United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from 1927
Britain has been irrevocably changed by the Great War. Quite apart from the loss of nearly a million of her young men in the fighting, the war changes the social and economic situation forever. The comradeship of the trenches weakens the barriers between the classes (although Britain's class system has never been so rigid as many believe) and the invaluable work of British women on the home front weakens the barriers between the sexes. The working classes are becoming ever more politically active, although Britain will never experience the revolutions which occur elsewhere in Europe, and in 1924 the first Labour government comes to power. A series of strikes culminates in the General Strike of 1926. Women acquire a limited franchise from 1918, and in 1928 finally receive the same voting rights as men. Meanwhile, the professions begin to open up to them, and the first female lawyers and magistrates are appointed. Socially, too, women become freer, and the decade is epitomised by the drinking, smoking 'flapper'.
The war hit Britain's economy severely, and the country finds itself in the novel position of being in debt. The traditional industries, which made Britain the powerhouse of the world, are largely dying and new ones must be found. The economic position is not helped by a decline in foreign trade - before the war Germany was Britain's largest overseas market, and under the Treaty of Versailles, France receives most of her coal from Germany (having formerly imported it from Britain). Although she can never be truly poor, Britain in the 1920s has unprecedented levels of depression and unemployment. The problem is especially prevalent in the north, the traditional home of heavy industry, and the economic centre moves to the midlands and the south of England. The population of London, already the world's largest city, grows enormously. The 1920s do however see a new era of government enterprise, since the government proves during the war that it is able to efficiently run industry, and a building programme provides new housing and public buildings.
Britain begins the decade under the leadership of David Lloyd George, the popular and much respected wartime leader. He leads a coalition government, increasingly propped up by the Conservatives as his own Liberal Party abandons the idea of coalition. Eventually, after the government falls in 1922, the Conservatives abandon it too and take power as an independent party once more. In fact, the Liberal Party is a spent force and it will never again be in power, or even in official opposition. This position is surrendered to the up and coming Labour Party, which first takes power in a minority government of 1924. Although the rise of Labour is probably the most significant political trend of the 1920s, government in the decade is actually dominated by the Conservatives who, apart from Labour's brief reign in 1924, hold power from 1922 to 1929, when Ramsay MacDonald again becomes prime minister at the head of the first ever majority Labour government. The Conservative leader, Stanley Baldwin, is prime minister for much of the decade. Ultimately, the country is still united under a respected and popular constitutional monarchy in the shape of King George V, who reigns throughout the decade.
Abroad, the picture is better. The Empire is larger than it has ever been, with the addition of territories acquired from Germany and Turkey. Although the self-governing dominions are now recognised as independent sovereign states they are still inextricably tied to the motherland. British naval power is undiminished, and air power begins to play a major role in the colonies and mandated territories. Foreign policy in the 1920s is largely aimed at the rehabilitation of Germany, which brings Britain into conflict with France. The troubles in Ireland continue until finally, in 1922, the southern part of Ireland is given its independence as the Irish Free State. This partition of Ireland will continue to haunt Britain for many years to come.
Britain is still, without a doubt, one of the world's great powers. Her empire still dominates more of the globe than any other before or since. Her control of the seas and oceans, by both naval power and merchant shipping, is undisputed. It will take another great war to herald the end of that power but, as everybody in the United Kingdom knows in the 1920s, the Great War which has just finished is "the war to end all wars"!
