ABSTRACT
The post-war boom came to an end in 1920, but for a time it appeared that pre-war prosperity had returned. Old trade routes abroad reopened, while consumer goods in short supply during the war years suddenly appeared on the market again; the returning troops had their gratuities to spend. The basic causes of the depression in the staple industries are well established and have already been touched upon: the USA and Japan, in particular, were able to take advantage of Europe’s being at war to gain new markets. Thus, the governments of the inter-war period up to 1932 put their trust in the operation of free-market forces. The McKenna Duties of 1915 were retained in part after 1918, but they were repealed altogether by the first Labour government in 1924. Stanley Baldwin believed in reconciliation, and in reaching amicable agreements between capital and labour.
