ABSTRACT
It has been shown that the Birmingham district in 1914 presented a great contrast to the same area in 1860, or even in 1887. It was no longer primarily a hardware, a mining and an iron-producing centre. The war broke out at a time when the country was just entering upon the downward phase of the trade cycle after three prosperous years. At first there was a sudden fall in output in many local industries. The outbreak of the war meant at once a cessation of imports and a greatly increased demand, and there was, in consequence, a large expansion in the size of this local trade. The effects of the war varied from industry to industry. The engineering trades and all those which could adapt themselves to the demand for munitions were immensely stimulated. Every industry which in pre-war days was losing ground to the foreigner was given a new lease of life.
