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3.7 IMPACT OF THE DEPRESSION, Baby_Zombie_Pigman_Riding_Zombie_Pigman,…
3.7 IMPACT OF THE DEPRESSION
DECLINE OF HEAVY INDUSTRY
Old staple industries like: shipbuilding, iron and steel, coal mining and cotton.
Due to disarmament there was less demand for ships to 7% of the pre-war output.
Coal fell from 100 million tonnes per year output to 50 million tonnes per year output, as European countires revived their mining trade.
Cheap iron fled from Europe which meant production of steel decreased by 45% and pig iron by 54% in 1929.
After the War the British cotton industry was undercut and number of people employed fell by 50%
THE IMPACT OF ALL THESE INDUSTIRES COLLAPSING WAS HIGHTENED DUE TO GEOGRAPHICAL CONCENTRATION.
GOV INTERVENTION TO PROTECT INDUSTRY
"McKenna Duties". As the motor vehicle industry flourished the government introduced McKenna Duties which was a 33.3% tariff on the importing of commercial vehicles.
"The Safeguarding of industries act"
this was a way of protecting industries that could be of strategic importance to a world war in the future, in these cases a 33.3% was levied on foreign imports and was to last 5 years
Despite this, the government refused to put tariff help on staple industries to adhere to free trade.
IMPACT OF USA Wall Street CRASH ON UK
The USA was Britain's biggest trade partners so when the US erected trade barriers British Businesses could no longer export to America which made people lose their jobs and unemployment soared
income from the USA was the main way that Britain paid debts, so with the loss of trade the government could not meet debt repayments.
THE USA CALLED IN LOANS.
Britain was owed money by (Russia, Italy, France) and other allies
Britiain's return to the Gold Standard when gold prices were very high caused British exports expensive
PROSPERITY FOR SOME
Some areas of Britain like the Midlands and the South East benefitted from the depression.
This is because they had many workers had skills which were adaptable to many of the light industries.
The New Light industries were able to meet the growing demand for leisure goods like, Motor Vehicles, refrigerators and radios.
In 1913 33,000 cars were made in 1923 95,000 cars were made and in 1927 511,000 cars were made
The housing industry was also revived in 1930s as between 1924 and 1935 1 million houses were made.
UNEMPLOYMENT 1936
5.6% were unemployed in South East and 28.5% were unemployed in Wales.
30.6% Were unemployed in shipbuilding and 3.8% were unemployed in Finance.
