National Government 1931-1935

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  • Created by: Millie
  • Created on: 23-03-13 20:18
When was the first National Government formed?
24th August 1931
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What was MacDonald accused of when he formed the National Government ?
Betraying the Labour Party and that he had been planning do so for years.
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What did some Labour MPs think was the cause of the downfall of the Labour Party?
An international bankers conspiracy - " bankers' ramp"- that wanted to get rid of a socialist government.
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What was the real cause?
Banks in NY and Paris wanted Britain to balance her budget as a precondition for a loan- they simply wanted to protect their investment.
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What did MacDonald initially want to do?
Resign
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Why did King George V encourage MacDonald to form a coalition?
The economic situation of the time was comparable to wartime economics
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How many people were unemployed in 1931?
3 million
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What did Herbert Samuel - the acting Liberal leader- want and why?
A national government. He thought that the Liberals wouldn't survive another general election and that this would be their only way back into government
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To which party did Neville Chamberlain belong?
Conservative
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What did Neville Chamberlain believe in terms of the economic crisis of '31?
He believed that expenditure cuts were necessary for economic survival
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What did Chamberlain foresee that would happen to the Labour Party?
He saw that a coalition would split the Labour party and that it would probably benefit the Conservatives.
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Was MacDonald betraying his party by implementing cuts?
No, not at all. He saw that in order for Britain to survive the crisis that cuts were indeed needed and that the Labour Party- or 9 cabinet members- was betraying the nation if they didn't agree
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Who did the Labour Party choose as their new leader?
Arthur Henderson ( Mac Donald was dropped at the end of September)
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What were the initial benefits for Labour in opposing the National Government?
They could sit back and watch them make expenditure cuts in the knowledge that they would not be blamed for it.
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Who was the chancellor of the National Government?
Snowden
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What did Snowden do to balance the budget?
He made economies of £70 million in government. There was a 10% cut in benefit. He increased taxation from 22.5% to 25%
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What did Snowden also to do balance the budget ?
He made cuts to the salaries of government employees. On the 15th of August= Invergordon mutiny- sailors protested by refusing to obey orders ( some of their wages had been cut by more than 10%) This made foreign holders of the £ cash in their money
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What were the consequences of this?
On the 15th of August= Invergordon mutiny- sailors protested by refusing to obey orders ( some of their wages had been cut by more than 10%) This made foreign holders of the £ cash in their money/ run away from the £
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Why did Foreign investors run away from the £ after the Invergordon mutiny?
They feared that Britain was near bankrupcy and that the £ was over-valued
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What was happening to Britain's gold reserves?
Their gold reserves were rapidly depleting
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When was the general election of 31 held?
27th October `1931
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What were the results of the election?
The NG won 67% of the vote and 90% of the seats. The Liberal's overall vote fell . The Labour Party still held 30% of the vote
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What were MacDonald's acheivements in the National Government?
His moderate polices helped to attract non-committed voters. He was generally quite popular. He put the country before the party. Good in Foreign affairs- Lausanne conference 1932 - ended reparation payments
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How were the Liberals divided during the first National Government?
Sir John Simon and his Simonites= leader of Liberal National MPs. Sir Herbert Samuel and his "samuelites"= 33 Liberal MPs <- maintained idea of free-trade
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What happened in 1932 when permanent a measure on protectionism was to taken?
The Samulites ~+ Snowden left government and a year later the remaining Liberals joined the oppposition
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Which party mostly dominated the National Government?
The Conservative Party
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Name the first features in government policy that was implemented to tackle
The first round of expenditure cuts before the 1931 election - the 10% reduction in unemployment benefits + government controlled salaries
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Name the second feature
The devaluation of the £( 20%). Britain was taken of the pound in September 1931.
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What was the advantage of a " weaker" pound?
It made British goods more competitive abroad
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What was the third economic feature?
A policy on low interest rates. Interest rates were lowered from 6% in 1931 to 2% in 1932 and stayed that way until 1939. This encouraged the expansion of private enterprise
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What interim measure was taken at the end of 1931?
Import Duties Act- 10% duty on all goods entering Britain ( up to 50% on steel )but goods from the empire were the exception to the rule
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What conference took place in Canada in 1932 and what was hoped that would be achieved?
The Ottowa conference. It was hoped that the empire could become a self supporting unit with free-trade between the dominions.
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Why was the Ottawa conference disappointing?
No agreement was made as the dominions feared that their own industries would suffer. There was no overall agreement but 12 separate ones. They refused to remove tarrifs on British goods but only raised the price of non-British goods
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How many people were unemployed in 1935?
under 2 million
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How many people were unemployed after July 1936?
1.6 million
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How had the reduction between 1931 to 1936 occur?
Through measures that were mainly out of control of the government. Revival was happening by itself due to new industries - like cars and housing- occurring in the south
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Which industries were still suffering in the 1930s?
The staple industries: coal, textiles, iron, steel and shipbuilding.
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What did the National Government try to do to remedy the problem of unemployment in the staple industries?
The 1935 Special Areas Act. It made 2 million available to aid these parts of the country, but nothing substantial was achieved as these industries still continued to suffer
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Which parts of the country were suffering particularly ?
Jarrow. South Wales. Tyneside. Scotland
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How many people were encouraged to move to other towns ?
44,000 and 30,000 men were on retraining courses
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Was the National government successful in dealing with unemployment?
Not at all. They didn't directly tackle the problem. They hoped that helping industry and trade would help unemployment.
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What essentially had happened to the country?
Two Britons had been created through the North/ South divide
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What was the Special Areas act of 1934?
An act created by the government to create jobs and to boost industry in the areas that were the worst hit by the depression.
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How successful was the Special Areas Act?
It was too piecemeal. The level of government and private investment was insufficient.
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How much money had been put into the scheme and how many jobs had been created by 1938?
1. £8.5 million 2. only 15 000 jobs
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What was the Unemployment Insurance Act of 1934?
An act that would allow government to standardise unemployment benefits through means testing as private owners in areas of high unemployment couldn't cope with the high local taxes needed to provide relief
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What was set up to help administrate these plans?
Unemployment Assistance Boards
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What were the successes and failures of the Unemployment Insurance Act?
It abolished the old poor law- local authorities were no longer responsible for their poor. It improved benefits in places in had been low, but did not reduce it in places where it had been high. People hated being means tested
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What was means testing and why was it introduced in 1931?
The government needed to reduce expenditure. An unemployed person could only receive benefits after all other incomes coming into the household were taken into account.
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What were the successes and failures of means testing
It helped to reduce public expenditure. It did not deal with the number of unemployed. It made the economic crisis worse for some people and it was heavily resented.
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What was happening by 1933?
Recovery was happening by itself
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Which industries were booming ?
Housing- 2.7 million houses were being built in the 1930s. The car industry was also booming- the number of cars on British roads doubled in the 1930s and the number of radios sold trebled.
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What had happened to the levels of industrial production in 1935 in comparison to 1929
It had increased by 11%
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What had happened to the cost of living in the same time period
It had decreased by 13%
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What was the most significant factor in stimulating economic growth?
People began to spend more at home. People were buying the newly available consumer goods. This increased demand and created employment.
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What was the problem of India?
Indian Nationals wanted to self govern, but the British government still wanted control
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How did the British government deal with the problem
1935- Government of India Act. Indians were given complete control over the provinces, but the central government was still controlled by the viceroy.
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What was happening in foreign affairs and how did Britain respond
In 1933 Hitler started conscription. Britain responded by starting a moderate rearmament programme called the 'Stresa Front' with Italy and France
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

What was MacDonald accused of when he formed the National Government ?

Back

Betraying the Labour Party and that he had been planning do so for years.

Card 3

Front

What did some Labour MPs think was the cause of the downfall of the Labour Party?

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

What was the real cause?

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

What did MacDonald initially want to do?

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
View more cards

Comments

Amrit

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All the flashcards are so helpful! Basic outlines that i needed to structure my revision

Millie

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I'm glad you found these useful !!

Natasha

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Really useful but some of the statistics don't match up to the ones in my textbook

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