The Success of the First Two Labour Governments was Outweighed by the Failures in Britain

In dealing with the economic depression of the 1930s, it is my opinion that the recovery of Britain was mainly due to the stages of rearmament in the run-up to the Second World War. This is not to say, however, that the National Government failed to combat the rises in unemployment, reaching a peak of three million, and the ruined staple industries, they implemented several policies to reboot the economy and lessen the impact on the people.

How successful were the national governments in bringing economic recovery in Britain in the years 1931-1939?

Before the Whitlam Government became in power, the federal government’s involvement in education was small and limited to granting the odd income tax concessions, scholarships and to direct participation in the funding of universities and selected school facilities. Universities were the only form of education that received specific Commonwealth grants before 1962-1963, by which the Commonwealth had funded universities with half their running costs (Blackburn, 1993). Pre-school, with having their short hours and limited age coverage, which made it difficult for many mothers to have access to2. The Women’s Electoral Lobby had a campaign before the

– a point I will go onto in my next paragraph) means Kerensky has to

President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal in the 1930’s and President Lyndon B. Johnson Great Society in the 1960’s had several policies, which led to some good outcomes and some not so much. New norms that guided and redefined administration organizations led to the development of schools and educators and to the courses offered for the students. The great society held instruction with less eagerness yet viewed as not that critical. Rather the great society concentrated on more positions globally and acquiring government relief. The New Deal was to fix the unemployment by creating jobs and improve the economy. The Great Society was supporting Civil Rights, lower the unemployment, create a welfare state, and desegregation in education.

President Roosevelt's New Deal program during the 1930's failed to aid impoverished African-American citizens. The New Deal followed a long, historical chronology of American failures in attempts to ensure economic prosperity and racial equality. During the nearly seventy years after the conclusion of the Civil War, the United States faced a series of economic depressions, unmotivated Congress,' and a series of mediocre presidents. With the exception of Teddy Roosevelt, few presidents were able to enact anti-depression mechanisms and minimize unemployment. The America of the 1920's was a country at its lowest economic and social stature facing a terrible depression and increasing

World War II was a period that changed many countries forever after the war ended: Germany was split in two, an iron curtain fell across the continent shortly after the war’s end, and acres of land and millions of people were destroyed and lost in the war. However, many changes happened during the war as well, and this is easily observed in Britain during the beginning of the war, when the country was constantly being bombed and attacked during the Battle of Britain. The Battle of Britain forced British citizens to change their mindset as a society and as a functioning economy in a split second, regardless of whether or not the people were ready for it.

As soon as Franklin Roosevelt came to power, he was quick to react to the countries needs. The text states, “Swift legislation regulated the stock market and the banking system, improved the agricultural economy, and introduced a social security program” (“Great Depression”). Franklin Roosevelt was swift in recognizing the problems facing the country and attempted to solve the issues. His legislation focused on securing the economy and beginning to built back up the trust between the government and the American people. It was successful, to an extent. People did begin to trust the government again but economic decline would not stop immediately. There were signs of progress; From 1933 to 1938 the economy experienced growth. Unemployment fell and national income increased (Jeffries). This statistic shows that New Deal reforms had some positive impact on the economy. They also succeeded in restoring confidence to the average person which was extremely important at the time. This statistic does not, however, reflect that this growth was very small relative to the growth experienced during World War II. New Deal policies failed to ever achieve enough economic growth to push the nation out of the depression. Another cornerstone of the New Deal was its campaign to make life more safe. The New Deal worked to make life less risky, and in a sense it did through acts

Between 1906 and 1914 the liberal democrats where in power, at this time it was becoming apparent that poverty was a big problem in Britain and reports from two men, Charles Booth and Seebolm Rowntree who had interests in social reform and the poorest off people of Britain, showed that many people in Britain where living below the poverty line. The liberals realised that in order to stay in power they had to make social changes and leave behind old laissez faire liberal ideas. Because of the level of poverty many families lived in bad housing had a poor diet and poor health. The Liberal government began a series of reforms aimed at helping

On March 4th, 1933 one of the most successful and influential individuals in history took presidential office in the United States of America. “Franklin Delano Roosevelt stands with Abraham Lincoln as a founder of the modern American nation.” President Roosevelt took office immediately after the what was arguably the worst financial collapse in history coined, The Great Depression. With astronomical levels of unemployment and extreme poverty, FDR’s New Deal policy was established to restore production and stability. He promised change and allowed for a Democratic union to form. During the Great Depression, the labor movement experienced exponential growth and tremendously favorable influence; the federal government passed legislation legally

‘The Labour governments of 1964-1970 were more successful than the Labour governments of 1974-1979.’ How far do you agree?

This would mean that wartime coalition ministers from all major parties were far more willing to cooperate with each other. Paul Addison (1975) argued that pre-war and wartime conditions led to a unique situation in post war Britain which led to a coming together of thinking in politics and society. This was strongly influenced by the Beveridge Report’s ‘Five Giants’. As mentioned before, this cooperation was also aided by the fact that fears of an extreme Labour government in 1945 had been disproved, meaning that key policy makers in the Conservative Government could be seen to be ‘One Nation Tories’; keen to build on national cooperation to maintain and essential post war consensus. Another fundamental aspect of post war consensus was the idea of the necessity of a ‘Big Government’; many Conservatives were now convinced of the government intervention in social and economic policies, resulting in them being far more in tune with public opinion and so accepted Labour's welfare policies such as Keynesian economics. With regard to Winston Churchill, his government were seen to indeed follow Keynesian economics, but

We are all aware of the controversies surrounding the Treaty of Versailles and the End of World War I. Historically, most scholars believe that the treaty significantly contributed to events that would ultimately unfold as World War II and was ultimately unsatisfactory to all sides. Despite the agreement of war reparations to be paid, the Interwar period in Britain was devastating from an economic perspective. Prior to the War, Britain could simply not conceive of a world in which it was not at the apex of power. The cost of the war to all participants was, of course, devastating. Britain experienced almost 1 million deaths, or a bit over 2.2% of its population, with another 1.6 million wounded. Another 36,000 colonials died, which also had an effect on the economic welfare

The economy appeared to have stabalised with the introduction of the Dawes Plan. Before 1924, Germany was experiencing hyperinflation. The old Papiermark was rapidly depreciating and so Germany had to print more and more of it to pay reparations. By December 1922

In order to try to pay the reparations, Germany started to print money and ended up with hyperinflation. There was economic instability. The reparation payment in particular caused great difficulties for the government and the people. When Germany failed to make a payment in 1923, the French and Belgium army marched in and took control of the Ruhr, a key industrial area of Germany.