Britain in the Twenties
Britain After the First World War
When the First World War ended in November 1918, Britain faced the enormous challenge of readjusting to peace. Over 700,000 British soldiers had died, and returning veterans expected a country “fit for heroes to live in” — a phrase used by Prime Minister David Lloyd George to drum up support. The government’s promise was partly delivered through the Housing Act of 1919, which required local councils to build affordable homes with government subsidies. Over 200,000 council houses were built by 1922, though this fell far short of demand.
The immediate post-war years were marked by economic instability. A brief boom in 1919–1920 was followed by a sharp slump. Unemployment, which had virtually disappeared during the war, rose steeply. Returning soldiers found that factory jobs had been taken by women or had simply disappeared as wartime industries contracted. The promise of a “land fit for heroes” was beginning to ring hollow for many working-class families.
The Housing Act of 1919 (Addison Act) obliged local councils to build affordable housing with central government subsidies. Around 200,000 council houses were constructed by 1922, marking the beginning of large-scale social housing in Britain.
Troubles in Ireland
Ireland presented one of the most pressing crises of the post-war years. An Irish republican uprising at Easter 1916 had been brutally suppressed, but it transformed Irish public opinion. In the December 1918 general election, the republican party Sinn Féin won 73 seats in Ireland but refused to sit at Westminster, instead declaring their own parliament (the Dáil) in Dublin in January 1919. A guerrilla War of Independence followed, fought between the Irish Republican Army and British forces.
The conflict ended with the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921, which created the Irish Free State as a self-governing dominion of 26 southern counties. Six predominantly Protestant counties in the north-east remained part of the United Kingdom as Northern Ireland. However, the treaty split Irish nationalists: those who accepted it (pro-Treaty) fought those who rejected it (anti-Treaty, led by Eamon de Valera) in a bitter Irish Civil War from 1922 to 1923. For Britain, partition appeared to resolve the immediate crisis, though it planted the seeds of future conflict.
The War of Independence (1919–1921) saw the IRA use guerrilla tactics against British forces, including the notorious Black and Tans — hastily recruited British auxiliaries who became infamous for reprisals against civilian communities. The violence shocked British public opinion and increased pressure on Lloyd George to negotiate. The resulting treaty created a Free State but left Northern Ireland — with its Unionist Protestant majority — attached to Britain. Hard-line republicans, who wanted full independence for all 32 counties, rejected the compromise. Their conflict with pro-Treaty forces during the Irish Civil War (1922–1923) left lasting scars on Irish society and politics.
The General Strike of 1926
In May 1926, Britain experienced its only general strike. The immediate trigger was the coal industry. After the post-war boom ended, coal mine owners demanded that miners accept pay cuts and longer hours. The Trades Union Congress (TUC) called out workers across key industries — transport, printing, building, and steel — in support of the miners. Around 1.75 million workers joined the strike.
The Conservative government under Stanley Baldwin used emergency powers, deploying the military to keep essential supplies moving and recruiting middle-class volunteers as strike-breakers. The BBC broadcast government messages while the government produced its own newspaper, the British Gazette. After nine days, the TUC called off the general strike, leaving the miners to continue their dispute alone. Forced back by hunger in late 1926, miners accepted the pay cuts they had fought against. The defeat weakened the trade union movement and damaged working-class confidence in industrial action as a political tool.
The General Strike lasted nine days in May 1926. Around 1.75 million workers came out at the call of the TUC in support of the miners. The TUC backed down first; the miners held out alone until late 1926 before accepting pay cuts. The defeat significantly weakened the trade union movement.
The TUC leadership was nervous about the legal position of the strike and worried that it was being portrayed as an attack on the constitution rather than an industrial dispute. The government’s organisation was effective: volunteer drivers, soldiers and middle-class strikebreakers kept food and fuel moving. The TUC feared that prolonging the strike would provoke harsher legal action, and they negotiated a face-saving exit by claiming that the government had agreed to reconsider miners’ pay — a claim the government promptly denied. Many miners felt betrayed by the TUC’s decision.
Women’s Changing Status
The First World War had accelerated women’s entry into the workforce. Women had driven buses, worked in munitions factories and managed farms, demonstrating that they could perform roles previously reserved for men. In 1918, the Representation of the People Act 1918 granted the vote to women over 30 who met a property qualification — around 8.4 million women. Men over 21 received the vote regardless of property ownership.
The partial nature of the 1918 reform reflected nervousness that women would immediately form a majority of the electorate if given equal terms. Campaigners continued to press for full equality. The Equal Franchise Act of 1928 finally gave all women over 21 the vote on the same terms as men, adding approximately five million women to the electoral roll. Beyond politics, the 1920s saw some women — particularly middle-class women in cities — challenge traditional gender norms. The image of the “flapper” — a young woman with short hair, short skirts and social freedoms — symbolised this cultural shift, though it was far removed from the daily reality of most working-class women.