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National government (1931-45) - Coggle Diagram
National government (1931-45)
Why it was formed
MacDonald was prime minister without being part of a party
King George V and MacDonald agreed to form a national government to rescue the economy and stop unemployment
British backed for national unity because of the economic crisis
Wall Street crash caused division across Britain
1931 election
There were two Labour Parties - normal and National Labour Party
Three Liberal Parties- Liberal-National, Liberal and Independent Liberal
Election to call national governement
Tories 470 seats, Labour 52 seats, Liberal National 35 seats, Liberal won 33 seats, National Labour 13 seats and Independent Liberal 4 seats
Baldwin return
Baldwin was under attack from all sides of rearmament and needed rapid rearmament to face the growing threat of Nazi Germany
Others wanted disarmament and cooperation with LoN
Baldwin had to abandon this and worked with the League of Nations to achieve peace in Abyssina
Baldwin increased spending on rearmament to fulfil military requests
Baldwin gave Italy 2/3 of Abyssina which was unpopular
Regained support by telling Edward VIII to abdicate in 1936
MacDonald resigns due to health and is replaced by Baldwin in 1935
Baldwin resigned after George VI was crowned after raising MP wages to £600
Was replaced by Neville Chamberlain
Neville Chamberlain
Visited Hitler 3 times in September in 1938 to resolve crisis on expansionism
Churchill was critical of Chamberlain's appeasement of Hitler
Attempts to find 'peace in our time' was popular
Chamberlain did not have the confidence of parliament to wage a victorious struggle
Was well liked for creation of new homes and performances on cinema newsreels
Forced from office after a vote of no confidence and was replaced by Churchill due to backings from Labour and Liberal MPs
Impact of WW2 on democracy
Churchill oversaw the home front and military strategy
Churchill was careful to maintain the support and prestige of parliament in way DLG had not done
Emergency Powers Act (May 1940) gave powers over the British people to the government
Ministries were created, Lord Beaverbrook was Minister of Aircraft production
War cabinet of 5 men was set up to make quick decisions
Evaluation
Strengths
Country's economy was improving in 1939
Decrease in unemployment, due to rearmament; 6 million after 1936
Overall aim was to ensure Britain was stable which meant they would make the best decisions for the country
Leaving the Gold Standard alongside protectionist tariffs against foreign imports
More experienced politicians would lead to greater success
Lasted 10 years which meant it did make a difference and it did work
Failure
Financial crisis in 1931 became worse
Improvement of the economy did not improve the whole of Britain was the North was left behind
Would always be disagreements between parties
Constitutional crisis led to the abdication of Edward VIII
Lead to instability due to different party views and ideas
Inner conflict between political parties as Labour divided into.2 more parties and Liberals divided into 3 more parties creating instability