The Battle of Cable Street, 1936 Describe Britain's economic situation between 1929-1936

Sheemul Ali – 11SJ Ms Tailor History Coursework Saturday 9th November 2002

The Battle of Cable Street, 1936

Q1. Describe Britain’s economic situation between 1929-1936 (15)

Britain’s economic situation before 1929 had already slumped. After World War One, demand for goods ended, as when other countries weren’t able to buy goods from Britain, they started up their own factories. By 1921 unemployment had gone up from 2.6% in 1920 to 18%. British industry, mainly coal mining, shipbuilding and steel were in active decline and faced heavy competition from industrializing nations abroad. One of the reasons for this was the policy of free trade. This policy allowed foreign goods to enter Britain without any taxes or charges so foreign goods were cheaper to buy in Britain then actual British goods. Other countries such as the USA tried to prevent foreign competition by having the policy of protection, which allowed them to charge taxes on imported products making them more expensive. Britain’s share of all world trade dropped from 18% to 11% over this period.

In October 24th 1929, Britain’s economy was hit by the Wall Street Crash, leading the world into an economic depression. Prices fell and therefore so did British exports forcing more British factories to close. There was a big balance of payments deficit. America stopped lending money to Britain after world war one and now wanted their money back, Unemployment grew rapidly and by 1932 almost 3 million people were out of work. The Wall Street Crash also affected other parts of Europe. The Depression hit the German economy really badly as 6 million people were left unemployed.

Also in 1929, the New Labour Government won the general election under Ramsey MacDonald. The biggest problem they faced was the economy. Increasing unemployment meant that the government had to pay more money in the unemployment benefits but they were also getting less money because only the people in employment paid tax. The Labour government had disagreements over the solving of this problem, and after the unsuccessful increase of the income tax, the Liberals and the Conservatives joined forces and formed the May Committee to look at the crisis. This Committee suggested a cut in wages for everyone employed by the government and also a 20% cutback in unemployment benefits. Ramsey MacDonald resigned from the Labour Party because he had to deal with a party who didn’t want to set up these measures. So in August 24th 1931, he created a coalition government with the conservatives and Liberals. This government was called the National Government.

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The National Government were opposed by the majority of the Labour government but were proved popular when they won 554 seats in the 1931 election with the anti-MacDonald Labour party winning only just 54. The National Government cut its spending and passed out the recommendations made by the May Committee – Government employees had their wages cut by 10% apart from teachers who had their wages cut by 15%. They also tried to deal with the overseas competition by raising import duties to protect British workers, however it forced it forced foreign industries to look for new countries to sell their goods in. this meant that there was now more competition for British goods overseas. British exports fell from 7.5 million (£) in 1923 to 3.5 million (£) in 1933. In 1931 Britain also came off the Gold Standard, so that the pound was worth less than foreign currencies, therefore making British exports cheaper. Since1909 most unemployed men were entitled to the weekly dole. However the National Government cut the dole by 10% and it used a means test to decide how much a person can claim. In 1934 the National Government passed The Special Areas Act to allow the government to pay for new factories to be built in areas of high unemployment. The government also gave subsidies and loans to industries that were suffering.

In the north of England, South Wales and central Scotland, life became very hard as unemployment rose first steadily then quickly from 1929. One of the industries most affected by the depression was shipbuilding. Jarrow in northeast England had been dominated by the shipbuilding industry for decades. By 1936 unemployment in the town had reached 80%. In contrast however, about 90% of British people in the south east and the midlands were getting better off. They could afford to go to the cinema and attend professional sport. Many new industries began to establish moved to the south-east of England and prospered. For example the motor industry expanded so that between 1932 and 1939 the number of motor vehicles went up from 90,000 to 0.5million. The housing industry probably had the most effect on the economy. During the 1930’s, the rice of houses dropped so low that that 2 years’ wages of an ordinary workingman could buy a three bedroom semi-detached house. Britain became a consumer society. The number of radios in Britain quadrupled during this period. Overall By 1936 people had smaller families, goods and services were cheaper and lots of luxuries were available for the average worker.

Q.2 What were the long term and short-term reasons for the Battle of Cable Street?

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Long Term Reasons for the Battle of Cable Street : Britain in the 1930’s was in a crisis. Millions of people were unemployed and were desperate for change, and it seemed the government were not very successful in coping with the economic depression which people were very unhappy about. People turned towards protest movements and political parties in hope for change. These protest groups and extremist parties grew bigger and were influenced by many countries. They used demonstrations and sometimes turned to violence.

The British Union of Fascists was formed in 1932 by Sir Oswald Mosley after he resigned from the labour party because his ideas for the end of depression were ignored. Mosley’s BUF imitated fascist parties abroad such as the German Nazi party and the Italian Fascist party, because he was impressed and thought a similar set up in Britain would solve its problems. The BUF’s policies were anti –Semitic and believed that the Jewish population were to blame and therefore many Jews were attacked and their property destroyed. This happened mainly in the East End of London where there was a big Jewish area. The BUF attracted young members who were know as ‘Blackshirts’ because of their uniform, they carried out hard training and vowed dedication to their leader. They had special salutes, marches, symbols and guns that made them look like soldiers, giving them power. This was one of the factors, which made people turn towards the extremist party. Mosley justified his political movements on that it was what the ‘British Nation’ needed. People were looking for scapegoats and that’s where the Jewish population came in, people were angry, unemployed, hungry and wanted to blame it all on someone and since immigration was rising it seemed reasonable to the anti-Semitics. The BUF mainly gained support through marches and meetings, which almost always ended in violence. Although the BUF had some support in Britain, it was nothing compared to the fascist parties abroad I.e. in 1934 the monthly average number of Britain’s unemployed was 2,159,000 with the membership of the BUF being at 50,000, while in Germany at the same year, the monthly average number of Germans unemployed was 2,725,000 with the Nazi Party with 2,493,890 membership.

The Short term reasons for the Battle of Cable street : When in September 26th 1936, the BUF announced its plan to put on a big march on October 4th through the primarily populated Jewish area of Stepney in the East End where approximately 60% of London’s Jews lived, local people and Jewish organisations tried to get the march banned and formed a petition of 100,000 signatures. However the Home secretary, Sir John Simon, refused saying that it would be inequitable to disallow the march. The Labour party, the Jewish board of Deputies and other moderates decided that the best thing to do was to ignore the march. The Communist Party was uncertain what to do. They also had a rally on the same day to support the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War, which they later decided to cancel in order to plan a response to Mosley’s march. They espoused the saying of the Spanish Civil War – ‘They Shall Not Pass!’

In March 1936, to protest about the high-level of unemployment and to ask the government for assistance. 200 men marched all the way from Jarrow to London to deliver a petition to the Prime Minister. The Jarrow Crusade attracted a lot of media attention and admiration but did not change government policy. The marchers had their dole cut off for the days they were away from home rather than looking for work, so there was still dissatisfaction with the government.

On the actual day of the battle, October 4th 1936, Mosley intended a long march through east of London. The anti- fascists didn’t know Mosley’s exact route so they picked 4 likely spots – Leman Street, Gardiner’s Corner (Algate), Cable Street and St George’s Strreet. As the BUF arrived erratic fighting broke out. Six thousand police officers had been ordered to keep the route clear for the BUF, but when the got to Gardiner’s Corner in order to go on down to Commercial Street, they had bumped into a sudden obstruction – an immobilised tram which the anti-fascist drivers were using as a barrier. So the BUF proceeded to Cable Street that was also blocked, b members of the communist party and ant-fascists. The police tried to clear the blockade but were bombarded with fruit, bottles and contents of chamber pots. The groups’ clashed and about 70 people were injured and many arrested. Because of this the police Commissioner Sir Phillip Garne commanded Mosley to desert the march. 3,000 Blackshirts turned around and headed back while the anti-fascists celebrated all night long – they had prevailed.

So, the short-term causes were those related to the march and the determination of the locals that it should not get thorough - The government failed to disallow the march, the support of the Communist party. The long terms causes could be the actual existence of the BUF and its anti-fascist opponents generated a situation where conflict might take place. – The people were unhappy and looking for change and new hope and some thought Mosley could be it.

Q.3 Explain why the BUF declined after 1937 (15)

After the Battle of cable Street, the BUF was contained and began to lose popularity for a number of reasons. The Battle of Cable Street was very violent and many people feared that such violence would lead to an insurrection in Britain. And also many people didn’t like the idea of using violence. Unemployment begun to decrease so people felt less keen to find another solution to their problems. The BUF never really had a widespread support to begin with. The 1931 and 1935 elections results are proof. Some historians argued that the British favoured the parliamentary system and democracy too much to be attracted to extreme political parties for a long period of time. In 1937 The Public Order Act prevented uniforms, marches, and any political movements were banned – losing the whole ‘glamour’ of the movement. They now seemed like harmless ‘ordinary’ people with no power. Unrest were kept low due to government action e.g. Unemployment insurance. Britain had no real nationalistic grievances, unlike Germany or Italy. Once World War Two was approaching people realised that the BUF could no longer be tolerated and Mosley was seen as ‘unpatriotic’ and as a national threat. Once the war started, Mosley was arrested and his party was suspended. World War Two seemed to naturally end the depression so there seemed no need for political extremism.