“We should praise the National Government for doing as
much as it did for the economy and the unemployed, not
blame it for not doing more”. Do you agree?
• “We should praise the National Governments for
doing as much as it did for economy and the
unemployed, not blame it for not doing more.”
Do you agree?
• How well did the National Governments manage
the economy?
• How well did they deal with the unemployment
problem?
• Should the efforts of the National Governments
to deal with these areas be praised or could
they have done more?
The Introduction
Set the question in its historical context – show
that you know the background to the issue.
• Example
• The National Government came into office
following the failure of the short lived Labour
Government under Ramsay MacDonald to deal
with the effects of the depression as
unemployment soared…..The responsibility for
tackling the crisis passed to an all-party
‘government of cooperation’.
Address any key words in the question.
• Example
• The economy – What problems faced the
economy?
• The unemployed – Describe the rise in
unemployment – give figures
Historical Debate?
• Example
• There is controversy surrounding the National
Government’s attempts to tackle the crisis.
Historians continue to debate whether Britain’s
recovery from the depression was the result of
government policies or whether Britain emerged
from the depression largely because of outside
factors.
Outline how you propose to approach the question.
• Example
• What role then, did the National Governments
play in trying to pull Britain out of its
depression and in trying to create new jobs for
the unemployed?
Main Body
In your first main section on the economy, refer
to and discuss
•
•
•
•
Expenditure Cuts
Devaluation of the Pound
Abandonment of Free Trade
Government Intervention and Assistance to
Industry
• Government Intervention and Assistance to
Agriculture.
• BUT DO NOT just describe the measures.
Discuss how effective they were. Try to
provide a balanced assessment – POSITIVE and
NEGATIVE.
In your second main section on unemployment,
refer to and discuss
• Cut in unemployment benefit
• Transitional Benefit – Means Test
• Unemployment Act of 1934 – Government
Unemployment Assistance Boards
• Special Areas Act of 1934
• Again discuss how effective these policies were.
Your evaluation may be more negative than
positive since historians have questioned
whether the National Government’s policies
seriously intended to reduce unemployment.
Historiography
Was the National Government able to deal with the
Depression?
The interwar period is a highly controversial one. In
particular, the achievements of the National Government
politicians of the 1930s are difficult to assess.

The following questions have been asked of Higher students in
the past.
 “Too little, too late”. Is this a fair judgement on the
social and economic measures of the National
Government, 1931-1939?
 “A series of weak and half hearted attempts to deal with
the problems of the time”. How far do you agree with
this view of the policies of the National Government
during the years 1931-1939?
Before making your assessment of the policies of the
National Government , you could consider the following
 Do we judge the politicians by the standards of the time
– Did the politicians achieve their aims?
 Do we assess their achievements or lack of achievements
alongside what could have been done – Were unnecessary
mistakes made?
 Do we compare with another time period or country? – Do
we compare the achievements of the National
Governments with the achievements of the post war
Labour Government (1945-51)?
The Case Against the Politicians (Negative)
 Historians writing in the 1960s portrayed the inter war
years as a time of mediocrity and failure.
 Charles Loch Mowatt ‘Britain between the Wars’
described the thirties as a period of ‘rule by pygmies’
(dwarves). In other words, politicians like Stanley
Baldwin, Ramsay MacDonald and Neville Chamberlain were
unequal to the challenges.
 M Pearce ‘British Political History 1867-1990’ wrote
“Liberals, Conservatives and Labour Politicians all fudged
and fumbled in a situation essentially new to them”.
 The inter war period was looked on as ‘the years in
between’ more successful eras.
 The politicians of the 1930s have been criticised for
being unadventurous, timed and lacking in economic
expertise. Social reform was low key and unimaginative.
 The politicians have been criticised for their unwillingness
to experiment with alternative economic strategies.
The Case in Defence of the Politicians (Positive)
 More recently historians have defended politicians. They
did their best, they claim, in the difficult circumstances
of the time. Right wing politicians are more likely to
praise than to criticise the National Government’s
economic record.
 In the 1960s H.W. Richardson introduced the revisionist
view that the 1930s were a period of substantial
economic growth and modernisation.
 From the 1970s until to present, most economists no
longer believe that Keynes had the answer to
unemployment.
 Poverty was a problem everywhere, not just in Britain.
 The National Governments’ social policies may have been
cautious but they were beneficial
Conclusion
Summarise the key points and the most convincing
parts of your arguments. Make sure you come to
a clear answer which directly answers the
question.
• Example
• It would appear that the National Governments erred on
the side of caution. It is probably true to say that
Britain emerged from the depression largely because of
factors outside the government’s control……..
Further Reading on the National Governments

Contemporary Britain 1914-1979 by Robert Pearce
Chapter 10 Interwar Politicians: ‘Rule by Pygmies’?
Chapter 12 British Economic Performance 1918-39
 Changing
Britain 1850-1979 by D. Morrison, E Morrison
and T. Monaghan Chapter 6 p68-82
 Britain
and Scotland 1850s-1979 by Sydney Wood
Chapter 8 p104-116
 Mastering
Economic and Social History by David Taylor
Chapter 29 p554-573
 ‘The Locust Years?’ Britain’s Inter-War Economy by
Derek H Aldcroft found in Britain 1918-1951
(Heinemann)
 Britain : Domestic Politics 1918-39 by Robert Pearce
Chapter 5 p82-104
 Britain in the 1930s (Historical Association Studies) by
Andrew Thorpe (Detailed)
 Social Conditions in Britain 1918-1939 by Stephen
Constantine (Detailed)