4. The General Strike and Depression

Economically, the mid-twenties and the beginning of the thirties were marred by a general decline in the economic situation. The men who had won the First World War had been promised “a land fit for heroes”, but it was easier said than done. The cost of the war had led to increased taxation and a fall in the living standards. In 1926 popular discontent led to a general strike. As the government could not control the situation, businessmen were allowed to make quick profits, particularly in textile and engineering industries, and in the shipyards. As a result, from 1930 to 1933 Britain, like most European countries and the USA was severely hit by the economic crisis known as the Depression. Over 3 million people lost their jobs. The effect of the depression was even worse in Germany, Britain’s most important market. The economic collapse of Germany led to the rise of Adolf Hitler. Powerful new Nazi and Fascist governments were taking over in Germany, Italy, Austria and Spain. In the middle of the 1930s the British economy began to recover. It depended a great deal on Britain’s growing motor industry.

5. The Abdication

When George V died in 1936, the crown went to Edward VIII. But he abdicated the same year in order to marry American divorcee, Wallis Simpson. The throne went to George VI who remained king up to 1952. When he died, elder daughter Elizabeth became Britain’s next monarch. King George’s wife, Queen Elizabeth, whom everybody knew as the Queen Mother, died in 2002.

6. Britain in World War II

In 1935 it was already clear that Germany was preparing to regain its position in Europe, and if necessary, by force. The government was faced with the problem of rebuilding the army and the navy. This meant huge investments in heavy industry. By 1937, British industry was producing weapons, aircraft and equipment for war. Financial aid was rendered by the United States of America.

At the same time Germany and its European and Asian allies (the Axis powers) – Italy and Japan – were taking advantage of Britain and France’s indecision and started occupying territories of other states. There was good evidence that Germany’s demands could not be easily satisfied. In order to avoid a war, Britain cooperated with Germany in the take-over of the German-speaking parts of Czechoslovakia by Germany. On his return from Munich, the British Premier said that for the country it meant a temporary peace. Six months later Germany occupied the rest of Czechoslovakia. Britain, realizing that the war was inevitable, gave a guarantee of support to Poland in case of a German invasion. In September 1939 Germany invaded Poland, and Britain declared a war.

Few people in Britain realized how strong the German army was. (The first period of the war – the end of 1939 was relatively quiet for Britain as it was not involved in any military action. That period is known as the phony war.) But in May 1940 Germany attacked the allied British and French forces, defeated the French army and drove the British army into the sea on the beaches of Dunkirk. At Dunkirk, a small French port, the British army was saved by thousands of private boats that crossed the Channel. Dunkirk was a miraculous rescue from a military disaster. In the same year, 1940, the Germans started bombing British cities. The colloquial name for the series of air-raids by the German Air Force is known as the Blitz. The purpose of the raids was to weaken British resistance to projected invasion. The cities of London and Coventry were particularly badly damaged.

Battle of the Atlantic began the same year. The German strategy was to cut off Britain’s supplies of food and munitions by submarine action. Rationing for essential items of food, clothing and fuel was introduced.

In 1941 Britain received first shipments of food and arms from the USA as part of the Lend-Lease Plan.

The war had begun as a traditional European struggle where Britain fought to save the balance of power” but it quickly became world-wide. Both sides wanted to control the oil fields in the Middle East and the Suez Canal, which was Britain’s route to India.

In 1941, Japan, which was Germany’s ally, attacked Britain’s colonial possessions in Malaya, Burma and India. As a result, the soldiers of the Empire had to fight against the Axis of Germany, Italy and Japan practically all over the world.

In 1941 two most powerful world nations had to join the war – the USSR and the USA. The Allied Forces joined their efforts in fighting against the common enemy.

In February 1945, the leaders of the Allied Forces, Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin, met for a conference in Yalta, where the final defeat of Germany was planned. Germany was to be demilitarized and divided into 4 zones of occupation. The Allied leaders also agreed that it was necessary to establish the United Nations Organization. It was set up in 1945 to maintain world peace and foster international cooperation.. At the Yalta Conference, the USSR agreed to enter the war against Japan.

As you know, the war in Europe ended in 1945 when the allied troops defeated Germany. Germany signed the Act of Capitulation on May 8, 1945, that is why May 8 is celebrated in Europe and the USA as Victory Day. But World War II ended only in September. When Japan refused to surrender, the USA dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which resulted in the immediate death of over 110,000 civilians. Many thousands more died later from the after-effects.

The war cost Britain 303,000 soldier and 60,000 civilians.

Strange as it may seem, in the 1940s Britain produced a writer whose literary career actually started during the war. James Aldridge worked as a war correspondent and visited Norway, Greece, Egypt, Lybia, Iran and the Soviet Union. His first novels, Signed with Their Honour and The Sea Eagle were based on his war experiences. After the war, Aldridge mainly wrote about the national liberation movement in the former colonial countries. The writer’s anti-colonial views were expressed in his novel The Diplomat.