Although Ramsay Macdonald’s time as British Prime Minister was short, he set an insurmountable benchmark for subsequent British Prime Ministers.
When Ramsay Macdonald was in office, he did his best to fight for the welfare of the British people at the bottom, promised the world that Britain would massively disarmament, and reconsidered the relationship between Britain and the colonies, all of which set the stage for subsequent British prime ministers.
It has set a benchmark. Ordinary British people will not consider the real problems faced by the United Kingdom. They will only compare all the prime ministers after Ramsay Macdonald with Ramsay Macdonald. If they cannot meet the standards of ordinary British people,
If it meets the preset standard, then it is unqualified.
Stanley Baldwin is in this awkward stage. He also wants to fight for welfare for ordinary British people, but the British aristocracy and bourgeoisie do not allow it. He also wants to disarmament and reduce the pressure on the British government, but millions of British soldiers do not allow it.
; He also wanted to maintain relations between London and the overseas colonies, but Valera did not allow it.
It is impossible to maintain. The relationship between London and the overseas dominions under the framework of the "Balfour Declaration" is already the best choice for the British Empire at this stage. Stanley Baldwin is unable to go further. If it is more radical, then
It wasn't just Valera who jumped on the fence, Southern Africa, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and even India had something to say.
The key to the problem is that the Balfour Declaration was a complete failure for the British Empire. It not only meant the loss of control of the overseas autonomous territories, but also meant the collapse of the British colonial system. Whether Congress can accept this reality is still a question mark.
It was for this reason that Neville came to see Rock.
"Arthur, of course I support you. If there is one person in Britain who is worthy of my trust, then that person must be you." Rock's bad mouth comes now. He does trust Neville, but inside
Between Will and Winston, Rock definitely trusts Winston more.
"That's enough, Locke. With your support, I have enough confidence to defeat the Prime Minister and even Ramsay Macdonald. They are simply vulnerable." Neville was full of confidence, but his confidence was based on
Rock's support.
The current situation of the British Empire cannot be maintained without the support of southern Africa.
It is an obvious fact that when Britain just defeated the Boers, Britain needed gold from southern Africa to maintain London's status as a global financial center.
Nowadays, the role of southern Africa for the British Empire is rising. Not only gold, but also southern Africa's industrial products, agricultural products, workers, soldiers, and even influence are of increasing significance to the British Empire. Neville urgently needs Rock
Only with their support can they form an overwhelming advantage over Stanley Baldwin and Ramsay Macdonald.
"It's not that simple." Rock is not optimistic. The UK just held a general election last year. According to the British political system, the next general election should be in 1929. This year must be specially marked. If there are no accidents, 1929 will be the next economic crisis.
cycle.
As mentioned earlier, the inevitable economic crisis in Europe and the United States occurs almost once every ten years. The last economic crisis was one year after the end of the world war. If we count the time, the next economic crisis will probably start in 1929.
Neither Winston nor Neville had the least vigilance about this year.
Roark was prepared for a rainy day. The reason why the economic crisis of 1929 was named the "Great Depression" was because the consequences of this economic crisis were extremely serious. To a large extent, it can be said that this economic crisis directly led to the Second World War.
"If you must do this, I suggest you start now, don't wait for the general election, there are too many variables." There is no doubt that Rock is between Stanley Baldwin, Neville, and Ramsay McDonald.
It's leaning towards Neville.
“What do you mean?” Neville said in hindsight.
But two days later Neville knew what Rock meant.
On April 20, a nationwide general strike broke out in the UK.
This general strike is essentially the mess that Ramsay Macdonald left to Stanley Baldwin when he was Prime Minister.
During his tenure as Prime Minister, Ramsay Macdonald reduced the working hours of British coal workers from eight hours to seven hours. At the same time, because of the recession in the British coal industry, he decided to implement a nine-month subsidy for the British coal industry, with a total amount of
About 23 million pounds were spent to maintain the wages of coal miners. This day is also known as "Red Friday" in the UK.
Unfortunately, the good times did not last long. Ramsay McDonald resigned sadly before the nine-month period was over. By April 19, the nine-month period expired. The mine owner proposed that the salary should be reduced after the government subsidies were used up.
Extend working hours.
However, the coal miners' union refused to give in and proposed that "the wage cannot be less than a penny and the working hours cannot be more than a second." The negotiations between the Union of Mineworkers and the mine owners reached a deadlock.
On April 20, British coal miners went on strike. The next day, the 21st, trade unions in various industries voted on the coordinated strike policy and decided to implement a general strike. On this day, the total number of workers on strike was close to 6 million.
In 1925, the total population of the UK was 55 million, and 6 million people went on general strike, more than one-tenth of the total population of the UK. In addition to the coal mining industry, workers in the electrical, steel, railway, construction and printing industries also participated in the strike.
All the big industrial centers are paralyzed. :(/
However, the strike in England had nothing to do with Rock. When the strike began, Rock was already on his way to the United States and knew nothing about it.
"Seven hours? Macdonald is really good!" Rock really didn't expect that in 1925, the United Kingdom had actually begun to implement a seven-hour work system.
It is indeed embarrassing to look at it this way. There is no 996, no 007, and a seven-hour work system. Southern Africa cannot do it.
Southern Africa still implements the eight-hour work system, and weekends have been implemented in some industries. However, for African-American workers, 997 is still the norm. Nowadays, sweatshops exist in the United States, and Southern Africa does not dare to slack off for a moment.
Britain dares!
Rock didn't know what Ramsay Macdonald was thinking. This guy had not been the British Prime Minister for a long time, but the poison he had brought to Britain was quite profound. In the final analysis, it was votes. In order to win support, Ramsay
Zee MacDonald is also unscrupulous.
"This is normal. In some industries in southern Africa, we actually have a seven-hour working day." Sidney Milner said calmly. In terms of welfare, southern Africa is quite good.
997 for Southern Africa, limited to Africans working in Southern Africa.
These Africans are not Southern Africans, but foreign workers who come to work in Southern Africa through labor service companies. Their welfare is not guaranteed in any way. Does 997 sound cruel? In fact, it was already very good in 1925.
At least they still have jobs, can support their families, and their salaries will be paid on time. Compared with Germans, Ottomans, and Persians, this is already a very good treatment.
The seven-hour work day described by Sidney Milner is also normal in southern Africa, but only in certain special industries.
Don't get it wrong. The special industries here refer to service industries such as catering, finance, and transportation. They are not special industries that cannot be written about. Those special industries that cannot be written about do not exist in southern Africa. This is still relatively true.
Determined.
“I know what you are saying, but can the seven-hour working system be implemented in the mining industry?” Rock was really confused and didn’t know how the British coal industry could ensure its competitiveness.
Southern Africa started out as a mining country. From the Kimberley Diamond Mine to the Rand Gold Mine, mineral resources still play an important role in the economy of Southern Africa. However, Roque did not dare to implement a seven-hour work system.
It’s not that Rock is ruthless, but in the environment of international competition, the 7-hour work system cannot guarantee the normal survival of enterprises. American companies are all 007, but Southern Africa dares to work seven hours?
That is courting death!
"It's good for us that London has started an emergency transport service for essential supplies, hired thousands of special police officers, buses and trains are driven by volunteers, the government has started talks with unions and
If we implement special measures and cut off the union's funding channels, it is estimated that the strike will not last long." Sidney Milner was busy making supper for Roark and did not pay attention to the British strike at all.
This is actually not the first strike in the UK.
Different from the strikes in Rock's understanding, the British strikes were little more than child's play in Rock's view, mainly because of the limitations of the working class and the incompetence of the trade union organizations.
If the British trade unions were as strong as the Russian trade unions, British workers would have overthrown the British royal family and established a country like Russia.
Rock didn't speak, and he was so heavy that he couldn't even eat supper. The British Empire was really in turmoil now. The "Balfour Declaration" had not been passed by Congress, and now a nationwide general strike had broken out. He didn't know who Stanley Baldwin was.
How long can the cabinet last?
It would be nice if Stanley Baldwin could not hold on. It has only been a few months since the Conservative Party regained the majority position in Parliament. If it loses its majority position in Parliament again, the British political arena will be reduced to the same situation as the French political arena.
situation.
Three Prime Ministers in two years
The last time this happened was a hundred years ago during the English Revolution.
But this had nothing to do with Rock. On April 30, Rock arrived in New York, United States, and U.S. President John Calvin Coolidge personally went to New York to greet Rock.
This day was also the day that Robert Goddard arrived in Nyasaland. Unlike the grand welcome ceremony of Rock's arrival in the United States, Robert Goddard's arrival in Nyasaland did not attract any attention. The US government did not even know about them.
