Britain during the Inter-War Years

Leaving Cert > Dictatorship and Democracy in Europe > Britain during the Inter-War Years

Mass unemployment in England during the 1920s.
In Second Year, you learned how the Industrial Revolution changed England. You saw how cities and urban life expanded and grew as factories and mines opened across the country. You saw how this made Britain wealthy, and how it modernised from the old feudal system. The spirit of the Industrial Revolution continued into the beginning of the 20th Century, until a war broke out which ended up lasting for four years...

After World War I, Europe had changed completely. The former German Empire had been reduced to a shell of its former self, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire had collapsed. The British Empire, being on the winning side, remained intact, but its economy was suffering hugely, and this just a decade before the biggest financial collapse in history...

Continue to Anglo-American Popular Culture in Peace and War



  • The Causes of the English Depression:
    • Decline in industry and trade (ship building, cotton, coal mining).
    • Increase in competition (USA).
  • Depressed Areas:
    • Northern England (Clydeside, Tyneside, Lacashire) and Southern Wales.
  • Government Actions:
    • National Insurance Act and the Dole.
    • Wage Cuts.
    • Response: 1926 General Strike.
  • The Great Depression:
    • Its effects on Britain, the actions the government took, and Britain's experience of it vs. Germany's experience.
  • Social Problems:
    • Poverty, Marches (Jarrow March), leading to the Welfare State after WWII.

Key Terms:  
Inflation, Depression, Protectionism
(click here)

Key Personalities: 
J.M. Keynes

 Case Study:
The Jarrow March

The British Prime Ministers of the 1920s:
David Lloyd George, Andrew Bonar Law, Stanley Baldwin and Ramsay MacDonald.





Higher Level (100 marks each)
2015: What were the economic and social problems of Britain during the inter-war years and/or what was the impact of World War II on its civilian population?

2014: How did the Jarrow March (1936) illustrate the social and economic problems facing Britain during the inter-war period?

2013: What were the challenges facing Britain in peace and war, 1920-1945?

2011: What did one or more of the following achieve in Britain during the period 1920 - 1945:
            J.M. Keynes, those who took part in the Jarrow March, Winston Churchill?

2009: What were the main social and economic challenges facing Britain, 1920 - 1945?

2008: Which had the greater social and economic problems during the inter-war years, Britain or
             Germany? Argue your case, referring to both countries.

2007: What were the causes and consequences of the Jarrow March, October, 1936?

2006: How successfully did Britain deal with the social and economic problems of the inter-war
            period?



Ordinary Level:
2015, Dictatorship and Democracy, Part C
2012, Dictatorship and Democracy, Part C:
Why did the Jarrow March (October, 1936) take place and what did it achieve? (40)

2011, Dictatorship and Democracy, Part C:
What did Winston Churchill and/or J.M. Keynes contribute to Britain? (40)

2010, Dictatorship and Democracy, Part C:
Why did the Jarrow March take place, October 1936, and what did it achieve? (40)

2008, Dictatorship and Democracy, Part B:
Write a short paragraph on the British economist, J.M. Keynes. (30)

2008, Dictatorship and Democracy, Part C:
What were the economic and social conditions in Britain that led to the Jarrow March in October 1936? (40)

2007, Dictatorship and Democracy, Part B:
Write a short paragraph on the economic and social problems in Britain in the 1930s. (30)

2006, Dictatorship and Democracy, Part C:
How did the Jarrow March reflect the social and economic problems of industrial England in the 1930s? (40) 


"The subsidised mineowner - poor beggar!"
Cartoon which appeared in the Trade Union Unity magazine during the 1926 general strike.






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