2M - The state of the economy: staples
Learn how Britain's established industries, newer sectors, agriculture and overseas earnings produced both prosperity and economic anxiety before 1914.
Strength and risk in the staples
Britain entered the twentieth century as a major industrial and commercial power. Coal, cotton textiles, iron and steel, engineering and shipbuilding were staple industries: established sectors which employed large numbers of people and supplied exports. Their success supported connected activities. Coal powered factories and ships; engineering supplied machinery; shipyards served a large merchant fleet. Concentrated industrial districts developed skilled workers, transport links and specialised suppliers.
Staple industries
Established major industries on which particular regions, employment and export earnings depended, especially coal, textiles, iron and steel, and shipbuilding.
These strengths could also become risks. Lancashire's cotton towns depended heavily on overseas sales; South Wales and other coalfields relied on demand for coal; shipbuilding districts depended on orders which fluctuated. If foreign buyers produced their own goods or a competitor offered lower prices, a whole local economy could suffer. Workers could not easily move into a different trade when employment, housing and acquired skills were tied to one industry.
The staples were not all stagnant before 1914. British coal exports and shipbuilding remained substantial, and industrial output could grow even as Britain's share of world production declined. Relative decline means losing position compared with competitors; it does not necessarily mean an absolute fall in output. Germany and the United States expanded rapidly from different starting points, so British growth could coexist with anxiety about being overtaken.
This distinction prevents an exaggerated picture of collapse. The economic concern was that earlier advantages might no longer secure future success, particularly where firms depended on old equipment, established markets or fragmented organisation.
New industries and adaptation
New industries offered opportunities beyond the sectors associated with the first Industrial Revolution. Electrical equipment, chemicals, motor vehicles and developing forms of precision engineering depended on new technology, scientific knowledge and different consumer demands. Firms such as Austin and Morris entered motor production before the war, although cars remained beyond the means of most families. Electrical power created possibilities for factories and urban services, but its spread was uneven.
These industries were not an immediate replacement for coal, textiles or shipbuilding. The older sectors remained important employers and exporters. A new factory in the Midlands did not automatically provide work for an unemployed miner in a distant coalfield: location, skills and the scale of demand mattered. Before 1914 Britain therefore had an economy in which established and newer industries overlapped.
Foreign competition made adaptation important. German firms were strong in chemical and electrical manufacture, where organised scientific research and technical training could be valuable. The United States benefited from a large domestic market, resources and opportunities for large-scale production. Some British firms innovated successfully; others preferred returns from established methods and markets. It is too simple to describe every British entrepreneur as resistant to change, but investment and organisation help explain why some sectors faced sharper competition than others.
The contrast between staples and new industries also has a social consequence. Regions tied to older export industries faced different prospects from areas developing newer manufacture and services. The regional division which became more visible after the First World War had roots in this uneven structure, even though war and post-war policy would intensify it.
Agriculture and imported food
Agriculture had been affected by decades of competition from cheaper overseas food. Improved steam transport and refrigeration connected British consumers to grain, meat and dairy products from abroad. Imports benefited urban households by making food cheaper, but they put pressure on British producers, especially arable farmers competing with imported grain. A policy which helped one group could hurt another.
Farmers responded in different ways. Some moved away from grain towards livestock, dairy farming, market gardening and other products for the expanding urban market. Others reduced costs or struggled with rents, low prices and shortages of investment. Rural workers could leave for towns where employment seemed more attractive, contributing to changes in rural society. Agriculture remained important for land use and particular communities even as it accounted for a smaller share of national employment than industry and services.
The situation did not amount to an uninterrupted national agricultural collapse. Particular branches could recover or adapt, and prices changed. The central issue was exposure to a world market in which British food production competed with regions having different land, labour and transport costs.
Continue this lesson.
You’re previewing NovaLearn without an account. Create a free account to read the rest.
Create free account