One could say that the General Strike of May 1926 lasting a lengthy nine days was the greatest show of union solidarity that Britain had ever seen. Others such as Beatrice Webb saw it merely as "little more than a nine days wonder". Sometimes it is hard to pinpoint the most significant reason for the strike and at the time, the three major groups in British industry had their own views about what the purpose was. For the miners and the T.U.C, it was to end the miners" lock out and force the government to re-open negotiations which aimed to give power to the unions. There was much paranoia amongst the middle class about a similar revolution to that of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia taking place. This "Red Scare" triggered mass paranoia - those in the middle classes had far too much to lose. They felt that Britain's greatness lay as a state power and signs of sour relations in industry evoked much fear. This essay aims to explore and examine the role of the three most prominent groups in Britain; the miners, the mine owners and the government and come to a conclusion about which of the three was to blame for the General Strike.
After the war there was a boom in the British economy, however this boom was short-lived and soon led to a major bust. One can say that the problems which were present shortly before the general strike (lack of investment in the industry, poor conditions) were not sudden but had been developing since before the war. World War One was inevitably a period of great unrest in Britain as was the period of time shortly after with revolutions abroad, the disruption of family life and inflation all adding to social pressures.
The miners had been calling for nationalisation of the mines since the 1890s, nationalisation would make their work safer and would result in national wage levels. In an essay by Joyce Howson she comments on the miners role in society and how they were often seen as the "barometer" of industrial relations" if it happened to the miners, it happened to the rest of the work force soon after, so very often, the state of the mines reflected the state of Britain's economy.
