During the 1920`s many economic problems occurred in Britain. However the main problems did not occur until 1929 when the Wall Street Crash occurred. The Wall Street Crash involved share prices falling to about 1/4 or even less than what they were bought for. This essay will examine how Britain was affected during the 1930`s and will look at the reforms introduced by the National Government. This will be done by examining four areas namely Depression, Labours Response, National Governments Response and other reasons for recovery. By examining these four areas it will hopefully become evident whether or not the reforms introduced by the National Government contributed to economic recovery.
Depression was felt world wide especially in America and Britain. America was affected by the wall street crash more than other countries because many people held shares and due to prices falling were unable to pay their debts which led to financial ruin. Due to many people relying on trade from America and little money being available meant that America could not provide trade to the same extent as previous years. Britain was badly hit by depression in areas where industries such as coal, steal and shipbuilding were based. Due to demand for trade in these areas being low many of these industries had to lay off their workforce or even close down. Due to these redundancies and closures the levels of unemployment rose. Areas in Britain which were drastically affected by these closures were Clydeside, South Wales, the North East of England and Northern Ireland. During this time of high unemployment figures peaked at 3 million. This level of unemployment stayed the same for !.
a period of three years.
Overall it can be seen that depression occurred world wide and that full economic recovery was going to be hard to achieve. It can also be seen that it was going to take a long time to achieve full economic recovery especially in areas which relied on traditional industries.