Scraping a Very Narrow Conservative Party Victory: A timeline from 1929
- Thread starter pipisme
- Start date
Garrison
Donor
Unfortunately I don't know enough about New Zealand in that time period to answer that.
Economic policy, Philip Snowden. unemployment benefit, Aneurin Bevan, Jennie Lee, Ellen Wilkinson, government changes
The Labour cabinet was very much aware of the seriousness of the economic situation. In May 1931 Ramsay MacDonald appointed a committee of five economists, chaired by John Maynard Keynes, to report to him on unemployment policy.
In July 1931 the reductions and restrictions in unemployment benefit made by the Conservative government in April and June 1930 were reversed. Unemployment benefit was increased from 15 shillings and 3 pence to 17 shillings a week for men, and from 13 shillings and sixpence to 15 shillings a week for women. Also unemployment benefit was restored to part-time and seasonal workers, and to married women who were not entitled to it following the changes in June 1930.
The Keynes committee reported in September 1931. It proposed public work schemes, the introduction of a general tariff on imports, and restrictions on unemployment benefit. The cabinet accepted the need for public works, and restrictions on unemployment, but rejected a general tariff. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, William Graham, was in favour of a revenue tariff. Other cabinet ministers also supported a revenue tariff, or tariffs to protect specific industries. The cabinet agreed to a revenue tariff of 10 percent on all imports, except food, on 13 October 1931. Philip Snowden, the Lord Privy Seal, resigned in protest.
MacDonald made the following changes to his government:
Thomas Johnston from President Board of Trade to Lord Privy Seal,
Frederick Pethick-Lawrence from Financial Secretary to the Treasury to President Board of Trade,
George Gillett from Secretary Overseas Trade Department in Board of Trade to Financial Secretary to the Treasury.
The Anomalies Bill removed the right to unemployment benefit from part-time and seasonal workers, and from many married women workers. It received a second reading on 3 December 1931. Forty-one Labour MPs voted against it, including Aneurin Bevan, Ellen Wilkinson, and Jennie Lee and others in the Independent Labour Party (ILP) group. Conservative and Liberal MPs voted for it. After passing through all its stages in the House of Commons, and House of Lords, it received the royal assent and became law on 19 January 1932.
In July 1931 the reductions and restrictions in unemployment benefit made by the Conservative government in April and June 1930 were reversed. Unemployment benefit was increased from 15 shillings and 3 pence to 17 shillings a week for men, and from 13 shillings and sixpence to 15 shillings a week for women. Also unemployment benefit was restored to part-time and seasonal workers, and to married women who were not entitled to it following the changes in June 1930.
The Keynes committee reported in September 1931. It proposed public work schemes, the introduction of a general tariff on imports, and restrictions on unemployment benefit. The cabinet accepted the need for public works, and restrictions on unemployment, but rejected a general tariff. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, William Graham, was in favour of a revenue tariff. Other cabinet ministers also supported a revenue tariff, or tariffs to protect specific industries. The cabinet agreed to a revenue tariff of 10 percent on all imports, except food, on 13 October 1931. Philip Snowden, the Lord Privy Seal, resigned in protest.
MacDonald made the following changes to his government:
Thomas Johnston from President Board of Trade to Lord Privy Seal,
Frederick Pethick-Lawrence from Financial Secretary to the Treasury to President Board of Trade,
George Gillett from Secretary Overseas Trade Department in Board of Trade to Financial Secretary to the Treasury.
The Anomalies Bill removed the right to unemployment benefit from part-time and seasonal workers, and from many married women workers. It received a second reading on 3 December 1931. Forty-one Labour MPs voted against it, including Aneurin Bevan, Ellen Wilkinson, and Jennie Lee and others in the Independent Labour Party (ILP) group. Conservative and Liberal MPs voted for it. After passing through all its stages in the House of Commons, and House of Lords, it received the royal assent and became law on 19 January 1932.
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London County Council election March 1931, William Graham, government changes
The election for the London County Council (LCC) was held on 5 March 1931. Labour gained control of the council from the Municipal Reform Moderates, the name under which the Conservative Party stood in LCC elections. The number of councillors elected for each party were as follows (1928 election):
Labour: 63 (42)
Municipal Reform Moderates: 54 (77)
Liberal: 7 (5)
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Total: 124 (124)
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Lewis Silkin became leader of the LCC. In OTL the Municipal Reform Moderates kept control of the LCC and increased their number of councillors.
William Graham, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, became ill with pneumonia in December 1931. He resigned from the government on 28 December, and died on 8 January 1932. His death was a great loss to the government and Labour party, Historians think he was a potential leader of the Labour Party. MacDonald made the following changes in the subsequent government reshuffle:
John Clynes from Home Secretary to Chancellor of the Exchequer,
Arthur Greenwood from Minister of Health to Home Secretary,
Clement Attlee from Postmaster-General to Minister of Health and promoted to the cabinet,
Herbert Morrison from Parliamentary Ministry of Transport to Postmaster-General.
Labour: 63 (42)
Municipal Reform Moderates: 54 (77)
Liberal: 7 (5)
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Total: 124 (124)
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Lewis Silkin became leader of the LCC. In OTL the Municipal Reform Moderates kept control of the LCC and increased their number of councillors.
William Graham, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, became ill with pneumonia in December 1931. He resigned from the government on 28 December, and died on 8 January 1932. His death was a great loss to the government and Labour party, Historians think he was a potential leader of the Labour Party. MacDonald made the following changes in the subsequent government reshuffle:
John Clynes from Home Secretary to Chancellor of the Exchequer,
Arthur Greenwood from Minister of Health to Home Secretary,
Clement Attlee from Postmaster-General to Minister of Health and promoted to the cabinet,
Herbert Morrison from Parliamentary Ministry of Transport to Postmaster-General.
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Round Table Conferences on India, Ernest Bevin, James Thomas, Hugh Dalton, government changes, gold standard
The first Round Table Conference on constitutional reforms in India was held in London from November 1930 to January 1931. The Indian National Congress (INC) and Indian business leaders did not attend the conference. All groups attending it supported the concept of an All-India Federation.
The second Round Table Conference took place in London from September to December 1931. Mahatma Gandhi attended as the only official representative of the INC. He claimed that it 'alone represented political India; that the Untouchables were Hindus and should not be treated as a "minority "; and that there should be no separate electorates or special safeguards for Muslims or other minorities. These claims were rejected by the other Indian participants.' (1)
Ernest Bevin, the General Secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union, was elected Labour MP for Gateshead in the by-election on 29 October 1931, caused by the death of Herbert Evans (Labour).
The Dominions Secretary, James Thomas, resigned from the cabinet on 15 October 1931 because he believed that the 10 percent revenue tariff on all non-food imports did not go far enough. He wanted imperial preference and resigned to advocate for it outside the constraints of government. Ramsay MacDonald promoted Hugh Dalton from Under-Secretary Foreign Office to Dominions Secretary, and moved William Lunn from Under-Secretary Dominions Office to Under-Secretary Foreign Office.
Following continual pressure on the pound and an outflow of gold from London, Britain left the gold standard on 18 January 1932. The pound was now on a fluctuating rate and fell from US$4.86 to one £ to about US$ 3.40 to one £. The Conservative Party blamed the failure of the financial policies of the Labour government for Britain leaving the gold standard. The Liberal Party supported it.
(1) The first and second Round Table Conferences were as in OTL. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Round_Table_Conferences_(India), from which the above quotation is taken.
The second Round Table Conference took place in London from September to December 1931. Mahatma Gandhi attended as the only official representative of the INC. He claimed that it 'alone represented political India; that the Untouchables were Hindus and should not be treated as a "minority "; and that there should be no separate electorates or special safeguards for Muslims or other minorities. These claims were rejected by the other Indian participants.' (1)
Ernest Bevin, the General Secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union, was elected Labour MP for Gateshead in the by-election on 29 October 1931, caused by the death of Herbert Evans (Labour).
The Dominions Secretary, James Thomas, resigned from the cabinet on 15 October 1931 because he believed that the 10 percent revenue tariff on all non-food imports did not go far enough. He wanted imperial preference and resigned to advocate for it outside the constraints of government. Ramsay MacDonald promoted Hugh Dalton from Under-Secretary Foreign Office to Dominions Secretary, and moved William Lunn from Under-Secretary Dominions Office to Under-Secretary Foreign Office.
Following continual pressure on the pound and an outflow of gold from London, Britain left the gold standard on 18 January 1932. The pound was now on a fluctuating rate and fell from US$4.86 to one £ to about US$ 3.40 to one £. The Conservative Party blamed the failure of the financial policies of the Labour government for Britain leaving the gold standard. The Liberal Party supported it.
(1) The first and second Round Table Conferences were as in OTL. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Round_Table_Conferences_(India), from which the above quotation is taken.
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Jennie Lee, Independent Labour Party (ILP), Winston Churchill, by-elections
Jennie Lee, Frank Wise and other Independent Labour Party (ILP) MPs tabled an amendment to the King's Speech in April 1931. It proposed Children's Allowances and the nationalisation of coal mines, gas and electricity. It received only 27 votes. Most Labour MPs voted against it. The Conservatives and Liberals abstained.
In December 1931, Ramsay MacDonald made the Colonial Secretary, Arthur Ponsonby, a hereditary peer. The subsequent by-election in Sheffield Brightside was held on 26 January 1932. The percentage votes for each party were as follows (1931 general election):
Labour: 47.5 (57.8)
Liberal: 26.4 (20,5)
Conservative: 26.1 (21.7)
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Labour majority: 21.1% (36.1%
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Winston Churchill returned to the House of Commons as Conservative MP for Henley at the by-election on 25 February 1932, in which the Liberals kept their second place. He bought a house in the constituency. His paintings of the River Thames and the countryside around Henley show considerable talent. He was a fairly accomplished painter. He and his wife, Clementine, attended the Henley Regatta each year.
Other former Conservative government ministers who lost their seats in the 1931 general election, returned to the House of Commons in by-elections. Duff Cooper in Richmond (Surrey) on 13 April 1932. William Ormsby-Gore and Kingsley Wood in Marylebone, and Eastbourne respectively on 28 April.
When MacDonald appointed his cabinet he made the Lord Privy Seal, Philip Snowden, responsible for government policy on employment. He was assisted by the First Commissioner of Works, George Lansbury, and the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Sir Oswald Mosley. When Snowden resigned on 13 November 1931, his successor as Lord Privy Seal, Thomas Johnston, took over responsibility for employment policy.
In December 1931, Ramsay MacDonald made the Colonial Secretary, Arthur Ponsonby, a hereditary peer. The subsequent by-election in Sheffield Brightside was held on 26 January 1932. The percentage votes for each party were as follows (1931 general election):
Labour: 47.5 (57.8)
Liberal: 26.4 (20,5)
Conservative: 26.1 (21.7)
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Labour majority: 21.1% (36.1%
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Winston Churchill returned to the House of Commons as Conservative MP for Henley at the by-election on 25 February 1932, in which the Liberals kept their second place. He bought a house in the constituency. His paintings of the River Thames and the countryside around Henley show considerable talent. He was a fairly accomplished painter. He and his wife, Clementine, attended the Henley Regatta each year.
Other former Conservative government ministers who lost their seats in the 1931 general election, returned to the House of Commons in by-elections. Duff Cooper in Richmond (Surrey) on 13 April 1932. William Ormsby-Gore and Kingsley Wood in Marylebone, and Eastbourne respectively on 28 April.
When MacDonald appointed his cabinet he made the Lord Privy Seal, Philip Snowden, responsible for government policy on employment. He was assisted by the First Commissioner of Works, George Lansbury, and the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Sir Oswald Mosley. When Snowden resigned on 13 November 1931, his successor as Lord Privy Seal, Thomas Johnston, took over responsibility for employment policy.
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Sir Oswald Mosley, government economic policy, cabinet meeting 24 May 1932, Ramsay MacDonald resignation, John Clynes, Jennie Lee, Aneurin Bevan
Mosley published his Memorandum on 9 March 1932. This 'proposed a programme to enlarge home demand and home markets: create public works, increase pensions to take the elderly out of the labour market and add to their purchasing power, and raise the school-leaving age - the package to be secured by nationalizing the banks and ringed by tariff protection.' (1). Johnston and John Clynes, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, agreed with some of it. But Ramsay MacDonald and the majority of the cabinet rejected it. Mosley resigned from the government on 2 May 1932. MacDonald promoted Alfred Short from Under-Secretary Home Office to Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
From early February a group of eight cabinet ministers plotted to overthrow MacDonald as Prime Minister. They knew that his resignation was necessary to achieve the changes in government policy they wanted, to reflation and large scale public works, financed by redistrbutive taxation. Much like that advocated by the economist John Arthur Hobson. The ministers were Noel Buxton, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, John Clynes, Arthur Greenwood, Home Secretary, Arthur Henderson, Foreign Secretary, Tom Johnston, George Lansbury, Frederick Pethick-Lawrence, President of the Board of Trade, and Sir Charles Trevelyan, President of the Board of Education. They called themselves the network. They agreed that when MacDonald resigned, as they hoped he would, they would back Henderson to become leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister. They were a minority of the cabinet, but expected more ministers would join them when the crunch came.
The network met and plotted in the House of Commons tea room and bar, and in Johnston's flat in London. They made contact with the ILP, through Johnston who was a member, including with Jennie Lee and Frank Wise, who were lovers. Also with Aneurin Bevan, he and Lee were friends.
With unemployment continuing to rise, the National Insurance Fund deficit and the budget deficit kept growing. The cabinet meeting in the morning of Tuesday 24 May 1932 discussed the financial situation. MacDonald proposed cuts of £78 million in government spending, removing unemployment benefit from part-time and seasonal workers, and a ten per cent reduction in unemployment benefit. The network rejected the proposals on unemployment benefit and proposed that the budget deficit be financed by increases and government borrowing.
After a long and lively discussion, the cabinet voted on the two proposals. MacDonald's received nine out of twenty-one votes. Twelve ministers voted for the network's proposals. In addition to the network they were William Adamson, Scotland Secretary, Albert Alexander, First Lord of the Admiralty, Clement Attlee, Minister of Health, and Lord Ponsonby, Colonial Secretary. That afternoon MacDonald resigned as leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister. Clynes as deputy leader of the Labour Party became caretaker Prime Minister until the Labour Party elected a new leader.
(1) Quotation taken from the book Jennie Lee: A Life by Patricia Hollis. Oxford University Press 1997.
From early February a group of eight cabinet ministers plotted to overthrow MacDonald as Prime Minister. They knew that his resignation was necessary to achieve the changes in government policy they wanted, to reflation and large scale public works, financed by redistrbutive taxation. Much like that advocated by the economist John Arthur Hobson. The ministers were Noel Buxton, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, John Clynes, Arthur Greenwood, Home Secretary, Arthur Henderson, Foreign Secretary, Tom Johnston, George Lansbury, Frederick Pethick-Lawrence, President of the Board of Trade, and Sir Charles Trevelyan, President of the Board of Education. They called themselves the network. They agreed that when MacDonald resigned, as they hoped he would, they would back Henderson to become leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister. They were a minority of the cabinet, but expected more ministers would join them when the crunch came.
The network met and plotted in the House of Commons tea room and bar, and in Johnston's flat in London. They made contact with the ILP, through Johnston who was a member, including with Jennie Lee and Frank Wise, who were lovers. Also with Aneurin Bevan, he and Lee were friends.
With unemployment continuing to rise, the National Insurance Fund deficit and the budget deficit kept growing. The cabinet meeting in the morning of Tuesday 24 May 1932 discussed the financial situation. MacDonald proposed cuts of £78 million in government spending, removing unemployment benefit from part-time and seasonal workers, and a ten per cent reduction in unemployment benefit. The network rejected the proposals on unemployment benefit and proposed that the budget deficit be financed by increases and government borrowing.
After a long and lively discussion, the cabinet voted on the two proposals. MacDonald's received nine out of twenty-one votes. Twelve ministers voted for the network's proposals. In addition to the network they were William Adamson, Scotland Secretary, Albert Alexander, First Lord of the Admiralty, Clement Attlee, Minister of Health, and Lord Ponsonby, Colonial Secretary. That afternoon MacDonald resigned as leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister. Clynes as deputy leader of the Labour Party became caretaker Prime Minister until the Labour Party elected a new leader.
(1) Quotation taken from the book Jennie Lee: A Life by Patricia Hollis. Oxford University Press 1997.
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Cabinet meeting 24 May 1932
I have decided to make the following changes to my previous message. In the cabinet meeting on 24 May, the network proposed cuts of £56 million in government spending, instead of having no cuts. This was to get a majority of ministers on their side. MacDonald's proposal received eight out of twenty votes. Hugh Dalton, Dominions Secretary, voted for the network's proposal. Because Lord Ponsonby was absent, twelve ministers voted for it.
OK, so MacDonald is out. Hopefully Clynes is more willing to embrace the wholesale economic reform that Britain needs to drag it out of the Depression.
I can't help but wonder what Mosely's future is ITTL.
Also, @pipisme, with all due respect, would it be possible for you to threadmark your posts in future? While I enjoy reading your content, it can sometimes be quite difficult to find your posts.
I can't help but wonder what Mosely's future is ITTL.
Also, @pipisme, with all due respect, would it be possible for you to threadmark your posts in future? While I enjoy reading your content, it can sometimes be quite difficult to find your posts.
Labour leadership election 31 May 1932
I have threadmarked my posts and will do so in the future.
The cabinet and the Chief Whip decided that the election for leader by Labour MPs of the their party leader and therefore Prime Minister, would take place on 31 May 1932. The candidates were George Gillett, Financial Secretary to the Treasury; Arthur Henderson, Foreign Secretary; and Sir Oswald Mosley. Gillett was the candidate of MacDonald loyalists, who would have liked him not to have resigned as Prime Minister.
The cabinet and the Chief Whip decided that the election for leader by Labour MPs of the their party leader and therefore Prime Minister, would take place on 31 May 1932. The candidates were George Gillett, Financial Secretary to the Treasury; Arthur Henderson, Foreign Secretary; and Sir Oswald Mosley. Gillett was the candidate of MacDonald loyalists, who would have liked him not to have resigned as Prime Minister.
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Labour leadership election 31 May 1932, government changes
The number of votes for each candidate in the Labour leadership election were:
Arthur Henderson: 241
George Gillett: 39
Sir Oswald Mosley: 26
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Total: 306
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So Henderson was elected leader of the Labour Party and became Prime Minister. He made the following changes to his government;
Hugh Dalton from Dominions Secretary to Foreign Secretary
Lord Thomson from Secretary of State for Air to Dominions Secretary,
Sir Oswald Mosley appointed Secretary of State for Air,
Lord Parmoor resigned as Lord President of the Council,
Lord Ponsonby from Colonial Secretary to Lord President of the Council,
Drummond Shiels promoted from Under Secretary Colonial Office to Colonial Secretary,
Earl de la Warr from Under Secretary Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries to Under Secretary Colonial Office,
Margaret Bondfield resigned as Minister of Labour,
Susan Lawrence promoted from Parliamentary Secretary Ministry of Health to Minister of Labour,
Ellen Wilkinson appointed Parliamentary Secretary Ministry of Health,
George Gillett resigned as Financial Secretary to the Treasury,
John Lawson from Parliamentary Secretary Ministry of Labour to Financial Secretary to the Treasury.
Arthur Henderson: 241
George Gillett: 39
Sir Oswald Mosley: 26
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Total: 306
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So Henderson was elected leader of the Labour Party and became Prime Minister. He made the following changes to his government;
Hugh Dalton from Dominions Secretary to Foreign Secretary
Lord Thomson from Secretary of State for Air to Dominions Secretary,
Sir Oswald Mosley appointed Secretary of State for Air,
Lord Parmoor resigned as Lord President of the Council,
Lord Ponsonby from Colonial Secretary to Lord President of the Council,
Drummond Shiels promoted from Under Secretary Colonial Office to Colonial Secretary,
Earl de la Warr from Under Secretary Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries to Under Secretary Colonial Office,
Margaret Bondfield resigned as Minister of Labour,
Susan Lawrence promoted from Parliamentary Secretary Ministry of Health to Minister of Labour,
Ellen Wilkinson appointed Parliamentary Secretary Ministry of Health,
George Gillett resigned as Financial Secretary to the Treasury,
John Lawson from Parliamentary Secretary Ministry of Labour to Financial Secretary to the Treasury.
Jennie Lee, John Clynes budgets April 1932 and October 1932, Land Value Tax
Thomas Johnston, the Lord Privy Seal, appointed Jennie Lee as his Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS). They were both Scottish and members of the ILP. Sir Oswald Mosley appointed John Strachey as his PPS.
In his April 1932 budget, Clynes had introduced a Land Value Tax. (1) But it would be some years until it raised a significant amount of money. In his second budget of 1932, on 8 November, Clynes increased the standard rate of income tax from 4 shillings and six pence in the pound to five shillings and six pence, and the maximum rate of surtax from 7 shillings and six pence on amounts of over £50,000 to 9 shillings on amounts of over £30,000. He also announced an extensive programme of public works financed by government borrowing.
(1) For Land Value Tax see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_Value_Tax.
In his April 1932 budget, Clynes had introduced a Land Value Tax. (1) But it would be some years until it raised a significant amount of money. In his second budget of 1932, on 8 November, Clynes increased the standard rate of income tax from 4 shillings and six pence in the pound to five shillings and six pence, and the maximum rate of surtax from 7 shillings and six pence on amounts of over £50,000 to 9 shillings on amounts of over £30,000. He also announced an extensive programme of public works financed by government borrowing.
(1) For Land Value Tax see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_Value_Tax.
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Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1932, Housing Act 1932
Marion Phillips, the Labour MP for Bristol East and Chief Woman Officer of the Labour Party, died on 23 January 1932. She was only fifty years old (date of birth 29 October 1881). The subsequent by-election on 25 February 1932 was won for Labour by George Gilbert Desmond, a barrister and author of children's books. (1) He contested Bath in the April 1931 general election, and other elections for Labour.
The Coal Industry Nationalisation 1932 established the National Coal Board. The Housing Act 1932 extended subsidies to local authorities for slum clearance, and instructed them to draw up five-year plans for slum clearance.
(1) Here is his biography in Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Gilbert_Desmond.
The Coal Industry Nationalisation 1932 established the National Coal Board. The Housing Act 1932 extended subsidies to local authorities for slum clearance, and instructed them to draw up five-year plans for slum clearance.
(1) Here is his biography in Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Gilbert_Desmond.
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Bank of England nationalisation. Trade Union Act 1932, Education Act 1933, Nazi Germany
The Bank of England was nationalised in 1932. The Trade Unions Act 1932 repealed the Trade Disputes and Trade Unions Act 1927, which made a strike or a lockout intended to coerce the government illegal, and imposed restrictions on political activities of trade unions, and limited the political levy to workers who 'contracted in'. The Education Act 1933 raised the school leaving age from 14 to 15 with maintenance grants.
The World Disarmament Conference opened in Geneva on 2 December 1932. The Chairman was Sir Austen Chamberlain, Foreign Secretary from 1924 to 1929.
The British government had a cautious attitude to the appointment of Adolf Hitler as German Chancellor on 30 January 1933. It didn't know what the new German government, in which Nazi ministers were a minority, would do, or whether it would be just another short-lived German government.
However by April 1933, with the Enabling Act which established the Nazi dictatorship, the banning of political parties, the persecution of the Jews and the establishment of concentration camps, the nature of the Nazi regime was clear. The Home Secretary, Arthur Greenwood, said that refugees from Nazi Germany would be welcome in Britain.
Sir Horace Rumbold, British ambassador to Germany since August 1928, wrote a 5,000 word dispatch to the Foreign Secretary, Hugh Dalton, on 26 April 1933. In it he stressed the 'importance Hitler placed on building a mighty military' to regain Germany's lost provinces, and 'his assertion that Germany must not repeat her mistake in the last war of fighting all her enemies at once but must pick them off one by one. Rumbold was convinced that a deliberate policy was now being pursued the aim of which was to bring Germany to......a jumping off point from which she can reach solid ground before her adversaries can interfere. Germany's neighbours he warned must be vigilant.' (1)
Dalton gave Rumbold's dispatch to the Prime Minister, who circulated it to the cabinet,
(1) Taken fron the book Appeasing Hitler: Chamberlain, Churchill and the Road to War by Tim Bouverie, London: The Bodley Head, 2019.
The World Disarmament Conference opened in Geneva on 2 December 1932. The Chairman was Sir Austen Chamberlain, Foreign Secretary from 1924 to 1929.
The British government had a cautious attitude to the appointment of Adolf Hitler as German Chancellor on 30 January 1933. It didn't know what the new German government, in which Nazi ministers were a minority, would do, or whether it would be just another short-lived German government.
However by April 1933, with the Enabling Act which established the Nazi dictatorship, the banning of political parties, the persecution of the Jews and the establishment of concentration camps, the nature of the Nazi regime was clear. The Home Secretary, Arthur Greenwood, said that refugees from Nazi Germany would be welcome in Britain.
Sir Horace Rumbold, British ambassador to Germany since August 1928, wrote a 5,000 word dispatch to the Foreign Secretary, Hugh Dalton, on 26 April 1933. In it he stressed the 'importance Hitler placed on building a mighty military' to regain Germany's lost provinces, and 'his assertion that Germany must not repeat her mistake in the last war of fighting all her enemies at once but must pick them off one by one. Rumbold was convinced that a deliberate policy was now being pursued the aim of which was to bring Germany to......a jumping off point from which she can reach solid ground before her adversaries can interfere. Germany's neighbours he warned must be vigilant.' (1)
Dalton gave Rumbold's dispatch to the Prime Minister, who circulated it to the cabinet,
(1) Taken fron the book Appeasing Hitler: Chamberlain, Churchill and the Road to War by Tim Bouverie, London: The Bodley Head, 2019.
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Temperley memorandum on Nazi Germany
In a memorandum which Brigadier Arthur Cecil Temperley, a British delegate to the Geneva Disarmament Conference, sent to the Foreign Office on 10 May 1933, he 'urged the Government to abandon disarmament and call Germany out on her illegal military. It would be madness, Temperley argued, to consider further disarmament at a time when Germany was in a delirium of reactivated nationalism and of the most blatant and dangerous militarism.. .,, The Germans, Temperley wrote, already possessed 125 fighter aeroplanes - in contravention of the Treaty of Versailles, which provided a German Air Force.'
Could the British government 'afford to ignore what was happening in Germany.,,,,,.there was only one solution, Britain and France, together with the United States, should tell Germany that there would be no relaxation of Versailles and no moves towards equality of status unless a complete reversion of her present military preparations and tendencies took place. Admittedly this ran the risk of starting a war but, as Temperley pointed out, it was a small risk since there was no way that Germany could confront the combined might of the French Army and the Royal Navy. Germany's bluff should thus be called and Hitler, for all his bombast, must give way.' He concluded that 'the only altetnative'..,,.. was to allow things to drift for five years by which time there would either be a new regime in Germsny or war.'
(1) Taken from Appeasing Hitler: Chamberlain, Churchill abd the Road to War [/I] by Tom Bouverie.
Could the British government 'afford to ignore what was happening in Germany.,,,,,.there was only one solution, Britain and France, together with the United States, should tell Germany that there would be no relaxation of Versailles and no moves towards equality of status unless a complete reversion of her present military preparations and tendencies took place. Admittedly this ran the risk of starting a war but, as Temperley pointed out, it was a small risk since there was no way that Germany could confront the combined might of the French Army and the Royal Navy. Germany's bluff should thus be called and Hitler, for all his bombast, must give way.' He concluded that 'the only altetnative'..,,.. was to allow things to drift for five years by which time there would either be a new regime in Germsny or war.'
(1) Taken from Appeasing Hitler: Chamberlain, Churchill abd the Road to War [/I] by Tom Bouverie.
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In this timeline I want to explore having a Labour government in Britain, and Hitler and the Nazis in power in Germany, in the 1930s.
Sir Robert Vansittart, the Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, circulated Temperley's memorandum to the cabinet. 'He had already written his own memorandum warning that the present German regime would on past and present form, loose off another European war just as it soon feels strong enough.' (1)
The cabinet discussed Rumbold's dispatch and Temperley's and Vansittart's memoranda on 17 May 1933. The Foreign Secretary, Hugh Dalton, said they must be taken seriously. Germany is increasing its armed forces, and therefore Britain must not disarm further. He was supported by the Home Secretary, Arthur Greenwood, the Colonial Secretary, Drummond Shiels. He was opposed by the First Commissioner of Works, George Lansbury, and the Lord President of the Council, Lord Ponsonby, from a pacifist standpoint. They were backed by other ministers.
The Air Secretary, Sir Oswald Mosley, also opposed Dalton. He said that the stories of persecution of the Jews in Germany were exaggerated. They must anti-German atrocity propaganda. Hitler wanted peace, not war. The national efficiency and pride which the German and Italian governments had infused into their nations and peoples were admirable. We can learn from them. Dalton reacted with fury to Mosley. He called him a fascist at heart. He had no roots or commitment to the Labour Party. Therefore he should have no place in the government.
The Prime Minister, Arthur Henderson, summed up the meeting. He said that he passionately opposed the Nazi regime in Germany. The warnings given by Rumbold, Temperley and Vansittart, must be taken seriously. But the government were committed to the Geneva Disarmament Conference, which is supported by the Conservative and Liberals, and the British people.
Later that day he dismissed Mosley from the cabinet, because his opinions on Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany were incompatible with being a minister in a Labour government. He made the following changes to his government: Emmanuel Shinwell from Minister of Fuel and Power, outside the cabinet, to Air Secretary in the cabinet; David Grenfell from Parliamentary Secretary Ministry of Fuel and Power to Minister of Fuel and Power; Wilfrid Paling appointed Parliamentary Secretary Ministry of Fuel and Power.
When the coal industry was nationalised the previous year, the Mines Department of the Board of Trade was abolished and replaced by the Ministry of Fuel and Power.
Temperley'a memorandum was discussed by the cabinet of the National Government in OTL. They did not change their defence policy because they were committed to the Geneva Disarmament Conference.
(1) Quotation taken from Appeasing Hitler: Chamberlain, Churchill and the Road to War by Tom Bouverie.
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Labour Party leadership election May 1934
On Thursday 2 May 1934, Arthur Henderson announced that he would resign as leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister, when Labour MPs had elected a new leader. He said that he made his decision because his health was not good, and he wanted to give his successor time in the job before the next general election, which must be no later than 28 April 1936.
The candidates in the leadership election were Hugh Dalton, Foreign Secretary; Arthur Greenwood, Home Secretary; and Herbert Morrison, Postmaster-General. The first ballot of Labour MPs was held on 9 May. The number of votes for each candidate were:
Greenwood: 182
Morrison: 74
Dalton: 47.
As Greenwood received a majority of votes, there was no need for a second ballot and he became leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister.
Greenwood made the following changes to his government:
Frederick Pethick- Lawrence from President Board of Trade to Colonial Secretary,
Drummond Shiels from Colonial Secretary to Home Secretary,
Clement Attlee from Health Secretary to President Board of Trade,
Herbert Morrison from Postmaster-General to Health Secretary,
John Lawson from Financial Secretary to the Treaury to Postmaster-General. Ernest Bevin joined the government as Financial Secretary to the Treasury.
The candidates in the leadership election were Hugh Dalton, Foreign Secretary; Arthur Greenwood, Home Secretary; and Herbert Morrison, Postmaster-General. The first ballot of Labour MPs was held on 9 May. The number of votes for each candidate were:
Greenwood: 182
Morrison: 74
Dalton: 47.
As Greenwood received a majority of votes, there was no need for a second ballot and he became leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister.
Greenwood made the following changes to his government:
Frederick Pethick- Lawrence from President Board of Trade to Colonial Secretary,
Drummond Shiels from Colonial Secretary to Home Secretary,
Clement Attlee from Health Secretary to President Board of Trade,
Herbert Morrison from Postmaster-General to Health Secretary,
John Lawson from Financial Secretary to the Treaury to Postmaster-General. Ernest Bevin joined the government as Financial Secretary to the Treasury.