There were many reasons why the old industries declined in the twentieth century

The two world wars had greatly affected businesses; farming for example was affected because there was a lack of workers, especially the male. The men were enlisting in the war so the government had to hire women to do their jobs. At the beginning of the century, animals were used to plough the fields but soon sophisticated machines, like tractors, replaced them. The old ways couldn’t compete with the machines so the old farming industries declined. Dock working also changed because of the machines. Some would say that it changed for the better because it was quicker to use the machines and the docking company would pay fewer workers. The changed also affected the dockworkers, leaving older docks to close down and Dockers to lose their jobs. The textiles industry also declined because, after the war, new industries opened opportunities to the workers that lost their jobs. This was also true for the coal, steel and iron industries. These industries were greatly affected by the war because they didn’t recover after the war.

Competition from overseas trade had also affected domestic business, particularly cheap cotton imports. After the First World War, Japanese companies whose mills were newer and more modern were selling cheap products. Britain’s usual customers bought their product to Japan so Britain’s textiles industry declined. In farming, Britain was in competition with America and Australia. This was because there products were cheaper. Fewer customers were buying from Britain. Without the machines, work was slow and many workers were needed to be employed. If Britain introduced the machines earlier on, things would have been different. Its economy would have increased after the war.

It could be argued that the reason so many old industries died by the end of the twentieth century was because they failed to introduce new technology quickly enough, this meant that industries such as coal, iron and steel could not compete with the new industries.