3. The First World War

The conflicts, which dominated British domestic affairs at the beginning of the century, in the 1910's were coupled with a far greater conflict— the struggle for power in Europe moving towards open war. Germany was determined to be powerful at sea and on land. Germany made the Triple Alliance with Austria and Italy, while Britain, her main rival, allied with France and Russia into the Triple Entente.

On August 1, 1914, Germany declared war on Russia, on August, 3 it de­clared war on France. On August, 4 Britain declared war on Germany. The Ger­mans invaded Belgium and penetrated into the territory of France. The French army and the small British forces managed to stop the German army only at the River Marne deep inside France. After the Marne two armies settled down to a pro­longed siege warfare. It made a quick German victory impossible and gave time to Britain, France and Russia to mobilize their forces.

British government, who first considered this war “business as usual”, changed the attitude — the industry was mobilized for war and a Home Front was created. The situation was complicated by the wars in other parts of the world — in the Middle East the British fought against Turkish troops in Iraq, Palestine and the Dardanelles.

The most important war battles for Britain were at sea, because she possessed the largest and most powerful Navy in the world. The Brit­ish made a blockage of supplies to Germany, which produced serious shortages and food riots by the end of the war. Beginning with 1915, German submarines started sinking merchant ships carrying supplies to Britain, more than 40% of Britain's merchant fleet was sunk during the war.

In 1915-1916, for the first and only time in its history, Britain created a mass army of 5 mil­lion men, to fight on the mainland front. Almost a million British soldiers were killed in the war and more than 1,5 million wounded.

In 1918, after the Bolshevik Revolution, Russia signed a peace treaty with Germany. The German generals hoped to win the rest of the Allies before the arrival of American troops, who supported France and Britain. There were some successful fighting, but in August the British got a decisive victory at Amiens and during three following months the British and the French drove the Germans back liberating most of occupied Belgium and France.

Though in November 1918 Germany surrendered to Britain and France, fighting connected with the war stopped only in 1923. It continued on the territo­ries of Russia, Austro-Hungary, Ottoman Turkish and German Empires whose ter­ritories were broke up in the war.

4. Britain after World War I

The war caused great changes in domestic affairs, political and social life of Britain. By the end of the war British government controlled most of the major sec­tors of the British economy with new Ministries being created. The new warfare industries employed many women, and their help in industry, agriculture and medi­cine could hardly have been overestimated. After the war, in 1918, British women over thirty got one right to vote.

The right to vote was also given to men aged 21, so the number of voters doubled. As the result of these changes the Labour Party won fifty-seven seats in Parliament in 1918, and in 1924 the first Labour government was created. After this victory the Liberal Party almost completely disappeared — liberals with traditional capitalist ideas joined the Conservative Party, and Liberal "reformers" joined the Labour Party.

In Britain the war caused a great increase of taxes — from 6 to 25%. The workers, dissatisfied with worsening of living conditions, gathered for serious strikes, growing all over the country. The government had to break these strikes and force men back to work.

The situation worsened in 1926, when Britain faced the General Strike, which lasted nine days and involved half a million workers. The government had to use the army and police to force the strikers to surrender. This strike left a lasting impression on the British — for half a century after it was widely remembered and discussed. People's memories influenced their opinion of employers, government and the police.

In 1929, the New York Stock Exchange crashed causing a serious economic crisis known as the Depression in Europe and America. In 1931, unemployment in Britain reached over 2,8 million and by 1933 the most affected areas were the in­dustrial north of England and south-east Wales. The crisis in economy was gradu­ally overcome by 1935, much due to the development of motor and heavy indus­tries. By this time the plans of German Nazi leader Adolph Hitler to strengthen his positions in the world became clear, so British government invested large sums of money into the industries producing weapons, aircraft and war equipment. These measures gave jobs to many people.