Towards a Depression

There is little doubt that for the British coal-mining industry the period immediately prior to the First World War was 'the age of success’. ¹ Output between 1888 and 1913 increased dramatically, from 170 million tons to 287 million tons (see Table 1), while employment in the industry over the same period increased from 439,000 to 910,000 (about one-tenth of the employed male population). Profits benefited in a similar fashion; they rose from about £11 million in 1890 to £28 million in 1913 (see Table 2).