THE GENERAL STRIKE OF 1926

GROUP A: THE GOVERNMENT AND THE PUBLIC

Elizabeth Andrews, Howard Bliss, Rosa Corcoran-Jones, Mandeep Dhillon, Stephen Elson

GROUP B: THE TRADE UNIONS AND THE STRIKERS

Laura Keady, Sarah Ottaway, Charlotte Thomas

The projects examine the General Strike from each side. From the perspective of the side that you are studying, the issues that should be considered include:

• what events and issues led to the strike?
• what were they seeking to achieve, and what was at stake?
• how did they communicate their case to their supporters and to the wider public?
• how much support did they have, and from who?
• how did they try to achieve their objectives?
• how successful were they?
• what led to the strike coming to an end?
• what were its consequences?

Both projects should look at the position:

• at national level, using both primary and secondary sources
• in a variety of localities around the country, mainly through local case-study secondary sources
• in the city of Leicester and elsewhere in Leicestershire, mainly through contemporary primary sources which are available locally

SECONDARY SOURCES

1. BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT

Surveys

Cronin,J Labour and Society in Britain 1918-1979

Wigham,E Strikes and the Government 1893-1974

Middlemas,K Politics in Industrial Society: The Experience of the British System since 1911

McKibbin,R Classes and Cultures: England 1918-1951

Mitchell,J ‘United Kingdom: stability and compromise’, in Berg-Schlosser,D & Mitchell,J eds., Conditions of Democracy in Europe 1919-1939

Cronin,JE ‘Insurgency and reaction in Britain 1919-1926: a structural analysis’, in Cronin,JE & Schneer,J eds., Social Conflict and the Political Order in Modern Britain

Reference

Charlesworth,A An Atlas of Industrial Protest in Britain, 1750-1990

Butler,D & Butler,G eds. Twentieth-Century British Political Facts 1900-2000

Ramsden,J ed. The Oxford Companion to 20^th Century British Politics

Laybourn,K ed. Fifty Key Figures in Twentieth Century British Politics

Leventhal,F ed. Twentieth-Century Britain: An Encyclopedia

2. THE STRIKE: NATIONAL SURVEYS

Morris,M The General Strike (also includes some local studies)

Laybourn,K The General Strike Day by Day

Philips,GA The General Strike

Renshaw,P The General Strike

Farman,C The General Strike

Skelley,J ed. The General Strike, 1926

Florey,RA The General Strike of 1926

Hallas,D & Harman Days of Hope: The General Strike of 1926

Laybourn,K The General Strike of 1926

Symons,J The General Strike: A Historical Portrait

3. THE STRIKE: LOCAL STUDIES

Ainsworth,JH Accrington 1926: Comprehensive History of the General Strike as it affected Accrington and District

Anstis,R Blood on Coal: The 1926 General Strike and Miners’ Lockout in the Forest of Dean

Griffin,CP ‘The Leicestershire Miners and the mining dispute of 1926’, International Review of Social History, 22 (1977)

Hastings,RP ‘The General Strike in Birmingham, 1926’, Midland History, 2, no. 4 (1974)

Birmingham Public Libraries The Nine Days in Birmingham: The General Strike, 4-12 May 1926

Hills,RI The General Strike in York, 1926

Kibblewhite,L & Rigby,A Aberdeen in the General Strike

Mason,A The General Strike in the North East

Potts,CR The Great Western Railway and the General Strike (1926)

Sephton,RS Oxford and the General Strike, 1926

Walentowicz,PJ The General Strike in Doncaster, May 1926

Woodhouse,T ‘The General Strike in Leeds’, Northern History, 18 (1982)

4. THE GOVERNMENT

Hyde,HM Baldwin

Middlemas,K & Barnes,J Baldwin

Jenkins,R Baldwin

Dilks,D Neville Chamberlain: Volume 1, Pioneering and Reform 1869-1929

Gilbert,M Churchill: A Life

Jenkins,R Churchill

Addison,P Churchill on the Home Front 1900-1955

Hearder,H ‘King George V, the General Strike, and the 1931 Crisis’, in Hearder,H & Loyn,HR eds., British Government and Administration

McDonald,G ‘The defeat of the General Strike’, Peele,G & Cook,C eds., The Politics of Reappraisal 1918-1939

Mason,A ‘The government and the General Strike, 1926’, International Review of Social History, 14 (1969)

Jeffery,K & Hennessy,P States of Emergency: British Governments and Strikebreaking since 1919

Morgan,J Conflict and Order: The Police and Labour Disputes in England and Wales 1900-1939

Townshend,C Making the Peace: Public Order and Public Security in Modern Britain

Thurlow,RC The Secret State: British Internal Security in the Twentieth Century

Dennis,P ‘The Territorial Army in aid of the civil power in Britain 1919-1926’, Journal of Contemporary History, 16 (1981)

Jeffery,K ‘The British Army and internal security 1919-1939’, Historical Journal, 24 (1981)

Ewing,K & Gearty,C The Struggle for Civil Liberties: Political Freedom and the Rule of Law in Britain 1914-1945 (chapter 4, General Strike)

Lowe,R Adjusting to Democracy: The Role of the Ministry of Labour in British Politics 1916-1939

Peden,G The Treasury and British Public Policy 1906-1959

Dorey,P The Conservative Party and the Trade Unions

Briggs,A The History of Broadcasting in the United Kingdom: Volume2, The Golden Age of Wireless

Briggs,A The BBC: The First Fifty Years

5. THE TRADE UNIONS

Pimlott,B & Cook,C eds. Trade Unions in British Politics

Clegg,HA A History of British Trade Unions since 1889: Volume 2, 1911-1933

Taylor,R The TUC: from the General Strike to New Unionism

Martin,R TUC: The Growth of a Pressure Group 1868-1978

Lovell,J ‘The T.U.C. Special Industrial Committee: January-April 1926’, Briggs,A & Saville,J eds., Essays in Labour History: Volume 3 1918-1939

Davies,P A.J. Cook

Blaxland,G J.H. Thomas: A Life for Unity

Clinton,A The Trade Union Rank and File: Trades Councils in Britain, 1900-1940

Arnot,RP The Miners: Years of Struggle - a History of the Miners' Federation of Great Britain (from 1910 onwards)

Bagwell,PS The Railwaymen: the History of the National Union of Railwaymen

Campbell,A et al., eds. Miners, Unions and Politics 1910-1947

Church,R & Outram,Q Strikes and Solidarity: Coalfield Conflict in Britain 1889-1966

Clegg,HA General Union in a Changing Society: A Short History of the National Union of General and Municipal Workers, 1889-1964

Clinton,A The Post Office Workers: A Trade Union and Social History

Fox,A A History of the National Union of Boot and Shoe Operatives 1874-1957

Fyrth,HJ & Collins,H The Foundry Workers: A Trade Union History

Richardson,Sir W A Union of Many Trades: the History of USDAW

6. OTHER PARTIES

Dutton,D Simon: A Political Biography of Sir John Simon

Marquand,D Ramsay Macdonald

Morgan,A J. Ramsay Macdonald

Howell,D MacDonald’s Party: Labour Identities and Crisis 1922-1931

Wrigley,C Arthur Henderson

Leventhal,F Arthur Henderson

Martin,R Communism and the British Trade Unions 1924-1933: A Study of the National Minority Movement

PRIMARY SOURCES

1. GENERAL

House of Commons Debates

The Times (electronic searchable edition, and microfilm edition)

Simon,Sir J Three Speeches on the General Strike

Simpkin,J ed. Contemporary Acccounts of the General Strike

Hughes,M ed. Cartoons from the General Strike

2. THE GOVERNMENT

Middlemas,RK ed. Thomas Jones Whitehall Diary: Volume 2, 1926-1930 (Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet: kept a very extensive a detailed private diary)

Public Record Office Cabinet Papers (microfilm held at Loughborough University Library)

Williamson,P & Baldwin,E Baldwin Papers: A Conservative Statesman 1908-1947 (private letters of the Prime Minister, and records of conversations with him) [on order]

Self,R ed. The Neville Chamberlain Diary Letters: Volume 2, The Reform Years 1921-1927 (cabinet minister: extensive letters to his sisters, written every week)

Self,R ed. The Austen Chamberlain Diary Letters (1916-1937) (Foreign Secretary 1924-29: weekly letters to his sisters, but not as extensive as those of his half-brother Neville)

Barnes,J & Nicholson,D eds. The Leo Amery Diaries, Volume 1: 1899-1929 (cabinet minister: extensive diary with accounts of cabinet meetings)

Gilbert,M ed. Winston S Churchill: Volume V, Companion Documents, Part 1 (1924-1929) (companion documents volume to official biography, this part covers return his period as Chancellor of the Exchequer, 1924-29)

James,RR ed. Memoirs of a Conservative: J.C.C. Davidson’s Memoirs and Papers 1910-1937 (junior minister, close confidant of Baldwin: played an important role in government preparations for a strike)

Ball,S ed. Parliament and Politics in the Age of Baldwin and MacDonald: the Headlam Diaries 1923-1935 (Conservative MP for northern coal-mining constituency, useful for events at Westminster and in Co. Durham)

3. THE TRADE UNIONS

Lowe,R ed. Conflict and Consensus in British Industrial Relations, 1916-1948: (microfilm held at Loughborough University Library: documents selected from the Public Record Office: Part 2. Reels 18-37, The General Strike, industrial disputes from 1917 to 1946, the Trades disputes records books from 1916-1947)

Citrine,W Men and Work: An Autobiography

Robertson,N & Sams,KI ed. British Trade Unionism: Select Documents (two volumes)

Arnot,RP The General Strike, May 1926: Its Origin & History (reprint of original 1926 edition, published by the Labour Research Department)

Burns,E The General Strike, May 1926: Trades Councils in Action (reprint of original 1926 edition, published by the Labour Research Department)

4. LOCAL SOURCES

Green,M The General Strike and Leicester: Recollections

Leicester Mercury, etc. Emergency Editions of British Newspapers (contains reprints of a number of national and local newspapers, including the Leicester Mail and the Leicester Mercury)

The Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester & Rutland (Long Street, Wigston, Leicester)

holds local newspapers, Council records and other papers

contact & admission, see: http://www.leics.gov.uk/index/community/museums/record_office.htm

5. OTHER SOURCES

Simon,Sir J Retrospect

Mackenzie,N & J eds. The Diary of Beatrice Webb: Volume 4, 1924-1943