1. Essay Writing Skills Higher Britain 1850-1979 National Governments

2. Are there different types of questions asked about the National Governments? Let’s look at the evidence. "Its economic policies contributed little to economic recovery." How accurate is this judgement on the National government of 1931-1940? (1992) How true is the claim that the period between 1931 and 1939 was one of hardship for most British people? (1995) "We should praise the National Government (1931-1940) for doing so much for the economy and the unemployed, not blame it for failing to do more." Do you agree? (1996)

3. "Too little, too late." Is this a fair judgement on the social and economic measures of the National Government, 1931-1939? (1998) "A series of weak and half-hearted attempts to deal with the problems of the time." How far do you agree with this view of the policies of the National Government during the years 1931-1939? (2001) “The 1930s were the years of continuous economic hardship for the people of Britain.” How far do you agree? (2004) "Too little, too late." Is this a fair judgement on the social and economic measures of the National Government, 1931-1939? (1998) "A series of weak and half-hearted attempts to deal with the problems of the time." How far do you agree with this view of the policies of the National Government during the years 1931-1939? (2001) “The 1930s were the years of continuous economic hardship for the people of Britain.” How far do you agree? (2004)

4. Unlike the Liberals, there is not such a clear pattern of question type for the National Governments but: The blue question expected pupils to concentrate more on evaluating the governments’ economic policies and less on the social impact on the British people. The red question was the reverse – it is more about the social impact of the British people than the hard economic policies, although the latter should be discussed. The green questions expect you to give equal weight to evaluating the economic and social policies of the National Governments.

5. Exemplar Question "We should praise the National Government (1931-1940) for doing so much for the economy and the unemployed, not blame it for failing to do more." Do you agree? (1996) Remember first of all, an essay question is really a set of instructions. So what is the question asking you to do? We have already worked out that this question expects you to deal with both the economic and social policies of the National Governments. We know this because the question has an ‘and’ in it. Always regard an ‘and’ in an essay like a + sign in maths. ‘the economy and the unemployed’.

6. What is the question asking you to do? Write about the National Governments’ policies between 1931-40 Consider both their economic and their social policies. Under the circumstances of the time, did the National Governments do enough to help the economy and the unemployed? Debate the issue (do you agree?) This means giving both sides of the argument on their social and economic policies. Come to a conclusion (answer the question). You can either agree or disagree or come somewhere in between What is the question asking you to do? Write about the National Governments’ policies between 1931-40 Consider both their economic and their social policies. Under the circumstances of the time, did the National Governments do enough to help the economy and the unemployed? Debate the issue (do you agree?) This means giving both sides of the argument on their social and economic policies. Come to a conclusion (answer the question). You can either agree or disagree or come somewhere in between

7. We will now look in more detail at the three sections of the essay: Introduction Development /Main Body Conclusion. For each section, we will discuss the theory (what all good introductions should contain) and the practice (apply the theory to the National governments question). Health warning: Don’t expect a complete, fleshed out essay at the end. We will give examples of good practice only. Writing essays is your job. Marking essays is ours!

8. Principal Assessor Report 2002 ‘Some markers were concerned that, apart from the best essays, introductions and conclusions were not used to their best effect. Some introductions failed to set the issue in context or to clarify the issue itself, while many conclusions amounted to little more than repetition of the main points in the essay, or were simplistic statements about the issue unconnected with points made earlier in the essay. Frequently, such essays were essentially narratives rather than evaluations of evidence leading to a genuine conclusion on an issue.’

9. 1. Introduction The theory Applying the theory to Nat. Govt. question Opening sentence(s) should be interesting /attention grabbing. Introduction might refer to the context ‘A’ grade essays are expected to signpost a line of argument. Refer to key words /phrases in question to show that you are analysing it Possibly refer to one or two policies to whet the reader’s appetite. Linking sentence into main body of essay. “Desperate times call for desperate measures“ is a well known saying. In this context, the National Government came to power during Britain’s darkest postwar economic crisis. However, it is this essay’s contention that from 1931 to 1940, this largely ‘conservative’ government lacked the radical edge to get Britain back to work. While the government deserves praise for protecting Britain’s farmers and ailing industries, it is debatable whether the unemployed in Britain’s ‘black spots’ would have thanked them for cutting the dole and imposing the Means Test which were two of the National Government’s first acts in 1931.

10. 2. The Development of the Essay The Theory 1.There should be a logical flow to the paragraphs 2.Refer back to the question during the development of the essay on several occasions 3.Link paragraphs so that there is a smooth transition / development from one point to the next 4.Use essay word toolkit to ensure that you are arguing, debating, qualifying points made. 5.The first sentence in each paragraph in the Development stage should contain the key point for that paragraph. This should be followed by evidence 2. The Development of the Essay The Theory 1.There should be a logical flow to the paragraphs 2.Refer back to the question during the development of the essay on several occasions 3.Link paragraphs so that there is a smooth transition / development from one point to the next 4.Use essay word toolkit to ensure that you are arguing, debating, qualifying points made. 5.The first sentence in each paragraph in the Development stage should contain the key point for that paragraph. This should be followed by evidence

11. Development of the Essay Essay Question Development of Line of Argument Link 1 3 2 4 5 6 Refer back to Q 1= most important point 6= least important point Economic issues Military issues Political issues

12. Development of the Nat. Govt. Essay Policies to help the Economy Give details of each policy Comment on the effectiveness of each policy Debate: are there different views on this? Policies to help he unemployed Give details of each policy Comment on the effectiveness of each policy Debate: are there different views on this? 1. Logical flow to the paragraphs

13. Economic policies Policies to help the unemployed Unemployment benefit cut by 10% Public sector pay cut by 10% Income tax increased (1931) Low interest rates Devaluation of the pound Protection of British industries by imposing customs duties on imported goods Guaranteed prices of home produced wheat Means Test (1931)? Special Areas Act (1934) Bank rate reduced to help local authorities build council houses Cuts in unemployment benefit restored (1934) Income tax reduced (1935) to stimulate consumer spending and help industries recover Unemployment Act (1934) set up ‘dole’ offices

14. The Development of the Essay 2. Refer back to the National Government question during the development of the essay on several occasions. Exemplar "We should praise the National Government (1931-1940) for doing so much for the economy and the unemployed, not blame it for failing to do more." Do you agree? “When we look at the lacklustre set of policies carried out by the National Governments, it is hard not to criticise them for failing to do more. Although we see a detectable trend away from laissez faire to more intervention in the economy, there is a general consensus among historians that Britain’s economic recovery from 1934 onwards took place largely in spite of, rather than because of National Government policies.”

15. Development of the Nat. Govt. Essay 3. Link paragraphs so that there is a smooth transition / development from one point to the next Exemplar Paragraph 1Introduction Paragraph 2Historical context of economic crisis of 1931 Paragraph 3-5Economic policies Paragraph 6 Move on to policies to help the unemployed The following will show the last two sentences in paragraph 5 linking into the first sentence of paragraph 6. Development of the Nat. Govt. Essay 3. Link paragraphs so that there is a smooth transition / development from one point to the next Exemplar Paragraph 1Introduction Paragraph 2Historical context of economic crisis of 1931 Paragraph 3-5Economic policies Paragraph 6 Move on to policies to help the unemployed The following will show the last two sentences in paragraph 5 linking into the first sentence of paragraph 6.

16. Paragraphs 4, 5 (economic policies) * Government protectionist policies: * Wheat Act, Agricultural Marketing Act * Cattle Industry Act, Sugar Industry Act * Special Areas Act, Import Duties Act * Comments on effectiveness of these * Criticisms of protectionist measures Last two sentences of paragraph 5 “Nevertheless, despite these criticisms, the National Government’s protectionist policies at least stopped unemployment from spiralling even higher. On the other hand, the government was not inclined to take radical steps to help the mass of unemployed at its peak in 1931-3.” First sentence of paragraph 6 “There can be little doubt that the government added to the misery of the jobless by passing the Anomalies Act (1931) which led directly to 130,000 married women losing their right to benefits.”

17. Development of the Nat. Govt. Essay 4.Use essay word toolkit to ensure that you are arguing, debating, qualifying points made. Exemplars “Although the National Government came in for a great deal of criticism for the hated Means Test, it can be argued that they had very little choice but to find ways to cut public expenditure in the context of the dire economic circumstances of 1931.” “It is perhaps too simplistic to characterise the whole of Britain as suffering from mass unemployment and economic depression during the 1930s. In contrast to Clydeside and south Wales, the south east of England enjoyed low unemployment and generally rising standards of living. Nevertheless, historians tend to judge the record of the government more on its policies in the black spots than the boom areas.”

18. Development of the Nat. Govt. Essay 5. The first sentence in each paragraph in the Development stage should contain the key point for that paragraph. This is often called the topic sentence. This should be followed by evidence to back it up.

19. Exemplar: Topic sentence: “Not only did the National Government do very little to help the economy, but there is ample evidence to suggest that it was circumstances beyond the government’s control which brought the economy back into recovery… Evidence to back this up: * world food prices fell * this lowered industry’s costs * also lowered the cost of living * the employed saw an increase in their standard of living * they bought more * this stimulated industry * also the government lowered interest rates to reduce its debt charges * unintentionally, this stimulated industry to start new projects * started a private house-building boom. Exemplar: Topic sentence: “Not only did the National Government do very little to help the economy, but there is ample evidence to suggest that it was circumstances beyond the government’s control which brought the economy back into recovery… Evidence to back this up: * world food prices fell * this lowered industry’s costs * also lowered the cost of living * the employed saw an increase in their standard of living * they bought more * this stimulated industry * also the government lowered interest rates to reduce its debt charges * unintentionally, this stimulated industry to start new projects * started a private house-building boom.

20. Structure of each Paragraph 1. Topic sentence: this is the main point, idea or argument of the paragraph. This may include a link reference back to the question. 2. Evidence to back up the topic sentence. Detailed, specific, relevant. 3. Qualify the point in topic sentence (debate, alternative point of view, evidence against the topic sentence, refer to historian with different interpretation. 4. Link sentence to next paragraph

21. 3. The Conclusion Your conclusion should: Summarise the main points of the argument Give a direct answer to the question set Your conclusion should not: Introduce new evidence Start with ‘In conclusion’ – that is stating the obvious. State that you have ‘proved’ something. Say ‘I think’, ‘I agree’ or ‘In my opinion’ Optional Try to go out with a flourish – can you think of a memorable last sentence. Possibly link up with that memorable first sentence?

22. 3. The Conclusion The National Government deserves little praise for any of its measures to help the economy or the unemployed. By failing to adopt radical remedies such as public works scheme, economic recovery was delayed. Britain benefited more from a general recovery in international trade and reluctant rearmament than its own proactive policies. On the other hand, the largely Conservative government managed to take strong action to protect its own ‘constituency’ i.e. farmers and industrialists. This is in stark contrast to its policies towards the mass of unemployed. They were not protected: they had their benefit cut and the hated Means Test imposed. The only real measure to attract industry into the unemployment black-spots (the Special Areas Act) was both half-hearted and ineffective. Given the desperate times of the 1930s, the National Government stands condemned for not using the ‘desperate measures’ as advocated by Keynes which might have worked faster and more effectively to pull Britain out of recession.