ten year rule, an assumption that there would be no war for at least ten years after ww1
61
What happened in 1931 which showed the weakness of the league of nations?
- japan invaded manchuria, china
62
What did Germany do in 1933 that was particularly concerning?
withdrew from disarmament talks in geneva and the league of nations
63
What did Germany and Italy do in 1935 , showing the weakness of britain and france?
- Germany began conscription and naval expansion in defiance of the treaty of versailles
- italy invaded abysinnia
64
What did German troops do in the Rhineland
Remilitarised in 1936
65
How did Germany expand its territory in 1938?
- annexed austria in the anschluss
- expanded into the sudeten region of czechoslovakia
66
What did Germany do to spark ww2 in 1939?
seized the remainder of czechoslovakia in march and invaded poland in september
67
What was the consensus about how britain should respond to these changes in international relations?
- avoid conflict at all cost
- continue to rely on collective security such as sanctions by the league of nations or individual deals with aggressor countries
68
What did Baldwin's anglo german naval treaty do?
permitted germany to increase the size of its navy
69
What did the hoare-laval pact do?
- 1935
- handed over a large chunk of abyssinia to Italy
- caused a degree of outrage in britain as government seen as undermining the league
70
How did foreign policy change under neville chamberlain?
- moved to a policy of appeasement and rearmament
- hoping for best whilst preparing for worst
71
How did Chamberlain try and prevent Hitler causing ww2?
- flew to meet him 3 times in september 1938
- hitler gave vague promise of no more territorial demands
72
Why was the public generally supportive of appeasement/
- they feared another world war
- many people had total faith in the league and in collective security
- many felt germany was harshly treated in 1919 by the treaty of versailles
- there was a strong fear of the USSR
- the cost of rearmament was too high considering the economy at the time
73
What were the postivies of James Ramsay Mcdonald?
- improved international relations- geneva protocol, league of nations, tackled indias future
- managed to work effectively with tories despite differing views
- put country before party
- resisted tory demands for arms race with germany
- managed to turn labour into a socially acceptable, mainstream party
74
What were the negatives fo James Ramsay Mcdonald?
- stayed PM too long (ramshackle mac)
- split the labour party
-stuck to orthodox economics (ineffective in crisis)
- became baldwins puppet
- abandoned free trade
- caused snowdens resignation
75
What were the positives of Baldwin?
- seemed stable - masterful inactivity
- helped keep tories afloat
- handled abdication crisis well
- helped prevent shift to extremism seen in rest of europe with 1936 public order act
- tackled rearmament well
- tried to heal britain's class divide
76
What were the negatives of Baldwin?
- offered little to no relief to regions which struggled during depression such as the NW or south wales
- laissez faire economics
- economic recovery was largely due to external factors not him
77
What were the positives of Chamberlain?
- experienced politician
- discipline over party
- tried to use diplomacy to tackle axis
- used shuttle diplomacy over czech crisis
78
What were the negatives of Chamberlain?
- no calm demeanor
- used highly unpopular and expensive means testing for benefits
- appeasement contributed to outbreak of ww2
History-Britain
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