Why did the General Strike fail?

The General Strike only lasted only 9 days until the TUC called it off.
1. The strike failed and the coal miners had to accept terms.
  1. In 1927 the government mad general strikes illegal
There were 3 main factors as to why the strike failed. These were..
1. Factor 1- The government was really well prepared for the strike.
  1. The Organisation for the Maintenance of Supplies (OMS) was set up to train and recruit volunteer labour to break the strike.
  2. The government hired special constables the help police the strike
  3. Plans were made to use the armed forces to maintain supplies and guard key facilities.
  4. Resources were stockpiled- including food and emergency electricity generation was organised.
2. Factor 2- people feared a revolution
  1. The Communist Revolution (1917) meant that people in Britain feared a revolution.
  2. The government portrayed the strike as a revolution.
  3. Even the TUC feared that the could become a revolution- which was one of the reasons the TUC stopped the strike after only 9 days.
3. Factor 3- the media
  1. The government controlled the media during the general strike. The BBC refused to allow union leaders to speak on the radio.
  2. The government produced a paper called The British Gazette attacking the General Strike as a threat to destroy Britain.
  3. The TUC's newspaper The British Newspaper was only 4 pages because the government controlled supplies of newspaper.
  4. This meant the media was heavily biased in favour of the government during the General Strike.

Next up

Why did the General Strike fail?

Description

Resource summary

Similar

	Created by Charlotte johnson about 11 years ago