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Political changes in the roaring twenties
Political life in roaring twenties
Essay on politics of the 1920's
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Assess the Claim that the Labour Governments of 1924 and 1929-31 Were Unable to Achieve Anything
In 1924, for the first time the Labour government was appointed, headed by leader Ramsay Macdonald. At this time, a topic of much political debate was trade, Conservatives adopting a protectionist policy contrasting with the Liberal and Labour views in favour of free trade, and as the strongest free trade party it was asked to take office. Their main aims in 1924 were to deal with the increase in relative poverty in the country, mainly the situation of living conditions, and economically to restrict expenditure and maintain a balanced budget, known as retrenchment. It was also an important aim of the 1924 Labour government to prove themselves fit to govern, as a minority government they were under pressure to please, which many argue compromised the ideals of the party in an attempt to stay in power.
It must be considered when viewing the achievements of Labour that in 1924, the Labour government was not in a position to push ahead with radical policies, as a minority in the house of commons a Conservative vote and abstinence of a liberal support would have brought the government down. A heavy reliance on the liberals existed in the first labour government which some argue restricted them heavily, policies such as nationalisation and disarmament had no chance of being implemented. Also due to its reliance on the Liberals its relationship with trade unions was damaged as they felt they were not being represented as well as promised. To labour this was a large problem as trade unions provided most of their funds, however to be too sympathetic to the unions would make it difficult to project an image of their party as genuinely national. Labour theorised that a gradual series of changes would be more beneficial to their aims, and using their rise to power in 24 as foundation stone to prove their capability in government, their socialist views were still present, however were a realistic take on Labours ability to bring change to Britain, which was at this point vastly limited.
They did, however, manage to pass the Wheatley Housing Act, providing subsidies to local authorities to build housing for the working class, addressing the threat of disease spread by poor housing and sanitation.
...rial unionists in Winnipeg influenced to strike? Well, the Canadian government dove into the Great War the moment England asked for their help. Canada’s, “help,” also included taking out many farmers and privately-owned businesses. Also, the Communist party gained support by the Canadian government after the October Revolution in Russia. Too late did the Canadian government realize the strength of Communism. Then, to top it all off, by fully investing industries in the war the government set itself up to fall economically the moment the war ended. While the industries did not see this, the workers did. These same workers took the initiative to take power away from the rich, and give it back to the Unions. These revolutionary industrial unionists, through one strike in one city, were able to change industries throughout Canada for decades after they went on strike.
Organized labour thereafter was hostile towards the Conservatives, particularly Meighen and Robertson, for their forcefull role in putting down the strike. Combined with high tariffs in the federal budget passed in the same year which farmers disliked, this contributed to the Conservatives' heavy defeat in the 1921 election. Succeeding Liberal government, made sure that the Winnipeg General Strike resulted in much improved working conditions for millions of Canadians. Liberal government under the young leader William Lyon Mackenzie King.
Tom Gatenby To what extent did the Conservatives lose the election rather than the Liberals win the election? “The election of 1906 was a significant watershed in the political history of Britain” Kenneth Owen Fox The election of 1906 was a landside victory for the Liberal Party. This is due to many factors, it could been influenced by the manifesto of the Liberal Party, or perhaps even more strongly the failure of the Conservative Party to unify on such reforms as the Tariff Reform. The lack of a strong unified Conservative government clearly had a large effect upon the outcome of the 1906 election, to what extent this is true will be explained in the essay.
Coming into the 1930’s, the United States underwent a severe economic recession, referred to as the Great Depression. Resulting in high unemployment and poverty rates, deflation, and an unstable economy, the Great Depression considerably hindered American society. In 1932, Franklin Roosevelt was nominated to succeed the spot of presidency, making his main priority to revamp and rebuild the United States, telling American citizens “I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people," (“New” 2). The purpose of the New Deal was to expand the Federal Government, implementing authority over big businesses, the banking system, the stock market, and agricultural production. Through the New Deal, acts were passed to stimulate the economy, aid banks, alleviate environmental problems, eliminate poverty, and create a stronger central government (“New”1).
The lack of success of the movements for women’s suffrage in achieving their aims by 1918 cannot be held accountable to solely one reason due to the abundance of causes for this. Voting, however, was not the only area where women were subjected to inequitable treatment: in1850 women were regarded as second class citizens. It was common belief that their brain was smaller than their male peers and they were therefore provided with very little or no form of education which, consequentially, meant that jobs for women were unskilled and low paid. Many professions would not employ a female as it was considered that a woman’s place was in the home. Politics was an additional area where women were uninvolved. Political parties (except Labour) argued mainly against women’s suffrage. Certain individuals claimed that involving women in the world of politics would be wrong due to biological reasons. Movement groups who included women’s suffrage as part of their aims included National Union of Woman’s Suffrage Society (NUWSS) and the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU). Each of these movements employed very different tactics from each other in the hope that their message would be conveyed effectively and action would be taken by the public and the government. Tactics utilised by these movements – the WSPU in particular – have been cited as a reason for the lack of success in winning the vote for women due to the government and public attitudes caused by their methods. Other factors, however, influenced the lack of success too, for example the arrival of World War I and other subjects that were occupying the government’s attention at that time like the miners and dockers strike and the naval race with Germany as World War I lo...
...y through their lobbying of contradictory legislation and alienated themselves socially through their inability to form a common front to rally behind. Thus, with politics and society turned against the unions the movement was destined for failure. However, the unions’ biggest failures came in the form of economic losses especially within the loss of value in the laborer. However, it is the precedent that the early organized labor movement set forth that was the most detrimental to the laborer, as an intense debate over labor unions in the private sector continues today, with only 6.7% of privatized workers unionized. The organized labor movement failed incredibly in improving the position of the laborer that it only managed to hurt the laborer and thus failed so much so to be stripped of its formal name and leaving only leaving what it truly was; unions of disunion.
In the 1930s, the economy was in turmoil due to the stock market crash in 1929. The United States unemployment rate was at its high of twenty-five percent between 1932 and 1933. It was very hard for Pete to find a job.1 More than ten million citizens were out of work. In verse after verse, ”Talking Union” described how to start a union: pass out leaflets, call meetings, resist the attempts of the boss to derail those efforts, for “he’s a bastard-unfair-slave driver-Bet he beats his own wife.”2 March of 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt took power and he pledged to save the economy from danger using a plan called the New Deal. The New Deal was a plan to boost the economy back up to its normal state. He pledged to use federal power to ensure a more equitable distribution of income and promised “bold experimentation” in pursuit of what he called a “New Deal” for Americans.3 Roosevelt later stated, “when Americans suffered, h...
When the Great Depression occurred right around 1930, William Lyon Mackenzie King and his government did not respond strongly . Although the depression was evidently obvious, King believed that the economic crisis was temporarily and only patience was needed to overcome it . It took a while for King to realize how the depression was affecting the politics . King believed that welfare was a provincial responsibility and no one else’s . During the depression, all provinces wanted to increase the tax in Ottawa, but he did not understand the concept of it since other provinces were going to use the tax for themselves. King thought that it was necessary for the provinces to take initiative and increase their taxes . As the depression hit rock bottom many Canadians were unemployed. As Canada was changing right in front of his eyes, King’s perspectives did not show change. In one of his speeches he declared, “I submit that there is not evidence in Canada today of an emergency situation which demands anything of that kind” . King did not face with depression in the most orderly matter but he was a great Liberal leader, he kept the Liberals together when the Conservatives were falling apart and new political parties were developed to compete for the votes . During the depression, King held an election that was one of the most important events that occurred in...
...r labor issues of all ages, all fronts were attacked with full pride and confidence. Abandoned or diverted projects in the Progressive movement included many other reform issues that were reinstated during the New Deal. During the New Deal, legislations passed greatly improved the stature of many people who suffered great injustice prior to the Depression and especially during. The Progressive movement, at one time led by Woodrow Wilson and his crusade “triple wall of privilege,” compares directly to Roosevelt and his “three R’s,” both crusading for justice against the ignorance and deception taking place against the ordinary man. These everlasting accomplishments to improve the nation were all completed by the determination and perseverance of the reform groups of the Progressive era, which lay the groundwork for the New Deal, and Franklin Roosevelt, providing a resurgence for what the Progressive movement couldn’t accomplish.
The first president of the 1920’s was Warren G. Harding. campaigned on the promise of a "return to normalcy." Normalcy, according to Harding , meant a government that was pro-business, anti-tax, and anti-regulation (Shmoop Editorial Team 1). Harding's Treasury Secretary, Andrew Mellon cut income tax rates for the wealthiest Americans from 73% to 25% (Shmoop Editorial Team 1). The capital energized the booming stock market. During his presidency Harding had accomplished persuading the steel industry t...
In the initial Period from 1919-1929 there was this period of turmoil there were several things that happened from 1923 - 1924, one of which was having civil wars to drive out the communist government. The SPD and the KPD were closely aligned and the SPD pulled out and did not return until 1928. In the spring of 1924 the Dawes Plan was sent to the German Government. The German government did not ratify the Dawes Plan until late September /early October of 1924. In May 4, 1924 and December 7, 1924 elections were held and the NSDAP was formed, g...
Once in office, Roosevelt quickly worked to resolve the issues brought forth by the Great Depression. In 1935, the federal government guaranteed unions the right to organize and bargain collectively. Also the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 was imp...
...oard to oversee the elections of unions and they stopped business owners from mistreating their workers. FDR also passed the Social Security Act of 1935 which promised pensions to many Americans, also created a system that insured the unemployed and promised that the government would take care of dependent children and the disabled people.
In This essay I will look at what is new about New Labour in regard to