UK History 1906-1945 PDF

# CM HISTOIRE DU ROYAUME-UNI # THE UK FROM 1906 TO 2016 ## Part 1: From 1906 to 1945 ### Chapter 1: Major reforms of the political system - Until the 19th century, only the Conservative Party and the Liberal Party were in power. The Labour Party appeared in the 20th century. The first Labour governm...

# CM HISTOIRE DU ROYAUME-UNI # THE UK FROM 1906 TO 2016 ## Part 1: From 1906 to 1945 ### Chapter 1: Major reforms of the political system - Until the 19th century, only the Conservative Party and the Liberal Party were in power. The Labour Party appeared in the 20th century. The first Labour government was led by MacDonald (between the 2 wars), it was a minority government. Labour then formed his first majority government in 1945 (end of the war). - There was major change in the UK political system after WW1. Asquith and Lloyd-George were both from the Liberal Party. After 1922, there was no Liberal Prime Minister, they were no more able to form government. There were still 2 main parties: The Conservative Party and The Labour Party. The Liberals were increasingly divided between different leaders and about the main issues of the time. Labour was increasingly attractive for the majority of the population (the working class) so Labour was seen as the best to respond the needs of this class. The Conservative Party has always been one of the 2 major parties. - In Britain, one party usually gets an overall majority. Usually, parties can rely on their majority so political parties can govern on their own but there are exceptions. Coalition governments during the two World Wars were formed, they included members of the 3 major parties. There were 3 coalition governments (wars): Asquith, Lloyd-George and Churchill. Parties had to govern together during the wars and the financial crisis. The Conservatives under Cameron didn't have an overall majority so they formed a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats. In 1976, under a Labour PM called Callaghan, Labour lost its overall majority. They didn't form a coalition but the Labour government signed a pact with the Liberal Party so there were no Liberal ministers. Liberal members of Parliament were expected to support the Labour government. - The Labour Party, the second largest party, was founded in 1901 by Trade Unions and by a society called "The Fabian Society". It was composed of middle-class intellectuals. It was first called "Labour Representation Committee" and then "Labour Party" in 1906. Trade Unions always remained influencial within the party. - At the beginning, the members of the Labour Party were only members of organisations. From 1918, it was open to individual members. This provision was part of its new constitution. There was another provision which was the aim of the party. There was common ownership of the means of production that is to say the nationalisation of strategic structures of the economy: "Workers by hand and workers by brain would secure the full fruit of their production". There would be a fairer distribution of profits. - The Labour Party aimed at attracting the lower classes but also the middle classes as a moderate party committed to lawful means (standing for elections) and it would soon prove to be much more appealing than the old Liberal Party which declined. - In the interwar years, in many European countries, new parties were set up on the far-right, inspired by fascism, and the far-left, inspired by the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. There were similar parties in the UK. The fascist party was called "The New Party" and led by Mosley. On the far-left, there was a small communist party. However "The New Party" never gained any MPs and the communist party gained at most 2 MPs. - There were 2 main reasons for that. First, the electoral system which leads to the over-representation of the two main parties in the UK and the under-representation of other parties making it almost impossible for new parties to enter Parliament. That's why the Liberals became a minor party in the 1920s. Their leaders demanded a reform of the electoral system to make it more proportionnal so that every party would gain a number of seats that was proportionnal to their share of votes. They would voice such demands throughout the 20th century. The 2nd reason why communists and the fascist party failed was that Britain had already 2 main parties: a right-wing party called The Conservatives and The Labour Party as a left-wing party. Both have broad objectives which cover all forms of ideas from the center to the extreme. - The press was very influencial and in particular the popular press. The influencial owners of the popular papers were quite concerned with the rise of the Labour Party. So in 1924, the Daily Mail published articles pretending that Labour was supported by Russia (3rd international power) as to give the impression that Labour was in fact close to communism. ### II/ British Institutions #### A/ Monarchy - The 19th century was dominated by the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901). Queen Victoria was succeeded by his son Edward VII (quite old when came to the throne so a short reign). Then Edward VII (1901-1910) was succeeded by George V (1910-1936). The Act of Settlement passed in 1701 (still in force) excludes Catholics from the throne. The Royal Family has German roots with George I (Act of Settlement) and Prince Albert (Queen Victoria's husband). Because of the First World War, they changed the name of the family into Windsor. - Edward VIII abdicated before his coronation to marry Wallis Simpson who had divorced twice. The public authorities had to confirm the succession (they would never accept Edward VIII as king because of the life he led and of his wife). He was forced to abdicate. He was then succeeded by his brother George VI. George VI became soon popular during WW2 (quite close to the people). George VI was the father of Queen Elizabeth II. - Queen Elizabeth governed with many Prime Ministers. She gained experience through time. The monarch provides the PM with pieces of advice during their meeting once a week. She also managed to react properly when difficulties appeared (fire in Windsor Castle). After the fire in Windsor, there was a lot of criticism so she decided to pay taxes (to pay the damages of the fire). The Civil List is the money given by the government to the Royal Family (reduced to only her, her husband and her mother). The other members should rely on their own private estate. She reacted properly when Princess Diana died. The monarchy can only rely on the support of the people. - During the crisis that would lead to the abdication of Edward VIII, the popular press didn't mention the crisis at all. There was some kind of censorship. It was a problem that had to be dealt with by public authorities. The press only used the word "abdication" a few days before the abdication was officially announced. #### B/ Parliament - There were 2 major reforms. First in 1911, a reform about the powers of the House of Lords. Until then, the 2 Houses had the same powers. A bill had to be voted by the 2 Houses on the same term and either of the Houses could veto or block a bill altogether and the bill will never be passed. - In 1909, as for budget, a bill introduced, under the Liberal government led by Asquith, the Minister for Finance called The Chancellor of the Exchequer who was Lloyd-George. The budget included higher taxes for wealthy people (the upper classes) especially on luxury items (cars). The money collected would be used to pay for the very first pensions benefiting the working classes, those who didn't have any revenues when they were too old to work. This budget soon became "The People's Budget". It was vetoed by the House of Lords dominated by the upper classes belonging to The Conservative Party. So Lloyd-George and the Liberals who had long been committed to reforming the House of Lords ceased the opportunity. They passed a Parliament Act in 1911. Under this act, the House of Lords could no longer veto bills, it could only delay them for 1 month (for 2 years for most of the bills). The government had to overcome major difficulties because the bill had to be passed by the 2 Houses including the House of Lords. King George V had to interfere, he put pressure on some members of the House of Lords to secure that support. - As for the House of Commons, it became the most important chamber for the very first time. The bill also provided that elections would be held every 5 years at most (until then it was every 7 years). The same Act introduced a salary for all MPs. Some demands of the Chartist movement were met there. - There was another Act called "The Representation of the People Act" passed in 1918 which also reformed the House of Commons. The Act dealt with the right to vote. The Act of the Representation of the People meant that for the very first time the House of Commons would be fully representative of the people. This meant that, by the end of the century, all men were allowed to vote but there was still a residence qualification, men had to live in the same place for 1 year and this was removed in 1918. #### C/Women - The Representation of the People Act, which resulted at first from demands voiced by women themselves, would grant the right to vote to women. Women set up organisations. The first one called "The National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies" was set up in 1897 and led by Mrs Fawcett. She wanted to act through lawful means that is to say encouraging MPs to pass a bill in Parliament. Her movement was nicknamed "The Suffragists". - But some women thought it was not sufficient. So they set up another organisation led by Mrs Pankhurst and her daughters. They were soon nicknamed "The Suffragettes". So the 2nd organisation called "Women's Social and Political Union" was set up in 1903. This organisation was prepared to use unlawful means, violent actions in particular against properties belonging to the Elite. They were prepared to be imprisoned and many of them were indeed in prison. In prison, they would often go on hunger strike, arguing that they shouldn't be imprisoned for political ideas. Of course, the Liberal government didn't want them to die, so quite often public authorities would force them to be fed. - As this was not enough, in 1913, an Act was passed and soon nicknamed "The Cat and Mouse Act". This act enabled women in prison and on hunger strike to be released, they would recover and be in prison again. There was even a woman called Emily Davidson who threw herself under the King's horses. Some of them were very radical, prepared to go very far. But politicians were not prepared to listen to them, to pay attention to their claim. Even the most progressive parties, the Liberals that were in power, even Labour politicians, contended that the priority should be the improvement of the living conditions of the working classes (male or female) not political rights for women. - Then when WW1 broke out, there was a kind of truce. There would be no demonstrations during the war. But the war was very important for the demands of these women. Indeed during the war, women would prove that they were essential for the British economy. Indeed, many men had to leave Britain to fight (soldiers in particular in the North of France) and they were replaced by women in factories. By the end of the war, granting the vote to women seemed much more natural. Yet male politicians still feared women. So in "The Representation of the People Act of 1918", they only granted vote to women over the age of 30 whereas men were allowed to vote from the age of 21. The first women entered the House of Commons. There were only four of them. 10 years later, when politicians realised that women voted for the same parties as men, that women didn't threaten the political system, the age gap was removed and women were allowed to vote from the age of 21. #### D/ The media - At the time, there was an increasing importance of the media. There was also written newspapers. There was few newspapers at the beginning of the century. Popular newspapers appeared in the 19th and 20th centuries. At the beginning of the 20th century: The Daily Mail and The Daily Mirror were created. There were owned by members of the Elite (wealthy people) and these people were also influencial in politics. So press owners were very influencial. Murdoch owned both The Times and The Sun (popular, largest circulation). First, he supported the Conservatives but then he supported Tony Blair. Queen Elizabeth had to cope with the increasing influence of the press. All the details were published in the press: both sides manipulated the press. It was quite a disaster for the Royal Family. Elizabeth was still a role model. Things became more difficult with the increasing power of the press. - The broadcasting media appeared in the interwar years. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC): the radio was set up in 1922 and the television channel in 1936. It had a monopoly but was not allowed to deal with controversial issues. Press owners that were so influencial could pressure on public authorities but they feared this new rival. - In 1926, there was a general strike, newspapers were not printed so pieces of information were broadcast by the BBC. As a result, in 1928, the ban was removed. After the Second World War, private broadcasting media were created. First, ITV was created in 1956. It was a private company financed by advertisement. The BBC was founded by a fee. ITV was also a regional channel. Then in 1980, Channel 4 was created. It was another private media focused on culture. In Wales, Channel 4 would broadcast Welsh. - Another important step was in the 1990s with satellite television owned by a man who was already an influencial newspaper owner Murdoch. He had a majority state in the Sky group (he was then even more influencial in Britain). ### III/ National institutions #### A/ Scotland and Wales - Both Scotland and Wales were run by the British government. Scotland benefited from its own ministry within the British government. There was a Minister of Scottish government able to make Scottish demands and who also dealt with some institutions that were different from similar institutions in England (education, legal, justice..). Scotland also had its own established Church: The Church of Scotland that retained full autonomy which was confirmed with an Act passed in 1921. - Wales didn't have any ministry in the British government. What mattered most for the Welsh was to preserve their language and these demands were met at the term of the century when state schools were set up across the whole country. Welsh schools were allowed to teach Welsh. The Welsh were also concerned with religious matters. The Church of England remained the established Church in Wales, yet the majority of the pop belong to non-conformists churches, in particular the Methodist Church. In 1912, the Welsh succeeded in obtaining the disestablishment of the Church of England. #### B/ Ireland - Ireland was part of the UK. It had long been a British colony. Then, in 1900 it was united to the UK on the basis that was supposed to be equal. However, because of its long colonial past, Ireland was very different from Great Britain, in particular its economy was much poorer and based on agriculture. Its people were divided. Indeed, the majority of the population was catholic. So the Irish felt different. In the second half of the 20th century, there was "The Irish Party" led by Charles Parnell that led a majority in Ireland and was the representative of Ireland in the House of Commons. The party demanded Home Rule, which would mean the creation of Parliament in Dublin to deal with Ireland domestic affairs whereas other affairs such as foreign and economic policies would still be dealt with by the British Parliament and government. - Liberal governments were willing to grant Home Rule but there were bills vetoed by the House of Lords (dominated by the Conservatives). Something similar happened in 1912, it was the 3rd Home Rule Bill and a 3rd fail, yet The Parliament Act had been passed a year before: the House of Lords could no longer veto bills but delay them for 2 years at most. So Home Rule was supposed to be enforced 2 years later but the war broke out. So it would be after the War. Yet, Home Rule would never be enforced as initially thought. Indeed, there was a new political party in Ireland called "Sinn Féin" and founded in 1905. "Sinn Féin" demanded full independence, a catholic state and they were prepared to unlawful means. - In 1916, there was an uprising organised by a few people demanding full independence: they took over the main buildings in Dublin. The repression of British authorities was very harsh with imprisonment and even executions which would lead to a decisive shift of public opinion in Ireland. Independence used to be supported by a minority but by the end of the war it would become supported by the majority. Sinn Féin gained a majority of Irish seats during the 1918 general elections. But Sinn Féin would no longer take their seats in London in a foreign country. So they set up their own institution in Dublin called "Dail Eireann", their own courts, their own army and they collected their own taxes. - So Ireland had 2 governments: an unofficial one and an official one. The British government sent troops nicknamed Black and Tans. So there was a war but by 1921 there were negociations leading to treaties: The Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921. The British government accepted Ireland's independence. The new state would be called "The Irish Free State". However, there was one part in the North, a region called Ulster, that had a protestant majority. These protestants didn't want to be governed by the New Catholic state, they wanted to remain in the UK (protestant) so there was a repartition. Northern Ireland would remain in the UK and would benefit from Home Rule as the rest of the country became independent. - In Northern Ireland, Catholics were in a minority. The protestant majority was supposed to protect the catholic minority under "The Government of Ireland Act" passed in 1920. But such a provision would never be enforced. The protestant majority would openly discriminate against Catholics in Northern Ireland. - There were 2 stages in the interwar years. First, the "Irish New State", a state that remained quite close to the UK, in particular as for defense (army) and the Head of state would still be the British monarch. There were deep divisions in the new state over such issues. There were in fact 2 new parties in Ireland. The party "Fine Gael" (the moderate one) wanted to remain close to the UK. Another party called "Fianna Fail" wanted to break all remaining links with the UK. This party would gain a majority in the 1930s. In 1936, a constitution was passed creating a republic with its own elective head of state (President). Gaelic was the official language (Eire: name of the Rep) and the new constitution officially promoted Catholic principles. Indeed, the Catholic Church would be very influencial over public policies at least until the 1950s. - De Valera was one of the members of the rising. He was not executed (because he had an American descent). He was part of Parliament (in 1919). He was one of those who pretented that Ireland should be fully independent and he later became President of Ireland. Michael Collins was a much more moderate figure and would be assassinated in 1922 (regarding too moderate). The new Irish authorities also aimed at boosting the economic development of their country without remaining dependent on trade with Great Britain. Such aims would only be met in the 2nd hald of the century when Ireland joined the European Economic Community. - When WW2 broke out, the new Irish authorities claimed they were neutral. In fact, they helped the British with their troops. The Germans did try to manipulate some Irish people. ### Chapter 2: Economic decline - Britain had been at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution. But thanks to its manufacturing, Britain had to face fierce competition from 2 emerging powers: Germany and the USA. Britain's heavy industries still called shipyard declined as they failed to adapt to demands for new products. There were boosting during the 2 world wars because of the demands for guns. This decline would have consequences. First, there was a surge in unemployment. The government would interfere for the first time to help jobless people to find a job. In the Asquith government, Churchill was then a Liberal and part of this government. He created the first employment exchange in order to fill lacked jobs. - The government also collected the first statistics about unemployment. In 1921, about 1 million individuals were unemployed. This would get worse and worse because of the financial decline which would led soon to an economic crisis. An unemployment surge of 2 millions happened in 1929 and another one of 3 millions in 1932. - The whole industrial North (Central Scotland, North of England, West Midlands, South of Wales) was particularly hit. The North-South economic divide appeared. The government had to interfere in 1934 with "The Special Areas Act" offering grants and financial support to private companies willing to settle in those areas. The new industries that were developing were light industries, motor industries (cars). Some of them did cease the opportunity but most of them would favor the Midlands and the South. - A growing number of politicians were willing to abandon free trade in favor of protectionism. In the 19th century, Britain had abandoned protectionism when Britain no longer feared competition. That is why a large number of politicians called for protectionism at the beginning of the 20th century. The Conservatives were divided and the Liberals were against. - As a result of the 1929 crisis, a majority of British politicians changed their minds. In 1932, an Act called "The Import Duties Act of 1932" was passed. This Act restored custom duties on imported goods and protectionism in Britain and in the Empire. There were no duties on imports from the Empire. - Another symbol of Britain declined: the Pound. In the 19th century, as Britain was ahead, the Pound was an international currency. It was trusted. The Pound was a fix unit in terms of gold. In the early 30s, the gold standard had to be abandoned. ### Chapter 3: The first social policies #### 1/ Trade Unions - Trade Unions were lawful organisations, they had been officially recognised. There was a national federation of Trade Unions called "Trades Union Congress". They had about 2 million members both skilled and unskilled. There would be a surge in membership to about 8 million after the First World War. They were very close to Labour as they founded the party. A major issue was industrial strike. They were allowed to call for industrial action but they had no protection against possible consequences of these strikes. In 1901, in the House of Lords, the "Law Lords" seating as a court of final appeal (the Justices of the Supreme Court) voted that a Trade Union should be accountable for the consequences of the strike: so they had to pay damages. In response, in 1906, the Liberal gov under pressure from Labour, passed the "Trade Disputes Act" which abolished financial penalties in such cases. During WW1, strikes were forbidden but there were a few exceptions, in particular in munition factories in Glasgow in 1917. Workers felt threatened. - After WW1, Trade Unions were increasingly powerful. Their leaders thought that a general strike should be organised to paralyse the whole economy, thus forcing the government to enact social legislation. There was a first attempt in 1921, but the government led by Lloyd-George used military forces and the strike was called off. A second attempt in 1926, the general strike was triggered by wage curve imposed on miners, then mines were under private ownership. Then this turned into a general strike including the different industries (railways etc..) The general strike lasted 9 days, there were no shortage because the Conservative gov led by Baldwin had anticipated the strike and the Labour Party was quite embarrassed about the unforcing consequences. So there was no support from Labour that was quite cautious about a general strike. Coal miners continued the strike for about 6 months but they failed because their wages were eventually cut. This failor completely destroyed the myth of a general strike in Britain. The Conservative government ceased the opportunity to pass a "Trade Disputes Act" which prohibited general strike and secondary picketing. - The closed shop is a form of union security agreement under which the employer agrees to hire union members only, and employees must remain members of the union at all times to remain employed. - When a strike is called, it is called by a trade union of its own sector. Trade unions could also call for other trade unions (secondary picketing). This secondary picketing was then also prohibited and the legislation made it even more difficult for Trade Unions to found Labour. Until then, membership was based on contracting out, meaning that Trade Unions members were automatically members of the Labour Party and contributed to it unless they decided to not join it. #### II/ First public services #### A/Education - The key issue was the education of children with a working-class background. Those from upper classes and middle classes had their own schools. There were only a few schools for working-class children run by charities and churches. At the end of the 19th century, successive British governments decided to create schools in every village (primary schools) that would be compulsory. By the end of the century, politicians also understood that fees had to be abolished, otherwise many families could not afford to let their children attend these schools. At the beginning of the 20th century, the "1902 Education Act" was passed. Primary education would be compulsory up to the age of 12. State schools would be free and run by local authorities (still the case today). There would be state schools across the whole country. As things remained difficult for many working-class families, 3 school meals were introduced for those children in 1921. #### B/ Housing - At the beginning of the 19th century, about 10% of the population owned their houses so they were owners. The rest of the population 90% rented from private landowners. They were tenants. There were no regulation. Flats were often quite small, rents were high and flats were not properly maintained. It was a major health issue because these poor housing conditions contributed to life expectancy that was much lower for workers. It was due both because of their working and living conditions. - In 1915, there was a strike of some private tenants refusing to pay their rents in Glasgow, because their landlords had raised rents during the War. The issue was tackled by the first Labour gov (led by MacDonald, 1924). The Health Minister called Wheatley (coal minor in his early years) created the first Council Houses. The government would provide local authorities with subsidies to encourage them to build Council Houses for the working classes. Rents would remain moderate and these houses would be properly maintained. In the 30s, subsidies had to be reduced because of the crisis. The government focused on the North of the country (cities were suffering). - By the late 1930s, owner occupants represented 25%, tenants from private landlords represented 65% and local authority tenants (Council Houses) represented 10%. #### III/ First benefits - At the beginning of the century, there were no benefits no welfare. So for most workers, things became very difficult overnight. They had no income. - The Liberal government led by Asquith introduced the very first benefits before WW1. The first pensions were created in 1908 for those who were over the age of 70. In 1911, there were the first health and unemployment benefits. These were major steps forwards for the working classes. However, they only benefited workers in some industries. The second Labour government, after 1929, first intended to raise benefits but the crisis broke out. So the system was reformed in 1931. The very first benefits had been based on universal provision but it didn't mean it benefited everyone. Universal meant the same amount of money for everyone. In 1931, this was replaced by means-tested, which meant that the income of the whole household was taken into account. This triggered a major crisis in the Labour Party. Many ministers left the government and MacDonald then formed a coalition government with the Conservatives and the Liberals. ### Chapter 4: From the Empire to the Commonwealth - **The Boer War** - The British were involved at the term of the century in South Africa in a war known as the Boer War. South Africa was a British colony. The first Europeans that had settled down were Dutch called Afrikaners. When Britain abolished slavery, Afrikaners disagreed so they moved North. They set up their own republics. At the end of the century, gold and diamonds were discovered. This led to a violent war with some concentration camps. It was the kind of actions that would have never been acceptable in Britain. Eventually, it was a victory for the British and then South Africa was granted some autonomy within the British Empire that is to say its own Parliament to deal with some affairs. - There were already 3 colonies benefiting of such autonomy: Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Colonies were not supposed to run their own affairs. - **The 1st World War** - The First World War broke out. The war was declared by the King on the 4th August 1914 on behalf of the Empire. Initially, soldiers were volunteers in Britain. In 1916, conscription was introduced except in Ireland. Nevertheless, there were many volunteers coming from Ireland. As for the Empire, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and India contributed to the war effort. Soldiers from these colonies were sent to very remote places in the North of France. - WW1 took a very heavy toll. About 1 million soldiers from Britain and its Empire died and about 1.6 million were wounded. British soldiers were nicknamed "Tommies". The whole nation was united in the war effort. - Concerning the economy, women replaced men in factories but there were also women on the battlefield working mostly as nurses. In 1917, they were officially recognised as "Women's Army Auxiliary Corps". There were no strikes and no demonstrations but a few criticism of the war effort. There was a real xenophobia in British society against the Germans. - As for the battlefield, there were no battles on the British soil (North of France, South of Belgium). There were awful conditions in the trenches (rats..). There were new equipments and weapons in this war. Shells and tanks appeared. The very first gas and the first aircraft got involved in battles. The Royal Air Force would appear as well. - British memory of the War is quite different of the French one. Their 4 main battles that are remembered in Britain are : - 1- The Battle of the Somme, in June 1916: on the very first day about 60,000 soldiers were wounded. There were over 400,000 dead soldiers. This battle proved that PM Asquith had been wrong, he had anticipated a short war. So he resigned and was succeeded by David Lloyd-George. - 2- The Battle of Passchendaele (Ypres), in the summer of 1917: 400,000 casualties. - 3- The Battle of Gallipoli, in 1915 (Dardanelles): it was a major defeat for the Royal Navy which led to the resignation of Churchill then in charge of the Navy and of the government (Liberal then). - 4- The Battle of Jutland, in 1916: British were also very proud, supposed to rule the seas. They wanted to organise a blockade of Germany but the Germans responded surprisingly so the British realised that Britain no longer ruled the seas. - There were many Irish in the US (and Germans). Thanks to the intervention of the USA in 1917, many Irish were involved in the war. There had been pressure from these two communities on American administration, they didn't want the US to interfere that is to say to support Allies, in particular Britain. The US interfered with commodities. - The war ended in November 1918. There were many soldiers in the North of France, so repatriating the corpses was difficult that is why graves had been built in the North of France. A commission called "The Imperial War Graves Commission" was set up (still exists nowadays and called "The Commonwealth War Commission"). The poppy became the symbol of that war, because one of the war soldier called John MacCrae wrote a poem "Beyond Flanders Fields". - There were a few criticism: they mostly referred to the number of casualties. At the end of the war, after so many difficulties, there were social expectations. In a wider world, there were also different territories, different people that wanted to be independent. On the continent, large empires were broken. - Sinn Féin in Ireland won a majority in the 1918 elections. When they declared Ireland's independence, they also referred to this movement of self-determination world wide that was strongly encouraged by American authorities. - **The British Empire** - As for the British Empire, the colonies which had contributed to Britain's war effort, also demanded self-government. They wanted to run all their affairs especially their foreign policies. A new international organisation was set up at the end of WW1 called the "League of Nations" (Société des Nations) in order to prevent another war. British colonies, that already benefited from some autonomy, wanted to have their own separate seats in the League of Nations so they could conduct their own foreign policies. - In 1926, the UK government organised an Imperial Conference chaired by PM Balfour. A major decision was made, colonies that had already their own government would no longer be regarded as colonies but as dominions allowed to run their own affairs. What was crucial was that the British Parliament could no longer legislate over them. But dominions were expected to remain very close to Britain as part of a new association, they would be part of the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth would be a free association between Britain's former colonies. They were very close to Britain because the monarch would be the Head of the Commonwealth and so the monarch would also be the Head of State for the newly independent countries. The Irish Free State was briefly part of the Commonwealth. But in the 1930s, the Republic cut all links with Britain. The decisions made in the 1926 conference were confirmed in an Act of Parliament called "The Statute of Westminster" in 1931. The Act never clearly stated that they became independent but mentioned dominions and Parliaments etc. - **India** - These four colonies (Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland) gained independence, so there were demands from the rest of the colonies in particular from India. India, like all other colonies, was entirely run by the British government and Parliament. There was a movement set up at the end of the 19th century called "The Congress". It was a movement that initially demanded autonomy like Canada or Australia. But in the interwar years, "The Congress" would demand full independence because of the attitude of the British. In particular, in 1919, there was a demonstration in India against the social situation (rising crisis) but this demonstration was crushed by General Dyer. 400,000 Indians from the Sikh community were killed. He acted on his own but the British government was held accountable. - British politicians were not really enthuastic about autonomy for India that was the largest part of the Empire ("The Jewel of the Empire"). The first Labour government in the 1920s didn't do much. MacDonald met in London one of the two main leaders of the Congress, Gandhi and Nehru. Both Gandhi and Nehru had been educated in Britain. There were talks in London in 1931. Gandhi also visited a British factory in the North of England. He wanted to explain why cotton produced in England should be boycotted, because in India there was the raw material cotton and so he wanted India to have its own factories to manufacture cotton as well. - In 1935, there was a "Government of India Act" passed by the British government. The Act aimed at making India more autonomous, there would be local assemblies in the different parts of India. "The Congress" became a majority party in India. "The Congress" was willing to represent the whole country but there were two religious communities in India: Hindus and Muslims. Muslims did not want to be governed by a government led by Hindus. So "The Muslim League" was set up. - As "The Congress" demanded independence for India in the late 1930s for all Indians, "The Muslim League" wanted its own independent state in the North of India. So in the late 1930s, the partition of India seemed inevitable. - **The 2nd World War** - In the 1930s, as the Nazis were in power in Germany, UK authorities were officially against another war with full support from the population. There was a kind of opinion poll in the mid-1930s. Prime Ministers Baldwin and Chamberlain led appeasement policies. They were determined to avoid another war. Meanwhile, they did fund rearmament policies, a new Air Force in particular. The symbol of these appeasement policies was the agreement signed between Germany, the UK, Italy and France in September 1938 in Munich (The 1938 Munich Agreement). Both France and Britain would let Hitler take over German-speaking parts of Czechoslovakia, supposedly to avoid another war on a large scale. In 1939,