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A Level History > BRITAIN Trades union militancy 1915-27 PART 1 > Flashcards

BRITAIN Trades union militancy 1915-27 PART 1 Flashcards

1
Q

How much of the globe’s land had Britain controlled pre-WW1?

A

1/3

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2
Q

What was Britain’s wealth mainly derived from pre-WW1?

A

Heavy industry, built on iron production and coal mining

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3
Q

How many British people were killed in WW1?

A

820,000+

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4
Q

What did the increased demands for labour during the war allow workers to do?

A

Campaign for improvements

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5
Q

How much of the nation’s workforce did working-class labourers make up?

A

70%

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6
Q

When was the rise of the trade union movement?

A

1915-26

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7
Q

How did membership of the trade unions change between 1913-19?

A

4,189,000 members to 8,081,000 members

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8
Q

Why was the nationalisation of industry a positive for the trade unions?

A

Brought them into direct contact with the government and allowed for direct negotiations

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9
Q

How many men were there in Britain at the beginning of WW1?

A

15 million

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10
Q

How many men were recruited for combat in WW1?

A

4,970,000 for army; 407,000 for navy; 293,000 for air force

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11
Q

What was industrial production like in July 1915?

A

Mining production had fallen 21.8%; iron and steel production was down 18.8%; shipbuilding fell 16.5%

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12
Q

By when were coal miners demanding a 20% rise in wages to meet growing living expenses?

A

March 1915

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13
Q

Who was at the forefront of efforts to unite union militancy pre-WW1?

A

Ernest Bevin; James Henry Thomas

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14
Q

When did Bevin become a trade union official for the Docker’s Union?

A

1911

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15
Q

When was the NTWF formed?

A

1910

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16
Q

When was Bevin elected to the executive committee of the NTWF?

A

1916

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17
Q

What does NTWF stand for?

A

National Transport Workers’ Federation

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18
Q

Which constituency was Bevin defeated in as the parliamentary candidate for in 1918?

A

Central Bristol

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19
Q

What was Bevin pivotal in during the war?

A

Forming NTWF policy

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20
Q

Who was responsible for the NUR and instrumental in its formation?

A

James Henry Thomas

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21
Q

What does NUR stand for?

A

National Union of Railwaymen

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22
Q

What had Thomas originally worked for after growing up in poverty?

A

Great Western Railway (GWR)

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23
Q

What did Thomas become in 1910?

A

Labour MP for Derby

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24
Q

What did Thomas oversee in 1911?

A

1911 national rail strike, the first of its kind

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25
Q

When was the NUR created?

A

1913

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26
Q

What did Thomas serve as in the NUR originally?

A

Assistant secretary

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27
Q

When did Thomas become general secretary of the NUR?

A

1916

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28
Q

How did Thomas feel about the WW1?

A

Supported it

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29
Q

When did Lloyd George’s coalition government form?

A

Late 1916

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30
Q

How was Thomas able to support Lloyd George’s coalition government?

A

By cracking down on unofficial strikes and ensuring reasonable industrial harmony

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31
Q

Who did Thomas work with from within parliament to secure improvements to workers’ pay and conditions?

A

Lloyd George

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32
Q

What did Thomas do after the war?

A

Worked on the TUC General Council in 1921-24 and 1925-29

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33
Q

What separated Bevin and Thomas?

A

Thomas got on well with the upper classes- favourite of King George V and a friend of aristocrats/plutocrats

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34
Q

What did both Bevin and Thomas eagerly promote at the beginning of the war?

A

Formation of the Triple Alliance

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35
Q

What does MFGB stand for?

A

Miners’ Federation of Great Britain

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36
Q

Which unions formed the Triple Alliance?

A

MFGB; NTWF; NUR

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37
Q

When was the Triple Alliance formed?

A

1914

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38
Q

What did Bevin and Thomas believe that the Triple Alliance would allow?

A

Effective co-ordination of strike action

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39
Q

When did Thomas work on the newly formed parliamentary committee of the TUC?

A

1917-21

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40
Q

What did the TUC General Council replace?

A

Parliamentary committee of the TUC

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41
Q

What was the government’s response to fears over insufficient shell and ammunition production?

A

Munitions of War Act 1915

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42
Q

What did the Munitions of War Act 1915 do?

A

Brought private companies supplying essential wartime supplies under the authority of the ministry of munitions

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43
Q

What was the ministry of munitions empowered to do by the Munitions of War Act 1915?

A

Resolve industrial conflicts

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44
Q

How regularly did the ministry of munitions revise national wages during the war?

A

Every 4 months

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45
Q

When did the ministry of munitions grant a 12.5% bonus to skilled workers in engineering and foundries?

A

October 1917

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46
Q

What did the 12.5% bonus for skilled workers result in?

A

Strikes by semi-skilled and unskilled labourers; government forced to extend wartime bonus to all workers

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47
Q

Who did the Munitions of War Act 1915 place constraints on?

A

Skilled workers in essential industries

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48
Q

How were some workers targeted by the Munitions of War Act 1915?

A

Skilled workmen could not leave employment without a leaving certificate from their previous employer

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49
Q

What issues did the leaving certificates cause?

A

Handed employers immense power over their workers; no competition for labour

50
Q

What did the leaving certificates effectively become?

A

‘Character notes’

51
Q

What is dilution?

A

Practice of employing unskilled or semi-skilled workers as skilled workers

52
Q

What was another grievance for wartime workers?

A

Dilution

53
Q

Where was there particular protest about dilution?

A

On the Clyde- 14,000 female workers were employed, which caused strikes in May 1917

54
Q

Which sector did not suffer from dilution?

A

Coal mining

55
Q

What was a particular complaint of the coal miners?

A

Miners recruited for the army were often the older workers

56
Q

When did the government compromise with the coal miners about the men it would conscript?

A

April 1916- it required miners for tunnelling operations under the trenches of the Somme battlefield

57
Q

What was the compromise that the government made with the coal miners about the men it would conscript?

A

Agreed to take on miners who had entered work since 1914 and were single

58
Q

Why did strikes break out in March 1915 in South Wales?

A

Union members concerned that shortage of labour had meant that many new men were employed in mines who were not members of unions

59
Q

When did the employment of non-union members become so serious that the government had to intervene?

A

March 1916

60
Q

How did the government intervene about the issue of the employment of non-union members?

A

Made employers make trade union membership a condition of employment for all miners for duration of war

61
Q

Where was the centre of industrial unrest during the war and the heart of British heavy industry?

A

Glasgow; shipyards and workshops on the river Clyde

62
Q

How much of the workforce did Glasgow compose?

A

35%

63
Q

What was the area along the river Clyde referred to as?

A

‘Red Clydeside’

64
Q

What was Manny Shinwell an early member of?

A

ILP

65
Q

What did Manny Shinwell join in 1906?

A

Glasgow Trades Council as a delegate of the union

66
Q

When was Manny Shinwell prominent in Clydeside?

A

During the national dock strikes of 1911

67
Q

What job did Bevin do originally?

A

Van driving

68
Q

What job did Thomas do originally?

A

Engine driving

69
Q

What job did Shinwell do originally?

A

Worked in a clothing workshop

70
Q

What did Shinwell do during the war?

A

Worked as a local secretary of the Glasgow branch of the British Seafarer’s Union

71
Q

What did Shinwell earn his fame for?

A

Militancy against the police

72
Q

What did Shinwell do unsuccessfully in 1918?

A

Stood as the Labour candidate for West Lothian

73
Q

What was Shinwell’s significance during the 40-hour strike 1919?

A

Key figure in securing the support of the seafarers for the strike

74
Q

When did Shinwell become a Labour MP?

A

1922

75
Q

What was Shinwell appointed as in Ramsay Macdonald’s 1924 Labour government?

A

Parliamentary secretary to the mines department

76
Q

How long did Shinwell spend in prison after being found guilty of incitement to riot?

A

5 months

77
Q

Why was Shinwell found guilty of incitement to riot?

A

40-hour strike 1919

78
Q

What job did James Maxton do originally?

A

Teaching

79
Q

What were Maxton’s beginnings?

A

Born in Glasgow into a Conservative family

80
Q

Why did Maxton turn to socialism?

A

Shocked by poverty of his Glaswegian students

81
Q

When did Maxton join the ILP?

A

1904

82
Q

When was Maxton chairman of the Scottish Labour Party?

A

1913-19

83
Q

How did Maxton feel about the war?

A

Opposed it and made regular speeches condemning the conflict

84
Q

Why did Maxton become involved in union militancy?

A

Refused to be conscripted into the army; was sent to work on barges instead

85
Q

What did Maxton become part of during the war?

A

Clyde Workers’ Committee

86
Q

What was the Clyde Workers’ Committee formed to campaign against?

A

Munitions of War Act 1915

87
Q

When did the Clyde Workers’ Committee originally come together?

A

October 1915

88
Q

When was Maxton arrested, serving a year in prison?

A

1916

89
Q

What happened to Maxton in 1918?

A

Elected to the National Council of the Labour Party

90
Q

When were the leaving certificates abolished?

A

1917

91
Q

What was the Munitions of War Amendment Act of January 1916 introduced in response to?

A

August 1915 Fairfield Yard strikes about leaving certificates

92
Q

When was the Glasgow Rent strike?

A

1915

93
Q

When did the Glasgow Rent strike continue until?

A

May 1916

94
Q

How did the Glasgow Rent strike start?

A

Housewives in Govan, the city centre, protested by refusing to pay rent

95
Q

Who led the Glasgow Women’s Housing Association?

A

Mary Barbour; Helen Crawford; Agnes Dollan

96
Q

When was the Glasgow Women’s Housing Association formed?

A

1914

97
Q

Why were people unhappy before the Glasgow Rent strikes?

A

Discontent grew out of the desire for all society to share the sacrifices war entailed

98
Q

What specifically led to the Glasgow Rent strikes?

A

Influx of workers to the city to sustain increased wartime production caused housing shortages; property owners took this opportunity to dramatically increase rents

99
Q

What legislation did the government pass in response to the Glasgow Rent strikes?

A

Rents and Mortgage Interest Restriction Act

100
Q

What did the Rents and Mortgage Interest Restriction Act do?

A

Limited rent and mortgage rents to the levels at which they had been pre-war

101
Q

When did the government introduce the Rents and Mortgage Interest Restriction Act?

A

25 November 1915

102
Q

What had caused the government to pass the Rents and Mortgage Interest Restriction Act?

A

Under Maxton, the Clydeside Workers’ Committee threatened to call a general strike in support of the rent strikes

103
Q

When did the shipbuilders come out in support of the women protesting in the Glasgow Rent strike?

A

17 November 1915

104
Q

Why was the Glasgow Rent strike significant?

A

Showed the extent of influence the labouring classes had attained under wartime conditions

105
Q

When did the government become increasingly worried that a socialist revolution might develop in Glasgow?

A

1915-19

106
Q

When was the 40-hour strike?

A

January 1919

107
Q

What organised the 40-hour strike?

A

Joint Strike Committee

108
Q

What was the 40-hour strike in protest of?

A

A 40-hour week to combat huge surplus of labour post-WW1

109
Q

Where had workers secured a reduction in working hours in early 1919?

A

Clydeside; Belfast

110
Q

What reduction in working hours had workers secured in early 1919?

A

From 53 per week to 47

111
Q

Where was the most intense strike action during the 40-hour strike?

A

Belfast

112
Q

Where did a riot break out in Glasgow, as the authorities overreacted to the strike action?

A

George Square

113
Q

What did the 1919 general strike mark?

A

Change in attitude- trade union-organised industrial workers realised the potential for militant protest to influence government policy

114
Q

How was the 1919 general strike action represented in London?

A

London Underground went on stike

115
Q

When did it genuinely seem as if Britain was on the brink of a revolution?

A

February-March 1919

116
Q

What specifically sparked the government’s fears of a socialist revolution in the 40-hour strike?

A

Raising of the red flag on the municipal flagpole

117
Q

How did fears of socialist agitation affect the influence of the trade unions?

A

Increased it

118
Q

Who remarked that the trade unions were an important tool in preventing post-war discontent from spiralling out of control?

A

Winston Churchill

119
Q

Why did unions benefit from fears of a revolution?

A

Government hoped that they would control industrial unrest

120
Q

When did Glasgow become a centre of Labour support?

A

1919-22

121
Q

When was Clydeside at the forefront of the labour movement’s increasing influence?

A

1915-19

A Level History (34 decks)

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